I broke my own rule for the second time in a week. Maybe it’s the staircases. Recently I said I would rather not post images from the same place on successive days, but setting up the walk-up to The Empire Room as I did on Sunday means to me that I need to deliver an Empire Room image. It’s not an obligation kind of thing, it’s just how I sold it. After recapping the journey to the room I myself would like to go back inside. Let’s do so.
THE EMPIRE ROOM, as the sign outside shouts in all caps, is bold and dominating. It looks like the kind of place in which a president should speak to his vast cadre of same-minded constituents – if they actually had something to say. It almost surrenders to this buttoned-up status quo, but it is gold and garish. I found a corner, got up on one of the three stages and let the space stretch up behind me overhead. I believe this summarizes the place as best as possible. While it is of the establishment it simultaneously pushes the volume just past a listenable decibel – expensive, yet artfully excessive. Maybe this explains why presidents stay in this hotel when they visit Chicago, but The Empire Room itself hosts musical acts and performances.
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