Pflugerville, TX
October 25, 2002
~ Tracy
Well, by now you know the brohans. You are the brohans. Of course you know all about the brohans.
Okay, you don't? Hillbilly Willy himself introduced this word over at the RK message boards. It comes from the West Coast or something. When one asks for further definition, the response is always something like "brohans is brohans is brohans." Or something. I don't even know if it's a noun or an adjective. Now, I think it is sort of like "dude", and I'm pretty sure it's positive -- much like I call all my guy friends "tools" but in a very affectionate way (you see, both Gregg and Randy are tools, but the good kind. The door guy at Billy Bob's who was all hung up on his own power trip and gave me a ration of shit about my not having my driver's license? Tool. The bad kind.).
I'd heard tons about BroHanover's, about what a great music venue it is, but I was so skeptical -- this is Pflugerville, after all. But, Gregg was coming in for one of his (now trademarked) "midnight runs", and we had lots of RK fans to hook up with -- so off we went.
He replied, "Yes. Yes." Jeff had that sort of voice that's bigger than him, that makes you look again because you can't figure out how that sound is coming out of that relatively normally-sized person.
Some highlights: It was nice to hear “Alice White” live – that one almost never makes the set list. Also, that night was David’s birthday; it was fun to watch everyone sing “Happy Birthday” to him, because usually when he’s the center of attention, he has the guitar in his hands, not a drink.
I thought the best part of the show was definitely the encore, when Micky and Gary Braun joined RK on stage and helped out with “Copperhead Road.” It reminded me of the MoMo’s Monday nights last spring, when RK and M&tM would play together. With Micky and the boys on a new “play five or six gigs a week” schedule (hmmm, sound familiar?), and RK going all big and famous on us soon,
After the show I met up with Cameron to get these photos, and then it was trying to get Gregg out the door so we could get on the road to Dallas (because, you know, it was only 2:00 in the morning). This was like herding cats, really – he had to stop and chat with every person in the bar [ ed. note: Some of my chatting was actually useful ... I chatted with Jules and got a bunch of new pictures for our gallery. ~ Gregg]. But get on the road we did, making it back to Dallas in barely enough time to take naps and rest up for the Billy Bob’s show on Saturday. It’s a full-time commitment, people, this being a Reckless Kelly fan – if by “committed” one means “crazy,” of course.
Long story short, this "brohans" thing is all over the place now. And in a fit of pique, I christened the bar in Pflugerville "BroHanover's". I probably shouldn't have been re-naming the place before I'd even been there, n'est-ce pas?
I couldn't believe the crowd -- at 8:00 pm, no less! But, as someone pointed out later, if you are in far north Austin, or Pflugerville, Temple, Georgetown, etc., and you don't want to drive downtown, Hanover's is about your only option. Logically it follows that it's so easy for them to get good music out there, if they can always pack the house. The place is sort of laid out like Blanco's in Houston: long bar across the back of the house, seating in a U-shape around the stage/dance floor. What BroHanover's has that Blanco's doesn't is a completely amazing biergarten. The patio was open for smokers and those who wanted fresh air (sounds oxymoronic, doesn't it?), which very few used since it was rainy and very cold -- but from the patio you could see the huge stage, all the picnic tables and the horseshoes, the grassy bits where squids could run around and cavort, the booths for the beer wenches (whoops, I mean servers, got a little wrapped up in my biergarten fantasy).
The opening band was already on when we arrived, and they rocked. Jeff Haney was the singer's name, and I turned to G. and said, "who does he remind me of? Kenny Wayne Shepherd? Jonny Lang?"
We ran into Gil, Jackie and Laurie right away, and soon after saw Denean & met her brother who was also celebrating a birthday (more birthday talk later). Anne, Sarah, Brandi and Jules came a little later, and we also got to visit with Jenni & Donnie and friends of theirs. It was a full house of the “regular” fans – Jay’s brother was even down for the weekend from way up north somewhere.
Now, I hate to ever say anything even the tiniest bit negative about the boys, but when their set finally started up, I’ll admit I thought it was a little off. In the first couple of songs, there was something that I couldn’t put my finger on that seemed a little rougher around the edges than we are used to performance-wise. But, whatever the kink was, it was worked out by "Walk Out Now". After that, my only complaint was that it took so freakin’ long to get a drink at the bar.
I have a feeling we won’t see many nights too often when the four brothers are all on the same stage.