this show was in a venue that todd had played the summer prior-a strange place with a pair of clubs in the back..the one across the hall was a club where they blasted tex-mex style techno which was so loud and bassy that it sonically penetrated into our clubs musical space-it was a huge complex which also included a larger club that was one of the first sex pistols' stops on their inagural tour..this in all in back of a large room which houses a bowling alley, many video games (all of the shoot and kill variety except one ski machine), pool tables...wild place
one last thing i didnt say about austin-for those of you who know what im talking about-i think jandek was in line in front of me at the gruene hall show....for those of you who know who he is, you know why im flipped over it..the guy has rarely, if ever been spotted- after baiting him about if the tour was going to houston (i knew it wasnt) he told me he was in fact from houston and talked about how conservative houston was..anyhow..thought id share..its possible it wasnt him, but unlikely-he fit the bill exactly to all descriptions ive seen/heard..anyhow onto the show: in all my years of tr shows(i havent counted-gotta be over 100) it was the first time i sat in front row center right in front of todd...nice place to see it- the sound was different for sure-thanks to brian again for scoring me that ticket..blew me away...as with last nite-ill post the full list at my site..but shortly, we got the 2 surprises from gruene as well as some more....beloved infidel came after the nightly ralph nader call out..(playing the blame game)...wheel>whats going on encore as well... but we also got a born to sythn (twisted version-like the tiki-half twisted)..complete with snore..it really worked solo...another stunner was the inclusion of a new solo piano appearance..kindness......thats right..just out of the air-todd said later that night that he just kinda dialed that one up on the spot...another rough piano nite in spots didnt really touch kindness (tonite it was the monitor's fault..hmmm)..and the show was also different in that cwsbf went back to mp3 and he did not play lcm- (which is very rare-you know thats the all time most oft played tune)...it was an odd show but again found todd in superb voice which has been the connecting thread through all of this..it was so nice to see all of my tr friends in the P-Net scene-especially liz who pulled off another top flight celebration post-gig-thank god im off this am or i would be a zombie..(no sleep)..all in all-the weekend was a lot of fun and its really encouraging to see the inclusion of new material..oh if you get to the show early enough, say hi to the new road dude-hes really a real nice guy and very friendly.buy him a red bull....
ive been informed by jeff gauss that kindness was performed on piano at the second show on the 17th in osaka, so its a US debut only..thanks jeff
