Good afternoon! Your narrator had a pretty damned fabnabulous time last night downtown. Wait, what??
That's right. We're in the throes of Free Week in Austin, which is a time where the downtown clubs band together and charge no admission to see live music. This concept has been going on for....well, over ten years, maybe more now....and in the past, when I've participated in it, still hasn't been the best attendance week. Apparently, the concept has taken hold. Downtown was nicely populated last night, despite chilly weather.
The Swishbucklers had a gig at the Empire Control Room. Set time was 11 pm, and this time, they had a backline!! Yes! So, I got downtown about 8:00 and quickly noticed there were quite a few folks already down there. I parked under I-35, which has been going on since I've lived here....but last night was the first time I did that. Eight bucks. Not great, but not exactly the usual fleecing you get downtown.
After rolling my cymbals, etc. over to the club, I saw on FB that Amplified Heat was playing down the street at Mohawk, so I went down to see them, after stopping in Valhalla to harass Mr. Jason Craig. Seems like I only get to see AH about once a year or so. To my surprise, they were playing outside, where it was pretty cold, but the floor quickly filled up. Very nice to see! There was one guy who kept videoing them with his phone, with the LED light on....and kept turning during songs to video the audience. After the third time of that, I moved to the other side of the floor. Sure enough, after the next song, the same dude walked over and did the same thing again. I really think there are people who are partially brain dead and still function in society. After moving to the back of the floor, I saw a couple more tunes and headed back to the Empire.
The Swishbucklers had not rehearsed since before our last gig in San Antonio, but we pulled it off pretty well. (I rehearsed all the recorded songs at home before going down, so I felt ready for once.) The crowd was dancing, and we sounded okay. Rice had a new guitar he was using, and he was unfamiliar with it still....and yet, I thought he got some great sounds out of it that seemed to compliment what Tommy Rowsey was doing really well. It seemed like we left too long gaps between songs, and yet we managed to play our entire repertoire (all eleven!). The backline kit was playable, although the drum throne had disappeared when I got up there for some reason (the previous drummer didn't use the kit). The first throne I was handed by the stage manager was low to the ground and non-adjustable due to cobbled-together after-market hardware. I was sweating that for a bit, but then the stage manager handed me a much, much better throne. What were they, made of thrones?? Anyway, the snare stand was the cheapest $20 variety, and drifted some but not too much. If it hadn't been downtown, I would have brought my own throne and snare stand, too.
After the gig, I headed over to C-Boy's to see Michelle. Rice and Brandy joined, too. After helping Michelle close down (good training....I might need a job soon!), we headed to Kerbey Lane for late-night grub.
The only watching I'm reporting today was a return to the "Ghost Story" series from 1972-3. I had started watching those many years ago and just stopped after a few episodes. It's a show William Castle produced and had Richard Matheson onboard as well. It didn't do well ratings-wise, even going so far as to change show name to "Circle of Fear" halfway through the run. Still, it only lasted one season, and there are only 23 episodes in total. The one I watched yesterday had Melvyn Douglas and a pint-sized Jodie Foster. It was okay, but I see why the show didn't quite make it. I suppose the idea sprang from other anthology shows such as "Night Gallery," but there's no real visual flair to this show. Where "Night Gallery" used interesting lighting and camera techniques to help invoke mood, this show is pretty static with basic lighting and standard shooting techniques. Still an okay watch. I might check out a couple more episodes before putting the set away for another few years......
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