alienated

As soon as I heard that the Toadies were getting back together for a reunion show, I was stoked. I could hardly wait to see them. Sherri/Me/Jason/Marya were all lucky to have seen their farewell show back in September of '01. Surprisingly I got a call from Jason last month asking if we'd like to join them for the Toadies "reunion" show. To which I responded: "Balls!"

After finally getting our shit together, we head out for the DART Park-n-Ride, catch the train around 14:00 and we're on our way. Exiting the tracks at Mockingbird station, we notice the crowd's beginning to gather. We trot our collective asses down to find a line just to get into the fenced off area (this was a 21 and up show, folks). Standing in the blazing 90 degree March Sun (Godbless Texas), we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Actually, it just ended up being a reflection of all the bottled drinks they were making people leave at the entrance, but a light none-the-less.

We walk around, enjoy the sights and sounds for an hour, and then four o'clock rolls in. Jason and I take bets on what they'll play first. As always (just ask him), I'm right and the heavy bass of "I come From the Water" fills the air. It's almost as though there was never a break. Everyone in the crowd starts bouncing and throwing devil horns in Vaden and crew's face.

I'm make an assumption that if you're reading this, you're most likely a Toadies fan. That being said, I'm not going to get into the details of how kick ass each and every song belted out was. I'll just tell you this, I won two bets that day. They closed with "Tyler" and Jason owes me some beer now! Huzzah!

Sadly, the show ended, yet instead of feeling the sadness that this could possibly be the last Toadies show I ever see, I had an overwhelming sense of joy. Great friends, great music, cold beer. What could a person ask for!

After another 30 minutes to make sure there wasn't going to be an encore, we make our way behind the Barley House and get in line for the porta-johns. I notice another band setting up stage in the parking lot. They start blasting some Deathray Davies over the PA, and jokingly I comment to Jason that it'd be totally "zero cool" if DRD played.

Sherri, being the only one in the group who didn't have to "make more room" (for beer, you dirty habs), walks briskly over to me and mentions that the "Green bass drum up there has: 'Deathray Davies' logo on it".

Sweet! I hadn't seen the 'Davies play since Brad and I took in some BRMC/Vue/DRD at Clearview a couple of months after the Toadies farewell.

DRD kicks things off with a song about "perfect timing". I don't recognize the song, but just as all other DRD music, it's catchy and rockin'. Thanks to a nice group of folks we shared a table with (Props to Nick, Suzy and the others), we've got a perfect view to watch Kevin rock the Maracas and Tambourine, while John (Dufilho) belts out some "New Hotness" along with a little "Old and busted" Classic and Rockin. Such masterpieces as Clever Found a Name, They Stuck Me in a Box in the Ground, Pt. 1, She Can PLay Me Like A Drum Machine, and Square had me rockin' in both my chair, but other people's chairs too. I even hauled took my happy ass up to the stage to request and rock out to Don't Point at the Stoners.

All in all, it was a good time to be had by everyone involved. I got an EP by the "Blackheart Society" from one of our table mates that I'm currently listening to in the truck. Look for a possible review in the near future. Note: To the fine fellow irish-looking-man that gave me the disc, thanks dude!

--Mike