10/2/21

 Corn lovers time!!

It was a beautiful, one day event. Acl may be over two weekends and packed with a 100,000 tourists throwing money all over the place but corn lovers has a cache they will never touch! 

The Sagebrush really is a beautiful place. They’ve done it up nicely and with all of that space they can do almost anything.  We’ve needed a place like this in Austin for a while. 

I went up with Harvey at 4:20 between Gravy Boat and The Me-Thinks on the other stage. There were dueling stages 20 feet apart and at a 90 degree angle. So while we were on I was watching Gravy Boat break down and the Me-Thinks set up. Kinda weird and not the best place for a dude who can’t help obsessively watching bands moving gear.  In other words, I played terrible. 

The Hickoids, featuring Frontier Dan went on at 10:40. Inside because of the noise ordinance,  We put on a hell of a show. It was wild.  At some point a lady was up at the front with an ice pack on her head. Turns out she picked a fight with some couple and they kinda stomped her.  Then she came up to the front for the loud music.  Three different dogs ran up on stage at three different times.  And I heard about some other wild shit since, that’s just what I saw. Fun night

10/6/19

Late as hell...

Last day of ACL and it was a double up at Sam’s Town Point. Hicks were first on the bill.  Our set was good. We were all a little out of it playing that early and after the prior couple of days.  Still did pretty good.  And we even hit one of the new ones we recorded in Barcelona, “Nancy”. 

Every last one of us fucked up on it at some point. Even Smitty missed the second to last “Nancy” but it felt pretty good playing a new tune publicly.  Been a while.  

The trio went up next, BUT!!!! We had a special guest for the last three tunes.  Mr Hollywood, Nashville Steve Vegas!!!  He jumped up to hit the last three.   Bad as hell and we are gonna play with him now. I mean, NOW!!

And that was it for me. Loads of other great bands were on the rest of the day but I was done. Another ACL in the books. 

10/5/19

Day 2 Part 1

This was at the Parlor and z Apocalypse was gonna play but they had a scheduling issue (even though Jeremy got up with us for some guitar on Fruit Fly!) Pat and the Outsiders filled in!! It’s been a couple of years since we played more than one show in a row with them. Like I sad yesterday, I’d see them everyday if I could. 

We went up and had a really good set. Standing on the floor with folks, not on a stage and eye to eye might be my favorite way to pay. It’s a bad way to do it  when you are sucking but if you are doing things right, even just a little, it’s one of the best feelings in the world. 

Part 2

At the Lost Well and things were running a little behind after the earlier show. It’s how it goes...

Sweet Nothin from Albuquerque was first. A bunch of young dudes Tom knows and the two tunes I was able to catch rocked in a really nice way. 

It’s Tom’s birthday and his band Monkeyshines got up and had a great set! So good I started questioning his playing in the Hickoids... gonna have to have a long talk with that man someday....

The Swish set was decent. The crowd was in to it and we threw down pretty hard. Fun fun. 

The Fishermen and Dinola were the next two. What can I say... go back and read other posts. For both of them. 

We missed Pong, Just like we missed Screech of Death at the Parlor earlier. With this many shows it’s hard to hit them all.  

And there will be more tomorrow!!

10/4/19

First night of ACL! And we were at the Continental?! Oh shit!! It was a cool night. Hickoids were second of four. Lots of friends. Lots of love. 

Zofo was first. It’s Javier and a few badasses from town killing it. So good to see another dimension from Javi. I love that dudes stuff. 

Our set was great.  Really nice crowd and they were in to us. And Frontier Dan!!  That’s right. He’s here all weekend and was up for about half of our set, we hit all the high points and it was fun as hell. 

But Pat and the Rank Outsiders were next. I didn’t even realize they were playing till I saw the lineup earlier in the week. Fuck yeah. 

Guess what? They fucking killed it. I think I could watch them every night and not get bored. They make me so happy. 

The Sloths were last but we took off before they went on. Too whipped and too much coming to run myself in to the ground this early on. 

10/14/18

While the last tunes were being played at the “real” ACL we had something brewing at the South Austin Museum Of Popular Culture. A Davy Jones cartoon retrospective with the proceeds going to a book of his work. 

It was pretty cool. Loads of gig posters (several shows I played) loads of comics from when he was in the army and a bunch of the normal Davy’s hilarious  bullshit. It was nice to see. 

Hickoids went up after Pony. We had a sloppy good set. But at some point I turned the bass up a little too loud and I made my cabinets vibrate off of each other throwing the head and the top cabinet to the ground, not the best but apparently nothing is fucked. I finished the set and did another after with no problems. 

Frontier Dan got up with us. As usual it was a blast with him. He is always so happy when he gets up with us.  Same for me.  

Bigfoot finished it off. We even got Cody up to wawa a solo on Whale for a little insiders treat to Jones. It was a really nice night. And I got to play for a couple of hours!

10/12/18

ACL week two, day one

Hickoids were on at ABGB with a handful of our favorites for one hell of a night. I had to go back for some more dental work and I was (still am) on antibiotics... totally bummed I really like the beer at ABGB and I’m not “allowed” to have any....

We got there and Jean Caffeine was finishing up. She was playing drums?!!  Never seen her do that before. They were also playing “Wimp” by the Zeros. Happy me!

Harvey was next and they whipped it.  Duh... he’s got a sweet ass band and they’ve brought it every time I’ve seen them.  No exception on this night. 

We were next and our stuff was fine. But then  the man, the legendary Frontier Dan got up!! We did five tunes with him. The last one was the “Arkansas Twist” and there was a dance contest!! Fun and funny as hell!! And it’s always fun when Dan visits. 

Pocket Fishermen finished us off. Yeah! Really great night. 

And week two night two. I’m not playing!! But I’ll be there. Loads of great stuff goin on!

10/6/18

Second night of ACL

I was feeling a hell of a lot better than the first night...  Not all the way there but dramatically better. 

I got to the White Horse and Churchwood was up. Killing it. Don’t know if it’s just the sound guy there (he is really fucking good) or if it’s just them, but it’s the most even I’ve heard a band sound in a long time. A few new tunes I haven’t heard, what a treat!

Western Star had a few new ones as well. Good to see the fellas. They had a killer set that also sounded clear and even (got to be the sound guy!!) 

We were up next. It was Tom’s birthday so he was well lubricated for our slot. No one fell but most of Tom’s gear had “problems” along the way...  I’ll leave it at that.  

We we were done I started feeling kinda crappy so I missed A Pony Called Olga and The Beaumont’s. I’m betting they killed it. Kinda the theme for the night. 

10/5/18

First night of ACL

This is another one of those times where reality gets in the way of the music.  I had a cracked tooth repaired the day after the last Bigfoot show and I was felling pretty fucked for the beginning of the big fest.  Aging, reality... I’m over it. 

I have a novocaine allergy so I spent most of the day “coming down” from the shots they gave me the day before. The whole afternoon I was feeling like the inside of my tongue was itchy. And my gums and cheeks were either on fire or felt like they needed cleaning with a wire brush.  I picked up some better meds and hoped I’d make the show....

We were second of five and I took some pain pills and swabbed my teeth and gums with a numbing gel right before we went up. Not the best but it took care of me. 

Our set was a fucking mess.  We hadn’t seen each other since the tour so no real rehearsal.  The Empire Control room is a weird place to play anyway. The stage looks big but it’s not in reality. And there is a screen behind it with another few feet before the back wall so there is zero acoustic reinforcement.  Bass always sounds like crap in that situation. Also Cody fell down drunk right before the amp he was using fried a capacitor. It was that kinda night. 

White Horse tomorrow. 

10/13/17

Week two, day one of ACL. Or my second and final sow of the festival. ABGBs with Beaumont’s, Winsome Losers and Rennie and the Banned Names.

I missed out on Rennie's first show ever... She had Lance and Cody (and another dude) playing with her. It sounded like they had a good first of many.

Winsome went up, hmm most of that band is familiar. Sometimes Austin to San Antonio. Is one big pool of talent that puts it's players in interesting and new ways. Great set. 

We went up and kinda killed it. Since Frontier Dan wasn’t here we were regular Hickoids. After last weeks three shows with him it was fun just being us. And the crowd gave everything we gave them back with a multiplier.

And then the Beaumont’s...  “Not As Cool As Jesus” is still the greatest song in the world. I could hear it for a week straight and not be tired of it.

10/6/17

First official night of ACL, we were at the White Horse. There were a bunch of bands on the bill so the sets were short but the rock was plenty.


Too much for recaps and I was tired as hell so I remember about a third of what happened... But we had PDB, Fishermen, Pat Todd, Roger Wallace, the Sons and Hickoids all jammed in to a Friday. The place went from mildly attended to fairly packed even though the "real" ACL crowds didn't seem to be out.


We were on after the Fishermen and had Dan up for four tunes. We did all the songs we know with him and the crowd ate him up. Smitty came out at the top of the set as an ear of corn and eventually he stripped that off... He had buckskin pants on underneath. Hickoids, keepin up the class!


I missed Saturdays show and we are back at ABGB, Friday the 13th for week two!

10/5/17

Last night had us in San Marcos at the Buzzmill.


When I showed up Pat and the Outsiders were setting up, I'd already missed Harvey... Damn.


Pat's set was great, almost all of the tunes were different than the night before. Stylistically similar but different "numbers". Mmmmm, Professionals!


Our set was short but rockin. They have a noise cutoff at 11 and we went on a little after 10. A decent amount of time, but with all of the bullshitting we do... During the first song I pulled a Davy Jones by stepping on my cords and unplugging my tuner... twice... Sigh.



We did Glorious Heroin and Half Breed/Eighteen with Frontier Dan. What a charming son of a bitch. We ended our set with Donkey Lady at lightning speed. It was more than a little unhinged.

10/4/17

It's (almost) Austin Corn Lovers Fiesta time! The true ACL weekend one officially starts Friday, but we have a couple of preview shows first.


Hickoids played at Jandro's in San Antonio last night. I'd never been there, but it's another new/cool place on St Mary's. The ever expanding street of rock.


We were last after two bands from Sweden and our buddies Pat Todd and the Rank Outsiders!!! Bring it!



I was running a little late so I thought I'd only catch one of the Swede collectives, but the night was running late... I showed up when Shady and the Vamp were two songs in. Rocking ass set. As were the Martin Savage Gang. Both bands had the core "Vamp" and then (I'm assuming) Martin Savage added in on guitar and vocals. Two sets of high energy rock and roll. A great way to start the night.


Pat was Pat. Always engaging while the Outsiders sling that no bullshit rock and roll. This was the first of three in a row we are doing with them. I'm lucky as hell sometimes. We get all of this out-of-town love in for ACL.



Speaking of, Frontier Dan is in to do his part. He is hopping up for a few songs each night with us. It's always a treat to play with that dude. The comedy runs high when Dan is around. AND he brought his Theremin!! I love it...


We finished up around the time I thought I'd be back home and in bed... No big deal, sleep will come later.

9/28/17

We did some Swishbuckling the other day. Hurricane Harvey dumped down on the Texas coast and some greasy rock and rollers had a benefit for some of the people it crapped on.


Thursday at the Paper Tiger down in San Antonio, we were in the middle slot. The crowd was ok, but it looked nonexistent in that space... Big joint, twenty people, it happens. No big deal, we gave it good.


I really got to open up the amp in that space. Lots of opportunities to let the feedback build between the guitar, amp and PA. Magical and one of the coolest thing you can do playing guitar with minimal effort!!


The Sons were last and the killed it (as usual).



You know, I think we got some Corn on the way!!

10/7/16

Late late lame



ACL Week Two

Hickoids were on earlyish at the Hole. In fact we were so early I almost missed the set! I showed up, plugged in, got a drink and we were on. GO!! Our set was decent. The crowd was nowhere near what we'd had the weekend before, seems like the big festival crowd can' make it above MLK. Oh well... We rocked it.

It was the typical two stage setup, back and fourth, bam bam bam. Meet your death was after us up front. Cool set, but Walters amp popped so he didn't sound like his usual self.

Sailor Poon was next in the back. I could barely understand what was being sung, but that didn't matter. They were great! I really liked them. As a matter of fact they have a bass player and a drummer that work pretty well together. Hmm...

Beaumonts were last and upfront. Their penises looked HUGE up on that little stage. I took off around the half way point, they were killing it and there was no reason to believe that wouldn't continue.

And that was all the ACL for me. I wasn't on the bill the next night, I was gonna go but by 9PM I was still in my underwear and I'd poured myself a whiskey so...

And AND The fellas (with Odie as my sub) are curremtly on the east coast and about to head over to Europe (bastards, without ME!!!!) Go see them! And tell em you miss RICE!!

10/1/16

ACL night two.


Hickoids were last at the White Horse. I got there just as Chrissy Flatt's new group (New Mystery Girl) was going on. Hell of a good set. For years she was doing more of a folky solo (sometimes with a band) set. Now it's a lot more rocking and I think it fits her better. Nice work lady!


Pat Todd and the Rank Outsiders were back in Austin! And of course they whipped ass. Fuck, it's really good to see, hear and play with those guys again. I can't really add much, nothing has changed since the last time we played with them. Other than all of us ageing...


Our set was a good sloppy mess. A decent chunk of the (big) festival crowd stuck around for our stupidity. They were drunk and there was still music.. why not! During one tune Lance broke his kick pedal. I kept playing till he straightened it out, a lame ass bass odyssey that shouldn't have been heard by anyone... But I had no choice. With the show going on and all.


We finished with the lights on. The crowd was quickly tossed and the night ended with a bit of a whimper...


More next week.

9/30/16

First Night of ACL. We were at the Lost Well and it was costume night. What a bunch of silly ass shit... Grannies, Fishermen so much fun.

The Shut-Ups started things off with a loud as shit set on the floor of the club. The drummer was in front of the bass and drums. I think they are a total improv group (in costumes!). At some point the drummer was on the bar with his floor tom on his head. Not balancing it there, he'd broken through the top head and was playing the sides of it with his sticks. Awesome!

I was with the Swishbucklers. We were on second and had a rocking little set. I love getting to play guitar! One of the regular 'bucklers couldn't make it so all of the lead lines were mine and I whipped the shit out of them. Through the magic of over amplified guitar, one little move can send you off to feedback heaven. Glorious. 

Fishermen and Grannies did the usual ass kicking. Nothing special, just the regular greatness.

The night went on, I left before The Upper Crust and Chasca started... Full on lameness on my part. It can't be helped.

Hickoids at the White Horse tomorrow.

10/9/15

There were four bands on the bill for the second Friday of the Corn Lovers Fiesta, the show was at ABGB and we were on third. I got there as the Surlys were going on They had a tight little set and the crowd was way in to it. I missed the first band... work is lame... time moves on.

Hickoids were next and our set was a dandy. We played mostly the "classic" Hickoid hits from way back before anyone other than Smitty was in the group and crowd was eating it up! Lot's of fast cow punk for people who were screaming for it. It's a symbiotic thing. I don't think I've ever seen that many people at ABGB before. And I know I've never see that many people at the front of the stage while a band I was playing in was there. Really impressive turnout.

Pong finished things up. Such a good band. They are still rocking the (mostly) one cord jam/modal tuns they've been know for. There were lots of smiling, ass shaking people enjoying a fucking great set! Pong!

10/3/15

It was day two of the Corn Lovers Fiesta and the evenings festivities were at the White Horse. The place was jammed with people most of the night. At some points there was a line from the door to the street, about fifty people deep. ACL really brings them in. Everyone loves that corn.

There were five bands on the bill and a whole lot of ass kicking top to bottom. I'm not even gonna get in to specifics here, I was too busy having fun to pay too much attention to anything other than the set I had to play. And getting drunk, stoned and having as much of the aforementioned fun as was possible.

We went on at midnight and it was PACKED! Packed like it usually is for the Beaumonts, but this time they were looking at Hickoids. Our set was short and punchy. I had to ask for a little extra vocal when we did Driftwood. The little bit of monitor I had for the first few songs was fine, but when I really got to "sing" I need a little clarity. Picky son of a bitch...

When the Beaumonts went up the crowd thinned a little and the line at the front was down to nothing. Lance and I snuck out when those boys from Lubbock had around fifteen minutes left. We were attempting to beat the 2AM bar closing time cluster fuck that had been leaning down on us with an ever increasing pressure. Fail. It took twenty minutes of dodging drunken morons to get five miles down I-35. Yuck.

11/15/14

This is way late because I didn't want to write it up. It was the last Hickoids show of the year and it was kinda boring and uneventful.

It was a benefit for KVRX so they could get a new transmitter and it was in the studio where they use to film Austin City Limits. In a place like that there are a bunch of load in/out regulations and parking permits and security checks but they had people helping us with the gear every step of the way. It's kind of annoying but everyone was nice and you could tell they were ready for a good show.

We were on first of three and the last band already had their gear on stage. By on I mean powered up... Silvertone tube amps from the early sixties that were "warming up" for three or four hours before their set. Someone has a lot of money for tubes. Or not... the bass amp was humming away and I couldn't find it's power switch to turn it off (it was "modified".) I'm doubting it made it through the night...

We did our sound check, waited around then rocked our set. There were only about fifty people when we played and in a space that big it looks like five. Most of them were in the bleachers so they were far, far away... in other words zzzzzzzz.

After the set it was get the gear off load out with lots of get here to wait for the security and/or elevator then get the truck load it up and go home.

The Hickoids are done for another year and it kinda ended with a whimper.

Boo.

10/11/14

ACL Week 2 Day 2

Once again the last night of the Austin Corn Lovers Fiesta was at the White Horse. I got there after Stevie T had finished and Mitch Webb was setting up. I shot the shit with Stevie and Joe Reyes (Mitch's lead player, truly one of the best guitar players in Texas) for a bit, hung out and watched some rock. Then the Hickoids were up.

We had a decent set and by the time we went on the crowd was packing in the front of the stage. They needed our love and or corn... and we gave it to them. Good.

The night want on an on. Javier Escovedo, Sean and Zander (really great work on the 12 string and bouzouki) and the incomparable Cunto! They were doing their last set with the "new" bass player. Those guys have has some shit luck keeping bass players. They also did a bunch of cool new songs (and many of the hits!)

There was a threat that we were gonna finish things off, The Beaumonts had the last spot on the bill, but Steve Vegas had a kidney stone so there was a decent chance they wouldn't make it. Apparently he loaded up on whiskey and pain pills and was driven to the show like a strung out fake country music superstar. They ended the fiesta in a blaze of spilled beer, oxy and irreverence, just like they should.