Austin Fanzine Project

Lookout was and hearing all those tunes live only reinforced my opinion. Of course, they also played "She Blows Blasts of Static," which got me more excited than a roomful of nearsighted Jewish boys. The set was short but sweet, with plentiful traces of that old Grifters feeling present. You know, the way that their good shows feel like watching late afternoon sun coming in through the blinds, illuminating dust and making everything look warm and liquid. Speaking of warm liquids, we got to take Tripp out to the Show Palace Halloween night since it was his thirty-first birthday. Margaret and I dressed as an angel and a devil and once we had a buzz on, we went around giving candy to strangers and asking them which one of us they would pick if forced to choose between good and evil. Before the show, the guys came over to dog in my clothes for some Halloween outfits, and somehow got into the wigs. Oh, man, did they look "rock." The show was a good one, of course, being in Austin it wasn't as great as the Houston shows, but they were in good form and overcame the embarrassment of sharing the bill with a Kiss cover band with aplomb. Margaret and I had a catfight on stage during "Last Chance Re-Entry," as we acted out the battle between busty good and lusty evil for the audience. You know, if you think about it, that's really what the Grifters are all about, you know, good and evil, like, in the context of two large-breasted sisters pulling each other's hair and rolling around on the effects pedals.

? and the Mysterians 2.8.98 Electric Lounge

The coolest thing about this show is that there was a good three months of anticipation before it finally went off. The band was accidentally booked to play earlier, but were reconfirmed later, and ended up playing after most people had totally given up and assumed that their original listing in the paper was all a hoax. In the months before the show I had all manner of daydreams about what the live show of this legendary late-sixties garage band might be like. When I got to the Electric Lounge that night I immediately got this nagging feeling that something a lot weirder than what I had imagined was going to happen. I was right -- too right. First the middle-aged-tie-dyed-t-shirt-wearing guys started comin' in. Not many of 'em, mind you, but man, it was cool to see 'em starin' around, taking in the modern rock scene and crowd. Then came the middle-aged Latino men and women. They were definitely there to rock. Next I saw the merch table. They

were offering ? and the Mysterians t-shirts, bandannas, glossies, and "sunglass". The sunglasses were random design -- all black, all different, by no means a signature style. I saw both the Shakewells and the Sir Finks for the first time and they were both excellent. And when they were done a ? and the Mysterians pitch man took the stage and told the crowd about the most recent rave reviews found in various organs of the mass media. He also pitched the items for sale at the merch table, and finally, he introduced the band. The various middle-aged Latino men, all dressed in orange-and-black ? and the Mysterians shirts and bandannas swung into a snappy sixties garage-psych-rock ditty. It was really good. I was trying to guess which one was Mr. ?, when he came bounding on stage. OH MY GOD! I DID NOT EXPECT THIS. This guy was a spandex-panted-flamenco-shirt-wearin'-cowboy-hat-bandanna-(wig?)-headed animatronic cross between Prince and a Latino Richard Simmons. [see photo] So, long story short, they were fucking great, played "96 Tears" last, did a six-song encore including two new songs (to be released on their upcoming Norton album) and"96 Tears" again, and, as I was finally leaving, some of the band had left the stage to be replaced by Joe King Carrasco who was dueting with Mr. ? on the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction". It was all I could take. But they are coming back this summer, so you gotta go. I'll definitely be there.

Those Bastard Souls 1.17.98 Emo's

Missed the openers, but I had come expressly to see how this band could pull of what the Grifters' Dave Shouse had created in the studio ot come up with the only release under the name Those Bastard Souls: the fantastic Twentieth Century Chemical. The lineup at this show consisted of Dave Shouse on guitar and the late Jeff Buckley's girlfriend on violin and some other guys. (Sorry about the lineup vagaries -- I can't seem to find the letter that Dave sent me, which is where that info resides.) Anyway, the show was incredible. I am really tempted to give up hope for the rest of the year and proclaim it the best show of '98.

George Jones 1.24.98 Billy Bob's Texas

This was not so much a show as it was a weekend-long Texas experience. My friend, the bluegrass superstar Miss Emily, my boyfriend Cooper, and I left Austin on Saturday morning. Miss Emily is from Nashville and is the biggest country