(Due to technical difficulties (my internet was down and I had a wedding to attend), Saturday Night Cheeseburger will not be seen this week. It will return next week at this time but now we present the following special MBIP program for your enjoyment.)
Last Friday we ventured into a world of bafoonery and darkness and I had a little bit of fun at Champs West in West Peoria. Well, I had a great night there and met some cool people and was planning on posting the "real" photos last Saturday. Then my internet blew up on me and I had to go and do a quick wi-fi thing on Saturday explaining my predicament. I wanted to post pictures from my Godson Brian’s wedding yesterday, so today let’s finally take a real look at Champs West. We now continue with this program that was already in progress last week...
Okay, here we are where we were last left off at Champ's West, before I started the "blackout" photos. Let's go in and see what it's really like in here.
Wow, looks like I've discovered a classic Peoria bar in here! Justin's review was right on the money, it is darker than fuck in here!
And out of the darkness springs a smiling and beautiful angel, Gavra the bartender for the evening. Serving drinks and being a great bartender is just one of Gavra's many talents as you'll soon see.
Gavra's also an artist and she makes her own hula hoops. I've never tried to hula hoop and Gavra told me I needed to give it a whirl...
Here she is giving me some tips on hula hooping. The key is keeping your legs close together and moving your hips. I don't know if I can pull this off, but hey, when in Champs West, do as Gavra tells you to do!
Here goes nothing...
Look ma, no hands!
Okay, that wore me out, back to the bar for beer and...
Free popcorn!
Here's my view from the bar. The bottles stand at attention in an old school presentation, no lights needed for them, it would only kill the dark atmosphere in here.
Michelle and Todd were seated down at the end of the bar. Michelle told me she checks out the MBIP blog daily which is too cool! She just moved back here last September and she's a Rocket Scientist who's currently working on a space shuttle that will exclusively send chimpanzees to Venus. She's here with Todd who owns his own business, Habitat Landscaping and Stone Works, Inc. Check it out and like his facebook page.
It's hard to see because of the darkness, but there's tables opposite the bars. Trust me, I'd never lie to you!
There's a half circular bar table in the back...
With a guitar on it. It turns out that the guitar belongs to Gavra. In addition to being a world class bartender, a maker of hula hoops and an artist, she's also a musician. Michelle, Todd and I asked her to sing a couple of songs.
And here she is, strumming and singing.
Gavra's really a great musician. She started off with an original song and then we found out we're both Gram Parsons fans, so she did her version of, "Juanita," from the first Flying Burrito Brothers album. I've never heard someone do a cover of that song and she sang and played it beautifully.
A shot of Gavra playing from my seat back at the bar.
While watching Gavra play at my seat at the bar, I happened to notice a familiar sight over there in the corner...
It's a Little Nut Hut! I think this is like my seventh Little Nut Hut sighting in Peoria, I really need to do a Little Nut Hut tour one of these nights.
Champ's West has a lot of regulars that come into the bar and this is one of them, John Armstrong. He was the City Editor for the Journal Star for 27 years and he comes in here every night at 11:06 PM. He knows MBIP contributor Mike Foster and said to say hi to him and hoisted his glass in Mike's honor. Cheers and hello, Mike!
And seated next to me is yet another regular that knows Mike. Here's Frank who went to grade school with Mike. Frank has owned a muffler shop here in West Peoria for years and has earned the title of...
"Peoria's Muffler Man." An article about Frank written by Steve Tarter hangs in the back of the bar.
Gavra didn't feel comfortable giving the traditional MBIP "two finger salute," so I took a shot from the back of the bar instead. What a great place! I will return here for sure! We'll see you all tomorrow.
Champ’s West
515 N Western Avenue
Peoria
309-672-2780
Further reading: PJ Star, setlist.fm and facecrack.
Bonus Song and Video by Danny Madness!
MBIP friend, commenter and blogger, Danny Madness sometimes leaves comments in the form of hilarious and genius poems. He left one on my Shop Hop post to the 2nd Time Around Consignment Shop that read like song lyrics and I challenged him to write a song around them. And he took me up on the challenge and a great tune was born! Check it out at Danny's hilarious blog, My Life Is Only For Laughs or you can watch it below. Fantastic work, Danny, thanks for this and all your wonderful comments!
