Show Canceled

I had to do it. I canceled a Hickoids show. We were gonna open for the Biters at Salute on Wednesday night, but I got food poisoning. It wasn't gonna happen.

Breakdown

It was a bad bad scene at home. No details to follow.

5/24/12

Casters in SA, but down the street from the Mix... It's rough passing that place on the way to High Tones. The Tones is a fine club, but as I've said before the Mix is the best in SA. We oped for a Latin flavored reggae band from Miami. I don't know how the fuck they got to SA on a Thursday night, but they were there and sounded damn fine.

$3 Bill was being a little bitch, not wanting to dress for his band, but Smitty put the screws to him and he straightened it out. Kinda pitiful when the front man doesn't want to "play" in his own band.

Breakdown

Two beer tickets each which is shitty, but Lone Star tall boys and big, heavily poured well drinks for $2, not bad. They have a new stage there, It's fairly big, but I preferred playing on the floor. There are too many casters for a stage that size.

I used the new TC rig for the first time. It took a little while to get it dialed in, but it was sounding pretty mighty. Those TC folks aren't kidding. Stacking the 2X12 cabs makes it deep and punchy. I can't wait till I get a few more shows in with it.

It's a beautiful thing

Davy are doing our usual drive to San Antonio and all of our gear fits perfectly in his "new" car.

In the trunk, Davy's 4x12 Marshall cab, the matching head, his pedals and Les Paul.

In the back seat is my bass, my two new tc 2x12 cabs, the tc head in the laptop bag and my regulation sport coat.

The old ashdown cab would have never made it in.

This is a beautiful thing.

The new TC rig

I've had a couple of practices with it now and I'm really liking the way it sounds. It's real punchy and accurate. And at this point I'm louder than two 4x12 guitar amps!!

My first show with it is tonight so I'll see how that goes. I'll admit the cabs are light and I'm wondering how they'll hold up on tour, but right now they sound great.

Thoughts on rehersal spaces

It's a whole new world. Since we cut the ties with music lab rehearsals have actually become enjoyable. My "personal" space is about a quarter mile from my house. It costs $100 a month to share it with four other bands. I get one night a week for me and the ladies and can take ANY time not already taken by the other groups. So if we felt like it, the ladies and I could practice three days a week, all day long for $100 a month.

Lets look at that in terms of the Music Lab. $12-$14 an hour for a shitty room where you can hear EVERYONE around you. Shitty mics that they make you leave your ID to "rent". A useless PA and don't even think about going over on your time, that will cost you another hour. Also the room smell. I'm not sure if they have ever been cleaned.

The Hickoids have made the jump too. We are in a different place that Lance has been involved with for a number of years. All the numbers are the same an it only goes to prove one thing.

It's a tremendous deal to NOT use the Music Lab.

Thank the god I don't believe in that I'm not paying them any more money.

5/5/12

This one started a little rough. The drive to Dallas went fine but there were some issues with getting all the Hickoids to the Kessler theater, but it all worked out. I got some 5 Hour to make it through the night. I really needed it after the week...

The May 5th celebration (they call it something else in Mexico!) was a lovefest of Dallas proportions. The Gringos brought out the usual big and happy crowd. It's nice heading up there and getting a bunch of hugs and free beers from people I generally only see in the big D. It actually makes me happy to be there (and that's saying something, I've had more than my share of bad evenings in Dallas).

Breakdown

The only free drinks I got were from the Gringos and a few of the lovely folks who came to watch. Shame on you Kessler...

The sound was great. I used Tubb's Orange Class D amp with the matching 4 X 10" cab. It sounds pretty mighty but it doesn't quite have the slam when things get LOUD! But I'm just being picky.

5/4/12

Last night it was the Hickoids and Chickenhawk at the Mix. Damn right. You know it was a good night. As usual people were happy and drinking up a storm. I only saw one fight, but it was broken up pretty fast. It was someones birthday and this gal was walking around with a tray full of shooters. It explains my head today.

Breakdown

Sill the best bar in SA. Free drinks and people were STILL buying them for me! I used Chickenhawk's bass rig and Davy drove. Easy night, Dallas tomorrow...

Repitition

I know I've said it before, but I love writing a song in the afternoon and playing it at rehearsal that night.

!

Two is better than one

5/2/12

Apparently Trophy's is getting remodeled. Of course no one knows who is paying for it and if remodeled really means torn down, time will tell. It's a total crap hole. The way the stage lights are set and the color of the stage area makes it nearly impossible to see the fret markers on my bass (I've been thinking about glow in the dark stickers, but it's only happens at Trophy's and it's closing). Last night the ladies room door was off the hinges and smelled like an open sewer and that was on my side of the stage. Delicious.

This is the same old crying about is the transition from "old" to "new" Austin. There is about a three percent chance of that place reopening as Trophy's. I guarantee someone with a shitload of money (maybe even the current property owners) will want to bulldoze the place and build condos or shops or some of that "mixed use development" developers are so hot on nowadays. It happens all over town and it REALLY happens on south Congress. Ten years ago and two blocks away there was a fully functioning porno theater (that's right a theater that showed porno MOVIES) now it's an office building and I'm not even sure the cleaned the semen out of the carpet.

Breakdown

Each band gets a free six pack of PBR. Not too bad. The sound was (once again) shit. The sound man had mics on everything and he is a legit sound guy, but that room just sounds like shit. I'm still gonna miss it.

4/27/12

This was a total 180 from the last Casters show. I think it's San Antonio. There must be something in the water that makes me play better. Or maybe it just makes the crowds happier to see us. The specifics don't matter, I love playing in SA.
The Swindles opened up for us with my buddy Joe Reyes on guitar. He might be the best guitar player I know, a regular six string monster. And Moses Roses, nice joint. Just around the corner from the Alamo, I was gonna go see it (it's been a  couple of years) but I never made it down the block! I did see the sign for the Crockett Hotel so that should count for something.

Breakdown

Steve was kind enough to drive so that was easy for me. The Moses Roses folks fed us and bought our beer! How very kind.