This weekend held two shows, one in Denton on Friday and Austin on Saturday. We took off a bit on the late side Friday, due to the inevitable and unavoidable __________(fill in the blank--lots of variables mean lots of little reasons things always get pushed back). We also caught the wave of OKC workers heading south at 5pm, causing I-35 to move at 15mph with their eagerness to start the weekend. A good start came to our weekend when we finally got the mighty iPhone to work correctly and, instead of directing us to some invisible point in the middle Elm, light the path to the beautiful town square Denton possesses, from which we quickly found The Boiler Room where we would be playing:
The show went really well. The stage was definitely on the larger side and included a drum riser (which I think we all secretly hate). Nonetheless, it was a great and well received night that consisted of six of the eight tower lights, lasers and smoke. We had to back off using the four, 300watt can lights because of breaker capacity issues. No big, common problem! One thing that is always very fascinating about Denton, a small town despite having a university with an undergrad population of something like 30,000, is the town square. Literally, the city is centered on a beautifully designed public building of some sort with a lawn serving as a general hangout and surrounded by all the cool coffee shops, restaurants and venues the town has to offer. Never have I been to Denton and not seen at least 100 college-age people floating about the square. Wil and I wandered around and tried to chat the townsfolk up, persuading them to check out The Boiler Room that night. I think it's safe to say we rounded up a few new listeners. Denton is always such a fun town to see!
Saturday called for waking up at 11:30 (after going to sleep at about 4am) and cruisin' south the the famed Austin, TX, a town that never, ever, ever ceases to surprise me with something weird that I never thought possible. IT'S AWESOME. I wish OKC would be as interested in things like the aesthetic of highway support pillars and city power-plant edifices. Austin just "has it" when it comes to design. Probably a result of the people who flock to the city because of it's status as a [legitimate] hub of the arts. OKC is my home, no doubt, and I love it so but I wouldn't mind our city officials adopting a slightly more design influenced stance, generally speaking.
We got to the venue we were playing, Scoot Inn, at about 7pm. Plenty of time to get some face to face with the town when the show starts at 10pm. The temperature was probably around 102F and humidity at something like 900% as we strolled nine or ten blocks to East Side Pies, whose slogan should be "pizza so damn hot you have to hold it under an industrial fan to cool it off." Dinner was great!
The show went great as well, again consisting of only tower lights, smoke and lasers. We received some great responses from the folks hanging out that night and saw the bartender smiling during our set. That means a lot, considering she sees bands probably every night at her work. She was very cool, directed us to a great coffee shop on 6th called Rio Rita's earlier in the evening. We earned some new listeners and sold a good amount of CDs and shirts but, most importantly, we got a lot of promises of attendance at our upcoming July 1st show, again in Austin at the Mohawk.
I saw this just outside the venue as we were leaving (at 1am for the seven hour trek home):
Wonder if this dude/dudette saw the same GZA show at the Mohawk that I saw back at SXSW in March. Hope so, because that show was awesome! I didn't go around writing "I just saw the GZA" on everything but that doesn't mean I didn't think about it.
So--hit the road at 1am in the because Zach had to be back Sunday mid-morning. Mack and Zach did all the driving on that leg and we managed to arrive home at about 7:30am Sunday. Sleep was the only thing on the mind at that time.
It was a fantastic weekend! Can't wait to get back out in two weeks for the big tour.
--life on the line continues!
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