Trees, Dallas, Texas
I was the only one of my buds that could make it to this show. I figured
this could be the best show since it was at a club no larger than a two
bedroom apartment. Although I knew the Houston show was going to be hard
to beat. My main goal, other than enjoy great live music, was to get
Ian's tambourine or shake his hand.
I get to Trees and find out there are 5 bands opening up and they are all
playing outside in the parking lot behind Trees. I have never been to an
outdoor concert where everything runs smoothly. I waited in line for about
an hour, got stamped, and found out the Holy Barbarians were not scheduled
to come on until 12:50 A.M. I had about 3 hours to kill so I took in the
city view and wasted time. I went back to Trees about 11:30. There was
still a line of people waiting to get into the fenced in area of the
Trees parking lot. I could have walked past the line to get in, but I
decided to get in line and wait. Ten minutes go by and I'm debating
wheather I should walk past the line or just wait. I was by myself so I
figured I might feel more comfortable if I just stay in the line and just
soak up the city life. Here's where the story gets intersesting.
A blue van pulls up right next to me. I recognized it from last nights
show. I knew the Holy Barbarians were in there about to come out. This is
the moment I've been waiting for, a chance to shake Ian's hand and tell
him thanks for the music. This is one of those goals I set in 1989. Well
they hop out of and congregate to the front of the van. I stepped
out of the line, closer to the side walk and waited for them to walk by.
Then they made their move. Instead of walking towards the entrance of
Trees and me they walked in the opposite direction and into some building
behind the parking lot. The thought that was going through my mind was "I
blew it". I have felt this way before. Right after Larry and I ran
into that U.P.S truck I felt like Peter Fonda at the end of Easy Rider.
The scene where Dennis Hopper goes "We did it man", and Peter Fonda goes
"No man, we blew it". Ok, two minutes go by and I'm hoping they come out
of that building.
Bingo, they walk out and start heading my way. As Ian approached, I called
out his name. He looked up raised his eyebrows and saw my hand was
extended. I shook his hand and said "I just want to say last night's show
was phenomenal." He acknowledged with a smile and a thank you. As he
walked away to follow his compadres he turned back around and said "I
appreciate it" and another nod. Wow, that's all I can say about that.
Now the show. Like I said earlier outdoor concerts are not always the
best. First of all they didn't come on till about 1:30 A.M. The Audio guy
should be drawn and quartered. The music came out nice and loud and clear,
but the vocals were muffeled and flat. I was at the front and I still had
a hard time hearing the lyrics. The energy level was super high, almost
at the Houston level, but the crowd was a little tired. "You seem very
quiet, but I can see a lot of you are mesmerized...which is good." Ian
said about midway through the show. The crowd was almost at an Austin
level crowd but not quite. During Blind some idiot threw his beer
at the stage. 90% of it went on my back, the rest went on Ian's shoes. Ian
said "What the fuck are you doing asshole?" Then he backed away from the
mic and mouthed it again, staring right at the motherfucker.
When Dolly Bird kicked in, Ian slammed his mic stand on the stage
and bent it in half. The energy level was there, but when the vocals are
muddled it's kinda hard to really get into the music. During
Bodhisattva he slammed his tambourine to the stage tearing it to
shreds. I think he was pretending it was the guy that threw the beer. The
best song of the evening was Midnite Exspress. There was a soft
breeze blowing through the trees and Pat was right there in front of me.
I could hear all the instruments, the piano really sounded fine. I loved
the song at the other two shows but tonight it was the ultimate. I'm
hoping it will be on the next Holy Barbarians album. The show at The
Buzzardfest in Cleveland Ohio actually had better sound so if any of you
guys (Holy Barbarians) are reading this, please do not use the same sound
man for your future Dallas shows.
The band had more rapport with the audience than at the San Antonio show,
but I couldn't understand most of it. One of the things I heard was at
the beginning Ian says "Good evening ladies and gentlemen and now five
hours of progressive jazz." Overall the most rewarding experience was
meeting the band in San Antonio and finding out they knew about the Ohio
trip my friend and I took. As far as the ultimate Live Experience, the
Houston show Will always be a tough one to beat. Meeting Ian was
definately one of the major highlights of my life.
The only future dreams I can conceive now is maybe somewhere down the
line, the Holy Barbarians will write a song about a couple of concert
going fools who travel halfway across the country to see a 45 minute
concert and then almost die on the way back. I suggest you see as many
Holy Barbarian shows as you can.
Mike MacLelland - Z_maclellanm@TITAN.SFASU.EDU
I have loved the Cult for years, especially Ian. I finally got my chance to
meet him at this show. I was right up front hugging the barrier, feeling Ian's
sweat rain down upon us. I was even close enough for him to notice & comment
on my pentagram pendant around my neck! I liked Holy Barbarians, but I am glad
The Cult are back together. Keep rockin' guys.
Randi Miksell - RMfilly@purecult.zzn.com