Now I’m finally starting to figure out how noise ordinances work. You
see, you
can’t play amplified music in a residential area unless you can prove
that
it’scommercially viable! That’s why the cops can bust a
perfectly cool
set by a really hot band at your party, but they let Don “Mister
Environment” Henley and company blast for miles around central
Austin
when he wants to put on a show! Considering how far flung the people
who tell
me they got an earful of Eagles last Sunday were, I can’t
believe how
many doofuses paid good money for tickets… What’s that? Oh, bad news,
folks.
I’ve just been informed that due to new advances in technology, the
Eagles can
tell who heard the show illegally, and will be charging $21 on your
next
telephone bill. Hey, don’t bitch. That’s still cheaper than what you’d
have
paid for a shitty seat in the end zone.
Coming Next:
Euro-Walker World
Is the Jerry Jeff Walker family loading up the truck and
moving to
B�lize? Nope, but they are building a house there. JJW “fell in
love
with the country down there” during fan-club trips southward in recent
years,
according to Tried and True Music’s John T. Davis. Currently out
from
Walker and Tried and True is a new live album called Night After
Night;
on the way in June is The Old Fart in the Mirror, the first
Steven
Fromholz album in longer than you should admit being able to
remember.
Green With Envy
The Green Onion is a new club that just opened last Friday to a
packed house
and a clogged toilet. Of course, the Onion is located in San Antonio,
so why am
I mentioning it here? Why, because the club, which is basically owned
and run
by the Sons of Hercules, provides another location near Austin
for cool
bands to play. Last Friday’s opening night featured a lovely blend of
Austin
and S.A. acts: The Hormones, Dropouts, Inhalants, and, of
course, the
Sons. One performer at the downtown area club that night describes the
venue as
Hole in the Wall-sized, with a decor that suggests a “TV version of a
Sixties
cocktail lounge.” He adds happily that “there’s no need to go to
Wacky’s
anymore.”
So We Gotta Say Goodbye (For the Summer)
Gretchen Phillips says that she’s “been here too many
summers,” and
beginning this year is starting a strict regimen of annual out-of-state
vacations. The New Gretchen Phillips Xperience gig tonight (Thursday)
at
Liberty Lunch is the last before she takes off for a veritable tour of
the
U.S.A. over the next few months (No fool, she will be returning briefly
for her
birthday on July 19 and “expecting a big party”). Tonight’s show also
features
Miss Xanna Don’t & the Wanted and Laurie Freelove.
This marks
the first time Phillips and Freelove will have shared the stage in
years. The
two won’t be performing any songs together, though. Phillips also hints
that
she’d like to put out a new single in time for the Michigan Women’s
Music
Festival in August, and that if any indie singles labels are
interested, they
should introduce themselves.
For the Benefit of…
You’d think it was Christmas instead of nearly summer from all the
giving
that’s been going on lately. SoCo Rocks fest and Evan Johns among others
have donated some of their recent proceeds to victims of the Oklahoma
City
bombing, and pianist Van Cliburn did some charity work both in
promoting
eye care, and supporting youth education in the arts while in Austin
recently.
On Mother’s Day and beyond, the benefits just keep on coming. The
Austin Group
of the Leukemia Society is hosting an outdoor concert on Mother’s Day
with
Duck Soup, 47 Indians, Buck-49, and the Brew with
Karan
Chavis playing at Shady Springs (9401 Sherman Road) between noon
and 6pm.
There’s a big benefit this Sunday at Emo’s, starting at 7pm sharp, to
pay legal
fees for an employee who was busted by the TABC, and to get some things
back up
to snuff at the club as well, like the sound system and the VCR (before
Brad
First decides that the Duckman videotape I made for the club
is his
own personal property). The hefty lineup includes Ed Hall, Sixteen
Deluxe,
Lee Ving, Gals Panic, Wookie, Buzzcrusher, and special guests. The
Electric
Lounge is also having a benefit that night for Salvage Vanguard theatre
with
Gut, Enduro, Noodle, and Andromeda Strain and in
solidarity with
Emo’s, the E-Lounge will knock a buck off their cover if you show up
with an
Emo’s stamp. Squid‘s annual MS benefit at the Hole in the Wall
is this
Monday, starting at 7pm. Horse Wreck, Poontwang, Sleestacks,
Terraplanes (that’s Carey Bowman from the Coffee Sergeants‘ new
group),
Michael Fracasso, Javelin Boot, Wannabes, and Buick MacKane will
play.
CDs, Records, and Tapes
Magneto USA (who maintain they’re trying to set up a show with
their
south-of-the-border counterparts) have a release party on Saturday at
the Blue
Flamingo for their new 7-inch on El Diablo Musica records. After their
show at
Hole in the Wall on the 16th, they’ll be off for a bit of a tour. The
Million Sellers have a release party coming up Friday at the
Hole in the
Wall, with Hyperfluff and Death Valley surrounding them.
And the
collection of David Bowie covers on Jeff Smith‘s Only Boy
Records, entitled of course Only Bowie, comes out this
week with
a two-day bash (Thursday and Friday) at the Electric Lounge. Check the
listings
to see who’s playing and, not coincidentally, who’s on the album. And
next
Thursday (5/18) is the tape release for Dan Israel‘s solo
cassette at
the Outhouse.
Big Name Mixed Notes
Lest you think that Ian McLagan has been taking it easy since
he’s
stopped hanging around in local clubs, take a look at Saturday Night
Live this weekend to see him keying up with Rod Stewart.
This may be
an especially historic appearance as some rumor-mongers are insisting
that this
will be the last new live program in the ailing show’s run. Also, I’m
told that
Mac and Kenny Jones are seeking the royalties they are due from
reissues
of the old Small Faces albums. Should they emerge victorious,
the
settlement would also benefit ex-Austinite Ronnie Lane and the
estate of
Steve Marriott. Luckily, Jones can use the money he got from
suing the
Who to afford a good lawyer… New Austin resident Terry
Bozzio is hardly slouching around these days, either. The word is out that
he’ll be
touring with Jeff Beck later this year, on a tour that teams the
yardbird with Carlos Santana, and reportedly stops off at the
Erwin
Center at the end of September… Got enough Big Names running through
your
head yet? Well, try out Bruce Springsteen. The Boss guests on
two tracks
on the upcoming new Joe Ely album… And here’s another:
Big-time movie
director Jim Jarmusch (Down By Law, Mystery Train) is
said to be
helming the first video for soon-to-be-superstars P. Of course,
if P
really takes off, Johnny Depp may find himself with only enough
time
left in his schedule to make eight or nine movies a year… Pearl
Jam
tickets, anyone? Call 800/225-5063 after 1pm on the 14th and have
your
credit card number ready. Tix are $23.95 including parking and service
charge,
and the show is July 2 at South Park Meadows with Bad Religion opening.
Well that’s what a local radio station is saying, anyway. After all the
baiting
and switching we’ve been getting from the production company and the
band’s
management, I wouldn’t be surprised if that number turns out to be for
time and
temperature in Bolivia … If you don’t think Rancid are really
punk,
consider this: they ripped off sometimes-local tattooist Rollo
Banks for
the tat design that you see on the inside of their album. Isn’t that
“punk”?
(For a further catalog of Rollo designs, take off Michael
Corcoran‘s
shirt)… Everyone’s a critic: Faith No More were seen walking
into
Steamboat during a recent Billy White set – and that’s about it.
Faithless Mike Patton was heard to shout “Too loud!” and off the
band
went back out onto the street… Chris Smith (Sixteen Deluxe)
and
Chris Chambers (ex-Skatenigs) are working on a recording
project
together. Look for that material to appear in some form later this
summer…
The city council has postponed their vote on the future site of City
Hall for a
month. As a result, any discussion of the fate of Liberty Lunch has
been pushed
back a month as well… Emo’s plays host to independent filmmakers from
UT next
Wednesday, starting at 7pm, as the students have a showing of their
recent
video and film projects. Capitol Records will give away free stuff and
Gals
Panic, Wookie, and Houston’s Wasteband are the musical guests
(after the
films, not during)… Hamell time is running out as the tressless
troubadour
nears his exodus from Austin. Next Monday at the Electric Lounge
there’s a
Hamell Hoot, where folks like Paul Minor, Wammo, Can’t Have
Katherine, Russ
Somers, Mike Henry, Mike Jasper, and others will be performing the
songs of
Hamell on Trial. The last show by Mr. Ed Hamell himself
as an
Austinite will be next Friday… plum has a new drummer,
Trip
Wiggins (ex-Beatsville, Plowman), since their old one has
gone to
Seed. Seed, meanwhile, are looking at producers – they’ve talked
to
Hunt Sales, among others – and are preparing to start recording
for
their next album in July… Press Release of the Week: Foodmaker, Inc.,
sent
this invaluable information to the Chronicle, and I thought you
might be
interested. “Jack, the fun, whimsical clown who once took orders at
Jack in the
Box drive-thrus, disappeared from the chain’s advertising in 1980 to
show
consumers that the restaurant chain had moved to adult tastes. In
January 1995,
[JitB] brought back Jack in its television commercials as the returning
founder
of its chain. Witty, urbane and charming – with his large spherical
clown head
and sporting a stylish business suit – the updated corporate icon has
been a
giant success.” The release goes on to document the popularity of the
witty,
urbane clown by noting how many portraits of Jack have been stolen from
the
restaurants by vandals in recent months. I guess if you really want them
to know you care, you should maybe smash a couple of windows the next
time you
“drive-thru.”
Correction/Addition: When I mentioned the Too Much Coffee
Man ad
for Converse that I saw during MTV’s The Maxx cartoon, and went
on to
discuss Austin’s contributions to today’s animation field, I failed to
mention
that an Austin company, Animated Alligator Ltd., produced an audio
version of
the Maxx comic book in 1993 that inspired the audio portion of the
cartoon. Of
course, my oversight is understandable, as the credits of the cartoon
itself
fail to mention this, a fact which AAL say they “aren’t happy” about.
This article appears in May 12 • 1995 and May 12 • 1995 (Cover).