Stubb’s Austin, TX November 15, 2003

Another day, another set o’ bookmarks. I’ve outdone myself with babbling this time, so these bookmarks will come in handy for the weak of heart…

CT show
CT set list
You Meet the Nicest People in Downtown Austin
Sound Check Wackiness
Da Damnwells
DFS Owes Me a Shiner
Will Lisa Ever Shut Up About Wayne Kramer?!

Anyhoo… Austin was CT show #50 for me. My silver anniversary! :D Perhaps this number is unimpressive when compared the likes of Kim G or Junko.. Is it more impressive when one considers that I saw shows #2-50 over the last 3.5 years?!

Whatever… Forgive me for being crass, but I shot my CT wad with the shows this weekend. This’ll prolly be my last review for awhile. Unless the guys play my backyard or something. Tim might let me go then. LOL

When last we saw our traveling foursome, they’d arrived at their hotel in the wee hours of the morning….

Much to my surprise, I didn’t get sleepy between Houston and Austin. CT usually does that to me though – I get so wound up that I can’t wind down for a good 48 hours afterwards.

Junko had brought me (and Zach!) some cool gifts from Japan, including this adorable shot of my mom with her, Robin and Tom. Yeah, that’s Mr. Petersson peeking out from behind. LMAO! For anyone who did not see my posts elsewhere, Junko caught the Unlimited Sunshine Tour in Columbus and I goaded my mom into attending the show with her. Mom is STILL talking about it.

Yeah, that’s right! Mom B is kewl!

As I said, I couldn’t sleep, so I got up way early and walked the path to the venue from our hotel. Pretty glad I did because I’d forgotten how hilly Austin is. LOL!

Stubb’s is a pit.

BBQ pit, that is. Well, it’s a dirt pit too, but I’ll get to that later.

I hoofed it back to the hotel and Junko was awake, so we grabbed breakfast (BTW, the Hampton Inn in downtown Austin is very nice – great breakfast spread, dude!) and went to the venue to stake out our spot in line.

It seems my compulsive queuing habits know no bounds. WTF is my problem!??!?! LOL!!!

There was one staff member there that early. He was very sweet and told us how the whole gate thingy works. You shoulda seen how big his eyes got when I told him we were there for the show that night. Bwahahahahahaha!

In my defense, there are many, many people in Texas who wouldn’t look at me funny if I’d been in line for a dumba$$ football game. :P

Brian stopped by and got his laugh for the day. I got a call from Stephanie on my cell and she questioned my mental state. LOL

I felt slightly vindicated when the one and only Rick Nielsen stopped by later that morning. The only reason he was there that early was because he wanted BBQ. While he waited for the joint to open for lunch, he chatted with us for a bit.

Rick’s visit was one of the only glimmers of sunshine that day. Otherwise the weather was $hit. It rained off and on and it was humid as hell. BLAH!

You could see where CT would play later that night – it was an unpaved outdoor area in the back of the restaurant.

This gave me the chance to scream things in my best echoy radio announcer voice…

"Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY! See Cheap Trick at Stubb’s, Stubb’s, STUBB’S! In fifty tons of mud, mud, MUD!!!!!"

Try it! It’s fun.

Almost as fun as screaming "GUITARMAGEDDON!!!!!!!!"

Shortly after Rick went inside for lunch, a guy came bopping down the street and stopped when he saw the tour bus.

GUY: Is that Robin Zander’s tour bus?
ME: Ummm…. Yeah, but he’s not in there right now.

Homeboy immediately whipped out a lighter and flicked it on, as if to salute our favorite lead singer.

LMGDMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I about died. But he didn’t stop there…

GUY: Oh man! I love Cheap Trick! When I was 15, my girlfriend told me she’d go all the way with me if I could sing to her like Robin Zander.
ME: Uh huh…
GUY: I went home and I practiced and practiced and practiced, but I never could…
ME: Awwww, huh-ney. That’s too bad…. Buy the new album.

:D

A trip to the Austin Hard Rock Cafe

Of course I had to be the enabler for Junko’s HRC habit. ;)

After Stephanie and Cara arrived to watch our spots in line for a bit, we headed over to 6^th Street.

Their gift shop had some really cute bears (which Junko collects) for Halloween. One in a werewolf costume and another dressed as a bat – in honor of the flock (gaggle? herd? school? swarm? clusterf*@k?!) of bats that reside under the Congress St. Bridge.

Anyway, when Junko went to cash out, the guy behind the counter eyed her CT shirt and said, "I’m sorry if this is a dumb question, but is CT playing somewhere in town tonight?"

When I said yes, adding that he needed to go see the show at Stubb’s, he flipped out and yelled at a coworker. "Dude! I told you that was Rick from Cheap Trick!!!!’

The guy was hyperventilating.

"Oh my god! He walked by here! I saw him! Damnit! I KNEW I should’ve said something!!!!!!"

I don’t know if Brian from the HRC made it to the show or not, but I hope he did. :)

Outside, Junko and I snapped pictures of the beautiful mural. It was fun explaining all the Texas symbols to her. Even if you’re not a HRC fan, check out the Austin building if you ever get a chance. Very cool!

Back at the venue, I had a late lunch with Kim G, Junko and Stephanie at Stubb’s. Thanks to Cara for holding down the fort while we did that! Junko and Kim had a rack of ribs that was bigger than their heads! LOL My turkey was delightful – especially when I doused it with Stubb’s BBQ sauce.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm… BBQ sauce……..

The place was very crowded with lots of people congregating there for food before the big U of Texas game vs. Texas Tech that night. I coached Junko on the UT hand sign and tried to get her to say, "Hook ‘em ‘horns!"

How the hell does one translate that to Japanese?! LOL

SOUND CHECK

A good-sized group of fans had luck out on the patio. Not only did they get to overhear sound check, they were also paid a visit by Rick. Michelle had a "Keep Austin Weird" shirt for him, which I’m sure he got a kick out of.

The rest of us could clearly hear sound check, too, since we were just outside the gate.

It included lots of goofing around from Mr. Nielsen. When they weren’t playing, he was on the mic, trying out various penis jokes, Paris Hilton rants plus a terrible joke about Inn & Out Burger. Bad, bad boy!

I should’ve written them down – I can’t remember any of them now. Doh!

Sound check included "If I Could," "Oh Caroline" and Rick’s version of the very politically incorrect "Indian Maid." Strains of "Woke Up With a Monster" and Rick singing bits "Substitute" were overheard as well.

As they left the venue, I had to laugh as Tom intentionally messed up someone’s photo op. Very subtle – he just looked down when the photo was taken. LOL! The guy deserved it, if you ask me. He handed Tom this dorky miniature guitar and told him to play it. :P

When I told Rick it was my 50^th show, he gave his stock reply, "So what? I’ve been to all 5000+." DOH!

Watching Carla deal with some over enthusiastic fans was another amusing sight. In the same breath, one guy said, "Don’t worry. I don’t want anything... Is there gonna be a meet and greet?" I think it was the same guy who asked, "Where are they staying?" Carla just laughed and said, "Like I’m gonna tell you that!"

Back in line, I caught up with Danny F. Saint and Laura. God, that boy makes me laugh. We also got the chance to visit with Sayuri and her hubby. The front of the line had all kinds of hard core types: Michelle, Brigette, Kelley, Mutsumi, Norika. It was great to see Al and Melinda, too. They were in from San Antonio – I was worried I wouldn’t see them on this Tejas tour.

Wayne and Co. warmed up after CT. Eric the drummer saw me on his way in and came over to say "hi." When I thanked him for the drumstick he gave me in Corpus Christi, he called me a superfan, "You know the lyrics better than I do!" *blush*

Wayne was in a goofy mood too - improving some poetry about being old, he goofed on himself and BEC. "Back when I had hair... Back when Bun E. had hair!" LMAO!

Well, once the gates finally opened, we all managed to run to our spots without wiping out in a big mud puddle. The stage is smallish with a truss/awning overhang thingy above it. We were all grateful that the weather was cooperating, for the most part. It was humid, but not raining, so the show would go on.

*Whew*

DAMNWELLS

This was the best set of the four I caught on this tour. Even though it was basically the same set, the guys were so much more relaxed, which was fun to watch.

Before they started, I saw that Ted was wearing an "Electric Company" shirt so I screamed, "ELECTRIC COMPANY!" at him. He smirked and pointed at me. LOL

He looks like my Uncle Mike. Weird, cuz chances are his band the Coffee Sergeants has played Stubb’s.

Alex talked a lot more tonight and was very funny. He told everyone to visit their merch table because all of their stuff was just $10. Ted jumped on that and said, "Ummm.. that’s a lie. Some stuff is $15." DOH!

On another topic, Alex confessed that he’s not a UT fan, which drew many a boo from the crowd. His story is that he couldn’t get in to UT because of his SAT scores, which offended him because a bag of bricks made in Texas would get accepted there. LMAO!

Elaborating further, he said that he regretted nothing. His life was better because of what happened as a result. You have to believe that, blah, blah, blah.

By this time the rest of the Damnwells were snickering and Alex said he was just trying to "create a vibe." Bwahahahahahahaahaha!

DFS OWES ME A BEER

So, just before Wayne’s set, I notice Mr. Saint's Shiner is almost empty. So, I hand him a $5 and ask him to do me a big favor and get me one on his next run.

DFS disappears for at least 10 minutes. (The joint wasn't that big.) When he DOES return, he has two cups of Shiner, sipping one while handing the other to his lady friend. When I yell, "WHERE THE HELL IS MINE?!" his face falls.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Good thing I love Danny so much or I'd've had to kick his ass.

WAYNE KRAMER

As Brother Wayne took the stage with his "band of renown," Eric (the drummer) scanned the crowd then pointed at me before sitting down behind his kit. Awwwww!

Well, as if I haven’t gushed about this opener enough, tonight’s set just blew me away. It was tight! It was such a pleasure to witness. The give and take between the four guys on stage was really beautiful. Just outstanding.

"Great Big Amp" didn’t make the list tonight, but "Brought a Knife" and "Adult World" did. The former was particularly brilliant. It was as if Wayne was trying to make up for messing up his lyrics the night before. :)

And then there were his guitar solos. Oh. My. God! He was absolutely on fire, making the guitar talk, sing, growl, shout. Wow, wow, WOW!

I wouldn’t trade anything for the four sets of his that I got to see. While his music may not be for everyone, it really grabbed me. It spoke to my head and heart.

Now, I’m aware that this might sound pretentious/cheesy /dumb, but tough shit. It’s the truth.

When I go to a CT show, it’s usually to just kick back and have fun. But this weekend, I couldn’t do that. Wayne’s music really got to me and made me reevaluate some things.

Thank you, sir.

My only regret is that I didn’t get to see Rick jam with him. A couple nights they did "Kick Out the Jams" during WK’s set and I’ve heard it was amazing…

Although I’d intended to leave the guy alone to talk to other fans, I couldn’t help it. I really had to tell him how much his music meant to me, so I headed towards the merch table with many others.

While waiting in the Wayne Line, I lectured Ted from the Damnwells about his "Electric Company" t-shirt, truly sounding like an old lady.

"Oh, like you’re old enough to have seen that show when it was originally aired!!!!"

He took my ribbing well, only to get another earful when he asked if it was Laurence Fishborne who was on the show.

"No, no, NO! Laurence was on "Pee Wee’s Playhouse"! Morgan Freeman was on "Electric Company"!

Sheesh! These kids today! I tell ya! ;)

They all noted that I’d been there for 4 shows, so I had to purchase a Damnwell CD. Awwww… How can I resist that?! LOL

Another fun thing about waiting in the Wayne Line was getting to harrass Kim G, who was helping sell CT stuff.

When it was finally my turn to talk to Wayne (I thought Brian would never shut up! WKBWL! :D) I gushed one last time. He melted my heart when he said having me in the crowd for a few nights gave them "hope."

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back in front with mis amigas, they had a gift for me. They’d found a way to snag the Wayne Kramer set list for me.

Now THAT’S love! Thank you, Stephanie and Cara!!!!!!!!!

THE SHOW

Just before CT took the stage around 9:00 PM, Jenny Candas and a few of her friends got the sweet spots between the barrier and the stage.

Fashion report

SET LIST

RICK SEZ

He gave us a couple game updates - telling us that UT was ahead and "kicking major ass." [I found out after the fact that the game had been a real defensive battle. NOT. UT won 43-40. IMHO you gotta win by more than a field goal for it to be an ass kicking. ;) ]

I lost track of how many times Rick showed us the picture of Mr. T on his shirt and yelled "I pity da foo’!"

Pointing out Danny F. Saint, he noted that Danny is not a saint. "This is the most sober I’ve seen you... But it’s early!"

During name check time he told everyone that a roller derby chick was down front, "Cheap Trixie." After rattling off folks from all over, he said, "But who cares about them – more importantly you’re here!" He made a face at me that I returned. :P

Griping about the sound problems, he said they’d play longer. They didn’t dangit!

Apparently a camera crew was following the guys around for some documentary, which Rick mentioned briefly.

Another night, another claim that he's in the Paris Hilton video.

He got a big cheer when he told us how much they love playing Austin. :) (Any time, y’all! We love having you!)

MISC.

Same set list, but it’s all good. It’s a great one!

Poor Rick! He had major sound issues tonight. Not sure exactly what but they were constantly messing with his ear monitor. By the end of the show, Rick looked all too happy to take off his jacket and drop it on the ground, with the earpiece. LOL

Despite the various sound flubs, the guys were still very enthusiastic and played another fantabulous show. Robin continued his high-energy streak – really working the crowd again. Yow! Keep up the great work, sir!

Rick could get down on audience level over on stage left – he did so many times.

There was quite a crowd in the balcony and they played up to those folks, as well.

When Rick came out before the encores, he did the traditional water bottle throw into the crowd. It headed right for Jenny and me. We both got a hand on it, but she definitely made the catch. Just as I was about to get pouty, she turned around and handed it to me. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!

After that supreme act of kindness, she asked me about Zach. You could’ve knocked me over with a feather! We talked a bit more after the show: she told me about her plans for school and thanked all of us for putting up with them dancing in front of us.

Total sweetheart.

POST SHOW

By now sleep deprivation was really setting in, so it was hard to come up with a plan for where to hook up with everyone. We were all staying at different places downtown – thanks to the UT game, driving and parking was an absolute mess.

The goal was to meet up with folks at the Omni, but by the time we got down there, there was no parking to be had. So, Cara, Stephanie, Junko, Mika and I settled for a stop at IHOP.

Mmmmm… IHOP... LOL As Cara observed, except for chicken fried steak and BBQ, we only ate breakfast food this weekend. :P

MUCHAS GRACIAS!

So sad to see the latest CT road trip come to an end. Thanks to Stephanie, Cara and Junko for being such wonderful traveling companions again. Truly a pleasure!

A big ol’ thanks to CT (and the promoters!) for coming back to Texas and giving us such wonderful shows.

And as always, thanks to all y’all for reading. :)

Peace,
Lisa J.
<insert Homer quote here>

© Copyright, Lisa Jebsen, 2003