Deep in the heart of Texas! Our first attempt at establishing a Texas run, with shows in Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas. It looks like it's going to be great.
Thursday: Zach and Kip drove our gear out the day before. We flew out Thursday morning. The Great Bencuya has mastered the art of sleeping on a plane.
First stop: lunch! This parking lot security guy followed us from the van to the restaurant, and then from the restaurant back to the van. I'm not sure if we were the threat, or if he was protecting us from some local menace.
Even after lunch, we still had a few hours to kill before we could load into the venue. I went for a walk. Here's some stuff that I saw:
Our first gig was at the House of Blue in Houston. The local crew took our gear up the freight elevator to the stage, and I thought I knew the other way to go up, but I did not, and we got stuck on the loading dock.
This show had a pair of obnoxious DJs as the opener. They played appropriate music, but they talked over everything they played. Also, is this really a two man job?
I tried to bribe a local crew person into sabotaging their microphone, but she said, "Sorry, but I'm the lighting person."
Ugh. The crowd endured these two and stuck around for our show, which went well. Our second public show here was pretty well attended, and set up good vibes for the rest of the trip. The Houses of Blues are cool rooms to play, and the local crew moves the gear from the trailer to the stage. I love that.
Friday: On to San Antonio! Along the way, we made a pit stop at a Buc-ee's. It's a cross between a gas station and a Wal Mart. You could get lost in there.
Friday afternoon in San Antonio was sublime. The Aztec Theatre where we played was right next to the river walk, and the weather was perfect for hanging around until it was time to load in.
What a room! The Aztec is a beautiful theatre. They even brought the disco ball out of storage for our show. I liked everything about playing here: the crowd was once again excellent, with several hundred people in attendance, the green rooms were plentiful, the local crew was helpful, and the DJ was pretty and didn't use a microphone. I think we made a lot of new friends here. It felt like a pretty spectacular night.
Saturday: After the show, we trekked to our hotel in Austin. It kind of sucked to go that far (85 miles) before going to bed (well...I slept in the van, so I can't really say that it was too terrible, but Zach drove us and I'm sure he was tired), but the good news was that we had the whole day in Austin.
Lunch time wandering around:
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| fried pickle |
Our show was at the smaller room in the Austin City Limits complex--3Ten. We came within a dozen people of selling it out! There's big love for us here, which hopefully means we'll be moving to a larger venue. This one was a little tight! That being said, it sounded great! My in ears mix was so clean and balanced that it didn't even sound like we were on a gig.
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| photo cred: Zach Wetzel |
Lunch at In and Out Burger. I ate it, but I don't understand what's so great about it.
Another Buc-ee's. Miles of aisles.
House of Blues, Dallas. Another terrific room. This was our first public gig here, and I think we aced it, based on the the turn out for a Sunday night show.
This evening's set list was particularly strong, though it took me the first five or six songs to get going.
In other news, I farted almost continuously throughout the gig.
The only video I've seen from the Train cruise a couple of weeks ago:
Upcoming shows
with the Yacht Rock Revue:
Friday, March 3, Newberry Opera House, Newberry, SC
Friday, March 10, Silverton Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Saturday, March 11, Roxy Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
Thursday, March 23, Fillmore Silver Springs, Silver Springs, MD
Friday, March 24, Irving Plaza, New York, NY
Saturday, March 25, The Sinclair, Boston, MA
Tuesday, March 28, Atlanta Latin Jazz Orchestra, Cafe 290, Atlanta, GA
Friday, March 31, Zeppelin vs. The Who, Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA