The Audissey

By Margaret Hicks in News on Aug 3, 2006 1:35PM

When we first heard they were doing iPod audio tours of Millennium Park, we were psyched. We like the idea of an audio tour; we can go at our own pace and listen to headphones that drown out screaming children and double-decker buses. We also like to see Chicago through someone else’s eyes; see a different Chicago than the one we’re used to seeing every day.

So we checked out Audissey Guides. Audissey Guides has an hour-long tour that highlights some of Chicago’s …well … highlights. The tour is narrated by Kevin Coval, hip-hop poet and Chicago native. His soothing and sexy voice got us started at State and Hubbard and we finished at Crown Fountain. Coval gives a pretty relaxed tour, lots of conversational “um”s and pauses while he looks for the right words. He calls Cloud Gate a “dope sculpture” and makes our politics and immigration history sound kind of cool.

Our only problem with the tour was its lack of depth. We here at Chicagoist didn’t learn anything we didn’t already know, and couldn’t believe that an MP3 of the Cultural Center didn’t take us inside one of the most beautiful public buildings in Chicago (their press release says that they “want to bring people inside – into the skyscrapers, the jazz club and the neighborhood bar”); or tell the story of Queen Victoria and the books she sent. Coval mentions the “corncob” buildings, but tells us nothing of Bertrand Goldberg and his dissing of Mies van der Rohe by designing a completely circular building.

We liked the tour; we think it’s a great idea, a great start, and a fun way to learn about the city. But if Audissey wants to compete in a city that already gives great tours, they might want to dig a little deeper.

You can download the Chicago Audissey Guide at www.audisseyguides.com for $9.95.

Image from Audisseyguides