Shows/Concerts

Speedealer

7/13/00 - Dallas, TX - Club Clearview

Another Thursday night at Clearview, and another great night of live music. It's been a really long time since I've seen Speedealer, and this show was no disapointment. The band playing directly before them was Dixie Witch, from New York, who just a little too mid-tempo for me. Not much about them really got me going. But that was OK, because the mighty Speedealer was up next. They opened with "California Tumbles Into the Sea" and never let up - and of course, not saying more than four words, if any, between songs. They played for a good 30 or 40 minutes, and took most of their songs from their last two albums. Fast, fast, fast is the only way to describe it - and loud. Very loud.

Motley Crue/Megadeth/Anthrax

7/11/00 - Dallas, TX - Smirnof Music Center

So the Crue played last night, and yesterday while at work I called my friend Jeff to suggest that he might want to go pick up tickets for us, just to be sure it didn't sell out. Well, I get home from work and he calls and says he got them and the doors open at 6, meaning the show would probably start around 7. He then explains to me that he got kind of carried away and bought some better tickets than just lawn tickets, and not for me or Rob to worry, as we would only need to pay him the price of lawn tickets, as he made the call of getting better tickets without our input. Well, as it turns out, he $50 tickets down in the pit. The seating assignment only sai "PIT". Hot damn! We get there just in time to see Anthrax, who were "loud as fuck", and couldn't have had the bass or bass drum turned up any louder. But it ruled, nonetheless. After that, we got some food, hit the ATM and drank a few more beers. Up next was Megadeth. For them, Jeff went up to the pit, and Rob and I rested our asses and sat back in the lawn to drink a few more beers. Megadeth sucked. Very uninteresting and boring. After that, we drank some more beers, and then headed back down to the pit for Motley Crue. They had this elaborate stage set up, like a seedy part of town or something, with signs for strip clubs and whatnot all over the place. They had two backup singers - "The Crue Sluts" - who danced and sang and did about five costume changes. Drumming in place of Tommy Lee while he does Methods of Mayhem was the drummer from Hole, who was looking incredibly hot. They started off with a bang, playing "Kickstart My heart", "Same 'Ol Situation", and "Primal Scream". I think they only played like 3 or 4, at tops, new songs, with were good, but everyone knows you go to this show to hear the classics. They even played "Knock 'Em Dead, Kid", but unfortunately they did not play "Without You". Anyway, it ruled.

Beck/Hank Williams III

1/29/00 - St. Louis, MO - American Theater

My friend, J.W., and I decided around 4pm Staurday afternoon to drive to St. Louis to see Beck that night. We knew it was sold out and were willing to scalp tickets - we figured, we're seniors in college, and this will be our chance to do stupid shit like this for a long time. So, we get there around 6 and a line is already forming. It's 30 degrees out and snowing, and we have to wait in line for at least two hours - with no tickets. So, we find a scalper, but tickets, and freeze our asses off. Fortunately, I had some travel bottles of scotch in my car, so I went and got them, in the name of keeping us warm. Well, as we're going into the place one of the security ladies feels them in my pocket and is cool enough to let me run them back to my car and then cut back in line - as opposed to throwing them away. First up is Hank Williams III. I really had no idea what to expect for this, but when they came out they were all dressed up like real hillbilly cowboys, with the exception that Hank was wearing a Misfits t-shirt. They had a stand-up bass player, a fiddle player, and Hank had an accoustic guitar. So, when they opened up with a balls-to-the-wall punk rock instrumental, I was blown away! He had his accoustic guitar running through a distortion pedal! The next song was even faster and louder - at this point I have already been sold on them. And then, out of left field, the next song is a 100% bona-fide country ballad. The rest of the set bounced back and forth between these two dynamics, and they proved equally competent at performing both styles. When Beck finally came on, we were fitfully shithoused. We had gotten a floor tickets, so we were real close and crowded in. Every song performed was great - the night was a true show; choreographed dance moves and great outfits highlighted the show. Beck's DJ was incredible. I'm no expert on DJ's but this guy blew my socks off. All in all it was a great time and a great show. After the show we met up with some girls we knew that just happened to be in St. Louis that weekend and went out to the bars with them and stayed at their house that night (actually, their parents house's basement) and were in town to watch the Super Bowl the next day. We went to a Super Bowl party the next day, and being that the St. Louis Rams won the Super Bowl and we were in St. Louis, we were in for a crazy evening. We went downtown and the place was nuts! No rioting, but tons of drunkeness. About seven of us got a hotel room right down on the Landing (a bar district) that night and then headed home the next day.

Coolio

1/6/00 - Crested Butte, CO - Crested Butte Ski Lodge Cafeteria

While I was skiing in Crested Butte, Coolio happened to be playing. There were maybe 600 people at this show, probably less. Nonetheless, it was really fun. Coolio came across as kind of an asshole but that was probably just because the town he was in, the venue, and the fact he had to drive through a horrible snow storm to get there. He played "Fantastic Voyage", "1,2,3,4 (Sumpin' New)", and "Gangsta's Paradise" as well as a bunch of shit I'd never heard. HIs DJ was pretty cool and they had a "rap-off" between two people in the audience. Now, considering the audience was about 99.5% white, I knew this would be interesting. Anyway, both guys that did it were really good and everyone had a good time.

Old 97s

12/28/99 - Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room

I got back form Las Vegas on the night and headed straight down to see the show, figuring I'd only miss a few songs if I got there around midnight - standard par for a club show in Deep Ellum. When I got there, however, I was horrified to learn that they had started at 10pm, and I actually only got to see the last three songs of the set - "Doreen" being one of them, and since I'm writing this review four months after the show, I've forgoten the other two. Fortunately for me and the three others I went with, they did play two encores. The one saving grace of the show was the fact that they performed "Jagged" - one of my favorites off the album Fight Songs, that night. The next morning at 7am I had to leave to go Kansas City for New Year's Eve, and then off to Crested Butte, Colorado for more skiing on January 2nd.

Reverend Horton Heat

12/25/99 - Dallas, Texas - Trees

A Christmas night show, this was a lot of fun. They opened with "Big Sky", and then followed with "Baddest of the Bad", "Do It One Time", and "Five-O Ford". They played a few new songs - all of which rocked (which is something you can't say for a lot bands that try out new songs at shows). One in particular, "Spend a Night in the Box", stuck out in my head. Other notable performances were on "Nuture My Pig", "I Can't Surf", "400 Bucks", and "Slow".

Old 97's

10/22/99 - Columbia, Missouri - Blue Note

Not the best Old 97's show I've seen, but a fun show anyway. Lots of beer, good music and friends. What more could you want?

Hadacol

10/15/99 - Columbia, Missouri - Mojo's

I showed up late to this show with my friend, and we only got to see 4 or 5 songs. It was fun, nonetheless, considering we were pretty drunk when we got there. While there, this 45 year old lady (who claimed she was 29) told my friend that she thought I was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen and then proceeded to kiss me and tell that she wanted to take me home and have sex with me. She also mentioned that I need not worry, as her husband wouldn't mind. When I exressed a not-very-enthusiastic attitude towards the proposal, she began to suggest that perhaps the reason I was hesitant to accept her offer was that I "wouldn't be able to handle her". Sure. That's is exactly it, honey. After about 15 minutes of scheming, my friend and I managed to make it out of the club without her noticing. But, alas, as we were backing out of the parking lot, there she came, drunkenly came stumbling out of the place looking for us. Needless to say, we got the hell out of dodge. Oh yeah - Hadacol played great and all that stuff. It was fun. They even did a rootsy, honky-tonk version of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire".

Motley Crue/Scorpians

9/25/99 - St. Louis, Missouri - Riverport Ampitheater

Concluding the "Summer of Rock", this show was in St. Louis on the second day of the semester. But never fear - something like that would never stop your fearless concert-goer from witnessing the re-unified line-up the Crue. We got there fairly early, and managed to see the whole Scorpians set, which in this case, was NOT a good thing. They just didn't seem to get - people come to these shows to hear all the songs of their youth. They want to relive old glories and sing along to every song. The Scorpians delivered all their classics, but burried them in pointless soloing and tons of new material. If they wanted to play new material, they should have done a club tour or something. It was ridiculous, really. They lived up to every rock cliche there is. Their nearly two hour set came catastrophically close to ruining what could have been a stellar, concise set. With our pallates already soured, we had to try our damnedest not to let it ruin the Crue's set. Of course as soon as the first power chord set in, all fears were put to ease. Playing everything anyone could ever want to hear from them, Motley Crue destroyed everything in its path.

Baboon

8/7/99 - Dallas, Texas - Curtain Club

Baboon puts on another great show. Very noisy, very entertaining. I had almost as much fun singing along at the top of my lungs to the "Mutilation Makes Idetification Difficult" album Brutal Juice with a group of about eight other enlightened individuals while Baboon was setting as I did during there show. Everything about was wonderful except for one thing - the teeny-boppers that were screaming at Andrew like he was in 98 Degrees or something.

Speedealer/Crash Vinyl

8/6/99 - Dallas, Texas - Trees

This was what they call "Deep Ellum's First Friday", or something like that, where you can buy a wrist band for five dollars and get into five different clubs to hear live music. It's a good idea, and kind of fun - not letting any one place get too boring. My friend Jeff and I were going to try and see as many bands as we could that night, and cap it off with Speedealer at Trees. We started out at Trees, where we saw this Mexican punk band that was neither very original nor exciting, but at least held our interest enough to there and watch over half of their set. Next, we stopped at The Rock, a heavy metal bar, where a mediocreblues band was playing, and where I almost got my ass kicked by a guy who came back from the bathroom to find me giving the the time (no really - she asked what time it was!) to his porn-star looking girlfriend/date/acquaitance (her skirt was so low in the back when she was sitting on the bar stool, you could see the butt-floss part of her g-string loud and clear). After this, we headed back to Trees, where we caught Crash Vinyl. I had seen them once before, and it took me awile to warm up to them. This time, however, I was impressed from the second they played their first note. Their stage presence is great, and they even have back up go-go dancers. The energy up on stage was great, and along with up-beat, semi-aggressive music, I was in love. I bought their 4-song CD demo after the show. We then decided to try the Galaxy Club, where a fairly decent heavy metal/alternative/groove-type band was playing. The singer was so full of energy, it's ashame the rest the band didn't followed suit. Now it was time for the main event: Speedealer. We made our way back to Trees just in time to the last boring song or two of Chomsky. Then, after a brief break to set up, and without saying a word, Speedealer hit the stage and just ripped into their set. Writing this review almost a month after the show, I can't remember the order of the songs, or even the names of half of the songs - but that doesn't matter. They all rocked. Fast. Heavy. Hard. I know they played "Turkey Leg", "Screamer", "Pig Fucker", "Ain't Nuthin' To Me", and a multitude of others. I have never seen a band play so fucking fast before in my life. Even the last two times I saw them play, which was several years ago when they were known as REO Speedealer and featued a different singer, they didn't play this fast. In a live setting the already hyper-speed songs of the records were sped up even more. I would guess they played about twenty songs in about thirty minutes and said maybe seven words in between songs. Sweet Jesus, what an experience!

Brian Setzer Orchestra/BR-549

8/5/99 - Dallas, Texas - Bronco Bowl

The biggest reason I wanted to go to this show was to see BR-549, an old-school country/rockabilly band that I've never seen live. Their drummer is my friend's dad's cousin (my friend's second cousin). Hope that made sense. Unfortunately, due to lack of planning and just plain idiocy, we missed BR-549. We also missed Brian Setzer's first song or. All in all, they put on a good and entertaining show. Setzer is a great guitarist, and if I heard him right (the accoustics where I was sitting weren't that great), Scott, the drummer from the Reverend Horton Heat was sitting in on drums with them. Of course they play "Jump Jive 'n Wail", but fortunately, they also played a couple old Stray Cats songs, too.

Def Leppard

7/22/99 - Montgomery City, Missouri - Montgomery County Fairgrounds

OK, remember when Def Leppard used to sell millions of records and sell out stadiums? Well, now they are touring the state and county fairs of mid-America. Talk about swallowing your pride. Playing at the Montgomery County Fair, located halfway between Columbia and St. Louis, they drew fans from throughout all of Missouri. My friends and got dressed up like did for Poison, but this time we had a large group - about 11 guys. When we parked the car, we were all hanging around drinking beer when some police officers rolled up in a small SUV, totally unmarked vehicle. They gave my friend a ticket for indecent exposure, as he peeing behind a building, but let him off for the open container law. We took this as a cue to head on in to the concert. But we had to shotgun some beers first, of course. The concert was set up at the rodeo stadium. There were basically two places to view the concert from - on the dirt field of the rodeo area, or in the bleachersbehind it. Opening up with "Rock Rock (Till You Drop)" Def Leppard rocked from beginning to finish. The whole time, they play with as much energy as ever, as if they playing to a sold out Wembly Stadium. "Women", "Too Late For Love", "Hysteria", and "Foolin'" all came next before they even played a new song. And even then, they only played three new songs, and those were even good. The majority of hits were played: "Armageddon It", "Love Bites", "Photograph", "Rock of Ages", "Rocket", and "Pour Some Sugar On Me". For the first encore, they played "Let's Get Rocked", which was pretty good, but then they left the stage again. At this time, most of my friends started heading back to the car - BUT NOT I!!! And it was a good damn thing I stayed. For the second, and last, encore they played but one song - "Let It Go", the first song off their second album, "High'n'Dry". This is one song I did NOT expect to hear them play, but they did, and it rocked! It rocked harder than 90% of the music out there today, and I'm including ALL styles of music when I say that. They put away all the fancy and slick production that has covered up their raw sound for the past 17 years, and just plugged in. That one song made the whole night for me. Only about 30 of the few thousand people in attendence truely appreciated hearing this song. And then we almost died on the drive home.

Old 97s/Slobberbone

7/20/99 - Columbia, Missouri - The Blue Note

This was the second time to see these two bands in hair over two weeks for me, but unfortunately, I was only able to see the last two songs of Slobberbone's set, but those two songs were great. The Old 97's opened with "Lonely Holiday" once again, and that's all I remember about the set, though. I do, however, remember Rhett, the singer for the band, pointing me out to everyone as "the guy in the middle who ordered a whole pitcher of beer for himself!", probably because I was being exceptionally loud and obnoxious and spilling beer on everyone and calling Rhett a Parkie.

Old 97s/Slobberbone

7/4/99 - St. Louis, Missouri - Laclede's Landing

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to St. Louis for the Fourth of July Weekend was to see these two bands play, both of whom were playing outdoors at Laclede's Landing in downtown St. Louis. The Old 97s were to play at 4:30, and because of a miscommunication, I got down there around 2:30. I was by myself, which was fine, and was planning on not drinking. For the two hours leading up to the show, I just wandered around the VP Fair, which is one of the biggest 4th of July celebrations in the country. I played the carnival-like golf distance drive game, walked around under the arch for a while, where I heard the Little River Band playing, I bought a pair of Blu-Blockers sunglasses, and consided going to the first half of the Cardinals baseball game. There was also an air show, which was very cool, and I ate some over-priced quesadillas while watching it. When the show started, I decided to buy myself an over-priced 32-ounce Miller Lite. They opened with "Lonely Holiday", whcih absolutly killed me - they play that song so good live, its unbelievable. Then they went straight into "Barrier Reef", which ruled, too. I then got myself the second of my four over-priced 32 ounce Miller Lites. The situation in which they were playing was a little odd -- the airshow was still going on behind them for the first 20 minutes of their set, so about every 5 minutes, a jet would speed by, and with deafening sound completely drowning out the band's sound. But, being the toopers they, they persevered. Some other good performances were "Busted Afternoon" and "What We Talk About". "Big Brown Eyes" and "Murder (Or a Heart Attack)" were also good. For as much as I don't like the song "Oppenheimer", live it is a little better, and somewhat bearable. The worst part of the whole show was the fact that they could only play for an hour - this was sort of festivle type thing, so they were on a time limit. Nonetheless, Rhett managed to come out for a minute and half encore, performing Tom Petty's "American Girl" by himself. When they were done, I ran up the block to where the stage that Slobberbone was playing on. They had already started their first song when I got there, as they started at 5:30. There was a good size crowd watching them, but only about 8 of us knew the words. A girl asked me if I was from Texas, since she had seen me the Old 97s and saw me singing the words to "Engine Joe" and figured I'd had to be from Texas. As it turns out, this gilr lived about a mile from me in Dallas and went to my High School, growing up just down the street from the Old 97's Rhett Miller. She was a senior when I was a freshman, so the chances of us previously knowing each other were slim. Slobberbone played such greats as "Barrel Chested", "Billy Pritchard", "Front Porch", "Dunk You in the River", and "Your Excuse". They also played a fast, electric version of "16 Days" that I didn't even recognize until the end of - but this might have had to do with the fact that I was off at a beer stand buying an over-priced 32 ounce Miller Lite when they played it.

Poison/Ratt/Great White/L.A. Guns

6/24/99 - St. Louis, Missouri - Riverport Ampitheater

What a show, what a show, what a show. Unfortunately, we missed both Great White and L.A. Guns, but Ratt and especially Poison more than made up for it. Three of my friends and I got tickets for this show in advance, becuase we figured it might sell out - and it was only 1000 tickets shy of selling out, in fact. So, after class on Thursday, the four of us hopped in my friend's Jeep, and dressed in the best 80's metal get-up we could muster, and headed for St. Louis, two hours away. Torn jeans, wife-beaters, jean shorts and bad bandanas all added to the feel. Of course we drank Busch beer on the car ride there and bought a Hustler to read, too - all of which made the experience all the more incredible. We got there kind of late and were drinking in the parking lot when we were informed that there is an open-container law there, and the fine was $150. We understood and agreed and started getting out of the car. However, for some reason, we took "head on in to the concert" to mean "shotgun three more beers in the parking lot before you go in". And even more unfortunately (for me, anyway), that third beer I shotgunned had a little trouble staying down, and greeted me on its way back up. It was no big deal, but it did mean I had one less beer in my system now. It was kind of funny though, that the people working for the Ampitheater who told us to go into the show were wearing Budweiser t-shirts and were driving a tuck with a "BUD" sticker emblazonned on it. They really didn't care that we were drinking the parking lot - they just wanted us to be in the Ampitheater so we would have to drink their $5 beers. Oh well. When we got inside, Ratt was just about to take the stage. The rocked the house with classic like "Lay It Down" and "Round and Round". They finished and it was time for the main event - POISON! Their performance exceeded my expectations by a million miles. They did not play a single new song, sticking only to the classics. From the opener of "Look What The Cat Draaged In", they just did not let up. "Fallen Angel", "Talk Dirty To Me", "Nuthin' But A Good Time", "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", "Something To Believe In", "Unskinny Bop", and countless other golden oldies graced the hour and a half of perfection that was their set. The song missing that I wanted to hear was "Ride The Wind", but nothing could sour this evening for me. They even brought the singer of Ratt out to sing on their cover of the Kiss classic "Rock'n'Roll All Nite". Three of us bought bright orange t-shirts that say "Poison" on the front and, get this, "Live as Fuck!" on the back in lime green. We drove back to Columbia that night and wore the t-shirts into Harpo's, a local sports bar in Columbia. I shit you not, every single person we talked to said they were jealous and wished they had gone too, and they meant it. It was a night I will remeber always.

Baboon

5/29/99 - Dallas, Texas - Trees

This was the CD release party for Baboon's new EP, "We Sing and Play", which is truly awesome. The show was great, and no song sounded bad. They played all six songs from the EP, with "Lush Life", featuring Corn Mo on electric piano, and "Closer" standing out in my head. And, of course they did "I'm OK if You're OK" with Craig Welch of Brutal Juice fame on back-up screaming. They did "Sucker" and "Why'd You Say Die", which featured former bassist Bart Rogers singing back up, and a great rendition of "California Dreaming", all from Face Down in Turpentine. They also played "Night of the Long Knives", "You Kill Me", and the best version of "Bring Me the Head of Jack Skinner" that I have ever heard, from Secret Robot Control. Of course, "Give Me Something Real" kicked ass, and two songs I had heard before several times, but don't know the names of, kicked ass as well. One featured a refrain along the lines of: "and this is something that I've never had", and the other: "I'm tore up". Oh yeah, Mike played "Eruption" by Van Halen, too. Anyway, all in all, it was yet another great show.

The Commercials

5/22/99 - Dallas, Texas - Galaxy Club

It's been an incredibly long time since I've seen live music, and this show was very satisfying. We got the Galaxy Club in time to see the band that played immediately before the Commercials, Crash Vinyl. I had never this band before, and they were rather good. The music was unique and heavy, but not in a "metal" way. At first, I had trouble getting in to the vocals, but by halfway through, they had started to grow on me. They even had go-go backup dancers. The Commercials, three-fourths of which used to be Bobgoblin, put on a solid show, as I figured they would, considering the usual quality of Bobgoblin shows. The band switched its identity while I was in London, so this was my first time to see them live. I had beeable to listen to their music on their website (www.thecommercials.com), so I was familiar with about six songs. They also played four old Bobgoblin songs - "Hot Rod City Rivals", "Real Dilema", "Killer", and "Fall". The new songs, "Radio Noise" and "Blue Divine" also were good.

Black Sabbath/Pantera/Deftones

2/6/99 - New York, New York - Nassau Colliseum

First off, My plans for friday night were somewhat uncertain from the get go. We somehow linked up with a dude that is really into the New York Hardcore scene. If you aren't familiar with New York Hardcore, it's pretty fucking cool. It's like a giant brotherhood of no name punk bands that play most of their shows from peoples basements and what not. So, having nothing else to do, we went to an all ages show at a place called 7-Willow in Port Chester new york, or connecticut (I honestly can't remember which), it's not the edge of the world, but you can see it from there. I am used to being the biggest guy at shows that I go to, but it's very rare that I am the OLDEST guy. Average age at this show was likely to be 16 or so. I was one of the most popular guys there judging by how all the chicks had me buying them beer, I attribute this to my good looks and not the fact that I was one of 5 people over 21 there. So anyway, the headlining group was a band called H20, who you may or may not have heard of. There were 3 others, nothing very memorable. If i had to describe the music, I would call it somewhere between Hagfish and Circle Jerks, or maybe Descendents and NOFX, both analogies pretty much mean the same thing, don't they? I also love going to shows like this because I suddenly become God's gift to moshing. It was not the most violent pit I have ever been in, but at one point, there were at least 50 people from the audience on stage, I shit you not, there was no one left to watch the show, for they were all dancing around on stage. I didn't let it all out on this night, for I knew that Saturday was the more important event. When the show was over, I gave high fives to all the guys in the band like I had been listening to them for years. So, Saturday arrives and I am completely stoked, for I know that this night could very well be the culmination of my entire life to this point, aside from the time I met Vinnie Paul. The show was at Nassau Colliseum in Uniondale Long Island, home of the NY Islanders, which I didn't realize until i spotted a banner on the ceiling through the haze of pot smoke. The night got off on the wrong foot, for not only were they not selling beer, but some fuck usher told me I was not allowed to smoke. You know me, that was the one that really hurt. And to top it all off, they were not allowed to give us bottled water in bottles, they had to pour it in a cup. At this point, I was outraged. You can take my beer, you can take my cigarrettes, but give me my plastic bottles, or give me death!!! So, the first band of the evening was Deftones. I have their album, but I would have to say i was dissapointed in their live show. This probably had something to do with the complete lack of moshing going on where I was, upper deck behind the stage. I tried to start a pit, but the 50 year old Sabbath fans who used to reshingle my roof in Dallas didn't seem as into it as I was. So then came Pantera. Highly entertaining, even without an insane pit. They opened with Domination, off CFH. They played Walk featuring the dude from Biohazard. Then, as if they could give a shit about this tour, they clowned around for a good half hour. Including Phil making fun of some dude on the front row that was eating a cheeseburger. At one point, Phil strapped on Dimebag's guitar and they played Slayer's Raining Blood, with Dimebag screaming his best Tom Araya. All in all, i was very satisfied. Then, it was time for the main event. Some drunk fuck next to me nearly ruined the whole thing by nearly forcing me to knock his head off and get us both kicked out, but I was very tolerant. Words cannot describe the pure ecstacy that I felt when they came on stage and started playing "War Pigs". I just stood there, huge smile on my face, not saying a word. The band sounded great, Ozzy still sounds great, and they played everything I wanted to hear, except Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, which pissed me off. Fairies wear boots, NIB, and Electric Funeral stood out for me. They finished with, of course, Paranoid. The second the song ended, My buddy and I sang along with Ozzy the words, "Thank you good night God bless you aaaaaaallllllllll!!!!!!!" as if it was actual lyrics to the song. We left the show unable to wipe the smiles off our faces and headed to the Bars where we consumed libations till 6:30 in the morning. I also managed to snag a $10 bootleg t-shirt which is slighting off centered and might very well be an iron-on. This will, without a doubt, go down as one of the greatest i have ever seen. They have not slowed down a step, which is surprising when you consider I was about 4 years old the last time they toured.
-As relayed to me by Jeff Dillard, who goes to school at West Point, in New York. He is also the singer and sometimes bassist for The Johnsons

Old 97s

1/15/99 - Columbia, Missouri - The Blue Note

This was the second time I've seen the Old 97s in three weeks. The difference between this show and the one in Austin three weeks ago is that for that show I was almost completely sober, and I can barely remember this show. I know they opened with "Barrier Reef" and I know that at some point in the show they played "The House That Used To Be'. My friends that were there with me informed me that they also played "Big Brown Eyes" (at my girlfriend's request), "Timebomb", "Four-Leaf Clover", and "Niteclub", but I could have guessed that they played those. I really do wish I remembered more of the show, though.

Baboon

1/9/99 - Dallas, Texas - Trees

Being that I had to drive for twelve hours the next day to go back up to Missouri to go to school, I went to this show sober. A hangover isn't exactly a friend of the road trip. This was yet another insane performance by Baboon. I cannot wait until they release their new songs. They said that a new album would be coming out in Feburary, but no details were given - like name, label, or anything else, but at least there is some hope. During the whole set, drummer Mark Reznicek of the Toadies, dressed in white khakis and a white shirt, as the rest of the band, playing half of a drum kit - a snare, two toms, and a crash cymbal. He looks really old, but that's just me. They opened with "I'm Ok if You're OK", which feature like a four minute drum intro, and Craig Welch, formerly of Brutal Juice. Through the course of the show, they play several new songs and several songs that aren't really new, but haven't ever been released on anything before, like "Rise" and "12 Seconds". All of the new songs kicked serious ass. "Closer" was performed to near perfection, and a song that might be called "I'm Tore Up" or "All Torn Up" was also outstanding. They played a very speedy version of "Tool", which was my favorite performance of the night. They played "Why'd You Say Die", which, by the way, Jeff, we did a damn good job on that. "Night of the Long Knives" was good, as was "Give Me Something Real". They ended with "Bring Me the Head of Jack Skinner", but as someone has apparently stolen Andy's trombone, the song was kind of missing something, but nonetheless, he motioned like he was playing it anyway. In the middle of "Bring Me the head...", they cut into an old Toadies song, "Velvet", which was cool, considering Mark Reznicek was playing with them, and Todd, the singer of the Toadies, was there. Another great show.

Old 97s

12/29/98 - Austin, Texas - Stubb's

Melissa and I drove down to Austin to see these guys because we knew we probably wouldn't see them when they played in Dallas on New Year's Eve. At the show, we ran into a guy from our high school that had done the very same thing. This venue is also a restaurant and definitey had the whole southwest/Texas hill country vibe going. We got there early, and saw the last couple of songs by the opening band, who were very good, but unfortuately, I am unable to remeber their name. During the break between the bands, I was able to watch the last 7-8 minutes of the Alamo Bowl, where Kansas State fucking lost to Purdue, like they should have lost to Mizzou, those fuckers, but alas, I digress. On to the show, they opened with "Victoria", one of my favorites, and did it absolute justice. "Barrier Reef" and "Broadway" were great, and tey did a psuedo-electric version of "Salome" that I have mixed emotions about. "St. Ignatius" was great, as was "Blue-Eyed Darlin". As usual, "Big Brown Eyes", "Streets Where I'm From", and "Nightclub" ripped and roared there way into my heart. They also played a bunch of new songs, with "Imaginary Friends" sticking out in my head as the best of the bunch.

Reverend Horton Heat

12/26/98 - Dallas, Texas - Trees

Doing reviews for Reverend Horton Heat shows is becoming increasingly easy for me. All I pretty much have to do is throw around words like, "incredible", "awesome", "rockin'", "kick ass","drunken haze", "three-titted Saigon whores", or any number of other cool terms. Then throw in the usual songs that get everyone going, like "Baddest of the Bad", "Do It One Time", "Five-O-Ford", "Slow", "Bales of Cocaine", and "Jimbo",and finally add a quick antecdote about how drunk I was, or in this case, how my two friends got tickets for breaking the open continer law while drinking 40's of Colt 45 in the alley behind Trees, while I didn't get a ticket because I was in my car, not actually out in "public" where I would thus be breaking public open container laws, and you've got a self-written review.

Hagfish/Weener

12/19/98 - Denton, Texas - Rick's Place

I haven't seen Hagfish in 8 months, so I was really pumped to see them. A couple of friends and I made our way out to Denton for this show, and it was the first time I got to go to a show as a legitimate 21 year old. Weener, a band I had never heard of, turned out to be a very good and entertaining Weezer cover band. The band cobntained Baboon's bassist and Bobgoblin's drummer, and I'm sure the two guitarists are in some local bands, too. They played the songs note for note and you could tell they were enjoying themselves, which is more than I can say for Hagfish. First, because this was a Hagfish show, I did enjoy it. But, it was the worst of the 14 Hagfish shows I have ever seen. Sure they played for an hour and a half and 24 songs, all the songs off the new CD, except "Agent 37", Half of "...Rocks Your Lame Ass", "Moaner" (on request, no less!), "Grin Doggie", and their old drummer got on stage to play drums while Tony sang "Shark" and "New Punk Rock Song", it was still like a half-assed practice. They informed the crowd that they were not breaking up, but they were going to kind of be going their separate ways for a while, to L.A. and Atlanta or something, and this was going to be their last Dallas-area show in a long time. George just did not give a shit. It was obvious he did not want to be there, and the band did not even have a set list. They tried to play "Buster" and "Mouse", but could not. George forgot the words to several others, so Zach stepped in and sang a couple of them. During "Gertrude", Geoge was following me to remember the correct order of the verses and choruses. It was a Hagfish show, so I enjoyed it, but it was, in the end, rather sad and pathetic.

Jimmy Page & Robert Plant

11/6/98 - London, England - Wembley Arena

We decided to go to this the day before the sho. This show was on a Friday night, and they played a sellout show Thursday night. Wembley Aren is way out in east Jesus, far away from my friendly confines of Zone 1 (that's the tube... oh forget it). We missed the first band, which did not upset us in the least, and instead we drank. Who knew? Actually, not that much, as I really did want to remember this concert. Basically we only went to hear old Zepplin songs, as we could give a rat's ass about their new stuff. They played about half and half old stuff/new stuff, with maybe one or two more old songs than new. They played "Bring It On Home", "Heartbreaker", "Going To California", "Tangerine", "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You", "Misty Mountain Hop", "Ramble On", and "Rock'n'Roll". The only new song they played that I recognized was "Most High". "Tangerine" was by far my favorite performance of the night and "Heartbreaker" and "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" were also incredible. It was a good show, but in the end it was just some old dudes playing old hits. I did rather enjoy it, though.

The Black Crowes

10/22/98 - London, England - Shepard's Bush Empire

I had a paper due in a class earlier this day, but the crappy computer at the university in London destroted my file, so I had to retype it at home on the even crappier computers at the flat I'm staying in the two hours leading up to this concert. All my friends had started drinking, and I was typing a paper. When I had to print it, the shitty printer didn't work. By this time, I had started drinking and my friends had already left for the show. I was getting really frustrated, so I decided to take the disk over to my professor's flat and drop it off with a note describing how crappy everything was, on my way to the tube (subway) stop to go to the show. I took three pints of Heiniken with me for the road, and walked to his flat. As I was dropping the disk in the mail slot, he came to the door, so I had to give it to him, with three beers in my hand and beer on my breath, and explain my situation to him. At the end, he just said, "have a fun night", so that was pretty cool. Also, the next morning, we were getting up at 6:30am to fly to Munich, as we were going on our fall break that next week. Anyway, I got to the venue 10 minutes before the Crowes took the stage. I am not that familiar with their newer stuff, but I have heard and it is good. The one song I really wanted to hear was, "Remedy". The show was a sellout. When I got there, I parked myself by the bar, slammed a few beers and headed up front, to where my friends were. When they hit the stage, they tore right into "Remedy", so I was incredibly pumped. My night was made. They could have shit onstage after that and I still would have been happy. They played a bunch of new stuff for a new CD, all of which, for the most part, was rockin and not trippy, which is a good thing. Some good 'ole southern fried rock. Lead singer Chris Robinson, while a little flambouyant for my tastes, is one hell of a showman. They closed with "Jealous Again". The two best and strongest performances of the night were my favorite songs of theirs on disc, "Remedy" and "She Talks To Angels".

Me First and the Gimme Gimme's

9/26/98 - London, England - Garage

This was my first show to see in London, and what a great way to start things off. This show was sold out several days before the show, which kind of bummed me out because I didn't have a ticket. I had know idea these guys were so popular over here. I decided to go to the club (which was in a part of London I'd never been to before) by myself to see if I could get a ticket at the door. When I got off at the tube stop that was right next to the club, I saw that there was a line (they call 'em queues, or something over here) of about 400 people. Once again - bummed out. So I sat down at a pub next door and got a pint of beer. I had already been drinking for two hours at this point. When I went back to once again find anyone with extra tickets, the line was only about 70-80 people long, and as it turned out, none of them had a ticket. So, I hopped in line and purchased a ticket at the door. I got there before the first band even played, so I hung out back at the bar with these two English dudes, just shootin the shit. The first band, Fungus was really boring and generally sucked. The second band, Booger Patrol, was much more fun to watch and was very energetic. Finally, it was MFATGG's turn. By this time, I was rip roaring drunk, and ready to go. They opened with "Leaving On a Jet Plane", and didn't let up after that. There were a bunch of retards stage diving, even though after the first fifty or so stage divers, the people in the front rows stopped catching them. This band was so fun to watch, they have a great stage presence. Along with "Leaving On a Jet Plane", "Only the Good Die Young" and "Rocket Man" were by far the strongest songs of the set. They didn't play "Uptown Girl" or "Country Roads", but, alas, life goes on. This venue had horrible venhilation, and combined with me being so very dehydrated from mass quantities of alcohol and the physical exhertion of being at a punk show, absolutely killed me. I started drinking water halfway through, but it didn't help much. Nonetheless, it was an absolutely great show and great fun.

The Reverend Horton Heat

8/29/98 - Dallas, TX - Curtain Club

Again, The Rev put on another insane show. This was the second night of two consecutive shows at the Curtain Club. I missed them the night before because I was drunk at a bar and could not get a ride down to the Curtain Club in Deep Ellum (I was on Greenville). An amazing thing happened tonight: I was stone cold sober at a Reverend show. Who knew? I got there right as they were hitting the stage. I was late because my dumb ass forgot my ID and to turn around and go back home after I had already left. This show rivaled the performance they put on at Trees two months ago, but I was sober this night, so I am sure that it was great and my drunkness wasn't biasing any opinions. I can actually remember the order of the songs they played: "Big Sky", "Baddest of the Bad", "One Time For Me", "Five-O-Ford", "Slow", "The Jimbo Song", "Wiggle Stick", "400 Bucks", "Lie Detector", "Bales of Cocaine", etc, etc... Anyway, not a single song they performed was performed poorly, They all rocked my sober ass all over. The pit was more violent, but not necessarily as big, as usual. One guy got kicked out of the pit, and another fainted (the two incidents weren't related). "The Devil's Chasing Me", "Nuture My Pig", "I Can't Surf", and "It's Martini Time" stand out in my mind as stellar performances also. I even caught the Rev's guitar pick at the end of the set when he tossed it out to the crowd. By the time they came back out for the encore, it seemed the crowd had settled down, maybe even gotten tired, but the crowd wasn't as into the encore as the band, which kind of sucked. I thought it was all great though. Highlight: When the Rev played his guitar, but used his left hand to fret Jimbo's bass and Jimbo used his left hand to fret the Rev's guitar while he played his own bass in the middle of a song (if that made any sense to you, well, congradulations!).

Baboon

8/1/98 - Dallas, TX - Trees

This show was free for over 21, and $2 for 17-21, so you should have no excuse for not going to this show. This was my favorite Baboon show yet. They opened with "Bring Me the Head of Jack Skinner" and went ripping into "Rise" right after that. Every time I see them, they play a handful of songs I've never heard. One new song, "Closer", I remembered from the last time a saw them, was common of all of their new songs - incredible. "Disappointed" was a bit of a disappointment (sorry about the pun), because some jackass kept yelling, "play 'Disappointed'!", and then some bigger jackasses, obviously thinking they were cooler than eveyone else there, kept telling him to shut up. All in all, when the band actually performed it, it kind of anti-climatic. "Night of Long Knives", "I'm OK if You're OK", "12 Seconds", "Watch the World Explode", and "Sucker" all kept the night rocking hard. They closed with "Why'd You Say Die", and left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

Old 97s

7/24/98 - Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room

Again the the Old 97s put on an incredible show. They played about 8-9 new songs, which they said that they were rehearsing for a new album. None of the new songs really stuck out in my head, except for one. Unfortunately, all the beer that I had had that night prohibits me from remembering anything about the song except that it was good. They opened with "The Streets Where I'm From" and "Barrier Reef", both of which absolutely rocked and put the crowd in a good mood. Once again, it seemed as though the boys were obsessed with Buck Owens. They played some of his songs and even wrote a song about him. "Victoria" and "Niteclub" were really good, but every song was executed wonderfully. I was at the show with a friend who had never heard the Old 97's before, and they won her over. She really enjoyed the show, and the style of music that the Old 97's play isn't exactly her cup of tea, but she liked it a lot anyway.

The Reverend Horton Heat

6/26/98 - Dallas, TX - Trees

This was one of the best Reverend shows I have ever seen. This was my 10th or 11th time to see them and was easily in the top two. It was especially enjoyable because the last time I saw them, which was in February, in Missouri, they put on a very below-average show. This show was completely the opposite of that - excellent. I was really drunk for this show. In fact, when I walked to the door of Trees, the dude told me to go walk it off and come back in a couple minutes. I wasn't falling over, gross drunk, but I showed my under-21 ID, and he told me that I would be a liability if they me in. No problem, I thought. I just "walked" it off over to a bar across the street and had a beer. I came back in a couple minutes, but he told me to walk around some more. I was getting impatient and told myself that if I wasn't so drunk, I'd be really pissed. The only thing with that line of logic is - if I wasn't so drunk, I wouldn't be in the situation in the first place. So, I cut in line with some people, about ten back from the door. When I got to the front, he was like "I can't let you in" (that dickhead), but someone else that worked there told him to give me a sobriety test. So, on the streets of Deep Ellum, a punk-ass bouncer was giving me a sobriety test. I passed it, and he let me in. They started playing while I was in line. They opened with "Big Sky". I got in during the second song, "Baddest of the Bad". They continued with the Liquor In the Front opening-foursome, playing "Do It One Time", and "Five-O-Ford". Every song they performed was done well. "Bales of Cocaine", "Slow", "Cruisin' For a Bruisin'", and "Nuture My Pig" all stand out in my head. This show reassured my opinion that the Rev puts on one of the best shows around.

Old 97s

6/13/98 - Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room

This was a really long show; they played for a little over two hours. The Old 97s always put on a good show, and this was no exception. I had barely been drinking before this show, and since I am still three months from being able to legally drink, I wasn't able to drink during this show. Blue Mountain played first, and they were half way decent. The Old 97's played damn near every song I've heard them play from their records and just as many songs I had never heard before. Unfortunately, they did not perform "Broadway", one of my favorite Old 97s songs. They played a Hank Williams song and a Merle Haggard song. They also played a great new song that is about Buck Owens. I seemed as though Rhett was quite drunk, especially considering he took one or two shots in between almost every song. He even forgot the words to "Just Like California"; he sang the first verse twice, so the band (mercifully) stopped the song after the second chorus. The best performances of the night, in my humble o-pinion, were, "Niteclub", "Victoria", "Barrier Reef", and "Big Brown Eyes".

Moody Blues

6/2/98 - Dallas, TX - Starplex Ampitheater

To be honest, I only went to this show to get drunk, and that I did. It was good background music, though. They played a lot of songs that I had no idea were played by the Moody Blues. Oh well.

Wallflowers/Toadies/Violent Femmes

5/24/98 - Dallas, TX - Starplex Ampitheater

This was a very early show. It started at like 4pm or something, a fact none of my friends were aware of until one genius actually decided to look it up. This caught us off guard, and forced us to start drinking much earlier than planned. The Urge were supposed to play, but cancelled. The Grand Street Cryers opened up, but we decided to drink in the parking lot instead of watching them. When we went into the show, we were pretty drunk and there was still daylight out, which is always good. The Violent Femmes were onstage, reliving old glories, but it was nonetheless still entertaining. The Toadies were the real reason I wanted to go to this concert. They played a ton of new songs, all of which were good. "I Come From the Water" and "Backslider" were also standout performances. Being sitted in the lawn, I tried to convince people to rush the stage, but not enough people could be convinced, and everyone who tried got caught. I finally decided that I was going to get up to the front no matter what, so I just briskly walked by one of the guys checking tickets and quickly flashed my ticket. He didn't notice, or just didn't say anything, and this technique got me all the way to the front row. I couldn't get into the pit because there were a bunch of dickhead security guards not letting anyone in, so I just walked down the first row a ways and snuck into the pit. At one point, I was standing on one of the chairs in the front row, and slipped, falling backwards, with my head crashing onto the chair behind me. It hurt. I think I may have even gotten a concusion. I finally made it back out to the grass where my friends were sitting. The Wallflowers played next. I was really too drunk and too uninterested in the Wallflowers for me to remember any of it worth telling about. The day was fun, but I have a feeling that that was mostly due to the fact I was getting drunk with my friends. The Toadies were a nice treat, too.

Bobgoblin/Baboon

5/16/98 - Dallas, TX - Trees

It's been a while since I've been to a show, and this was a good one to start back up on. This was also the first time I'd been to Trees in like a year or so, in which time they have remodeled. The stage is now six feet off the ground and makes for a cold and impersonal feeling. People were standing four feet back from the stage, as opposed to practically standing on the stage before the remodeling, but I guess that was the point of raising the stage. But on to the show - it was really good. Baboon played an excellent set. "Give Me Something Real", "Why'd You Say Die", "Bring Me the Head of Jack Skinner", and "12 Seconds" were the best of the night. They closed with "Bring Me the Head of Jack Skinner", and it was an especially delightful treat to hear "California Dreaming" thrown right in the middle of the song, where its normally just noise and feedback. Bobgoblin played a really strong set featuring several new songs. Three of the new songs in particular were really good, but I don't know what their names were. "Hot Rod City Rivals", "Nine", and "One Down, One Across" were my favorite performances. Overall, it was a good night of wholesome music.

Old 97s

4/16/98 - Columbia, Mo - The Blue Note

I was planning on seeing this show as a study break, because I had a test on the next day, making this the first time I had gone into an Old 97s show sober. I was just going to go from 11-12:30 and come back home and study. We got there as Train Wreck Willy was playing their last song and my friend and I decided to get a pitcher to pass the time until the 97s got on stage. Then the waitress came by and asked us if we wanted another - and you can probably see where this is going. Needless to say, I didn't come home and study. The last time I saw these guys was Dec 5, 1997, at a place here in Columbia called Mojo's. It's a really cool blues bar, and the Old 97's had the place completely packed - it was one in, one out. It was the best show I've seen from them, everything about it was superb. This show last Tuesday was really good, but not quite of the same level. I think it might have had something to do with the setting. The Blue Note is more of a theater; it is much bigger than Mojo's was. They started off with "Victoria" and "Barrier Reef", both of which were played quite a bit slower than their recorded versions. The first half of the show was kind sluggish and slow, but nonetheless quite good. "Salome" slowed down only added to the feeling of that great song. As the show went on, they picked up the pace, and by the last song, "Four Leaf Clover", they were absolutely rocking. They played a couple of new songs, which were all good, and they played all the requests they could remember. Off the top of my head, I yelled "Play 'St. Ignatius'!", and they went right into it, without a hitch. That song, incedentally, happened to be on of the best performances that night, along with "Big Brown Eyes" and "Salome". In the end, the Old 97s had put on another great show. You should really see them if they come to your town.

Hagfish

4/6/98 - St. Louis, Mo - Galaxy Club

I drove two hours to see this show, so you know I really like this band. This was my 14th time to see Hagfish live. I saw them for the first time four years ago when they played at my high school in Dallas. This night, they were playing between two bands, Homegrown and Save Ferris. We missed Homegrown, but got a free tape of theirs after the show, and well, they suck. Hagfish played for 45 minutes, but I was having so much fun, it only seemed like 20 minutes. They ripped through 17 songs, opening with "Trixie", as they often do. There were about 10 of us there that had the CD and knew the words, etc., but the cool thing was that the people that didn't know who Hagfish was at first, ended up really getting into the show. They played songs from Hagfish and ...Rocks Your Lame Ass, but when asked to play "Buster", they couldn't quite remember how to play it. Then I asked them to play "Shark", from Buick Men, they said they even less of an idea on how to play that. On the song "Sucker", local St. Louis celeb Beatle Bob got up on stage and danced. It was pretty cool to see some weirdo dancing around on stage to Hagfish. The crowd was fairly appreciative, especially considering most of them had no idea who Hagfish was before that night. The band closed with "Flat", which the rest of band continued playing well after the proper end of the song to let the pit frenzy up. George and Zach got into a friendly shoving and kicking match on stage, and Zach showed off his chest hair and unbelievably small nipples. All in all it was a great show. Save Ferris was surprisingly good, with a hyperactive horn section and a trombonist that looked like he belonged in the movie "Scream" (it's hard to explain). They did the obligatory hit, the cover of "Come On Eileen", and did a cool cover of an Operation Ivy song.

Jesus Christ Superfly

3/28/98 - Columbia, Mo - Down Under Bar

I decided to go to this show about 5 minutes before JCSF took the stage, and that was only because I had forgotten they playing due to the fact that I was pretty drunk. For $2, this was damn near the best show for yer dollar that I've seen in a long time. This was my first time to see these guys, but I've listened to them for a couple of years now. This show was straight up punk rock. Half way through the show, they even asked if they could crash at anyone's house that night. This trio features two large men on bass and guitar, both of whom share singing duties, and one weird looking skinny drummer. "Big Shit" and "Looking Back at You" were my favorites of the night, but the cover of Motorhead's song, "Motorhead" was pretty cool. There were about 25 people there, of which only 15 gave a shit about the band, which was a real shame. This was a really good rock'n'roll show. The drummer kept trying to get this one lady who was standing at the front of the stage to show her tits, but she wouldn't. He kept begging, and she finally lifted her shirt, but not her bra. He eventually stood up and showed his dick in an effort to convince her to return the favor, but it was to no avail. I'm sure the owner probably shit in his pants when that happened, but oh well. It was fun.

Back to your lashings, bitch!

Email: c697264@showme.missouri.edu