Austin, TX
October 4, 2002
~ Gregg
It all started with a wild hair… but quickly became a mission to meet new friends. Despite living in Dallas, needing to be back for a morning appointment the next day, and having plans to see RK the next night at Trees in Deep Ellum, I decided to hop in my truck and make the drive to Austin to see the band play at Antone’s.
I arrived in Austin around 9:00 PM, which was pretty good considering I didn’t leave until 5:00 and got stuck in a bit of the legendary Dallas traffic. I coordinated with Brandi to meet her and Sarah at Antone’s. Since it was still WAY before the show would begin, we found possibly the stickiest bar table in the western hemisphere and sat down for a drink or two.
For those of you who haven’t had the honor or privilege of meeting either Brandi or Sarah: you are missing out, my friends! Brandi and I are tight (and she knows how cool I think she is) but I had not yet had the opportunity to meet Sarah. What a great girl! She’s new to Austin but has adopted the local music scene as her own, has the coolest Aunt ever, and has a healthy love for RK. In fact, Brandi and Sarah took an impromptu mini-road trip down to San Marcos the night before to see RK at Cheatham Street Warehouse. Apparently, their spontaneity was well rewarded with a smokin’ show! I was a bit jealous but knew that an Antone’s show wouldn’t disappoint.
Meanwhile, over on stage right, David and his Gretsch are pumping out some of the smoothest tightest riffs through his Fulton-Webb/Marshall combo. The thing that I’ve noticed about David is how relaxed he always looks. As a frustrated/talent-less former player of the guitar and bass, I wish I had one finger’s worth of David’s talent – combine that with one shot glass worth of Willy’s soul and song writing skill and I could make a decent living playing music. Since that’s sadly not the case, I’ll gladly make every show I can to soak up the magic in the music.
"Hiram" came to the show & every time I hear it, I half expect Pink Floyd’s inflatable pig to emerge when David takes us on a screaming journey on the neck of his Strat. An old friend showed up in the form of Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues" – I still don’t know how anybody can remember all those words.
My mission was clear … REH was going to be there – as well as Jules, Tonya with an “O”, Brandi, Sarah, April (aka Texas Girl) and various others who I can’t remember (sorry y’all …). Although Tracy was going to be out of town the whole weekend, I decided to make the trip to meet new friends.
Helping soothe my disappointment was the fact that I knew that we would be meeting up with some other very, very cool folks including the infamous REH. As you may know, REH did a guest review of the Sept. 27th Satellite Lounge show in Houston for us. What you don’t know is that at the show, we spoke and REH has become the first “staff member” here at Desolation Angel. [ ed. note: Now, don't y'all go thinkin' that REH will be making big bucks. This is a "labor of love" for all of us. ~ Tracy] In the very near future, he’ll be hosting a column of … whatever he wants really (updated whenever he gets the urge). Rounding out the crew was Tonya with an “O”, Jules, a cool girl named April and her friend Ashley (friends of REH’s) and Gil and Jackie.
Jane Bond opened (again … I first saw her at Antone’s back in April) and was great. I’m constantly amazed at the power of the voice that comes out of the tiniest singer ever – her guitar might even be bigger than she is. Not only was there Jane Bond but there was also dancing – by the most patriotic man in the place. I’ll let y’all in on a little secret; I’m not a native Texan. I spent my “formative growing up years” living in Canada while my dad worked on a foreign assignment. However, I’ve now spent more time in Texas than anywhere else in my life and it’s because of guys like this that Texas has become my adopted home! GOD BLESS TEXAS!
I don’t know what it is about Antone’s but the two RK shows I’ve seen there have a vibe as distinct (albeit different) as a Gruene Hall show. It’s less “country” & more "rock" … but it’s almost as if playing at Antone’s is like a playoff game. Everybody’s a bit more keyed up and the stakes are higher. As if there were ever any doubt, I hope somebody went up and checked the roof at Antone’s after the show because this one rocked!
As mentioned before, the boys got some new toys on their summer travels. David and his new Gretsch and Willy with a new Vox amp that replaced his old Fender Deville. It must have been something in the cosmos that positioned me in line of fire of that new Vox. I have 2 words for you: It screams! I felt every note that came out of this British masterpiece of guitar amplification.
The show itself had something for everybody. Like I said, Antone’s is more rock so it’s a given that the Sopranos brought the boys on. The launch into “Baby’s Gone Blues” always gives me a chill and this was no exception. I’ve begun to find myself in a conundrum with “Desolation Angel” … I don’t know whether to throw myself into the song and emerge at the other side as if I’d just dropped a tab of musical acid or to remain on the outside where I can observe & appreciate the intricate layers of the song. In the end, I’m weak and I drop me a tab of music.
There were shots delivered to the stage, the beer cooler was refilled halfway through the show and Jay was again sporting his finest. One thing that I realized … I had always noticed but it never hit fully home … Jay is left handed – or at least he plays left handed. I always struggle to get good pictures of Jay. My digital camera is nice but I still struggle to get enough light via the flash all the way back to his kit. It was tonight that I REALLY noticed that since he plays left handed and I usually stand in front of Cody, there’s almost always a cymbal, and/or a mike obscuring his face from my perspective … I’m gonna have to figure something out about that so I can get better shots of Jay.
After the show I had to say my goodbyes pretty quickly since I had to hit the road back to Dallas. REH and I cemented the deal for his new gig here at Desolation Angel with a handshake and I hit the bricks. I had somewhere to be at 11:15 the next morning, as well as the Trees show the next night. It’s pretty amazing how quickly one can drive from Austin to Dallas when it’s between 2 and 5 in the morning. I think I made the full trip in 3 hours as I pulled into my driveway almost exactly 12 hours after I had left. Smart? Maybe not exactly... but MORE than worth it.