Nextstage
Grand Prairie, TX
November 8, 2003

HOLY S*^#@%#%!

This is what I said after looking at the odometer (Trickodometer, if you will) on November 16 as I drove home from Austin.

CT comes to Tejas and I put 2100+ miles on my car. Eep!!!

Yes, the CT gods have been good to me this year. I thought my fixes back in September would have to last me awhile, but low and behold some Texas dates showed up. I think Tim sprained his eyes from rolling them so hard when I asked if I could go.

So, let the babbling begin. This is the first in a 4 part gush-o-rama.

Here are the usual bookmarks:

Show details

Set list

But wait! There’s more!

Hell yeah! The good news just kept getting better when word that Wayne Kramer would be an opener on the tour. You can read about his set here.

The Damnwells are out on tour with the guys, too. Their set was great as well, so click here for more on that.

You may also find the RN radio interview section of interest…

One more link before the babbling begins in earnest… The Dallas station that promoted the show, KZPS, has photos up here. (You may need to scroll down a bit.)

I hit the road that morning with the weather looking so iffy that I was pretty happy that I wouldn’t have to wait outside in the rain for a decent seat that day.

As usual, the long drive afforded me the chance to listen to music and mull over whatever was on my mind. The music was an odd mix of genres: CT (duh!) and Wayne Kramer’s latest, Adult World amongst others… plus Frank Sinatra and the Ragtime soundtrack?!?!

Right now I’m working on a couple shows: a Frank Sinatra review and another local production, Ragtime. My husband cast me as Emma Goldman in the latter. I don’t know why he thought I was a good choice to play her. ;)

Anyway, back to the weather. It sucked. Rained the whole way, so driving was treacherous at times. Not to mention I was worried about the I-30 situation. Thanks to Brigette, I was aware that part of it would be closed after 8 that night. Yuck.

Living in BFE Texas really bites sometimes, but at least we don’t have to put up with that kinda a traffic crap. ;) Truly, I have no patience for it.

Did I mention that the weather sucked?!

Once I was in the Metroplex (doncha love the silly names cities come up with for their "surrounding areas"?!) I tuned in to KZPS to see what kind of promo the show was getting. Low and behold, they announced that they were partying and broadcasting from "the lounge" at Nextstage and anyone who wanted to join them could.

In the parking lot, I met up with fellow fans Kelley and Brigette who were on their way to the same place. They were good enough to let me tag along.

This was definitely the swankiest facility I’d seen CT play. (Yes, I know the Royal Albert Hall would be considered swankier, but I wasn’t there! :P) Nextstage seats 6000+ and has several suites up in the balcony for those who like to spend their money on that sort of thing. Hell, the lobby is bigger than some of the places I’ve been to see CT, fer cryin’ out loud!

Anyway, one of the aforementioned suites was where KZPS had set up their lounge. After hunting up and down the cavernous hallway, lined with photos of previous headliners, we found it.

Not too long after that, CT showed up for sound check, which included "Oh Caroline" and "If I Could."

RN KZPS Interview

Shortly after sound check, Rick was ushered upstairs to the suite, er, "lounge" for an interview with a KZPS DJ. As luck would have it, we had a front row seat to see the whole thing! Schelby (I think that was her name) did a fairly good job keeping up with Rick’s lightning fast quips. It was interesting to witness it all – going to commercial breaks and coming back. One of the dudes with the station was in charge of "crowd control" – that is, getting us to scream and clap. LOL

Here are some of the things that I recall from Rick’s interview:

• When she said he looked dapper, he asked if the "m" was silent (referring to the wet weather that day).

• For some reason, she asked Rick if he’d wear a hat that night. WTF?! She had some decent questions, but every so often something silly like that came out of her mouth. Rick pondered it for a moment then said he’d wear a black one. :P

• He talked about future shows – including the fact that they just got the gig to play the All-Star Game for the NHL, cracking wise about seeing hockey players up close. (The radio folks had opened the floor for questions, so this info came after I asked him about future plans for CT.) Before asking the question, I snuck in a plug for Special One. :D He talked about going back to the studio to record more new songs in the spring, which got a big cheer from all of us.

• In answer to another question, he talked about his 5 neck guitars – adding that the orange one is prominently displayed at a place in Chicago (read: Piece restaurant). Yes, it was stolen back in the 80’s but he got it back, much to his tech’s chagrin.

• His advice to an aspiring musician was first, "Don’t do it." Then "Practice. If that doesn’t work, practice some more."

• When Schelby brought up the HGTV feature of his home in Rockford from a few years ago, he quipped that his wife used it as an excuse to redecorate. LOL

• He closed the interview with a comment that he needed to go practice and thanking Billy Gibbons for loaning him guitars for the show that night. This got an audible response from us. "I’m just kidding. I hope he’ll hear this and come through though." Doh!

Some of the wacky morning DJs were on hand. Rick put up with their moronic humor well, all things considered. The DJ dude who does the voices either needs to:

A. hone his craft;
B. not drink when he’s on the air;
C. all of the above.

Most of his stuff fell flat. It was painful. The bemused look on RN’s face was priceless though.

I was shocked and amazed when KZPS actually played something new – "My Obsession." What a concept!!!! Although there were other commercial breaks sans CT songs. They cut away to some Led Zep song at one point and Rick said, "That doesn’t sound like CT." LMAO!

After the interview concluded, he stayed on to sign autographs and take pictures. A large sign for the show that night had a WUWAM era drawing, so Rick asked if someone would paint out his beard. :)

Brigette and Kelley headed downstairs but I hung back to chat with a couple of fans I’d just met. Keith and Amber had won tickets and were very excited about the concert and getting to meet Rick. Keith was particularly fond of CT, having seen them 30+ times. Gotta love a fan who’s seen them that much! Plus he was from Ohio, so we chatted about our home state, both of us bemoaning the fact that we didn’t have a deck of cards to play euchre. LOL!

After a delightfully overpriced quesadilla, I headed downstairs to find my seat just in time for the Damnwells. (And spot Brian and his boys, Ryan and Christopher in the crowd: my good friends who were kind enough to let me crash at their place again.)

THE DAMNWELLS

I’d heard nothing but good things about them from my friend Stephanie, so I looked forward to their set. They definitely lived up to the hype. They’re a quartette out of Brooklyn – I highly recommend checking them out if you get a chance. Their set was all songs from their latest CD, Bastards for the Beat. Good stuff and the crowd gave them a warm reception.

I think this was probably the biggest place they’d ever played – they looked a little awestruck. LOL In the middle of the set, the lead singer looked at the two huge monitors on the side and wondered if the video camera was doing a close up of him "Ted Nugent Style." LMAO!!!

After their set, I headed out to the lobby to buy Zach a shirt. If you haven’t seen them yet, there’s an adorable new kid’s shirt for sale. Get yours now!!! And buy a copy of S1 while you’re at it. :D

Speaking of, I had some left over postcards with S1 info, so on my way out, I accosted people and asked them if they knew about the new album. LOL

After scoring some shirts, I met up with Mandy, Lon and Mandy’s mom. Nice to meet them at last! Mandy gave masks to all for of the guys when they played Billy Bob’s in February. She was very happy to hear that Rick’s had taken up residence in his offstage right space.

Jon from IDK was hard at work. Busy merch table. Woo hoo! Nice to see him again. He always makes me laugh. As we said goodbye, he urged me to get inside to watch Wayne Kramer.

As if I wouldn’t.

WAYNE KRAMER

By the time I got back inside, he’d started his set. DAMNIT!!! *Sigh* Why must I babble so?!?!

Well, I did catch most of it. I was thrilled that he played 3 songs from Adult World. Buy the damn CD, m’kay? It’s unbelievable.

His whole set was. If you were in it for the MC5 stuff, you might have been disappointed. The focus these days is clearly on his solo work. Of course there’s the inevitable screams for "Kick Out the Jams." It must be like IWYTWM or "Surrender" for CT. God forbid we allow an artist to move forward, past the well-known material. :P

Anyway, Wayne f***ing rules, so go see him. I love his humor, I love his passion and I love watching him play guitar. The band he has out with him right now is outstanding, too: Eric on drums, Doug on bass and Gary on keyboard. I could’ve listened to them all night – but not if it meant missing out on CT, of course. ;)

Wayne announced from the stage that he’d be at the merch table to sign autographs, so I dashed out to the lobby so I could shake the man’s hand and tell him how stoked I was to see him on this tour. He was very gracious to me and anyone who approached him.

THE SHOW

Back inside, I caught up with Michelle, Kelley and Brigette. They were sitting on Rick’s side and I was over on Tom’s. I babbled so much that the lights went down so I had to make a run for my seat.

Not that that mattered much. There was a huge rush to the stage, so the first 3 rows emptied instantly. Security and the front of house staff said nothing. Weird.

CT took the stage – or is that stools? – with a crowd of 5000+ cheering all the while.

Fashion report

SET LIST

MISC.

The guys really seemed to be happy playing in such a nice facility in front of such a large crowd. I was really proud to see it for myself.

A special A+ for effort goes out to Robin. Seems like he’s feeling better than the last couple of times I’ve caught them in action. His voice is stronger than ever. Plus you gotta love a show when he’s being so animated. GO ROBIN!

RN SPEAKS

(Note: I’ve slept since this show. The four shows are starting to blur together in my brain, so this section is kinda lame…. Doh!)

Rick told us it was great to be back in Texas and this was the best crowd they’ve ever had. Awwww…

He gave a special welcome to Jenny and Mindy Candas – commenting that it had been too long since they’d seen them. Another "awww" moment. :)

He also thanked the openers, going on to say that Wayne is one of their favorites for a long time and hopefully one of ours.

The big burly security dude (and hug recipient) got some picks bounced of his head and late in the set, Rick put a hand on his shoulder and asked him how he was doing. LOL

POST SHOW

There was a big press to the stage afterwards. Many a folk looking for picks and/or a set list. Nextstage staff/local crew dudes and CT’s techs were doing their best to oblige. A father and son scanned the floor in vein, so I gave them an extra. The delighted look on their face was worth the price of admission.

Out in the lobby I got to say goodbye to Kelley and Brigette before heading out into the post show traffic. Bleh…

Although it looked crazy busy in the lot, I must say that the security folks did a great job directing traffic and getting all of us out of there as efficiently as possible.

As luck would have it, I got in my car, just as the "questions from the audience" section of the RN interview was being re-aired. Is my voice really that nasal?!?!? LOL

And it was still raining. Yeehaw.

Up the road a piece (a little Texas speak for ya there… LOL) I caught up with Brian and his boys and we began our search for an IHOP. Christopher jumped in my car to keep me company and proceeded to talk my ear off. And I thought *I* talked a lot!!! What a cutie.

There in the IHOP we talked about the show and I proceeded to be out-Simpson-quoted by him and his brother. LOL!

Back at Brian’s home, I got to see some of the latest additions to his amazing guitar collection. Wowie!!!

The drive home was rainy and crappy again. Felt just like being back home in Columbus. :P

DANKE

The usual thanks are in order… CT and foremost – thanks as always to you and your staff for another great show. How nice to see you performing in a venue worthy of you!

Brian, thanks as always for the hospitality and IHOP fix (sorry I couldn’t eat all 9 eggs in that omelet!!!). :D

But most of all, thanks to my two favorite guys for letting me make it to another CT show. The welcome home I always get from Tim and Zach are always the best.

More Texas reviews to come…

Peace,
Lisa J.
<insert Homer quote here>