OK - I've had a Red Bull and a whore's bath in the sink. I'm ready to power on ...
3 best live shows you ever saw (small venue)
1. The Black Crowes - The Unicorn - Houston, Texas
The Unicorn was actually an old grocery store, and the tickets were general admission. It was the Crowes' first headlining tour, and Jellyfish(!) opened the show. Chris Robinson is my forever rock and roll boyfriend, and so I braved the throngs of assholes from Oklahoma and a drunk frat guy who peed on my foot (yes, right on the Unicorn floor) and elbowed my way up to the spot right in front of Chris's microphone. Once they started, I totally rocked out (alone, by the way, since my friend bailed after the peeing incident). At one point, I hip checked this bimbo hard who was trying to bounce her way into my spot, and Johnny Colt pointed right at me, smiled, and gave me the devil horns sign, complete with tongue. Chris and I made eye contact several times, and he smiled when he caught me singing an as-yet-unreleased (at the time) "Thorn in My Pride." I'm sure I could crush him with the weight of my love, but I dig his voice, I dig his moves, and I dig his dirty rock 'n roll.
2. Jerry Lee Lewis - Gruene Hall - Gruene, Texas
The Killer doesn't get out that often, so you gotta jump at any chance to see him. Another general admission affair, and some of the old farts actually thought people would be sitting down during the show. I dare you to try and sit still during "Meatman." Anyway, T-Bone and I staked out a place in front and waited for Jerry Lee's grand entrance. And what an entrance it was. When he came out, to much fanfare of course, he tried to cross in front of his pie-ana, which was facing perpendicular to the front of the stage, like, right up to the edge of the stage. He took two steps and end-oed right off the stage. Which was only made all the more shocking and creepy by the fact that he had so much makeup on - he looked like a corpse when he first walked out. I was close enough to get a hand on him as the crowd pushed him back on stage, and he was hoppin' mad by that point. He yelled something at the Gruene Hall staff, and then at the band, but Kenneth Lovelace, in all his permed glory, and that guitar god James Burton got things back on track, and the show was off. It took a minute for Jerry Lee to get into it, but the show was awesome, and every once in a while, I caught a glimpse of what it must have been like to see him back in the day. I was barely pregnant at the time, and we were pleasantly surprised when he played Peach's namesake song, which we took as a sign that we had chosen the right girl's name, especially since Willie Nelson played it too when we saw him a few weeks later.
3. Cheap Trick - Showcase Event Center - San Antonio, Texas
This was a total spur of the moment thing. When I was home from college one Christmas, a friend called and asked if I wanted to go see Cheap Trick, like, right now. We ran to get tickets at Dillard’s(!) and then headed to the club, which held about 200 people? I don’t know – it was small. I saw Joe King Carasco there several times in high school, so that small. The "stage" was really more of a platform, so we were about eye to eye with the band. It was right before their big comeback with that song "The Flame," and, pardon the pun, they were really tight. The best part was at the end when they were playing "She’s Tight." About four rows back in the crowd, people had pulled up chairs to stand on, and these three girls were like go-go dancing up there. Robin Zander had a mini-spotlight that he would shine on a different girl every time he said "She’s Tight." The last time, the Big Finish to the whole show mind you, he shined it on one of the go-go girls, who at that very moment had discovered that her ring was caught in her very big hair. Her face was all contorted and she just kept screaming, "My hair! Help me, y'all! My fucking ring is stuck in my hair!" I almost peed my pants.
Back with an encore soon.
3 best live shows you ever saw (small venue)
1. The Black Crowes - The Unicorn - Houston, Texas
The Unicorn was actually an old grocery store, and the tickets were general admission. It was the Crowes' first headlining tour, and Jellyfish(!) opened the show. Chris Robinson is my forever rock and roll boyfriend, and so I braved the throngs of assholes from Oklahoma and a drunk frat guy who peed on my foot (yes, right on the Unicorn floor) and elbowed my way up to the spot right in front of Chris's microphone. Once they started, I totally rocked out (alone, by the way, since my friend bailed after the peeing incident). At one point, I hip checked this bimbo hard who was trying to bounce her way into my spot, and Johnny Colt pointed right at me, smiled, and gave me the devil horns sign, complete with tongue. Chris and I made eye contact several times, and he smiled when he caught me singing an as-yet-unreleased (at the time) "Thorn in My Pride." I'm sure I could crush him with the weight of my love, but I dig his voice, I dig his moves, and I dig his dirty rock 'n roll.
2. Jerry Lee Lewis - Gruene Hall - Gruene, Texas
The Killer doesn't get out that often, so you gotta jump at any chance to see him. Another general admission affair, and some of the old farts actually thought people would be sitting down during the show. I dare you to try and sit still during "Meatman." Anyway, T-Bone and I staked out a place in front and waited for Jerry Lee's grand entrance. And what an entrance it was. When he came out, to much fanfare of course, he tried to cross in front of his pie-ana, which was facing perpendicular to the front of the stage, like, right up to the edge of the stage. He took two steps and end-oed right off the stage. Which was only made all the more shocking and creepy by the fact that he had so much makeup on - he looked like a corpse when he first walked out. I was close enough to get a hand on him as the crowd pushed him back on stage, and he was hoppin' mad by that point. He yelled something at the Gruene Hall staff, and then at the band, but Kenneth Lovelace, in all his permed glory, and that guitar god James Burton got things back on track, and the show was off. It took a minute for Jerry Lee to get into it, but the show was awesome, and every once in a while, I caught a glimpse of what it must have been like to see him back in the day. I was barely pregnant at the time, and we were pleasantly surprised when he played Peach's namesake song, which we took as a sign that we had chosen the right girl's name, especially since Willie Nelson played it too when we saw him a few weeks later.
3. Cheap Trick - Showcase Event Center - San Antonio, Texas
This was a total spur of the moment thing. When I was home from college one Christmas, a friend called and asked if I wanted to go see Cheap Trick, like, right now. We ran to get tickets at Dillard’s(!) and then headed to the club, which held about 200 people? I don’t know – it was small. I saw Joe King Carasco there several times in high school, so that small. The "stage" was really more of a platform, so we were about eye to eye with the band. It was right before their big comeback with that song "The Flame," and, pardon the pun, they were really tight. The best part was at the end when they were playing "She’s Tight." About four rows back in the crowd, people had pulled up chairs to stand on, and these three girls were like go-go dancing up there. Robin Zander had a mini-spotlight that he would shine on a different girl every time he said "She’s Tight." The last time, the Big Finish to the whole show mind you, he shined it on one of the go-go girls, who at that very moment had discovered that her ring was caught in her very big hair. Her face was all contorted and she just kept screaming, "My hair! Help me, y'all! My fucking ring is stuck in my hair!" I almost peed my pants.
Back with an encore soon.
2 comments:
I was wondering when Mr. Robinson was going to make an appearance in your list...
You win the prize for witnessing the most unusual events at concerts. A guy peeing on your foot, a woman who will be forever remembered by Robin Zander for having her ring stuck in her hair? If you have more stories, I'm DYING to hear them.
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