Monday, January 9, 2017

Silent Knight



People from Japan and Kentucky ask me: How was that Resentments show? And I just say I’ll blog about it.

Short answer to the question: Resentments shows rock steady. I base my response on 15 years of Sunday night visits to the Saxon Pub. That’s so many years that my beautiful daughter now takes me to dinner then drives me down Lamar in her Civic.

In the early years, I’d turn north on Lamar from 71, drive past Hether on the right, and make an easy, breezy left into the overflow lot to the south of the pub strip mall, pay my cover, and find a good seat 30 minutes before the show.


But Lamar has changed dramatically over the past decade. A multistory condo has gobbled up the overflow lot. That imposing edifice towers close enough to the Saxon strip mall to usurp it.

I was already used to seeing homeless people beg for money in front of Barton Creek Mall. Now on Lamar there’s a man wearing a South Austin Music tee asking folks for five bucks to park in their section of the strip mall lot. I know because I arrived late for a Matt the Electrician show on a Tuesday and drove right on out of the lot, away from the temple with the money collectors, to Manshack where I found Brannen Temple with the Apostles (of Manchaca) and free parking. And man, did I ever hit free parking. (Shuichi remind me to explain this Monopoly reference to you.) I got to hear Dave Scher's cover of "Crosstown Traffic" again.

Austin is changing, and some would say not for the better cause of all the money changers. I ain’t much for advice, but get thee early to a Saxery on a Sunday night to see the knights in shining armor. You can still park directly in front of the Saxon for free if you can snag one of those spots.


The knight lineup on Christmas (yes, Christmas, how else could I be certain of ear bliss on my birthday?) included Jeff Plankenhorn, John Chipman, Bruce Hughes, and Scrappy Jud Newcomb, roughly in their order of arrival through the stage door. Bruce started us off with his newly enhanced “People Ask Me,” and Scrappy followed with a Howlin’ Wolf cover. Plank played "Silent Night." 
 
But these knights, they're not silent. There's stage talk and banter aplenty. They always have something funny to say, and I’ll never forget the time the late, great Stephen Bruton didn’t show; the band joked about seeing him in orange collecting trash on the side of the road. I saw him the next day at Waterloo Records (not in orange) and we shared a chuckle about the joke.

This Christmas Stephen was absent only in the physical plane. The band still plays songs like “Heart of Hearts.” And just when I thought I might cry, Scrappy came through with comic relief, saying Stephen called that genre the sappy boy love song. Those songs are alright.

It’s not all sad songs and waltzes. I’ll never forget the night Plank called blues legend Lavelle White to the stage to give us our funky education. And the first time I heard “Snake Farm,” Ray Wylie Hubbard was sitting in. Part of the fun of a Resentments show is the surprise of who’ll sit in with the band.

You wonder who sat in this Christmas? I’ll tell you who sat in: Shawn Pander, Dave Scher and Robynn Shayne. Robynn sings like an angel and fittingly spends time in the heavens (as a fight attendant, per my YouTube search).
  

They may have friends in high places, but these musicians are still friendly! Bruce (whose credits include Cracker) approached us at the break to see if we were enjoying the show. He asked if I had a request. His question stumped me because Scrappy was ticking everything off my mental wish list with originals like “Damaged Goods” and “Repeated Mystery” and “Where Did the Time Go?”

I’ll tell you where the time went: straight into my acoustic memory. Time flies when you’re having fun, but this show is the best entertainment value for ten bucks in South Austin.  Er, make that fifteen bucks if you pay to park. And don’t forget to tip the wait staff. With money? Yes, with money. We all laughed when Bruce said, “They don’t want a massage.”

So Shuichi and Susan, the show was soulful, funny and fortunately unforgettable because Christmas won’t fall on a Sunday again until 2022. See you there!




People ask me all the time, Bruce just exactly what is it that you do?/
People ask me all the time how I did it, but what they really wanna know is how they can do it, too.

-Bruce Hughes, “People Ask Me”


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