Guess all the summer rain has made the annual cricket population explosion kick in early this year. Been at least one flying around the stage at damn near every show for the past few weeks. Hell, when ETB played Sam's Burger Joint one stowed away in the front of my bass rack. Discovered it the next day when we did a private party for the company that made our stickers.
And Friday at Threadgill's was no exception cricket-wise. The Mother Truckers played the outside stage with the excellent Deadman opening. It was hands down the most amazing show I've played all year. Capacity crowd, 300+ people. All the usual cast of characters, friends and family as well. Was still sweltering at load-in time (8-ish), and the temp didn't drop much by the time we went on.
Over comped dinner talked business with Josh & Teal and Mark & Sarah Gonzales of M&S Artist Management, who are now our new management. I feel good about it, Mark and Sarah have been good friends to the band and been working their asses off. Now they will be devoting their full attention. Good to have people on our side, rather than a manager who every time we call to make a request or a suggestion are greeted with the reply "Well, what you need to understand..."
Deadman brought it and played a great set, very Drive-By Truckers with bluegrass and gospel-inspired harmonies. Teal got up to join in for a song and that really got the crowd going, and sounded amazing. Really good bunch of guys, the B3 and Leslie that Matt the keys player lugs around is always worth the trouble. Such an amazing-sounding combination of gear.
Deaman mobile pic courtesy Triniti Young
Place was packed and jumping by the time the Truckers took the stage, and it had not cooled off a single degree. 3 songs in and I was feeling a little dizzy and my pearlsnap so soaked in sweat I might as well have grabbed one out of the washing machine during the rinse cycle. But show must go on, did my best to pace myself for slower songs. Was having enough trouble trying to keep my bass dry, heh.
Josh and Teal seemed unaffected by the heat, jumping around and doing their thing. Had Matt from Deadman get up and play some keys on "Break Up Sex" and "Keep It Simple", the former sounded awesome and the latter literally brought the house down. Can only imagine what passers-by thought of the huge arena-rock roar that went up from the humble Threadgill's amphitheater. Fucking awesome!
Photos courtesy of Kristy Duff Wallace
For the grand finale we had most of Deadman get up to join us in "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac followed by "Everyday People" by Sly & the Family Stone. No preparation or rehearsal, had discussed with the Deadman guys the week before and never heard back really. Talked to them before their set and they were all for it so we made some rudimentary mental notes and just went for it onstage. And it was awesome! Good times with great people in front of a great crowd. I love my job! And the crowd was not done with us yet, chants of "Oi! Oi! Oi!" went up so we had no choice but to rip their heads off with our countrified version of "TNT" by AC/DC, with Matt getting up to lay some B3 solos. Awesome!
Pics courtesy of JB the Superfan
Good times with great people!
We leave Tuesday for the West Coast, really looking forward to heading back to California. Not only had a great send-off show, but also the great news that Little Steven's Underground Garage has picked "Summer of Love" off the new disc for the Coolest Song in the World for week of Aug 6th! Not only that but Sirius Radio picked 4 songs total to add to their playlists. Bring it on!!!
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