Hi.
Over the Rhine are once again playing Come to Go Ministries on Friday, July 11. Here's an edited version of the post I wrote when OtR was coming to Fort Wayne in May 2006. I'm just lazy.
I'm going to the Fort Wayne show, and I'm absolutely thrilled they're coming here to my town. Maybe there is a God.
The venue, Come to Go ministries, is fairly easy to find. It's about 3 or 4 blocks south of the major eastbound and westbound routes thru downtown Fort Wayne, which are Jefferson Boulevard and Washington Boulevard. If you come from the west side on Jefferson, you can turn right at McDonald's, which I believe is Fairfield Avenue, then turn left onto Baker Street, the road the venue is on. Or you can turn right farther down the road at Harrison or Calhoun, then turn right onto Baker Street. If you come from the east side on Washington, you could turn left onto Calhoun then right onto Baker Street, or turn left on Fairfield then left on Baker Street. There's also plenty of parking.
Inside the venue, there's seating for about 200 people. Row upon row of barcaloungers! Just kidding. There are some round tables that seat 4 people each, and there are also numerous plastic chairs. I sat in these plastic chairs and found them fairly comfortable, and I weigh (don't tell anyone) 260 lbs. A 4-piece band will have plenty of room on the stage.
Other people who've seen shows there says it's a pretty good place to hear a band.
If you just want to drop into town to see OtR, Fort Wayne isn't that hard to navigate. I-69 runs along the west side of the city, heading north to Michigan and south to Indianapolis. 469 runs around the rest of the city, completing a full circle. So once you're in Fort Wayne proper, you can find the interstate by heading in any direction.
If you want to make a day of it, Fort Wayne isn't a bad town. It's about the size of Dayton. The historic fort no longer has tours, but there's other stuff. A decent mall, which apparently recently added a two-story carousel (I'll have to check). A good used-book store. A decent zoo. A couple of good comic-book stores. A record store that has old vinyl, right next to a store selling used vintage clothes. A public library that has one of the best public geneology departments in the country. Oley's Pizza. The Casa chain of Italian restaurants, which has good food that not only beats the linguine out of Olive Garden, but is fairly inexpensive as well. I think DeBrand's Chocolate is around here somewhere.
I hope to see you all here.
Bob Starkey