8/16/19

We played Marseilles the other day in this tiny club called La Salle Gueule. It a two level club that can’t be more than 800 square feet total and that includes the toilet and stairs. The shows are down in the basement, a windowless cave that is a sweat factory as soon as six people are in it. I had a sport-coat on...

We were last on a bill of three. First off was a trio of folks from Russia!!  I wish I could remember their name (not that I could spell it if I did....) they were down here on holiday and were added to the bill last minute. Did some really nice noise rock I was digging hard. At least for the three songs I saw... sweaty in that jacket. 

The Dirtees were next. Apparently they lost their drummer a while back and they’ve been playing with a drum machine for the last month. It wworked! Rockin stuff with a lot of energy. But I was able to make it for three tunes. 

We went up and it was pretty crowded. We had a great set. The crowd was really into it. At the end the floor was soaked with sweat. The humidity in the room must have been 90%. I was drenched through. I went outside and took off my shirt to cool down. When My body dried off I put it back on and was freezing. After we watched a dozen or so rats running around the street. Huge fuckers that did not care. Marseilles!

8/15/19

Yesterday was pretty much a day off. We drove from Bilbao us to Toulouse in France to hang with our buddy Misty White. And by “we drove” I mean our driver Flo did the driving. He’s a really cool guy that grew up in Columbia and moved to Europe twentyish years ago for work. We are lucky to have him. 

So we end up at Misty’s place and hang for a bit.  She had contacted the local radio station about having us on to play. And even though we don’t have a show here they had us on!!

99.2 Radio Canal Sud has a nice little studio and they were playing lots of good rock and roll before it was our turn. Did three tunes sitting around a desk. It was pretty frenetic but fun. Good day off!

8/14/19

In Bilbao last night. It was just the Hickoids on the bill at Shake!  A cool little club just across the river from the old town. 

So this is vacation season in Spain (and France) we had some trouble getting stuff booked because a lot of places shut down for the break. That’s why the Rock Beer in Santander did their remodel. Anyway the guy that runs Shake(!) opened the club just to host us and see the show. It was a little hard coming on this tour thinking we were gonna have a lot of time off. But we are all booked up we are finding there are a bunch of folks that really want to see us. Hell yeah!!

The stage was tiny so Smitty and I were down on the floor. That leads to a little more messing around with the crowd than we usually get to do. I was right beside the path to the bathroom so there was a “tax” on using the toilet. Dealing with a goofball bass player. 

By the end the crowd still wanted more. We gave them an encore. I think we could have given them everything we had and it wouldn’t be enough. Yeah!

8/13/19

Only the hicks played last night in Santander. We were at the Rock-Beer. The New (or The New Rock-Beer..)  either way it was a cool joint and they just put it back together before we got three. A whole remodel apparently. 

And I’m kinda lying... the pa was not together at all. We were up there for 45 minutes waiting to start while they figured it out!!! Longest. Soundcheck. Ever. Literally dudes sliding under the stage trying to get it going the whole time. You could tell they were frustrated but tenacious as hell!

Eventually we got there and started playing.  Just like the club it took us awhile to get going...  little sluggish out of the gate but we got there.  The twenty or so folks were right up in the front and having a blast!  Made all the work worth it!

8/12/19

Had a double up last night in Zaragoza. We were at La Boveda, a club that’s beneath a hostel near the square. In 1470 it was a jail!!  Really cool room. Nothing but exposed brick and a curve ceiling. toy don’t find this kind of place in Central Texas.  

Good crown of 20-30 folks were there to see it. We went on as the trio first. I finally learned the right bass line on one of the tunes.... been playing it wrong the whole time. The crowd seemed to like the set. There are videos of it up on the Internet already. 

Hickoids set was pretty solid the stage was kinda small so I spent a lot of time on the floor. And when we did the breakdown in “Truck” I went and sat with a couple on a couch.  I’d stand up when the dynamics got high but I was back on my ass when we went back to the quiet. 

8/11/19

Last night of the fest. We were in Grazalima and we were last on the bill.  It was another beautiful town. We played near the top in a plaza that was setup for all kinds of performances. It had an unreal view, looked like the locals came up for a nightly peek   

Maf E Tula and Jake Levinson were on with us again. After playing with them for four days straight I’m really gonna miss them. Maf’s tunes are amazing. I have no idea what she is singing about but I love it. And the dudes backing her do everything they can to push her up so she can kill it. 

Our set was good. Not nearly as many folks as the night before, it’s a way smaller town but the folks that were there were in to it and we gave them the good stuff. 

8/10/19

Day three and this is why we came. Killed it. We were set up correctly from the beginning, middle slot a crowd of a few hundred folks who were ready for a good time at an unbelievably beautiful venue in Ronda. 

The stage backed up to the edge of a cliff that overlooked rolling hills and farms. We played in a postcard. No joke. At some point a wedding party walked by.... picturesque does not come close to describing it 

Early in our set I walked up to the edge of the stage and started yelling “come closer!” And they did. We could all feel it. These folks were ready for us and we have it to them. Amazing night.