10/31/21

 Harvey band on the day before Halloween at the Lighthouse!

We did it up good for all the costumed folks. There were some sexy devils and a dude with an awesome Ghost Rider outfit but one dude was Dr Mantis Toboggan and it was the funniest fucking thing I’ve seen in a long time. He even had the look in his face. Amazing. 

We dressed up, I did my regular dumb yachting dick costume. Chad had these messed up contacts in, every time I looked at him I was thrown. Awesome. Joseph was a squid game dude and had his face was covered the whole time. Harvey kinda looked like the hamburglar, I don’t know what he was trying for…   Andrea was the hands down winner. She went as Harvey and she nailed it. The wig, the fake mustache, perfection. 

The gig was pretty good. They had Joseph’s keys way wayyyy loud  in the pa it really threw me at first. Sound guy even came over and yelled “turn it down!” at me    I did and there was no change in the bass volume…. Ahem. 

Anyway we got it sorted and had a really fun night. All that counts!

11/30/17

We Swished it in San Antonio the other night. Played at an art opening at a place called The Brick. It's in a formerly industrial part of town right across the street from the Pioneer Flower company. And it's all been gentrified.


The gallery was cool as hell. It was a unicorn themed show and a bunch of people were showing and their was a costume contest so loads of folks dressed up as unicorns. Pretty cool stuff.


I was sick as hell. Coming down from a nasty cold/flu hybrid that had been (and still is) kicking my ass. At the end of the set both Lance and Tom asked me how I thought we did, "I have no clue"... Poor sick boy. They both said we had a good show. I guess I believe them.



Pocket Fishermen went on after us. I loaded out and went home to bed.

1/5/17

Free week in San Antonio. Lots of clubs with lots of bands and it was all free!!!!
At this point, I don't know if we got paid so it really could be free ignoring the two drinks got and the gas I used...


We were on at 11 at the Paper Tiger. I think we were third of four. That place was cold as hell. The barn doors were closed, but they don't really have any heating in there. Originally it was a garage, no fixing it. I love it in the summer!


A decent amount of people we there when we went on. Our set was pretty good. I kept the coat on for the first few cause I was freezing. I screwed up a bunch. I'm still figuring out that new bass. At times it sounds amazing, then my hand moves position a little and it starts sounding wrong. I'll figure it out in a few shows.


More tomorrow.

8/27/15

Hickoids were first on a bill of three last night in San Antonio. We played a new(ish) club called Paper Tiger. It was the White Rabbit a few years ago and it's right across the street from the Mix. I got there early and a couple of the guys from the club came out and helped me load in, Damn!

The stage is big and I was told they installed a new bank of monitors earlier that day. This place is nice. SA has a lot of money coming in. People finally figured out that San Antonio is a cool, cheap place to live. For the time being...

The rest of the guys showed up and we sound checked. About a half hour before we started the sound guy asked me how I wanted our mix to sound. Uhhh, what?

"Do you want the guitars on the left to come out on the right so it sounds like stereo? Or do you want it balanced across the front?" I was poleaxed. Never has a sound guy asked me that, NEVER! I didn't know what to say, but I opted for balanced across the front, but it might be cool the other way.

We played our set. It was decent. The crowd was light and in between songs they were silent. I mentioned all the quiet was gonna sound great on the live recording... It got the laugh I expected.

We finished, they fed us some pizza! I loaded up and headed home right after and made it home before midnight.

6/21/15

Damn! I totally forgot about this one...

The Ladies and I drove down to SA to play at one of the best clubs, the Mix on one of the worst nights of the week, Sunday. A 10PM start time almost guarantees light attendance unless you are a big road band. We are not... But the turnout was surprisingly good. A number of friends made it out to support our foolishness. 

We tried out a "new" cover, "Papa Was A Rolling Stone". I jumped on bass while BC played her French Horn. No joke. The general concept of a stripped down "Papa" has been floating around in my head for years. I'm happy we finally made it a reality. We busted our asses getting it right in rehearsal and we did a nice job of it at the show, but when we finished... Silence... Ouch. It's not dead, but that hurt.

Western Star finished up the night. All of the Ladies had already taken off but I stuck around to watch them whip it. The Mix is a really great club for rockin. And they did.

Short drive home and I was in bed by 4. Not bad.

5/22/15

There was barely any traffic on the drive to San Antonio. I made it to Hi Tones in no time. Chief Fuzzer was on (you could call them three-fifths of the Beaumonts.) I caught five tunes and I dug the hell out of it. I love being impressed in new ways by people I already like.

The Grannies were up next! That's right, Grannies! They played their first show of this Texas stint Thursday at the Triple Crown. I missed that one because I knew I'd see the next three. They did a bunch of stuff they played with us over in Europe a couple of years ago. I love shouting "Meet me at the corner, the corner of fuck and you." Makes me feel like a real tough guy...

Those Goddamn Beaumonts were next. At this point the amount of gear that was being moved around was ridiculous. Chief Fuzzer had a guitar amp, drum kit and the bass rig for the night on stage. The Grannies went on and they moved the guitar amp and drum kit and moved another drum kit and two guitar amps on to the stage. When the Beaumonts went up they moved both the guitar amps and the drum kit then set up two other guitar amps, a drum kit, the steel rig and then put the bass amp to the other side of the stage. When the Hickoids went on we moved the steel rig, drum kit and one guitar amp off the stage and put two guitar amps and a drum kit back on to the stage.

We left the fucking bass amp where it was, there was already too much gear moving going on. Thank the lord I don't believe in the Ladies weren't playing. If another drum kit was moved around I'd...

Beaumonts kicked it in their usual fashion and we did the same right after. We finished the set after the lights came on and they started booting people out immediately. No talking, no handshaking, just go. I said a couple of quick goodbys and headed home.

We've got two more days of these shows coming up including Plaidstock! More to come!

8/10/14

I made the drive solo to the South Texas Popular Culture center. It was a quick, hot drive. Like really hot, like middle of the summer in Texas on the asphalt hot. It was hot. I hit the door with ten minutes to spare. Apparently we are going on sooner than I realized... Ahem... Well I made it!

Today kicked ass. It brings up the question "why couldn't this show be filmed?" A small sweaty room packed with people who want to rock and roll and have a good time. THAT'S the kinda place where we need cameras! But there weren't any and if there were we would probably just fuck it up anyway. It just as well we played and people liked it and only pictures were taken.

This was a benefit for Davy who is still out of commission (and will be for some time) there was a little over $2000 raised for him to cover the huge medical bills he is facing. It's good we could help with a little chunk of it.

The current version of the Hickoids is rocking along nicely. After one practice and five shows we sound like a coherent band. Everything is different without Jones (duh). None of the intros are the same and (obviously) the tone and the playing is "off". But Cody kicks ass and Tom has really stepped it up. Lance and I are awesome (no bragging... well...) And Smitty... still puts a smelly ass (and smelly from ass) microphone in my face. People like it.

5/2/14

Last night it was the Hickoids in San Antonio at Hi-tones, we were in the middle slot between Fea and Pinata Protest. The Protest were doing a secret show and the secret was out, big time.

I showed up about a minute before Fea went on, loaded in and had to park a few blocks away. The place was PACKED, I tried to get inside for a beer and to watch the band, but I could barely get in the door! So I just stood outside with the rest of the fellas.

Fea finished up and people were pouring out of the club. I ran in and scored a couple of beers and got setup. My gear went on the floor. The stage is too small for the five of us and all of our crap. I spent a couple of tunes just standing on the floor by my rig. If I wasn't singing I wasn't gonna keep bumping in to Tom for no reason.

One of my favorite drunks of the night was standing right in the front and he was holding three opened Lone Star tallboys. He was wearing a backpack and you could tell he was camped out for the Protest. But he was so drunk he could barely stand. He was basically on the edge of passing out and I could see him slowly getting a little more "relaxed" and he'd start to slip in to unconsciousness but he'd catch himself right on the edge, just before he was out. Every time he did it he would squeeze the tallboy cans and beer would shower up on him, everything and everyone around him. He did it four or five times during our forty five minute set. Pretty funny stuff.

I don't know how he "thought" he was gonna keep his spot, after three tallboys (and whatever else he had to drink) he'd have to be some kind of a piss-camel to make it to the end of our set and then through another hour and a half of gear moving and Protest rocking. Then again he squeezed eighty percent of his beer out before it got in to his mouth so pissing may not have been much of an issue.

We finish up and load the Freak for this weekend's shows while the main event loaded in. The place was razor blade packed. Crowbar packed. Sardine packed. The place was... packed! The Protest got up and started to whip it, there was no way I was gonna get back in so I took off and headed home. Kinda anticlimactic, but that was my night

2/23/14

Another Hickoids show in San Antonio. It was a benefit and we were going on nice and early at 1:30 in the afternoon. I made it to the Pop Culture Museum (just like in Austin, it's next to a Planet K) with just my bass and cords and I was set up in seconds. Gotta love a back line.

My old pal Eddie was running the turntables and playing some sweet ass Latin rock (ever heard of El Chicano? Bad ass stuff) as we milled around before starting time. 1:30 rolled around and we were off!

The crowd doubled in our first couple of tunes and it doubled again by the end of our set. By the time I was leaving it looked like even more folks were piling in! A very good sign for a benefit.

 We played pretty well for that early in the day and the only thing that was a little screwy was a nasty room node that would pop up and get multiplied by the PA. It was an A and since three of the nine songs we played were in A those tunes were a little lost in the swamp. No big deal, that kinda crap happens all the time and you just play through it.

I took off right after Sexto Sol went on (Eddie's band). Things looked promising for a kick ass set, but I had a rehersal back in Austin, so I was gone!

2/8/04

It was an easy drive to San Antonio, traffic wasn't too bad and I was parked behind the Mix in no time. There was some sharing of gear so I only needed to bring my bass and some cables. Easy!

I got there and the Hormones had about four songs left. Tom was (is?) playing bass with them and this was his first show. I thought it sounded pretty good from the outside. According to Tom I heard the best part of the set, I think he said "The first part was shitty". I'll have to take his word on that.

Next up was our old friends the Guillotines. They now have THREE guitar players with THREE Marshall half stacks!  Talk about a load of sound, they were supersonic.

We were last. The side of the "stage" (there is no stage, you stand on the floor at the Mix) we were on had the stickiest goddamn floor in the world (only a little hyperbole here). Tom and I were leaving chunks of shoe behind. I tried to spend most of the set in front of Lance and away from the glue trap floor, but every time I sang I had one food stuck...

I survived the set/floor, helped with the load out (after all I brought barely anything) and made the drive back home. An easy Saturday night.

9/28/13

Hickoids at Hi-Tones in SA. The weather was awful. It was raining so hard on the way down I stopped for a half hour just to get out of the mess. It took two and a half hours to make it to the club, double the normal time. Nasty drive.

The opener flaked out. Smitty had asked me to do a little solo set and I was up for it even though I knew it wouldn't be as fun as playing with the Ladies. I was the last one to the club and when I was loading in Smitty said Hickoids were going to play long, no solo Rice... No big deal. I can play one show and be ok with it.

We played a very loose two and a half hour set straight through. Not in the Springsteen knock them out bam bam bam way, more in the old men bumbling through two and a half hours of music kinda way. It was a pretty good/sloppy set. I'd really prefer two sets with tight (or tighter) spacing between songs. That way the break is all at once and not spaced throughout, three to four minutes at a time... Very annoying. Just this one man's opinion.

We finish, load and head off to the interstate towards home.

The rain was really coming down. I was going thirty miles an hour for long stretches and people were still driving like assholes. I made it to the Buc-ee's at Canyon Lake and filled up. When I finished Lance pulled up next to me. We went inside and grabbed some snacks and looked for a place to hang out. There is zero seating at the Buc-ee's (other than the toilet)... they DON"T want you to stay. You can fill up, take a crap and get some snacks, but then it's time to get the hell out... of Buc-ee's.

I made it back to my truck and drove to a secluded part of the parking lot, got stoned and napped for a bit then I finished the drive home.

Long night.

ACL next!

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.

8/15/13

It was night one of the "Hairy Chafin Ape Suit" record release weekend, at everyone's favorite San Antonio club, The Mix.

I got there around 10:30 and Lance was playing drums for Misty White! Pleasant surprise for me and him. She asked him right before she went on. They rocked through a half hour and the In and Outlaws were up.

Always good, always solid. And an upright bass in a bar like that is an awesome thing to see/hear. Hell of a set.

We were last and we tore through it like a group of relatively young men. Lots of good, explosive rocking. We is mega Hickoids...

Finished the set around two, loaded up and made the drive home.

Just north of San Marcos, on the left side of I-35, I saw three cop cars surrounding a car that had spun around the wrong way. There was a girl in a dress with handcuffs on standing there with her head hanging down. Rough way to end your night.

Three Show Wrap-up

I'm late by three shows... Lame Lame Lame...

How can I improve this? By stepping up the lame a little more with a THREE SHOW POST!!

#1

Hickoids in Dallas. We were up to play a scooter/motorcycle fest at Lee Harvey's. We hadn't been back from Europe for a week and we made the drive. Well, I made the drive back and flew up (!) rock star style. Money to burn....

Good, happy crowd. They liked us a bunch and we were still pretty tight (but tired) from the tour.

Near the end of our set most of the bikes started peeling out and the smell of burnt rubber was making me think an amp was on fire. Then ALL of the bikes started up and it smelled like Midland. It was real hard to breathe, but we made it to the end.

We hit the Czech Stop on the way home!

#2

David Nobody benefit at the Longbranch. David fucked up his hand in a nasty way right before SXSW this year. Like most Austin musicians (like me) he had no insurance. So we benefit.

We were right before Churchwood (awesome as always) and after a stripped down Shootin pains (dandy work, fellas). I love the shit out of the sound of an acoustic through a tube amp.

We kicked ass. Still high off the tour it would have been hard for us to mess up.

#3

Two days later at the Mix. Stevie Tombstone was out for a few dates and the night was him solo and us. He did about 45 minutes and we did an hour and a half. It was a long slow build and by the end we were in full on rage mode.

They close the smoking deck at last call so the last fifteen minutes the place was packed and we were on fire. Lots of good, happy, drunk folks with nowhere else to go. Hickiod putty!

1/5/13

Hickoids Vs Sex Pistols

We were asked to "be" the Sex Pistols at a show celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Pistols SA show at Randy's Roadhouse. We worked a dozen songs up for about a month. Mostly hits from the "Bollocks" album and two B-sides.

Generally it's a lot of fun to learn a new set. At home I have a binder full of notes from various bands I played in/ subbed for. I take a certain amount of pride in being able to learn a set and being able to play it, with a decent level of skill in very little time. These notes cover a bunch bands including Bigfoot Chester, South Filthy, a couple of pages from when I first joined the Hickoids and four from when I joined the Ideals (Jones was workin my ass off).  I've not only gotten good at reading them on stage, but I can get "off the page" pretty quick as well.

Then there was this Sex Pistols set.

I've liked the Pistols at various points in my life. I know they are supposed to be angry punks but the songs sounded dumb and fun to me. They always got a little abrasive at some point so I'd listen for a while them put them away for a couple of years. We start learning them and they start invading my head. I'd be walking around the house and suddenly I'm singing "Fuck this and Fuck that..." It's pretty normal behavior when your submerging yourself in new material. 

And then during the next week it started to multiply. More and more every day until the Pistols had taken over my brain.

Before our last rehearsal I had rewritten my notes to make them easier to read and I was thinking I'd play them twice more (one at rehearsal and once for the show) and that would be it. It was a good plan until we hit "Liar" and I realized I'd left out a couple of parts in the rewrite... I am an idiot. I went home, grabbed the cd and straightened out my notes. I even hit them again the next night.

When I got to the club (Backstage Live!) I realized this was it! I only have to play them once more and I'd be finished forever!

We set up and get going. We are actually holding our own and not screwing up too much. The crowd is on fire. A pile of people screaming the lyrics and jumping around. Beer cans were tossed and beer cans were crushed and we kept playing.  Pretty soon I turn to my second page of notes and I'm ecstatic. Five more songs and it's over. We play three and we are told "One more"! It was a midnight call from the governor.  Saving me from two minutes of extended peril. Thank you soundman!

I think I'm finished with the pistols for a while. I've grown some appreciation for the songs. A few of them are fairly complex, especially for "punk" rock, but since I didn't get to put them down when I was tired of it. I'll be taking an extended break from them.

Breakdown

Zero free beer. Pretty lame considering how many people were there. We should have gotten something for learning all of that shit.

Transportation Breakdown

This is a blow by blow account of what happened on the last Hickoids tour. It won't be a pretty read because it wasn't pretty to live.

According to Smitty it all started after I told him my flight out of Austin was running 15 minutes late. The rest of the Hickoids stayed in Houston after THIS, the night before while I drove home to work Saturday morning. They were planning on picking me up in the Freak Van from the New Orleans airport a little after I landed.

I get on the plane and just as I was shutting off my phone I got a text from Lance "Serious van problems between Lake Charles and Lafayette." Shit. I finish shutting down and we fly to Houston. I turn it back on and get a couple of messages saying things were looking up. They were in Welsh LA and there was a guy helping with the Freak and they should make it to NO before showtime. It was right about then the SWA attendants told us we were switching planes because the one we were on wasn't big enough for all the passengers... So I jump to the other plane and get some updates and head to NO.

We land and I'm told the Freak won't be making the trip. Manny (the mechanic in Welsh) couldn't get the parts to fix it in time, but he was kind enough to drive Smitty to Lafayette to rent a mini van. They piled all the gear that would fit and headed east. The plan was to meet them at the club.

I took a cab to the hotel. Well, I tried...  We get on the interstate and every lane of traffic is backed up. 45 minutes later we are approaching downtown and there is another problem. This weekended is the "Soul Bowl" and all of downtown New Orleans is packed. He gives me directions to the club (for later) and drops me as close as he can to Canal St and I walk the rest. No big deal.

Get to the room, play a bit at the casino and head to the show. The cab driver told me the club was in the French Quarter, it isn't. But it's not too far away according to the map on the phone. I'm getting closer and I walk by this building that's a Po Boy shop. I remember it from the last time we played here because someone had gotten shot outside... And now I'm walking by it...

Nothing happens and in a couple of blocks I find the club and then THIS. Siberia closes and Smitty and I hit the hotel/casino and the other fellas stay with Jimmy Bradshaw. We meet up the next morning and drive the mini van to Lafayette. It took us a little over four hours to make the trip. Under normal conditions this should take an hour and a half. Not today.

After a boat load of deliberation we decided to pick up a Uhaul and use it to follow the the Freak back to SA. The mini van would have been another $600 to get us there and if the Freak dies the rest of our gear will be stuck on the side of a Louisiana highway. Bad move. We get the Uhaul and take the mini van to the Lafayette airport and drop it off.

There are only three seats in the front of the Uhaul and five Hickoids. Jones and I take the back. It was about an hour to Welsh and fortunately there was a light on in the back of the box. Jones and I talked, smoked and slept most of the way. Not horrible. I was thankful for "my superpower". It really comes in handy at times like this.

 We stop and they open the back and I meet Manny. He says it's the head gasket and he couldn't fix it, but he did what he could. To make the Freak lighter we loaded all the rest of the gear into the Uhaul. Tom and Lance drive it. Smitty, Davy and I in the Freak. It starts up and sounds like all hell IS breaking loose. Like a thousand paint cans stuck in an earthquake. I knew then it wasn't gonna make it.

We hit the road and the check engine light is on. We pull on the ramp to I-10 and the oil light comes on. Then this incredible cacophony comes from the engine. After a hundred yards it comes to a simmer and then rages up to a boil until the engine seized.

The Freak is dead.

We get the remaining stuff (mostly crap and tools) out of the van and say goodbye to the Freak forever, leaving it on the side of I-10.

Davy and I head back to our places in the box and because the third seat is tiny Tom joins us in the back. There is barely any room with all of the gear so Tom takes the "Mom's attic" portion right over the cab. He said it's been a childhood dream to ride up there.

From here on it was pretty uneventful. We stopped a couple of times and made lots of jokes about being smuggled across state lines. Eventually we made it back to SA and unloaded what we could in to Davy and Lance's cars (the rest went in Smitty's house) and we made it  home to Austin after fourteen hours of driving.

It was stupid and exhausting and we missed the show were were supposed to play in Lafayette, but we all made it home. A little sore and tired, but we made it home safe.

11/16/12

Davy and I made the drive to SA to knock out some backing vocals for the new Hickoids record. Joe Trevino is an absolutely amazing engineer. It isn't all about owning all the right equipment and knowing how to mic things up. It's mostly about having patience and looking/waiting for the right performance. Jones and I were there for a little more than two hours and over that time I heard him say "Don't worry about it brother, we are getting there" a dozen or so times. Saint like patience. Beautiful.

It was pretty cool actually hearing some of Smitty's lyrics I've never heard before. Generally it's way too loud (and I'm too busy) to understand anything he is singing. In the studio you can hear every word and he had me cracking up several times. I've been on the other side of the fence for most of my life. With the Ladies (and previous incarnations of my act) I'm the songwriter so I know what I'm saying and I've had my band mates say "Oh, that's what that songs about..." This time, that was me. Perspective!

10/27-28/12‏

I love recording. Even when I'm not the one tracking I love being in the studio and around the process. Working with Joe Trevino at Blue Cat Studios in San Antonio makes it even better.

The Hickoids are rerecording the "Hairy Chafin' Ape Suit" EP we put out a couple of years ago. It will have a few more songs and already sounds a WORLD better than the last try. Joe has no small part in that. It isn't just his ears, the gear or the room. It's Joe who knows ALL of that stuff like the back of his hand to the point where he doesn't even think about it. He is solely concentrating on the performance and extracting the best one possible out of the people in the room. The ladies and I really need to get in there.

We cut most of the stuff live with a few overdubs and punches where a part wouldn't work. A lot of studios try to isolate things as much as possible. With us Joe kept saying "Bleed is good!" You will hear mistakes on this one, just like it should be. It's a record made by a band, not some artistic piece of glory perfected. There are still some backing vocals Davy and I need to lay down, but we are very close to having a new one in the can. It was a pretty easy couple of days considering how much work was involved.

We did an electronic (I am not kidding) version of Cool Arrow. When I finished laying down the bass line Smitty said "Hey this mechanical bear band just called, they need a new bass player." I quickly let the "fuck you" fly and then I heard the track... Apparently they do eighteen shows a day and they have dental after six months, so...

Recording

Hickoids at Blue Cat with Joe Trevino

7/25/12

This is the way to "tour". Granted you never get too far, but it sure is nice sleeping at home when your "on the road". Two days away from home for a five day tour is a pretty sweet deal.

First night at Nightrocker's in San Antonio. Hickoids played with the Limes from Memphis and The Hares from SA. It was a nice night musically and a decent turnout for a Wednesday. After our set we loaded up the Freak with all the gear and I drove it up to Austin so everything would be set for our second "tour" date, tonight in Austin...

Breakdown

Two beer tickets, this time it was fine since I was driving the Freak home and didn't need to be pounding them down...  It's the exact opposite of driving home as Davy's passenger. Then I like to guzzle beers AND liquor so I don't pay attention to the road. It's a self preservation thing.

For these shows we are playing as a six piece. Lutz is with us for the whole time and that means his entire pile of gear comes with us. Two guitars, a pedal steel, a keyboard, an effects rack as big as the steels case, a Fender twin and a keyboard stand. He travels with five hundred pounds of gear at a minimum. And it's in the back of the van with two other half stacks, my bass rig, drums, various guitars and the merch. Packed!

The freak did fine on the drive home but it will be interesting to see what happens when five more Hickoids are on board.