Lakeside Tavern Waco, TX - April 27, 2003 ~ Gregg No matter what Mapquest.com says, you have to turn left onto Airport Road to get to Lakeside Tavern. Not only did we have minor navigational issues, but the name is slightly misleading as it’s not exactly on the lake. In reality, it’s sorta near a lake but not with any real view -- but I think I’m getting ahead of myself. In advance of a busy upcoming week, I spent a gorgeous North Texas spring weekend piddling about the house, running errands, and doing all the things that just don’t get done during the week. I had hoped to finish so I could take a quick trip to Waco to catch the Sunday afternoon show at the Lakeside Tavern, and sure enough things worked out. I spoke with the lovely April and she was up for joining me, as was her friend Brandi. I picked them up and down I-35 we went to the exotic metropolis of Waco. I’ve decided that shows within 90 minutes of Dallas are reasonable for school night attendance, and Waco is right there at an hour and a half. When the friendly folks who answered the phone at the Lakeside Tavern said that the music would be starting at 5:00 PM, I was sold. Opening band at 5:00, RK at 6:00-ish. They’ll probably play 2 hours or so and I’ll be on the road by 8:30 or so, and home sometime right around 10:00 (more later on how this didn’t exactly go as planned). Chatting with April and Brandi made the miles fly by on the way down, and soon enough we were following Mapquest’s seemingly easy directions through town. All was well till we turned right at the four-way stop like the map said; we realized quickly something was wrong but a phone call to the bar straightened things out. We pulled into the drive at the Lakeside Tavern just around 4:30 -- right on schedule (or so I thought).

As I might have mentioned, the Tavern is not exactly Lakeside. In fact, it's not really a tavern, but a straight-up, no-frills bar. We were in front of a short rectangular building built of concrete cinder blocks, much more function than form. Exchanging a couple of double-takes, we decided we must be at the right place (and the sign & RK’s trailer helped), so we made our way to the front door (very welcoming and festive in its array of iron mesh). I felt like Pee Wee Herman in his big adventure, and wondered if I'd be forced to sing "Tequila" inside. We took a collective deep breath and went in, where fear for our safety was promptly erased. A friendly gentleman took our cover and stamped our hands with the greatest “Yes, I am in fact 21 or over” stamp I’ve ever seen -- it said “BULLSHIT” in big bold letters. Although we were no longer concerned for our lives, we did wonder where everybody was. It looked like the show would be outside in back, so we hit the bar first to enjoy a beer in the A/C. It seemed Willy and Cody had the same idea but first, so the five of us chatted there while the bartender got the drinks. Turns out the Lakeside Tavern staff was mixed up - RK won’t be going on until 7:30. Damn - nothing left to do but to wait and drink! The inside of the place was just as utilitarian as the outside, and about the size of a four-car garage. A jukebox, Golden Tee, pool table and TVs offered entertainment, and the NASCAR promotional materials topped off the decor - this was no fern bar designed for ambience, Itellyouwhut.

April and Brandi wandered off to inspect and feed the jukebox so I fended for myself. Kirk (the road mangler) and the rest of the band had ventured off into Waco to round up some dinner, leaving Willy and Cody behind with Will, who handles the merchandise sales. I spent the next couple of hours hanging out with the three of them (I suppose to be authentic, I'd have to say we were "shootin' tha shit.") The topics covered were diverse, to say the least -- for example, I learned of Willy’s appreciation for the wisdom of Forrest Gump’s "box of chocolates" metaphor. It was typical guy bullshitting, and of course those who weren’t there to defend themselves were mercilessly ripped on. I couldn't help but wonder if somewhere in Waco, Jay Nazz suddenly began to rub his burning ears. It seemed the ol' Lakeside was having some plumbing issues, as the men’s room was out of commission, leaving us guys with the Porta-Pots out back. Willy and Will went to inspect the new accommodations. If I can offer a word of advice now: if you're sitting with Cody Braun and he asks nonchalantly, “How’re you at Golden Tee?”, don’t be fooled by his answer of “Oh, my game sucks too." You are about to be hustled, my friend. Fortunately for me, we didn’t put any money on it -- but I got schooled all the same. After the first hole I was only down one stroke but it was all downhill from there. My Golden Tee game actually resembles my real golf game and I found myself behind by somewhere around 15 strokes after just 9 holes, when Cody had to get set up for the show. Appropriately humbled, I was thankful for the reprieve. Final score after 9 holes: Cody +1, Gregg +17. April and Brandi turned up again, and we found a spot in the backyard, in the shade of the setting sun. Adhering to the unwritten concert etiquette of “a healthy distance from the stage unless it’s packed to the rafters,” the crowd was scattered around the “backyard” of the Lakeside Tavern like somebody was having a weekend barbecue. A brand-spanking-new deck of a stage had been built in one corner of the yard to allow for easy load-in -- but it strangely resembled a corral... there was even a rail along the front of the deck.

I couldn’t stay in my seat long, as we were fairly far back and my compulsive need to shoot as many pictures as possible soon took over. I felt a bit strange being the only person standing up that close, but I found a tree to lean against so I wouldn’t block anybody’s view. The show opened with "Baby’s Gone Blues" but without the "Sopranos" walk-on - I can’t remember the last time I heard it that way but nonetheless, a great opening. From reh and Tracy, I’d heard about some new covers the band had worked up, and was looking forward to them. Don’t get me wrong, an RK original can't be replaced – but when the boys do a cover, they take a great song and give it a special treatment. I was anxious to hear “Revolution”, “Drown”, “Castanets” & “Helter Skelter”. Knowing the significance of the Beatles' influence on the brothers Braun, “Revolution” and “Helter Skelter” are apropos of everything. “Helter Skelter” didn't make it in the set for this show, but “Revolution” shone as the grand finale in the encore.

One of the seminal members of the band Son Volt was Jay Farrar, who wrote “Drown” (on the must-have album Trace) (the other was Jeff Tweedy who went on to form Wilco). Also on Trace is “Windfall”, which RK occasionally covers, with Cody on lead vocals --so I was already expecting him to sing "Drown". What I didn’t expect was being able to close my eyes and hear Jay Farrar but with Reckless Kelly backing him. For a few minutes, there was a cosmic convergence of Reckless Kelly & Son Volt and it was glorious. There wasn’t a written set list that afternoon so Willy called the songs on the fly. This was mildly disappointing for me (since I couldn’t get a set list and I wasn’t prepared with pen and paper to write all the songs down), but it adds an undeniable spontaneity to the show. Despite what the Lakeside Tavern lacked in indoor ambience, out back we were treated to a fantastic late spring evening listening to great music. Strangely, the only lights in the "backyard" were way back, attached to the building, so it was quite dark after sundown. This made taking pictures a bit more difficult – but really complicated the other highlight of the trip: VIDEO! Turns out my camera takes video clips! Anal as I am, you'd think I would have investigated this matter previously. I can't really complain ... I mean, I get video with sound functionality on my camera -- that's just bonus, right? Tonight would be the debut of my video capture ability. The only downside is that my footage gets darker as the natural light fades, since the flash doesn't run continuously. I captured 30 second clips on 9 different songs and initially posted 2 different clips. I will be periodically updating with new songs. I wish more people had made their way out to Lakeside Tavern; I'm convinced that the energy supplied by the audience at a show is given back many times over. On the flip side, I figured this might be the last time I get to see the band in such a casual and relaxed atmosphere. If the new album takes off like everybody expects, we’ll all be sharing our favorite band with thousands and thousands of new fans. As of today, there are only 7 days before the new album is released, and only one scheduled show: the Saxon Pub on Friday the 9th of May. Go if you can... we all might look back at this time and reminisce some day.

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all non-lyric text, © Copyright 2003 Desolation Angel