3/28/18

Hickoids were at the Mix Wednesday night down in San Antonio. It was a bitch of a drive at the end, Getting to Schertz was easy, from there on it was storming like all hell. Nothing but lightning, rain and water all over the road. Joy.

We were the first of three, it was the 34th anniversary of the Hickoids first show and we were opening for Fang.

The new Mix is not the old Mix. I get it, they needed to do something with the place and it was pretty beat, but the changes are not improvements... The stage is too small. It's just a box that amps and drums sit on so when things get loud it's a big drum and amp resonating chamber. It sounds like shit in there. Old man complaining about change, shocker.

So we played ok, but it sounded terrible and the PA was overloaded the whole set. Yeah...

Fang was up next (and a band from Baltimore was after them) but I had to run as soon as were were finished. A couple of the Fang dudes told me we had a great set and I said thanks and took off. Pretty lame of me but it was reflective of the night.

3/22/18

Bigfoot was playing late at the Hole. The week after SXSW makes it hard for folks to come out. But everyone who makes it is a true music fan ready for a kick ass show. Or an employee of the club...

Rubilators were hittin it hard when I came in through the back door. (Avoiding the sharpie heart that everyone else had on the backs of their hands.) They were down a man but it didn't really make that much of a difference. I think everyone notched it up a little. Great set.

The Differentials were next. It was their night, they put the bill together and had a pretty incredible set. I hadn't seen them for a couple of years (I'm guessing here...) the "new" lineup really kills. Glad they put us on. They are having a record release at Antone's Sunday afternoon... Hmmmm...

We had a redemptive show. Considerably better than the last one. We even added a couple of new/old ones on the fly. 

Fun night.

3/17/18 part two

Last show of the SXSW season. Hickoids at the 04 lounge. I got there right when DiNOLA was going on.

What a set! They played it loud and heavy. Totally killed it. I hadn’t seen them for well over a year (I can’t really remember when...). They do a lot of twin bass and guitar lines while the drums screw with the placement of the groove. So fucking cool. Can’t wait to see them again.

Our set was on of those that make me feel good to be a Hickoids. We tore that shit up, threw it on the ground then tore it up again. We finished and it was closing time. Great way to end the festival. 

3/17/18 part one

First of two today.

Hickoids were at Voodoo Donuts playing in between Count Vasoline and DiNOLA. We are in a sea of SXSW attendees, band people and folks getting drunk for St Patrick’s day.

Lance sat in with the Count. The two of them had a real rocking set. All of that Velvet Underground sounds but with that edge of it being just guitar and drums. Pretty sweet. And speaking of donut shop humor... The Count had a ton of good additions to his tunes about that fried deliciousness. How could he not!

We went up and did our stuff. Smitty was all over the place, in the street, on tables, laps and in peoples faces. Most folks got it. The set was fun a few friends showed up and a bunch of strangers saw us for the first time. And that’s always great... But the most important thing was I GOT DOUGHNUTS!!!!

3/15/18

Had a pretty rough Bigfoot show yesterday. One of those inevitable train wrecks you've got to get though, We did...

It was part of the Midcoast Takeover at Shangri-La, we played it last year and they were nice enough to have us back. In 2017 we played after a band with two rappers, this year it was a duo called "The Country Duo".

They are from Kansas City and had a hell of a set. A singer on rhythm and a steel player who also did a lot of baritone guitar. Even a little slide on that baritone! They pressed a 45 they recorded at Sun in Memphis, I'm betting that sounds like God. I should have picked one up...

So we went up next. Walter lost his voice so we could barely hear him. There was also a nice, big PA and we aren't really a "monitor" band so none of us thought about having him cranked. To top it all off we played everything was too fast. I know, excuses excuses. It won't be the last time we take it on the chin but it sucks when it happens  Dean from the Waco Brothers sat in with us the whole time. He was adding some really nice stuff. Imagine what would have happened if we'd been on! 

The Waco Brothers were next, what a band! Really powerful without any pretension or bullshit. I really dug watching them play. Loads of the good feels. I had to cut out before they were finished, my truck was parked in a place that started towing at 6PM . 

Every year you have to get a little more creative with parking and getting around during SX. Most of the neighborhood was permit parking, but the church would let you in for $20. 

3/13/18

Good time at the White Horse last night. SXSW unofficial pre-show with a shit load of bands. Of course I showed up late and only caught a couple of them before we went on... We were last... Not the headliners.

Texicali's new band was great. The rhythm section of We Are The Asteroid and Chelsea Taylor on guitar, AKA the secret weapon. They put on a hell of a set. She is actually the most impressive player I've seen in years. She's only done a dozen or so shows in her life and she just kills it on rhythm and lead without looking like she's even working. Some people just have it.

Pure Luck was next. All of those double leads!! I can't get enough of that crap, I'm a real sucker for it. At the end of one tune the did a minute of an Outkast song. Some college students had walked up right before and they were so excited!!! But they walked away soon after the next tune started... 

Our set was golden. The place was pretty crowded and stayed that was for most of it. Even though we gave them plenty of reasons to leave! Apparently folks need that Hickoid love. We gave them all of the sloppy goodness we had.

3/3/18

Hickoids were down in San Antonio last weekend. We were at the Paper Tiger, third on a bill of four. The headliners were the Dead Milkmen. The place was packed.

I got there and The Sons of Hercules were ripping through it. Frank is one of the best "don't give a fuck" front men ever. So much fun watching him and the rest of the group.

White Heat was next. Apparently it was their first show in twenty years?!! Didn't seem possible, they had a great set and every song flowed right in to the next one. Like they planned it!

Our set was pretty good. It's fun as hell playing in front of a packed house. We don't usually have that "problem". The last time we were at Paper Tiger we played for a dozen people this time it was around a thousand. Or capacity. Either way, it feels good to rock out for that many people at once.

The Milkmen were great. They did Punk Rock Girl as the second song as if to say "If you came for this you can leave now" But it's San Antonio, nobody is leaving that early. Especially when the second song was Taco Land! 

Hell of a night!