Tim Stopulos
Just Another Weekend
Running diary from 2/26 - 2/28:
Thursday 2/26
8:45 PM - Arrive at Lucky's in the pouring rain. Not a soul in the building besides the bartender.
9:30 PM - Our equipment is set up. The place is still a ghost town. We're supposed to play at 10 mind you.
9:50 PM - We've now been there over an hour, and nobody has shown up. I'm thinking we're getting sent home tonight. Which is unprecedented.
9:57 PM - Three friends arrive and effectively save our show.
10:00 PM - Start playing to a crowd of about 10 people (quick jump from 3 people to 10 in 3 minutes, I know), which was great. Everybody there was in it to win it, even if it was a short time. I can't tell you how great it is having people like that at a bar on a Thursday night. Makes my job a lot easier.
11:21 PM - Justin tells his 'Leper' joke to mixed reactions, most of which are awkward murmurs.
11:33 PM - Somehow get talked into playing "I Saw the Sign" by Ace of Bass. I can honestly say I never thought I would perform that song in my lifetime. The most disturbing part of the whole thing was that I don't think I missed a single lyric. It pains me to have written that last sentence.
11:54 PM - Mark Holden (aka Biggum B.) jumps on 'stage' to play harmonica on 'Ants Marching'. Always great energy when he's rocking.
Friday 2/27
12:29 AM - Played 'Professional' (a newer original) as requested by Nikki. It was interesting because that song has been having trouble finding its home with the band. Something is undeniably off about it when we go full band, but when we scale it down to the Trio (which uses percussion instead of drums, and keyboards instead of bass) it's pretty much on fire. It will be interesting to see how that song shakes itself out.
1:21 AM - Closed down the set with 'Gravity' by Mayer. It was hot.
2:20 PM - Hit the road for Davenport, Iowa. We have two shows today. One at the Starting Line in Davenport, and one in Chicago, at Bar Louie. Don't ask me why we agree to play two shows in one night, three hours apart. You won't get a coherent answer. Anyway, we're supposed to be in Davenport by 4:30 or so, and that's not going to happen, unless we circumvent all sorts of laws, and I can assure you my car is not up to the challenge.
4:58 PM - Arrive at the Starting Line, set up in a hurry. We play for a few hours to a relaxed crowd, and of course, towards the end (as it always does) the energy starts to pick up.
7:41 PM - Ben Folds medley.
8:07 PM - I find myself playing some of the most ridiculous things onstage. We go through a period in which I play 'Ogeidnas Nemrac' (which is Carmen Sandiego to those of you who weren't with me at the beginning), 3 different Mario Bros. levels, the Family Matters theme as well as Full House's a capella. I'm a clown.
8:24 PM - Mary Fran and Mike Stopulos make separate appearances on cajon (Justin's percussion instrument) for a couple songs. What a professional product I have.
8:45 PM - End the show with the Greatest and Best Song in the World.
9:30 PM - Close up shop at the Starting Line. We gotta get back on the road pretty soon to make it back for our late night show at Bar Louie (1:30 AM).
9:50 PM - After a few minutes of looking for my keys, I discover that they are, in fact, on the front seat of my car. Which is securely locked. The spare key? It's in Chicago.
10:15 PM - Scrambling to figure out a way to get my car unlocked. Pulling the doors really hard has been fruitless. Consider breaking the window, decide against it shortly thereafter. Call multiple locksmiths and the only response is that my type of vehicle requires assistance from a dealer to unlock. That's not really good news. The police explain that they can only unlock a car if there's a child in the car. Contemplate ways to insert child into car, again to no avail. Keep in mind, we need to be playing music in Chicago in three hours.
10:35 PM - Shannon rescues us by offering to take us to Chicago (thanks MB as well!). We arrange the vehicle, pack it up and we're driving by 11 PM. That gives us two and a half hours to get to Chicago, set up our equipment and start playing. Not happening. Oh, and we need gas and I haven't eaten since about noon.
Saturday 2/28
1:47 AM - Park a block away from Bar Louie. Sit in the car for awhile, thinking about driving off and just going home. We are miserable. Shannon claims she's going to stay in the car during our two hour set. In the middle of the night in downtown Chicago. I politely suggest she doesn't, which she doesn't like. Justin is half asleep in the back, saying horrible things about his life and telling me to take him home. I almost do. But we forge on.
2:00 AM - Justin, the manager at Bar Louie, is really cool about us being late. We get set up, starting playing and light the place up. I mean, it's on fire. The fact that minutes before Justin was sleeping is actually pretty impressive.
2:45 AM - Some drunk guy who's dancing in front of us keeps bumping my mic stand and bothering Shannon. Justin claims that if this guy slips up one more time, he's going to give him a knuckle sandwich, free of charge. No sandwiches were ultimately given.
3:03 AM - First set closes, some guy tells me that I melted his heart.
3:30 AM - After playing hit after hit, we close it down with 'As' by Stevie Wonder. If you were at Bar Louie, thank you. We had so much fun, and you guys all rocked.
4:15 AM - Drive home promising myself that I will never book two shows in one night, three hours apart ever again. I'll let you know how that goes.
Thursday 2/26
8:45 PM - Arrive at Lucky's in the pouring rain. Not a soul in the building besides the bartender.
9:30 PM - Our equipment is set up. The place is still a ghost town. We're supposed to play at 10 mind you.
9:50 PM - We've now been there over an hour, and nobody has shown up. I'm thinking we're getting sent home tonight. Which is unprecedented.
9:57 PM - Three friends arrive and effectively save our show.
10:00 PM - Start playing to a crowd of about 10 people (quick jump from 3 people to 10 in 3 minutes, I know), which was great. Everybody there was in it to win it, even if it was a short time. I can't tell you how great it is having people like that at a bar on a Thursday night. Makes my job a lot easier.
11:21 PM - Justin tells his 'Leper' joke to mixed reactions, most of which are awkward murmurs.
11:33 PM - Somehow get talked into playing "I Saw the Sign" by Ace of Bass. I can honestly say I never thought I would perform that song in my lifetime. The most disturbing part of the whole thing was that I don't think I missed a single lyric. It pains me to have written that last sentence.
11:54 PM - Mark Holden (aka Biggum B.) jumps on 'stage' to play harmonica on 'Ants Marching'. Always great energy when he's rocking.
Friday 2/27
12:29 AM - Played 'Professional' (a newer original) as requested by Nikki. It was interesting because that song has been having trouble finding its home with the band. Something is undeniably off about it when we go full band, but when we scale it down to the Trio (which uses percussion instead of drums, and keyboards instead of bass) it's pretty much on fire. It will be interesting to see how that song shakes itself out.
1:21 AM - Closed down the set with 'Gravity' by Mayer. It was hot.
2:20 PM - Hit the road for Davenport, Iowa. We have two shows today. One at the Starting Line in Davenport, and one in Chicago, at Bar Louie. Don't ask me why we agree to play two shows in one night, three hours apart. You won't get a coherent answer. Anyway, we're supposed to be in Davenport by 4:30 or so, and that's not going to happen, unless we circumvent all sorts of laws, and I can assure you my car is not up to the challenge.
4:58 PM - Arrive at the Starting Line, set up in a hurry. We play for a few hours to a relaxed crowd, and of course, towards the end (as it always does) the energy starts to pick up.
7:41 PM - Ben Folds medley.
8:07 PM - I find myself playing some of the most ridiculous things onstage. We go through a period in which I play 'Ogeidnas Nemrac' (which is Carmen Sandiego to those of you who weren't with me at the beginning), 3 different Mario Bros. levels, the Family Matters theme as well as Full House's a capella. I'm a clown.
8:24 PM - Mary Fran and Mike Stopulos make separate appearances on cajon (Justin's percussion instrument) for a couple songs. What a professional product I have.
8:45 PM - End the show with the Greatest and Best Song in the World.
9:30 PM - Close up shop at the Starting Line. We gotta get back on the road pretty soon to make it back for our late night show at Bar Louie (1:30 AM).
9:50 PM - After a few minutes of looking for my keys, I discover that they are, in fact, on the front seat of my car. Which is securely locked. The spare key? It's in Chicago.
10:15 PM - Scrambling to figure out a way to get my car unlocked. Pulling the doors really hard has been fruitless. Consider breaking the window, decide against it shortly thereafter. Call multiple locksmiths and the only response is that my type of vehicle requires assistance from a dealer to unlock. That's not really good news. The police explain that they can only unlock a car if there's a child in the car. Contemplate ways to insert child into car, again to no avail. Keep in mind, we need to be playing music in Chicago in three hours.
10:35 PM - Shannon rescues us by offering to take us to Chicago (thanks MB as well!). We arrange the vehicle, pack it up and we're driving by 11 PM. That gives us two and a half hours to get to Chicago, set up our equipment and start playing. Not happening. Oh, and we need gas and I haven't eaten since about noon.
Saturday 2/28
1:47 AM - Park a block away from Bar Louie. Sit in the car for awhile, thinking about driving off and just going home. We are miserable. Shannon claims she's going to stay in the car during our two hour set. In the middle of the night in downtown Chicago. I politely suggest she doesn't, which she doesn't like. Justin is half asleep in the back, saying horrible things about his life and telling me to take him home. I almost do. But we forge on.
2:00 AM - Justin, the manager at Bar Louie, is really cool about us being late. We get set up, starting playing and light the place up. I mean, it's on fire. The fact that minutes before Justin was sleeping is actually pretty impressive.
2:45 AM - Some drunk guy who's dancing in front of us keeps bumping my mic stand and bothering Shannon. Justin claims that if this guy slips up one more time, he's going to give him a knuckle sandwich, free of charge. No sandwiches were ultimately given.
3:03 AM - First set closes, some guy tells me that I melted his heart.
3:30 AM - After playing hit after hit, we close it down with 'As' by Stevie Wonder. If you were at Bar Louie, thank you. We had so much fun, and you guys all rocked.
4:15 AM - Drive home promising myself that I will never book two shows in one night, three hours apart ever again. I'll let you know how that goes.
Google Analytics
Today I wanted to check out traffic to our site to basically see if the marketing that we're doing is actually working...
What I came across was a worldwide map that breaks down traffic to our site by as close as the city that the visitor lives in. We have visitors all across the US with the most of our visitors from right here in beautiful (dreary) Chicago, or from Tim's hometown in Iowa. But what was most interesting was that we have a lot of visitors overseas! UK had the most, followed by Switzerland, Australia, and most surprisingly, Pakistan. I bet they can't get enough Love It or Leave It in the middle east.
So to our non-US friends: Hello! 'Ello Govna'! Good day mate! And Marhaba!
Furthermore, to all of you worldwide, stay tuned to the site here...big announcement coming soon...
Love,
TS3
What I came across was a worldwide map that breaks down traffic to our site by as close as the city that the visitor lives in. We have visitors all across the US with the most of our visitors from right here in beautiful (dreary) Chicago, or from Tim's hometown in Iowa. But what was most interesting was that we have a lot of visitors overseas! UK had the most, followed by Switzerland, Australia, and most surprisingly, Pakistan. I bet they can't get enough Love It or Leave It in the middle east.
So to our non-US friends: Hello! 'Ello Govna'! Good day mate! And Marhaba!
Furthermore, to all of you worldwide, stay tuned to the site here...big announcement coming soon...
Love,
TS3
Abnormal in Normal
Right when I first walked into NV in Normal, IL, I had a weird feeling. Something didn't seem right. Justin and I shuffled past the bar towards the small stage at the far end of the club with our equipment. I threw my guitar onstage and took a few moments sizing the place up. The place was nice to be sure. Hardwood floors, a second level with balconies overlooking everything. I had to figure it was newly built. But something wasn't right. The looks we were getting and the aura of the place told me we didn't really belong.
We had arrived in Normal a few hours earlier on that Friday night. Our schedule for the weekend was to play a full band show at NV Ultra Lounge on Friday night and the next day play an acoustic cover show at Pub II. Justin's brother Mikey goes to school there, and he had offered us a place to crash. Everything was perfectly in place.
After a few more awkward moments, Justin and I were approached by a middle aged man who seemed a little put off by our presence. "Can I help you guys?" he asked.
"We're the Tim Stop Trio, we're the band playing tonight."
"Hmm," he said. "I don't have a band on for tonight. Are you guys sure?"
I wasn't the least bit bothered by this. We had confirmed this show numerous times, the last of which had been just a few days earlier, and I calmly explained this to him. There was very little question in my mind that this man was mistaken. We were indubitably scheduled to play NV on Friday, February 20 and Pub II on Saturday, February 21.
"OK, let me go look into this," he told us. "Of course," I confidently replied.
Upon his return, he reported the news that there was a miscommunication between the manager and the talent buyer, and they had double booked. There was a DJ set up to play already, and there was no way we were going to be able to play.
Michael (guitar) and Seville (bass) arrived shortly thereafter and we relayed that message to their dismay. They had come down just for the show Friday and were busy the next night. So a canceled Friday show would mean a wasted night and 4 hour drive for them.
The managers at NV were very nice and did their best to appease us. They offered us an opening slot for a show there the next night. We told them we were unable to play the next night due to our show at Pub II.
We had no idea what to do. It was 9:00 PM, we were 2+ hours away from home with no show and no other contacts. After a fruitless brainstorming session, I got the idea to call Pub II to see if they by chance were interested in having us for both Friday and Saturday.
"Hi, this is Tim Stopulos, I'm playing there tomorrow night. We had a show booked at NV tonight that got canceled, and we have a crowd and we're looking for a place to play tonight."
"You're Tim Stop?" the guy asked amidst loud music and yelling.
"Yeah, I'm Tim Stop."
"We don't have you booked for tomorrow. We have another band here tomorrow night."
Great. Neither show in Normal is gonna happen. This is not going to be a good weekend.
"We have you down for tonight. You're supposed to be here right now."
Pub II was a great time. The crowd was a lot of fun and the after hours show at Mikey's house was as good if not better. Thanks to everyone who hung out with us...we hope to see you all back in Normal soon.
So we only got one show out of our Illinois State weekend. But it was worth the confusion.
Justin and I drove back around 2 and were almost in Chicago when we got a text from NV:
"You guys are on at 9 PM tonight." What? You've got to be kidding. If we end up doing the exact opposite dates we had planned (Pub II Friday and NV Saturday), that would be the strangest thing ever.
After talking it out with them we decided that since we were already back in Chicago, we'll just do it another weekend. It was just one last piece of craziness to end our abnormal weekend in Normal, IL.
We had arrived in Normal a few hours earlier on that Friday night. Our schedule for the weekend was to play a full band show at NV Ultra Lounge on Friday night and the next day play an acoustic cover show at Pub II. Justin's brother Mikey goes to school there, and he had offered us a place to crash. Everything was perfectly in place.
After a few more awkward moments, Justin and I were approached by a middle aged man who seemed a little put off by our presence. "Can I help you guys?" he asked.
"We're the Tim Stop Trio, we're the band playing tonight."
"Hmm," he said. "I don't have a band on for tonight. Are you guys sure?"
I wasn't the least bit bothered by this. We had confirmed this show numerous times, the last of which had been just a few days earlier, and I calmly explained this to him. There was very little question in my mind that this man was mistaken. We were indubitably scheduled to play NV on Friday, February 20 and Pub II on Saturday, February 21.
"OK, let me go look into this," he told us. "Of course," I confidently replied.
Upon his return, he reported the news that there was a miscommunication between the manager and the talent buyer, and they had double booked. There was a DJ set up to play already, and there was no way we were going to be able to play.
Michael (guitar) and Seville (bass) arrived shortly thereafter and we relayed that message to their dismay. They had come down just for the show Friday and were busy the next night. So a canceled Friday show would mean a wasted night and 4 hour drive for them.
The managers at NV were very nice and did their best to appease us. They offered us an opening slot for a show there the next night. We told them we were unable to play the next night due to our show at Pub II.
We had no idea what to do. It was 9:00 PM, we were 2+ hours away from home with no show and no other contacts. After a fruitless brainstorming session, I got the idea to call Pub II to see if they by chance were interested in having us for both Friday and Saturday.
"Hi, this is Tim Stopulos, I'm playing there tomorrow night. We had a show booked at NV tonight that got canceled, and we have a crowd and we're looking for a place to play tonight."
"You're Tim Stop?" the guy asked amidst loud music and yelling.
"Yeah, I'm Tim Stop."
"We don't have you booked for tomorrow. We have another band here tomorrow night."
Great. Neither show in Normal is gonna happen. This is not going to be a good weekend.
"We have you down for tonight. You're supposed to be here right now."
Pub II was a great time. The crowd was a lot of fun and the after hours show at Mikey's house was as good if not better. Thanks to everyone who hung out with us...we hope to see you all back in Normal soon.
So we only got one show out of our Illinois State weekend. But it was worth the confusion.
Justin and I drove back around 2 and were almost in Chicago when we got a text from NV:
"You guys are on at 9 PM tonight." What? You've got to be kidding. If we end up doing the exact opposite dates we had planned (Pub II Friday and NV Saturday), that would be the strangest thing ever.
After talking it out with them we decided that since we were already back in Chicago, we'll just do it another weekend. It was just one last piece of craziness to end our abnormal weekend in Normal, IL.
Way to Normal
Beautiful Cubby Bear show last night...thanks to everyone who came and brought that great energy. We love you so much.!
Set:
Lie to Me
Loose Ends
Count Me In
In Repair (Mayer cover)
Professional
As (Wonder cover)
Weak and Willing
Too Close
P & P
Dave Tamkin played a set before us last night. It was fabulous. And he's as good a person as he is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. Trust me, that's saying a LOT. Last night was the first time that a guy who's much bigger than us ever helped carry our gear in. And it was freezing cold. Dude rocks. Check him out: http://davetamkin.com
Tonight we head to Normal, IL. It will be the first time we've gotten a chance to play a song we wrote (Normal, IL) in a town about which we wrote the song (again, Normal, IL). Tell you all about it when I got the time...
Set:
Lie to Me
Loose Ends
Count Me In
In Repair (Mayer cover)
Professional
As (Wonder cover)
Weak and Willing
Too Close
P & P
Dave Tamkin played a set before us last night. It was fabulous. And he's as good a person as he is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. Trust me, that's saying a LOT. Last night was the first time that a guy who's much bigger than us ever helped carry our gear in. And it was freezing cold. Dude rocks. Check him out: http://davetamkin.com
Tonight we head to Normal, IL. It will be the first time we've gotten a chance to play a song we wrote (Normal, IL) in a town about which we wrote the song (again, Normal, IL). Tell you all about it when I got the time...
Nan's last night, Cubby Bear tonight!
Thanks to all who sang and danced with us at Nan's last night. It was a great time.
Tonight we're at Cubby Bear rocking with Dave Tamkin. Should be an epic night. Did I mention that it's a free show??? It sure is. Is it possible for you to come and not have a great time? To quote Randy Jackson, "It's a no, baby."
Take it Sax Man...
Tonight's show is dedicated to 2 people. Shanno Fitz since it's her birthday, and my friend Bryce who passed a year ago today.
See everyone tonight!!
Tonight we're at Cubby Bear rocking with Dave Tamkin. Should be an epic night. Did I mention that it's a free show??? It sure is. Is it possible for you to come and not have a great time? To quote Randy Jackson, "It's a no, baby."
Take it Sax Man...
Tonight's show is dedicated to 2 people. Shanno Fitz since it's her birthday, and my friend Bryce who passed a year ago today.
See everyone tonight!!
Drums
Tim (to Justin): "Drums are definitely THE most important thing in a band. Besides vocals, piano, guitar and bass, drums are definitely the most important."
Lucky's was so much fun tonight. First full band Lucky's show.
Looks like Lucky's is going to be every Thursday starting after next week, which is the FREE Cubby Bear show on Thursday. Stay tuned...
Lucky's was so much fun tonight. First full band Lucky's show.
Looks like Lucky's is going to be every Thursday starting after next week, which is the FREE Cubby Bear show on Thursday. Stay tuned...
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