johnny b goode tonight

During my freshman year, at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, I really don’t know how I got the money (having very limited funds) or even who I went with for that matter.  I do remember, my very first ride on the L train to the historic Aragon Ballroom.  That evening there was a beautiful sunset.  It was truly mesmerizing.  Seeing the sunset from the L train, made me realize that living in a dorm in downtown Chicago I was surrounded by skyscrapers.  Needless to say, we didn’t see the sunrise or sunset.  In the 1930’s, during the age of the big bands, the Aragon Ballroom was a big deal.  It had fallen on hard times, the people that bought it in the 70’s decided they would host monster rock shows there.  The ballroom was an architectural wonder.  It was a sight to be seen with a second floor balcony that wrapped around the main floor.  The balcony overlooked the dance floor.  The ceiling was painted with vivid imaginary in a lifelike sky with projected images with clouds that moved from one end of the ballroom to the next.  I remembered watching them as much as the concert.  Berry was 45 at the time of the concert and was backed up by a much younger band.  He pounded out all of his classic songs and strutted around the stage doing his famous duck walk.  He, of course, had the audience shouting as he played my Ding-A-Ling.  He truly was a great showman.  As John Lennon once said, “If there was another word for rock-n-roll, it would be Chuck Berry.”  RIP Chuck Berry.