What happened to all you people on Friday and Saturday? Everyone was abuzz
over the One World Music Festival during the weeks prior to it, and the weather
was fine, despite early fears that George Clinton’s Mothership would end up
being an Ark. Still, it seemed like a low turnout during the first two days.
Guestimates from Chronicle attendees are approximately 900 for James
Brown on Friday, 1,500 or so for Bunny Wailer and Spearhead on Saturday, and
between 5,000-8,000 on Sunday for Clinton. One World is still counting, but
Public Relations Director Dan Smith offers considerably higher preliminary
figures for Friday and Saturday. Those involved with One World don’t appear to
be nervous about covering expenses — such as paying the Godfather of Soul
$55,000 and Ian Moore $10,000 — or the fact that the festival has declared
bankruptcy in three other previous cities. When confronted with the matter,
Smith said simply that “everyone’s paid.” He added that due to the cleanliness
of those in attendance, lack of traffic problems and fights or arrests, the
owners of Resort Ranch are welcoming the festival’s return next year, which is
exactly what Smith & Co. hope to do.
ZZ’s Stops
Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard are on the road with their newRhythmeen tour (or, as they’re calling it, the “Continental Safari”),
and will be hitting Texas in December, with Austin specifically slated for the
Erwin Center on December 10. That doesn’t mean it’ll be their only gig
hereabouts, though. Lone Wolf Management’s Bob Small says that small “secret”
gigs are “still being talked about” and several markets have been discussed. He
goes on to say that should they happen, they may be during the tour. Since the
dates surrounding Austin are Amarillo on Dec. 7 and Dallas on the Dec. 12, that
leaves a healthy three days for the band to make a club appearance somewhere
nearby. May I suggest Sunday night at Hut’s? Small adds that the club gigs
would be announced the day before the show at the very earliest, if at all.
The band is further going back to its roots this year by not shooting a video
at this time (if that doesn’t seem like a big deal, think where they’d be today
without MTV and “Legs”!). Small, when asked if this is because MTV isn’t
expected to take to the bluesier Top, cites a number of reasons, emphasizing
the need to get on the road. The band will do that starting October 28, but you
get a preview October 2 when they make an appearance on the David Letterman
show.
Mending the Net(work)
Tim Hamblin at the Austin Music Network is mighty busy these days, as thestation has gone to full 24-hour a day status, and is in the process of
fine-tuning its new live music news show, On The Air, on Fridays at
6:30pm. The end of October marks the beginning of changes at the network’s
popular Check This Action, as co-host
Margaret Moser is leaving the
show. “We’re grateful to her for doing it this long,” says Hamblin, “but the
show must go on.” He encourages potential hosts to sent a videotape of
themselves to the network at 309 W. Second St., Austin, TX 78701. Since
editor/cohost Tara Veneruso has plans for a short trip to New York soon after
Moser’s departure, expect at least one week of CTA without any familiar
faces. Moser, fresh out of the dentist’s chair, said only “Mmmpppphh.”
Not Entranced By Voodoo
The Voodoo Lounge is continuing to increase its presence in the Sixth Streetentertainment district. It’s on Third, just a couple blocks down the bogus Walk
of Stars on Trinity, and if you’ve never managed to find it, you’re not alone.
Even with a bit more publicity these days, I’ve never seen more than a handful
of people inside (though there’s a regular crowd that seems to hang around out
front — maybe they should shut the big “freebie” window out there), but booker
Rob Walker promises bigger shows and more publicity for them starting next
month. The Trance Syndicate show last Wednesday with the Mountain Goats and
Alastair Galbraith taught a few people the way to the Voodoo, with over 100
paid attendees, but don’t expect a repeat appearance from the Trance folks.
While from an audience perspective, things went well (one Trance employee says
“If you weren’t there, you should have been”), but Craig Stewart claims that
the club reneged on the payment agreement for the bands and that he got in
quite a shouting match with Walker after the show. “I couldn’t threaten them
with anymore bad publicity than they’ve already gotten,” says Stewart, and adds
he won’t be booking any of the Trance roster there again. In the end, he says,
the bands got “what they needed,” though less than what they were promised.
Mixed Notes
The Flamingo Cantina sure knows how to get your attention. TheChronicle atrium is currently crowded with plastic pink flamingos (makes
us want to move to Westlake Hills). They gave us the birds in hopes their
colorful plumage would attract our attention to the club’s Flamingo Fest, set
for September 29 at Fiesta Gardens, with Black Uhuru, Killer Bees, Billygoat
and such. Don’t worry about it, guys. We’ll get to it next week. In the
meantime, what do you feed these things?… Skrew spinoff 16Volt is
listed in the latest Rolling Stone as the Number One Alternative Retail
Seller, points out the group’s manager, Austinite Corey Mitchell… Put Carson
Vester, Jeff Pinkus, and Lance Farley together and you’ve got Honky, and guess
who’s coming to see them tonight (Thursday) at the Flamingo Cantina? Folks from
Capricorn Records, that’s who (and anyone else who wants to check out the band,
of course). Could this mean they might end up as Ian Moore’s label-mates?…
Aside from Steeplejack’s Kitchen Radio, the latest releases to come from
DejaDisc seem strangely, er, familiar. There’s Going Through Something,
Elliott Murphy’s new “best of” collection, the second Deja sampler of songs
from existing albums, and the Wannabes’ I Am God EP, featuring mostly
previously released material. For now, it seems, the label is living up to its
name… See you in the funny papers: Of all people to run across in a comic
book, human cartoon Frank Kozik might be expected, but who have thought to see
him alongside fellow ex-Austinite Naomi Shapiro? The two get the comic
treatment in the latest issue of Peter Bagge’s comic book Hate, in a
backup strip/ad drawn by Love and Rockets cartoonist Jaime Hernandez.
The reason? Shapiro’s label Fluffer, formerly home to Balloonatic, has been
putting out singles by Bagge’s band the Action Swingers, as did Kozik’s Man’s
Ruin label… At a recent gig in Iowa, Fastball followed Sin City — an AC/DC
cover band with a 6-foot Angus Young. The urge to jump into a phone booth and
emerge as the Bon-Bons must have been nigh overwhelming. Currently, the ‘ball
boys have switched gears to record Burt Bacharach’s “This Guy’s in Love With
You” for Hollywood Records’ upcoming lounge compilation, tentatively called
Lounge-a-palooza. Also slated for that early 1997 release are (get
ready!) Glen Campbell and Michelle Shocked with the Texas Tornadoes featuring
Sheila E. (and a bunch of mariachis) performing, of course, “Wichita
Lineman”… Doyle Bramhall II apparently got more than production out of Wendy
and Lisa, seeing as how he’s now seeing Wendy’s sister Susannah Melvoin (yes,
also sister to the late Smashing Pumpkins keyboardist). Despite rumors of
reluctance, Doyle is getting a band together in hopes of hitting the road by
mid-October. Bramhall’s management says several offers have been made regarding
tour partners, and we hear that one of these offers may be a 10-day West Coast
tour with Me’shell Ndeg�ocello (see “Recommended”)… Chris Smithers is
currently in town recording an album at the Hit Shack with Stephen Bruton
producing. You can look for that album, Small Revolution, in late
January, or check out Smither at Shady Grove next Thursday… Here’s a couple
of in-store performances, both at Waterloo Records; Lisa Tingle this Friday and
Vitamade next Thursday, both at 5pm… Alejandro Escovedo, Jimmy LaFave, and
Jimmie Dale Gilmore will be part of the big Woodie Guthrie Tribute at the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland next weekend. They’ll share the stage with
the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Woody’s son Arlo… The Speed Queens are
zooming off for a five-week tour as well, with a Tim Kerr-produced single and
CD on the way in the next couple of months on Sympathy for the Record
Industry… Scott Esbeck from Los Straitjackets has moved from Nashville to
Austin. The band will play the Continental this Saturday… Meanwhile, Edith
Frost, after signing to Chicago label Drag City, has moved to Brooklyn… And
if you thought anything was safe from change anymore, after 11-plus
years, the Hole in the Wall has changed the style of their ad in the
Chronicle! Is nothing sacred?… Sarah Brown and Lisa Mednick recently
co-wrote a song that’s been cut by Irma Thomas. The song, “Cried Too Long,”
will appear on her next Rounder release scheduled for a mid-January release.
Individually, supporting her own new release on Blind Pig Records, Brown has
been a featured artist on Syl “Take Me to the River” Johnson’s East Coast and
Midwest festival tour this summer and is now on the road, playing several dates
in L.A. and the Bay Area, including the Long Beach Festival, where she will
perform as part of a Texas all-star revue. She returns to Austin tonight
(Thursday) for a show at the Continental Club. Mednick, who recently played on
Juliana Hatfield’s upcoming album, is in the process of relocating back here
from Los Angeles… A couple of weeks ago I reported Cassandra Wilson was the
first confirmed act for Austin City Limits‘ next season. Well, now she’s
the first cancelled act as well. She’s scrapped that gig and her Backyard show
this weekend, though she is listed in UT’s Performing Arts Center calendar as
joining Wynton Marsalis’ Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra revue next
February…
— Contributors: Christopher Gray, Raoul Hernandez, Andy Langer,
Margaret Moser
This article appears in September 20 • 1996 and September 20 • 1996 (Cover).