I've seen a million faces... AND I ROCKED THEM ALL!!!

Along the same lines as my last posting, another fun story from my winter break that finally needs to be told...

Saturday night, January 17th. I was back in Chicago for my last hurrah before school started back up. JM and I hit the Bulls game earlier in the night, then met up with JK after the game and played some darts.

Many drinks and victorious dart games later, I told JM we needed to hit Louie's. Louie's is a special place for me. A karaoke bar nestled in the Wicker Park neighborhood, not a far walk from JM's place. I had overcome my nerves (alcohol usually helps) to sing to a packed Louie's twice before, singing Journey's Don't Stop Believin'. I had done quite well. I had my fellow patrons singing with me, and some cheering whenever I threw in the occasional White Sox reference. But this night was going to be different. I had made up my mind that Journey was not to be sung.

But I kept JM and JK in the dark. I didn't tell them what I was going to sing. We arrived at the bar, I put my name and song in, and paitiently waited my turn. Little did anyone know that I had been practicing this particular song on Rock Band and Guitar Hero in the days leading up. I was ready. I wasn't even nervous. I was anxious and excitied more than anything.

There were maybe 4 or 5 people ahead of me. They all sang songs that were either boring or unknown by the majority of the crowd. I could feel the energy of the bar waning. I was being set up for the kill. Perfect timing.

They called my name. And like MJ in Game 6 of the '98 Finals, I swiped the ball from Karl Malone and made my slow trot to center stage. My moment was here. I may have been doubted by some... but just like MJ, I knew I was going to blow the roof off the place. I was supremely confident and ready for my moment.

The opening bars of Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer started. And the crowd instantly awoke. I already had them on my side.

To say I rocked the place would be an understatement. I held that microphone like I was born to do this. I didn't just sing, I played to the crowd. I let them sing portions of the chorus by holding the mic out to random people. I walked through the bar to make sure everyone was into it. And they were. I didn't once look at the TV screen for words. I knew them like the back of my hand, like that familiar taste of kissing a long lost love.

The crowd was mine. They sang and danced along. Before the song was half over, I had random girls grabbing me in different directions to sing along with me. I simply didn't have the time to walk up to all of them, so they took matters into their own hands...

The song ended. The crowd was euphoric. They cheered for me like I've never been cheered for before. And all along, I had my two best buddies, brothers to me, along for the ride.

I know I'm boasting. In reality, rock star lead singer is not in my future. I don't have the pipes or stage presence for it. And to be honest, I probably sang off key, and the only reason I rocked the crowd was because I played a familiar song and they were just as drunk as I was.

But for a brief time, I was Mick Jagger, David Lee Roth, and Robert Plant all rolled into one. For 4 minutes and 9 seconds, Louie's changed their name to Erik's.