26 August 2001
Thoughts from the Road
The trip to San Marcos was uneventful. There's not much TO San Marcos, so it was easy to find the concert venue. Turns out the Crows were part of a big "first weekend" event at the university, so there were lots of nubile, teenaged lovelies bouncing all around the campus. Hey, I couldn't help but notice!
After locating the venue, we went and found some food. I highly recommend Logan's Roadhouse in San Marcos! They prepared a damn fine steak, accompanied by nicely chilled Shiner Bock.
The opening band was Stew, named for the lead singer, whom apparently Adam really likes. Too bad -- they are the second worst sounding band I have seen live this year (the very worst being some group that opened for 24 Count on a really bad night at Fitz a while back). I suppose they are popular in LA, and probably Texans are just backwards for not appreciating Stew's "music." It was dreadful.
That said, the Crows put on the best show I've ever seen them do. Nearly a full two hours. Really nice versions of some of the classics -- including a favorite of Callie's, Perfect Blue Buildings, which she had NEVER seen the Crows do live (in roughly a dozen shows). They also played a new song for only the second time, a song that references (appropriately) Texas. Adam told several stories, which is always amusing. And I was really impressed with the crowd. It was largely Southwest Texas students, and it was the best crowd of any show we've been to -- they knew the songs well, were very quiet during the newer stuff, and overall quite respectful. After the idiots in London last year (and the idiots in Tahoe as well) who seem just to go to the shows to get drunk and talk to each other, the Southwest Texas folks were really refreshing.
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We left San Marcos for Huntsville, driving on state highway 21 most of the way (through Bryan/College Station, home of Texas A&M). This is some of the most barren, unpopulated, ugly terrain in Texas. And I was amused the whole trip, because I kept thinking of all the DC media people who got to go to Crawford (very similar) and cover President Bush's "vacation." I'm sure it was culture shock for them, and quite below their standards. Which is great! I'm glad the pretentious jackasses got to see the heartland of America for a change. I'm even more glad they got to see it in 95 degree splendor!
We rolled in to Huntsville with MUCH time to spare, and eventually settled in at a bar near campus, Humphrey's Bar and Grill (according to the sign out front, "The World Famous Humphrey's Bar and Grill"). The bartender kept the Shiner Bock flowing, and we talked them into letting us watch the first half of the Oklahoma-North Carolina game. The bartender was amused by Oklahoma's dominance, and (I think) by us. She was a good-natured soul, and it's a shame I didn't catch her name. But the folks at Humphrey's are excellent -- much better, it turns out, than Stew, which we decided to skip. For those who find themselves in Huntsville, pay the fine folks at Humphrey's a visit.
The Crows put on an excellent show, though not as good as the night before. Adam wasn't very talkative, but they did add Round Here to the setlist (with the cover of an odd Ryan Adams song in the middle), and Adam decided he wanted to do Mr. Jones electric instead of acoustic (which they had been doing the entire tour), so Immy switched guitars and wailed. The crowd at Sam Houston was not as well behaved as the Southwest Texas folks. And there were fewer -- far fewer -- young teenage lovelies. Like I said, I notice these things!
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For both shows, we had a nice angle to the main speakers from where we were sitting, and I think these bootlegs will probably be the best ones we've recorded of the Crows.
[Posted @ 01:35 PM CST]
