The Wormy Dog Stillwater, OK - October 11, 2003 ~ Mike I started this ‘Reckless’ adventure with the newest member of the Reckin’ Crew, my good friend Diane, joining me on the hour long trip to Stillwater. For more months than I can count, I have been telling my friends about Reckless Kelly, often inviting them to go with me to see the band play, but no one had taken me up on the offer until Saturday afternoon. After watching Oklahoma own and dismantle the Texas Longhorns for the fourth straight year, I called Diane to see if she wanted to go with me. I had asked earlier in the week, and she said she may want to go, so I followed up on my end. She said she’d love to go, so we agreed to leave at 7:45. On the trip up, I had Millican playing, and she made a comment about a couple of the songs being really good. I smiled and said, “you aint heard nothin’ yet!” We pulled into Stillwater about 15 minutes later than we had planned, due to yours truly missing our exit, and wasting time trying to find a safe place on I-35 to turn around. As we pulled onto Washington Street, there were still people celebrating Oklahoma State’s earlier victory over Kansas State, and parking spaces were hard to find. We got lucky and found someone backing out of their spot about a block and a half from the Wormy Dog. We were one of the first hundred or so people there, and the brothers Braun were engaged in a game of pool with the other members of their bands. Cody was off at the bar chatting it up with a few friends/fans. We grabbed our beers and found a large table to watch the end of the Cubs/Marlins game (Cubs Win! Cubs Win!), and shortly after sitting down, a rather intoxicated OSU fan came over and asked if his group could join us, since it was only the two of us at a table that easily sat 12-15 people. Turned out to be a great move, since they had been enjoying the ‘pain-go-bye-bye juice’ since around 10am by their own admission. As we all know, when beer has been consumed for a long period of time, complete strangers become best friends and money seems to be very plentiful, and we drank free for the next hour or so. Micky and the Motorcars took the stage at 10, and got everyone’s attention with "Shaft". Some of the crowd started migrating toward the stage after Micky chastised them for “looking like a herd of cattle” at the back of the room. I think George Devore’s [Ed. Note: George is still subbing in on guitar when available as Joseph is on paternity leave] fingers were smoking at one point during one of his solos. Man, he was treating that guitar like it just stole his last beer. During the beginning of "Mrs. Robinson", right as Micky started singing, ‘doo-do-do-do, doo-doo-do-doo…’ (or however you spell it), Diane turned to me with eyes wide, she is a huge Simon & Garfunkel fan. I think that is the point that she was hooked. The crowd really enjoyed it as well, since that is when everyone started moving around, and grooving a little bit more. They played for a little more than an hour, throwing in all the hits from Which Way From Here, including my favorites, "Empty Hands" and "Come Runnin’". The highlight of my night came when I realized they were playing several new songs, and I wish I had grabbed a setlist so at least I could know the names. However, I’m sure it will be worth the wait when the new album is released. Micky thanked everyone for being there, and announced the next song, "Feel Alright", and I was sure that WB and CB would walk onstage and contribute their two cents, but it wasn’t in the cards this night. Not a problem, though, as it was obvious later that the two eldest Braun Brothers were conserving their energy… Reckless Kelly took to the stage about ten minutes after MMC walked off, and opened with "Drink Your Whiskey Down" and the crowd started to flock to the front, so I grabbed Diane and we headed to a spot behind a guy taking pictures right in front of David (turns out, this guy was up from Ft. Worth. I asked him to e-mail the pics to either myself or Gregg, and they would get posted on “a fan website.” He asked if I was with Desolation-Angel.com. Turns out, his dad knows none other than our own beloved reh. His name is Justin. Hopefully he sends the pics… Ed. Note: Justin did send the pictures. You can see them here). After the opening song, Willy, wearing his Cubs hat, asked if everyone had seen the game, and remarked about the Yankees winning. At that point, Cody stepped up to the mic and reminded Willy that he owed him a dollar from their bet. Let it never be said that Willy is a sore loser, as he took a few crumpled bills from his pocket, peeled one off and handed it to his brother in front of all of us. I only hope that Willy has since made another bet that the Sox will beat the Yankers… errr, Yankees and make it into the World Series. The next 2½ hours were filled with some of the most energetic versions of Reckless Kelly’s songs I have ever seen. Stillwater is a great town, because most of the people there at least know who Reckless Kelly is, and most of those people are fairly big fans, sot he guys return the favor by playing their hearts out. The sincerity and passion that the band members have for these songs seems to ooze from every part of their body. From Jimmy slapping his bass, Jay bouncing around, beating the Holy Hell out of his kit, David bent over, painstakingly hitting each note to perfection, Cody drawing his bow with ferocity, and Willy screaming into the mic forcing the veins in his neck to swell to the point of almost popping through his skin, tonight was really a sight to behold. The pure emotion of "Vancouver" made me feel the song for the first time. That song is my favorite RK tune to date, and I thought I had felt the song before, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. It felt like I was the only one there. The crowd disappeared for those several minutes. Hell, I don’t even think I blinked once. "Willamina" did the same thing to me. I always enjoy watching David on the lap steel, but tonight, he was running that slide all over the place, getting sounds like I’d never heard. The end of that song is the best, with everyone trying to be louder than each other on their respective instruments, but I’ll tell you now, when David was scratching it so hard that he was rising up from his seat, he easily won the contest. The four song punch of "Willamina", "Desolation Angels", (complete with George Devore on the shaker), "She Sang the Red River Valley", topped off with a little "’52 Vincent", put me in sonic heaven. "’52 Vincent" was an amazing song. Willy was so into the lyrics, he mesmerized everyone in the room. I took the opportunity to look around at the crowd, and there wasn’t one person who was not enthralled by what they were seeing. Either they knew the song, or wanted to know, but no one wasn't paying full attention. I have yet to see a band control the crowd the way those 5 men did at that point. In a word, it was astonishing. As far as I was concerned, the show could have ended there and I would have been content, but I’m glad they continued. Willy stepped to the mic again, and announced that his brother Micky would be joining them for "Nobody’s Girl". It was at this point that Willy said, “The little bastard. Got my guitar all out of tune.” Micky and Willy shared a mic for most of the song, with Micky taking most of the lead vocals. Now, I don’t know about any of you, but I just love when musicians share the microphone. From watching Bruce Springsteen and Little Steven, to Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, to Micky and Willy Braun, that is one of the coolest things to see. Much like the rug in “The Big Lebowski,” it just ties everything together, man. Have you ever been in a situation when you wish assault wasn’t illegal? I was for most of the second half of the show. A (drunk) girl kept yelling, “Crazy Eddie!” over my right shoulder, and each time I heard it, I hoped it was the last time she’d do it. Each time, I was disappointed. Well, she got her wish, as "Crazy Eddie’s Last Hurrah" closed out the set. The only problem was that it seemed to set off the “paint mixer” mechanism that most drunk girls seem to have at concerts. She started bouncing around and shaking it up so much, she ended up in front of me, but wanted to keep going backward. I placed my hand on her shoulder blade and applied just enough pressure that as she was up in the air, I moved her forward. She got the point, thank goodness. The band walked off stage, and a chant of “One more song!” started. So the band obliged and came out to play "Revolution". It was the best way to end this amazing set. The crowd was enthusiastic and would have easily listened to more, but Reckless Kelly did what every great band does. They left us wanting more. I definitely want more, our newest fan, Diane wants more, those drunken bastards at the Wormy Dog want more, and I’m sure that my bouncing party crasher wants more. Problem is, RK only has one more date scheduled for Oklahoma the rest of the year, so I guess I’ll have to join my fellow Reckers in Texas pretty soon. I’ll keep you posted… Mike

Share your thoughts.

all non-lyric text, © Copyright 2003 Desolation Angel