concert memoirs pt. 32 - rev. horton heat, los straitjackets, yo la tengo & rev. horton heat

Reverend Horton Heat w/Los Straitjackets

12/13/99 First Avenue w/Amy & Mark Ticket Price: Unknown

I had heard of both of these bands before I met Amy, but I hadn't heard any of their music. Amy introduced me to the Reverend, she had two or three of his albums, and I liked what I heard. So, the time came that the Reverend was making another trip to First Avenue, this time with Los Straitjackets opening. Amy and her longtime friend, Mark, were very excited to see them and to have me see both artists for the first time.

I was very impressed by both bands.

I thought Los Straitjackets were just a little more fun than the Reverend, but just a little. Los Straitjackets are an extremely tight, imaginative, surf guitar instrumental band, in case you didn't know. I loved their humor displayed in their face gear (wrestling masks) and the faux Spanish announcements of songs. I was so impressed with them that I bought two of their CD's at the merchandise table right after the show.

The Reverend Horton Heat was quite the crowd pleaser and one hell of a guitarist. His band was also extremely tight and entertaining. They made a lot great noise being just a three piece band.

Our friend, Mark, was way into the show. He especially admired the Reverend's bass player, Nature Boy Jimbo. I can still hear Mark shouting, "Jimbo! Jimbo! Jimbo!"

Yo La Tengo w/Make up & Quickspace
4/3/00 First Avenue w/Amy Ticket Price: Unknown

And another band introduced to me by Amy. As in the case of Reverend Horton Heat and Los Straitjackets, I had heard of Yo La Tengo, but had never seen them or heard their music until I met Amy.

Yo La Tengo is one of those bands that plays crazy fast and rockin' and then plays mellow and smooth. A playing style that can be very exciting if done well and Yo La Tengo are very good at it.

We enjoyed the show, but we would have enjoyed it more if not for a particular audience member. Yep, here I go again. Amy and I were really starting to get easily annoyed by audiences. It must our age catching up on us.

This fellow was so listen-to-me loud. No, he wasn't whooping and cheering loudly. He was just yakking and yakking to his friend through the entire show. He was talking loudly so that everyone could hear how interesting and important he was.

Amy and I weren't the only ones annoyed with Mr. Important. There were several people standing near him who began to tell him to shut up. Mr. Important may have gotten the message, but, I'm not sure because, as I recall, Amy and I moved away from him and enjoyed the rest of show.

Reverend Horton Heat w/Hank Williams III
4/25/00 First Avenue w/Amy & Mark Ticket Price: Unknown

I don't remember Hank Williams III. We may have arrived later and/or hung out elsewhere at the club. Too bad though, it would be nice to have some memory of his show, good or bad. He is kind of a big deal.

The Reverend Horton Heat show was good. The Reverend torn up his guitar, Mark cheered for Nature Boy Jimbo and everyone had a good time.

Amy got a little something special from the Reverend after his set. After early evening shows, it wasn't unusual to have the Reverend come out by the merchandise table and sign stuff. And this night was not unusual for the Reverend did come out to sign stuff.

During the set, my wife, Amy, was fortunate enough to snag a guitar pick that the Reverend had thrown to the crowd. So, Amy plucked up the courage (she's normally rather shy) and went over to him. He gladly signed the guitar pick.

Amy was able to find the pick, unfortunately, the Reverend's signature didn't stick.

concert memoirs pt. 31 - robyn hitchcock & stereolab

Robyn Hitchcock w/Tim Keegan

11/11/99 First Avenue w/Amy Ticket Price: Unknown

This was my first official date with Amy, the woman who would later become my wife. We did the traditional dinner thing first at a nearby restaurant, Pizza Luce. We then made our way over to First Avenue and were greatly entertained by Mr. Hitchcock. Robyn delivered his usual good show while Amy and I held hands. How sweet.

It was at this show that some gal standing next to Amy "accidentally" nudged her. She sweetly apologized to Amy saying, "Oops, I bumped you." We're pretty sure that this gal was hitting on Amy. Amy has told me that it wasn't unusual to have women occasionally approach her. Hmmm.

Here's where I have to apologize to my wife. You see, this concert was on the same night as the concert Joe Strummer was performing at another Minneapolis club, The Quest. Amy had won tickets to that show! But did we go to see Joe Strummer play? Nooooo. No, I had bought the Robyn Hitchcock tickets and I was the man, so we had to miss Joe. Even though it would have been a wash or we could have sold the Hitchcock tickets to someone else. Typical male thing, eh girls?

Who knew Joe would die three years later? I had seen Joe Strummer before, but Amy never had. And she never would.

Robyn Hitchcock is still alive. Not only that, but both Amy and I had seen Robyn Hitchcock prior to this show (although not together). And we would see him again later when he toured with The Soft Boys!

What the hell was I thinking?! We should have gone to see Joe Strummer. What a jerk I was. Dumbass! Stupid, stupid, stupid! I'm such a dope!

I'm sorry, Honey Bunny.

Stereolab w/Papa M & Jim O'Rourke
12/4/99 First Avenue w/Amy Ticket Price: Unknown

Amy and I enjoyed this show. Stereolab is a very cool band, although I'm not as enamored with their more recent material. However, I don't have much to tell about the show. I don't remember any specifics, except one.

The audience. Or rather a small group of people in the audience who were standing near us. They were smoking. (This was before Minneapolis banned smoking in bars and restaurants.) Smoking in itself can be annoying, but it was more the way this group smoked that got under our skin.

They all held their cigarettes up by their mouths when not taking a drag. One hand holding the elbow of the arm held straight up with the lit cigarette also pointing straight up smoldering away. Allowing the smoke to drift right at us through the duration of the show.

These chain-smokers just struck us as being so pretentious. Oh, how European to smoke that way. It's Stereolab, let's all act European.

This show may have been marking my growing disinterest in concert going. I had already cut my concert going to one or two shows a year. However, when Amy came along, I started going to more shows. Still, I found myself far more annoyed with the crowds of people. Amy was having the same feelings.

I must have been much more tolerant when I was younger. Plus the fact that I was usually dancing down front and didn't pay much attention to the audiences. I guess that as I was aging I danced less and was more likely to observe the people around me. I was beginning to think that staying home would be more pleasant.

a promise to president-elect obama

I can't say that I'm pleased with the outcome of the presidential election. I am pleased and proud that our country, once again, shows the world that we can peacefully transfer power.

President-elect Obama has a tough road ahead. He's going to be facing a lot of daunting challenges. I'm pretty certain that I won't be thrilled with his solutions, but I will promise one thing:

He is our next president and I won't hate him.

I think the hatred and vitriol hurled at President Bush everyday for nearly eight years (he was given a little break after 9/11) is appalling. It's childish, shameful and mean-spirited.

I have not always agreed with the actions and policies of George W. Bush, but I know this to be certain: he loves this country. Everything he has done he has done because he believed it was best for our country, whether we all agreed with him or not.

If you can't give President Bush credit for anything, I ask you to take off the blinders and give him this...

By my count, it's been seven years, one month and 25 days since America has been attacked on her soil. NO ONE thought on 9/12/01 that we wouldn't have been attacked in the next year let alone seven plus!

The lion's share of credit is due to the American servicemen and women and their leaders, number one of whom is President Bush.

I know President-elect Obama loves this country, too. And that he will act in a way he thinks is best for America. I probably won't like much of it (he's a little too socialist for my tastes), but I won't hate him.

I promise.