The Continental Club Houston, TX - October 31, 2003 ~ Lil' Teach What follows is a personal narrative of one fan’s account of the Reckless Kelly events that enshrouded Halloween 2003. This will not be a “review” for the simple fact that a “review” requires the writer to objectively examine the event at hand. There will be no objectivity in this writing. Consider that your warning! Also, I am not a music gearhead, so if you’re looking for all that technical mumbo jumbo, you best stop now. Nor am I a Reckless Kelly historian, having been a fan for a mere three years. I go to the concerts because I love the music. I love what the music does to me. So these words come from my heart. But the narrative awaits… The excitement started in mid-September when I realized that RK would be playing in Houston on Halloween, my very favorite of all holidays. And it was a Friday night. Can’t get much better than that. The weeks flew by as they seem to do in autumn, as the weather gets cooler and the days get shorter. Before I knew it, the night of the Great Pumpkin had arrived and I even had a date to the show (yikes!). We arrived about a half hour after Carolyn Wonderland took the stage. I had heard much about this little lady of soul, but never had the pleasure to hear her. I love to see a chick who knows how to rock and roll, and Carolyn definitely did this. Her voice reminded me of Janis Joplin’s, but not quite as strung out. I took this time to take a good look at the evening’s revelers. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. Scantily dressed women, a smashingly-good Ozzie and Sharon, Big Bird, and one 300-lb. cross-dressed genie. And then finally, finally, finally, the boys took the stage. The rumors you have heard are true. Reckless masqueraded as a posse of rodeo clowns. As the caped Crown Royal Crusader introduced RK, Willy leaned over and whispered, “We need five more minutes.” This is when the two downsides to the evening occurred to me. First, two of my closest RK friends were not in attendance. Second, I didn’t have a camera, nor did anyone else in my vicinity. I know a picture is worth a thousand words, and if I had a camera that night, I wouldn’t feel the need to write this story down. I’ll do my best to describe the costumes, but if someone out there has pictures, I think they would sell for a lot of money. Each of the guys had a distinct style. I’ll start from stage right. David Abeyta sported a shirt with the sleeves cut out and cut-off red sweatpants. The look was complemented with a cowboy hat and classic boots pulled over big, fat sport socks. He had rosy red cheeks, too. Cody had the hobo clown look, with five o’clock shadow, dark circles around the eyes, and a red foam nose. His clothing was a mish-mash of stripes, reminding me of old-man pajamas. Jay Nazz was the psychedelic clown. Since he was hidden behind the drum set for most of the show, I can’t remember the finer details of his clothing, but I think they included cut-off overalls. He wore a big, fuzzy purple top hat and had a large star painted around either eye. Willy was the Sheriff. (I know because that’s what his badge said). He wore a multi-colored striped shirt and cut-off jeans over purple tights with green polka dots. No boots for the Sheriff, but a pair of sleek running shoes adorned his feet. Willy’s accessories included a slouchy cowboy hat and a holster with two toy pistols. The most prominent part of his makeup was the blue triangles above and below his eyes which complimented his dark blue curls. Jimmy was a vision in red. He wore a pair of humungous brown pants and a red striped shirt. His Shirley-Temple curls were Bozo-red and topped with a red kiddy-cowboy hat, securely attached with a chin string. Kirk was a rodeo clown, too. Such a good idea, for it kept the illusion alive when he came on stage for drink refills and other manager duties. It really was a spectacle. Unlike the last Houston Continental show where the boys came out blowin’ the roof off, this show began with the sweet sounds of Willy’s acoustic. It seemed appropriate enough, though, for the gentle clowns on stage. The opening song was “Rodeo Man”, one I have never heard live. Willy announced the songs in his best rodeo-announcer voice, “Out of chute #5, all the way from Wyoming, …” In this kinder, gentler Reckless Kelly opening set we heard Millican favorites “Back Around”, “I Still Do”, and “Drink Your Whiskey Down” mixed with new album favs “Everybody Looks Like You” and “Desolation Angel.” (With a little Buddy Miller “Love in the Ruins” thrown in for good measure.) It was about this point when I realized what a very special show this was turning out to be. I kept looking back over my shoulder, hoping my friend Gina would walk in to witness the rest of the evening with me. It was then that Willy announced a very special guest, Gram Parsons. I had seen Gary Braun lurking about in the GP suit Willy had worn last year, but I had no idea he would be performing. I have seen Micky get on stage with Reckless countless times, but never Gary. Gary picked up a guitar and they set off into “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”. As far as I’m concerned, the evening could have ended right there. Gary’s voice was beautiful, perfect, everything you would want it to be. The way Gary’s voice comes across is just so…pure. (Can I use the word “pure” in the same sentence with GB?) It was one of those amazing moments when the rest of the world seems to fall away. The same feeling I had when Willy and Cody took the stage alone at the Fabulous Satellite Lounge in November 2001 and I heard “Wicked Twisted Road” for the first time. But guess what? It only got better. Willy reached behind an amp to pull out a mando-guitar (like I said, I’m no techie, but Matt Ling helped me with that one). I’m not sure why, but when someone plays the mandolin (or the mando-guitar, I suppose), I think of Fred Flintstone. So here I am, all high off Gary’s singing, trying to comprehend this new instrument, and chuckling about Fred. And they play “Set Me Free” and “Girl of the North Country”. The music planets must have been aligned because what I was hearing was nothing less than magical. I was beginning to feel that I shouldn’t even blink, lest I miss something. Good thing I didn’t blink, because what came next was a very special treat. “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”, one of my all-time favorite songs. And to hear Reckless cover it was a dream come true. I have heard many people say that Reckless makes their covers sound better than the originals. In my book, no one could improve upon “Vincent Black Lightning”, [Ed. Note: Audio courtesy of the Richard Thompson Discussion List - go check out their site but don't steal.] but the RK version is uniquely its own, and I think Richard Thompson will be proud. After “Snowfall” and “Willamina”, the show picked up energy in the most perfect way. Who doesn’t like “Lonely All the Time”? Especially when followed by “Lil’ Mama”, the two songs seamlessly connected with Jay’s drumming, just like on The Day. Somewhere in this rockin’ good time, the crowd was mercilessly sprayed with Silly String and Willy shouted “Happy Halloween, Ya’ll”. This is also when the obligatory bouncing drunk girl had to park herself in front of me. I was looking for a way out and all I could see was Kid Rock making out with a nun. The drunk girl suddenly seemed less scary, so I stayed put. The set list went something like “Hey Say May”, “Waitin’ On the Blues”, “My Baby Worships Me”, and then “Castanets”. “Castanets”, by the way, has become my favorite Reckless cover tune. I just cannot get enough of that one. The boys closed out the show with “Crazy Eddie.” During the “I gathered up all of my guns…” bit, Willy pulled the toy pistols out of his holster and spun them around in a feat of choreographic grace. It really was something to see. Of course there was an encore. Some lucky fan got his/her wish because they started with “Walton’s Love”. Then came the beloved opening licks of “Revolution.” At this point, I truly felt I had seen and heard it all. I was just going to enjoy Abeyta do his crazy cool guitar stuff on stage right. But then he took to center stage with Willy and started singing into the microphone. That’s right, David Abeyta took a turn at the mic. And it looked like he was having one hell of a good time! It was the perfect ending to a perfect evening. Five rodeo clowns singing about changing the world. What made this concert so different from all the others I’ve seen? It wasn’t the costumes and makeup (although they were stunning). It wasn’t the set list (one of the best ever) or even the fancy gun tricks. From my perspective (front of stage, left of center), it seemed as if all the players were genuinely happy with themselves and each other. There was a real sense of freedom, both artistic and personal. They looked like little kids up there, having a ball. And it came across in their music. While I didn’t hear “May Peace Find You Tonight”, I slept that night as if someone had sung me the most beautiful lullaby in the world. Or was that five clowns singing “You know it’s gonna’ be alright…”? Lil' Teach

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