9/26/13

Last night it was me and the ladies at Club deVille. We got started at half past nine to a semi-decent crowd. The bands played inside, not outside, so we weren't backed up against the cool rock wall behind the stage... My favorite thing about playing there...  At first I was kinda bummed, but the soundguy was really on it and we sounded kinda amazing so I got over it fast.

Small stage so we had to build it back to front. As in lets put all the drums up and decide if there is room for any other crap. There was.. we all fit.

For some reason I thought I was gonna pop a string during the set. I brought a backup guitar to be safe. I popped one but it was in the middle of the solo on the last song. I was pounding away on the low E and it gave out. I yanked on it to get it out of the way and the solid core "jumped" out and right  in to my finger! That's how you get this... Blood on the Tele.

It's amazing how different that guitar sounds with no low string. It looses most of it's grunt and punch and sounds really flimsy. Luckily we only had about 45 seconds left to play so no big deal. I am not looking forward to cleaning up the tele, it's one nasty mess.

We finish up and get off stage and Lost In A World Of Color was up next. They dressed in Jackson Pollack's used drop cloths and were really good. Like shockingly good. I know we have a ton of talent in Austin, but LIAWOC was one of those "Holy shit!" kinda bands. They had the typical two guitars, bass and drums setup and most of the tunes were straight forward sounding, but there was enough Math/Art rock hiding under the surface to make it extra interesting. Great stuff!

I missed the last band (Jamey Simms ) because I am lame and I wanted to head home for the night.

At least I'm honest about it.

Popped a string...

On the last song at Club deVille. And popped my finger right after...

Blood on the Telecaster!

9/21/13

Hicks and The Beaumonts at the Triple Crown. San Marcos here I come! We went on around 10:30 to a pretty decent crowd. It's really odd being in a smoking bar nowadays. Another small town anomaly.

I borrowed "Don E. Rosewood's" rig so all I brought was the bass and some cords. Easy in and out. We were in the middle of "Stop It" and Smitty ran out in to the crowd and started wrapping them up in the mic cord. I was ready to jump in to start rubbing my ass on them and then I realized I was using a short cord! If I jumped Don's bass head would have come with me... I'm glad I thought about it for a second.

We wrapped it up and The Beaumonts went on. I watched them kick some ass for five or six tunes then headed back to Austin. I like being the early band.

ACL!

ACL is coming!!

Got your corn?

9/19/13

The Red Eye Fly on a sweaty Thursday night. It was raining enough to make it disgusting outside. No relief from heat when you've had thirty minutes of spitting rain. It just becomes a pressure cooker. I was drenched with sweat before we went on.

In the old days (last month) the REF's neighboring parking lot was a hell of a good deal. $10 for all night on a weekend, $5-$7 during the week. Apparently someone new owns it because they jacked up the rate to $12 for three hours!!! I know I'm an old, small town guy, but DAMN! What a scam...

I paid for parking on the street... $3.50 for the rest of the night a deal in the current economy of Austin parking. I know this was (and still kinda is) one of my big bitches. Years of seven-days-a-week free night time parking conditioned me to expect it... I guess it's my fault I "miss" it (also see small town/old comment above...) Parking is big business in the ATX.

Me and the Ladies played up front while three or four "younger" bands fought for rock star status out back. Tough gig out there, you get paid, but only from what you bring in. As in if three of your friends paid $5 each to get in, you get $15. You don't get much more than that if you are playing up front, but there is no cover and your friends spend their money on beer (and maybe buy one for you!) not on a cover to see their friends band... again... It's nice to not give a shit about being a rock star. It really allows you to concentrate on the playing of the music and not stressing yourself out because only two people showed up and you owe the drummer $20 for posters.

We did two "New-Old" songs last night. The first is "59" which I wrote five or so years ago and never really played until now. And "When The Money Gets Big" from the "Get So Little" Cd I put out tenish years ago. The new versions are really good. Have I mentioned how much I love this lineup? We aren't just good, we are ass-whippingly good!

9/15/13

We made the drive through San Saba County and on to Bend Texas to Bad Bob's Bend Store. We spent the night in San Angelo. Not only is it a shorter drive, but you can get a hotel room for cheap and it won't be covered in mud. Midland motel/hotels are terrible. Way over priced and usually nasty.

Bob's is run by Bob. It's out there by the Colorado river north east of Austin. He has a little stage built out of reclaimed wood from a church (or a barn depending on who you are talking to.)

The Beaumonts were going to be first, but Troy Wayne's voice gave out on him again. I think it's all the goat fucking. It must make him grunt in a way his voice can't deal with. We are gonna have to start calling them the No-show-monts...

We unload for a quiet set. I'm using one cabinet, no gong for Lance  and Davy left the 4 X 12" in the van. Easy. We played for an hour and someone in the crowd asked "Are Y'all gonna take a break?" The only answer to that is "Is that a request or a question?" We took a little break then hit them with a few more, loaded the Freak and headed home.

Another successful weekend behind us.

9/14/13

I made it home at 4:50 in the morning and was at work at 10 am and back on a plane to Midland by 3. I was already exhausted. 

A couple of facts about the Midland international airport, it has five gates and I was on the last flight in at 5:30. Small town. 

I got picked up and we headed to the Blue Max and the "white trash bash" was already in full swing. We pulled up and parked and were ready to unload. Headed to the shade for a break from the sun and a Sheriff was talking to the owner, Erika.  Rarely a good thing. 

Apparently he was saying he was going to arrest anyone who was using crude language on the mic... And the Beaumonts were next. 

Whiskey Dick was on and rockin good wile this was going on.  The cop finished his speech and heads off. And with no prior knowledge "the dick" starts in with "Come on Morherfucker". Sometimes the world is a perfect/beautiful place.  

Beaumonts played with no arrests. We made it through unscathed as well. I think the cop was just blowing smoke up everyone's collective asses... 

We loaded when and headed off to our hotel before things wrapped up. 

We play San Saba county tomorrow. 

9/13/13

Hickoids in Ft Worth with the Gringos and The Beaumonts! It was at JJ Blues Bar, a pretty cool place near downtown that neighbors a police training academy. No joke we were smoking in the parking lot when we figured it out...

The fellas wet up early in the freak, I drove solo and got a call from Smitty when I was a little south of West. "Do you have your bass head?" I took it home after the night before to pack it with the crap I need for this weekends trip instead of leaving it in the freak with my cabs... Apparently they were planning on using it... and I didn't know... Oops...

I make it there right after the Beaumonts finished, as in I didn't hear a single note of their set. They break down and I set up my rig for Tubb. Gringos sounded great! Since I was driving (and only having one beer) I stayed outside and listened. I get that weird "nervousy" feeling sometimes when I know I have a few hours behind the wheel ahead of me and there is another band before we play... I just wanna get things moving so i can go.

We get up and do our thing. The soundguy had all of the guitars up LOUD in the monitors. He turned me down after he was "asked" by Jones for the third time. Tom is blasting out of the monitor in front of us, it was making him self conscious about his playing and fucking him up. We finish the tune I ask for it to be turned down and Tom starts yelling "OFF, turn it OFF!"

It was so bad, it sounded like Smitty was playing...

We finish, I packed up my gear, left it on the stage, said goodby and drove home.

Midland tomorrow.

9/12/13

The Hickoids at the Lost Well. LW is a bar that was the Frontier and now it's run by the folks who ran Lovejoys. Not too confusing. 

There were a couple of other bands on the bill, but I showed up a half hour before we started...  I had just gotten back from an expedition to Costa Rica where I discovered several species of amazing animals and conquered many a land for my home country. But, that is a post for another blog...

We went on a little before midnight and rocked it till about 1:45. Even though we played a long time we were spacing them out pretty far. I felt like I had no stamina. After playing zero bass for a week I was sluggish as hell. No big deal it was still a good Thursday night in a cool bar.

Ft Worth with the Beaumonts and Gringos tomorrow.

8/31/13

Another night in San Antonio. Hickoids, Cannibal Corpse, Cunto and the legendary Blowfly. That's right, Blowfly!

I made it down to Tequila Rock Bar (the little bar next to and associated with Backstage Live) right after the "Corpse" finished. I missed it all... But Cunto was setting up! It was Danny's last show with them. He is going off into some kind of greener pasture and they will replace him with someone, sometime (I'm sure they have a plan, but they didn't fill me in on what it is).

It was our turn next and we had a decent set. It was Davy's birthday so there were a lot old man jokes including (but not limited to) the need for Viagra and living with incontinence. Funny stuff.

The room really sounds like crap. I bet that even if it was packed beyond capacity the bodies wouldn't change the sound much. They need some damping stuff all over that concrete room. It really sounds like a horrible echoy box.

The mighty Blowfly was last. He hit us with several of his classics and a bunch of his newer favorites ("I believe my dick can fly" was pretty transcendent). The Fly gave Davy a birthday curse as he blew out the candles on the cake. Flipping him off the entire time. Jones was thrilled and everyone was right there with him. Thanks for making an old man's dream come true, Mr Fly.