20 September 2014 – Living The Warrior Life With Fear Control

“Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.”~ George S. Patton

I don’t know what’s going on with this composition as it won’t indent for paragraphs so screw it.

Well I made it. My third visit to the Dirty Dog Bar in all of seven days.

FEAR CONTROL was on the bill and I had already paid for my ticket inside, but the day would prove a challenge to get there.

The whole of downtown was completely shut down and I had no idea as to why.

What was going on? I started to get subtle hints by the various people climbing on board the bus that I was riding on to get to the Dirty Dog Bar.

It apparently was something big. But I wasn’t 100% sure. I would find out for sure in the most humorous of ways.

I got to the venue and I had notified half the band that I may not make it due to problems earlier in the day. But there I was strong as ever.

LIVING THE WARRIOR LIFE.

When FEAR CONTROL  got on stage, I was literally shaking with excitement. And I would not be let down. FEAR CONTROL is known for taking chances, adapting, and moving forward to find what is right for them and their audience. Whatever it was that they did, they did it hard, fast, and correct!!

“Toe Cam”

There was this feeling of never wanting to drop down The Horns. You always wanted to have them up in the air. Or a fist or whatever. And if they asked to see something in the air, everyone willingly obliged.

It was fantastic to watch. There hadn’t been this much energy at a FEAR CONTROL in a while. It was a sigh of relief to know that it was there again.

After CASKET OF  CASSANDRA burned down the place on Wednesday night, FEAR CONTROL took hold of the reins and destroyed everything else that was still standing until it was nothing but smoldering ash.

My younger brother once said that FEAR CONTROL sounds like the band Death Angel and that they needed to contact Death Angel about maybe doing some shows together. And I finally see what he was talking about.

The best moment coming from when guitarist and vocalist Kash Sarkaria got up on his (what I call light box) and I had positioned my camera by his feet. He kept his pose while playing guitar until the flash went off.

“OFF WITH HIS HEAD”

I have never heard a crowd go so insane for FEAR CONTROL like that before. It was intense and the energy flowed throughout everyone. Both band and audience.

But I wasn’t feeling well. FEAR CONTROL exploded everything when they played my favorite song of theirs, “OFF WITH HIS HEAD” and before I knew it, I was blowing out my own voice to sing the chorus OFF WITH HIS HEAD, BLOOD MUST BE SHED.

Its kind of a way of communicating with guitarist Frankie Rodriguez. I will say the first part when I first see him and he’ll reply back to me with the second part. I love it.  Now if I can only get the new nickname that I came up for Kash to actually stick!!

After their set, I left feeling miserable and in pain. So I took off. I took photographs with most of the band and then I was gone.  What caused such misery will coming up soon in a future blog post.

Many thanks to these guys for putting up with my whining last night about how I might not make it. Thanks for them for being such a elite group of badasses. Until the next time!!!

LIVE THE WARRIOR LIFE

Sad Discriminating Prices For Handicapped

“You should create a work that is so valuable it might eventually sell at a high price, but you’ve got to concentrate on how you create that artwork.”~ Yayoi Kusama

I’ve recently made the discovery that two very well known bands are coming to town here this weekend.

KISS and Def Leppard are touring together and they WILL be here this coming Saturday.

Now granted that I have no idea what the accessibility issue is going to be like at this venue, I went ahead and checked to see what ticket prices were running. After all this was KISS and Def Leppard. 

There were wheelchair accessible seating available at the venue. Some of these seats set aside SPECIFICALLY for it. But well over $112 for tickets!!!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!!!!!!

It is the law to have accessible seating for people with disabilities. That’s just going to be available at any venue you go to. If not, someone’s going to be in big trouble. But this was no different. There were seats. And tickets were flying as high as well over $200 a piece. And I do not know a single soul who would spend that much money on tickets.

I nearly spent $187.50 on a ticket in Boston, Massachusetts but it wouldn’t come to be. To this day, I blame my ex on that. So I have to ask myself if I feel that KISS and Def Leppard are worth $200.

Answer: No.

I’m not going to spend that much money on tickets to see those two particular bands. I am not even willing to spend $112 on “accessible seating” at a venue where I know I am going to be dealing with people who are standing 100% of the time during the entire show from beginning to end, thus causing the chance of me missing out on everything and not seeing anything. 

Yes, some of these places have large screens. But its not the same as watching something happening with your own eyes on stage. I always try to watch the real thing instead of the large screens. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

But it annoys the crap out of me because I do not think that whomever builds these venues KNOW that the ADA is there for me… so they HAVE to make an exception. But they don’t bother with the quality of their selection. I could be in the far back for all they care, as long as it was a space for a wheelchair… then they obeying the law. They could care less what I see or don’t see.

Even those who do make the exception for the people who are in wheelchairs or have a disability… they rack up the prices just like every other ticket in the section or group or whatever. What makes them think that all disabled people have the same finances?

Hell, if I had the same finances as some this blog probably would have turned into a music blog a very long time ago and it would be nothing but. But the finances are not the same. And I receive far less than people realize or what you would like to think that I get.

I’m tired of feeling abused like this. (But unlike the person in the last blog post, I am not going to sue for ten million dollars.) I’m really burned out at the fact that prices are getting ridiculous for tickets. And to be honest I would really love to know what it is that makes these bands so special that I am paying $125 or more for a ticket!!!!

Get real people. I don’t care who is paying what for whatever. Throwing the disabled community into the fire because of overpriced tickets is ridiculous. And don’t give me that crap about how everything else is expensive.

So screw that, I’m going to see Fear Control play again for the whatever-eth time. I’ve lost count by now.

 

Independence Day 2014: Part I – Downfall 2012 @ Dirty Dog Bar

“The holidays stress people out so much. I suggest you keep it simple and try to have as much fun as you can.”~ Giada De Laurentiis

This could be put into three parts, but the first part is actually one entire blog post by itself, so we’ll only deal with two parts, which are actually the better parts, or the more positive parts.

Independence Day in the United States of America. The great holiday of The Fourth of July. And lucky to the American citizens, it landed on a Firday which gave everyone in the work force an extended weekend.

One would think everyone would be refreshed from such a long holiday. That remains to be seen.

But allow me to come back to business and give you the scoop on this year’s holiday activities.

Downfall 2012 came to town. Driving up from the Houston area. I remembered them from last May when they were here last, they played with Filter but also RESISTING VEGAS. And that’s where I met them.

Needless to say that I was excited. But this was going to go down on the Fourth of July.

Usually, I am sitting at home in the dark and hoping that no stray bullets that were fired by some idiot come crashing through my windows or some stray firework that exploded come down and start a fire. Simply put: Fireworks are illegal here. But it doesn’t stop these idiots here in the hood.

So this gave me another option to spend the holiday. With music and entertainment.

It was a little different from what I was used to because Downfall 2012 would be the one and only band playing. So they had the entire place to themselves.

I could not imagine the time that they were going to have to fill.

I asked the lead singer, Daniel Gil, ahead of time what was what. And he basically said that they would play until they didn’t want them to play any more. 

It was very different to be traveling on a bus on a holiday, without really knowing what to expect or curious about how many people would be out or riding the bus or whatever there may be.

Probably the funniest thing that happened that day was that I had two single stemmed roses (one red, one yellow) in my back pack and when I crossed the street to get to the city bus stop… I lost them in the middle of the street. These flowers were demolished and destroyed. And after a police cruiser ran them both over, there was nothing left.

I have no idea who I would have given them to in the first place and that is probably why I didn’t really care about trying to run into the middle of the street to save them. But I did lose $8 on them.

OOPS!!

The bus ride seemed to take very little time to get downtown. And of course that works on the plus side. But there was a showdown going on between me and the sun. A race against time. Would I reach my destination before the sun would set or would I be traveling around on the sidewalks of downtown in the dark?? 

I won that race by a narrow margin. And Downfall 2012 was already there and setting up. They got started early, but that was just fine by me.

I got some “happy fun time” photographs of the band before they hit the stage and then it was smooth sailing with great entertainment from there on.

In my own opinion, Downfall 2012 is far better than what I remembered them to be last May. Obviously, there was something from within that had me go to their show on the Fourth of July and as I sat there listening to their music and their lyrics, I would be reminded of that.

Downfall 2012 is clean cut as far as musical tastes are concerned. And what I mean is that you either love Downfall 2012 and their music OR you don’t.

Simple as that.

I on the other hand was happy and content with the decision to make it down to the Dirty Dog Bar for their show. However the joy would be short lived as there was something else going on one block north and one block east from where I was over on 7th Street. It would be Part II.

I was hoping to catch them playing the cover of “Baby Got Back” but I left too soon for that, even thought I knew it was on their set list for the night.

Downfall 2012 had made the best of their weekend by traveling up here from Houston and staying at a camp site and had all kinds of activities of leisure planned ahead of them. I guess if you’re going to be playing on the Fourth of July weekend and have to drive three or more hours to get there, knowing that you have to drive that much time back to get home, that you might as well make a trip out of it. I hope they had fun.

I personally hope that they come back again soon. For whatever reason, I kept thinking that it had been many many many months since the first time that I saw them. But it was only since last May. Weird how time does that to your brain.

These guys are fun. I’d love to hang out with them just once because I think that they would be a blast.

Taking And Losing Control With Fear Control: 11 April 2014- Dirty Dog Bar

“Last chance to take a stand
Finally lets kill this man
Loss of fear now takes control
Lost my chance to save my soul
Now there’s no turning back
Now’s the time we must attack
The end of your reign has come
Swift vengeance now be done” ~ ‘Off With His Head’ by Fear Control

I sadly missed the Texas Independence Fest today  with CASKET OF CASSANDRA playing along side other bands with big name recording labels such as Behemoth and Goatwhore.

But I went to the pre-party the night before. Again to the Dirty Dog. I realized that I had not been out in a few weeks so the bus ride was a little wonky even though it seemed like I got there in no time.

One of the bartenders actually took the time to introduce himself because he said that he had been seeing me a lot and wanted to say hello. He kept my hands filled with Coke whenever he saw that I was done drinking one.

It felt good to get out of the house. Especially since it was the beginning of the weekend and I started to hear chatter about other people’s plans of showing up at the venue.

Some actually showed up. Others did not. But I was definitely there for Fear Control as I have been in close communication with guitarist Frankie Rodriguez and lead singer and guitarist Kash Sakaria. They KNOW that I am pretty much obsessed with their song “Off With His Head” and proud of it.

I was very much happy to see most of the members of CASKET OF CASSANDRA there at the Dirty Dog. They had one missing due to work. But they were also busy with getting ready for the Texas Independence Fest. So they stayed for a while before taking off.

Meanwhile, I kind of was splitting my time between CASKET OF CASSANDRA and Fear Control’s guitarist.

After a while the show got started and soon enough things were going up and up. Like I have been saying every time I write one of these show reviews for my blog, whenever I am sticking around long enough to hear OTHER bands… I end up getting swept up into some other band.  And that show was no exception to the rule.

Trauma Concept

I couldn’t understand a lot but what I could hear, between listening to music and being involved in conversation I got swept up in two different bands by the time the night was over.

First band was Trauma Concept. I don’t know what it was, there was just something about them that caught my attention and then I ended up being stuck either in front of the stage or off to the side of the stage and just listening and watching.

I went to their merchandise table and gobbled up everything that they had to offer.

I did the same thing for Nekrist who played later in the evening.

But I was for sure about Trauma Concept.

After that there was one band on the bill that kind of made me A LOT nervous.

Whore Of Bethlehem

Whore Of Bethlehem.

I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea what they were up to. I had no idea what their gimmick was. All I know is that their band logo was on the bass drum on the drum kit.

The thrashing death screaming vocals that came out of this guy was amazing. I had never experienced anything like that in my life. And the band was probably singing a song about slaughtering angels or someone innocent or puppies or something.

So after that I took a look at their business that they had to offer.

I didn’t know that the woman that was standing by the table was the girlfriend of the lead singer. And since I didn’t know her name at the time (and cannot remember it now even though she told me) I referred to her as “Satan’s girlfriend.”

Death/Black metal….. even they get the ladies. But had I known that’s who she was… I would have left it alone. I took a photograph with two members of Whore Of Bethlehem, and then turned around and took one with the woman who literally said “Let me get my boyfriend to take the picture.”

I knew then to stay clear, but I didn’t realize it would be the guy screaming his heart and soul and lungs out on stage minutes before.

Scary situation!!! But I survived.

The band is local. So that means these people and this woman are local. And I live in a city of over a million people and that means I’ll probably never cross paths with them again, at least not on the street. Maybe at some other venue or show though… that would be possible.

Kash Sakaria

I did however think that it was really cool that Frankie allowed me to hold his guitar and pick a little at it. Then he took a photograph with my camera. I’m happy he allowed that. I begged Kash not that long ago to do the same thing with his guitar but …. no such luck so far.

KASH!! BROTHER!! Please!! Just one photograph with the guitar!! Lemme know….

And then came the problem of the night: ALCOHOL.

What I mean by that is FREE alcohol.

I’ve always thought that fans were responsible for giving bands their buzz. I never thought that bands would souse their fans.

I cannot count how many people had bought me so many cocktails and beers. And you know what they say about mixing them or drinking them in the wrong order. Ughhh!!!!

From all of that happening and the free Coke that I was getting myself, it made for a long, long, long, long night when I returned home and an excruciating morning afterwards. And again, not a single penny was coming out of my wallet for these beverages. I got to the point where I didn’t even know where they were coming from. Just that I would look up and there were more beers, more cocktails sitting there in front of me. 

Fear Control hit the stage and they started to tune up, set up, and I was ready for action again. Sweat pouring down my face as I began to wonder whether or not to change t-shirts in the bathroom. I received a very limited edition WHITE t-shirt from Fear Control.

Basically, they only had a few more left. And now I have one.

I was happy to hear that my favorite song was on the set list. I do not know why I would have ever thought that they would take it off of the set list. At least not right now. Perhaps down the road when more new songs are written.

I must say that I am really enjoying the song “Texas Tea” as well. Its basically a drinking anthem.

But “Off With HisHead” was a very surprising OPENING song to their set.

I lost it!!! But in a good way.

Singing along and just having a fun time. As their set went on, I realized that some drunken idiots attempted to start a mosh pit. The only way that I know is that someone bumped into me as he was shoved in my general direction from behind me.

Ohhhh crap. Not this again. I had problems enough with this going on at SXSW Festival this year and I probably would have had a little bit more help as this was a venue. The fine folks at the Festival probably would not have done a thing.

Suddenly “Satan’s girlfriend” comes up to me while I was enjoying “Off With His Head” and I turned around away from the stage and she took a photograph of me in front of the band playing on stage.

That was cool. But then mosh pit was getting a little more active and a little too close for comfort for me. My back is damaged enough from assholes in the past who injured me over trying to steal something that had less than $20 value, I don’t need some drunk guy ramming into me and then trying to start something with me because he slammed into the back of my wheelchair and he hurt himself and me in the process.

I think that “Satan’s girlfriend” saw the concern and fear in my face. So she put her arm around my shoulders and stood there throughout the rest of the song that was playing.

I slowly turned back behind me and I saw him AND his girlfriend nearby.

And instead of having the feeling of the possibility that they were going to protect me from people slamming into me…. I felt fear again. Thankfully I never “touched” her or put my hands on her that would cause trouble.

After Fear Control, the lead singer to Trauma Concept walked by. He shook my hand saying, “Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for getting all of our shit.” Ohhhh if he only knew…. if he only knew.

A $5 cover and free drinks and merchandise. I came out of there like a fricking bandit!!

So I took off at the end of the night and had to get a taxi or something since buses stopped running. I found this giant extended van that was sitting there and this guy assisted me in finding this van. He looked to see how far my home was in miles and then did some kind of weird calculation and said that he could get me home for $25.

Well, that’s fine. Taxis are about $20…. so its pretty close. But that van was right there and I didn’t have to sit there on any sidewalk, yelling and waving like a fool and an idiot trying to pull someone over. The guy was ready to go. All I had to do was climb inside…. which was a pain because the van was so high up. But I made it. 

Come to find out that the driver was ALSO in a band and his band was in the recording studio. He mentioned that he wanted to give me his card and that if I found the band on Facebook that he would connect with me and give me merchandise……….. FOR FREE. Again, with the free merchandise!!

Has anyone that has been reading these band show posts writing this stuff down on how this is working??

Earlier in the day prior to the show, I sent messages to both Kash and Frankie stating that a storm was coming.

Boy did it ever!!!! Now someone please hand me a glass of water and a few tylenol and grab me the trash can and don’t wake me up until June. Unless there is another show that I can go to.

16 March 2014: Casket Of Cassandra @ Austin Metal Showcase- Dirty Dog Bar SXSW 2014

“I will fucking kill you!” ~ ‘The Egotist’ by CASKET OF CASSANDRA

At long last the ending of SXSW 2014 was upon us.

The barricades disappeared as well as the crowds, trash was everywhere. It looked like a building full of comic books and graphic novels had exploded its contents all over the streets and sidewalks.

But my back and forth travels were not done. Not by a long shot. It was time to finish six consecutive days of travel for last but definitely not least, CASKET OF CASSANDRA.

Operation: Solitaria Redemption.

After chatting with drummer Chris Campagna, as well as vocalist Amanda Maddera, I was given to understand that this coming show would in fact play “Solitaria.”  So if I wanted to hear my favorite song from them played live then I had no choice but to strap on a pair through my fatigue and once more head out to the downtown area and back inside the Dirty Dog Bar for their show.

A 2:00 PM show was hardly anyone’s idea of fun. Especially those who went to SXSW at any time during the week especially the last couple of days, let alone six consecutive days.

I soldiered on.

I was warmly greeted by the entire band and was able to hang out just for a moment with them and engage in conversations about their music and how excited I was to be there. Most of them giving me their personal guarantee that “Solitaria” was going to be played that very day.

I was filled to the brim with excellence and excitement.

For those of you who just read the word “excrement” go to your room!!

CASKET OF CASSANDRA was first on the bill to hit the stage. It is always fun to watch Maddera do a microphone check because for those people in the venue who don’t know her or do not know what the band is all about gets a surprise drizzling down their leg when she does the sound check.

I literally heard behind me “… da fuck was that?!?” to someone who was not anticipating her style of vocals. Is it wrong of me to have laughed at that point?

So as they were preparing for the start the show, they gathered in unity as a band for a gimmick of wearing fake mustaches of various bright and florescent colors. That cracked me up.

I turned to Campagna and said “Casket Of Gimmicks!” and he turned to the rest of the band and related that message to them. A good laugh was had.

The show started and I was melting like hot butter on popcorn because CASKET OF CASSANDRA started with “Solitaria.”

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! I just wanted to hug someone. Anyone. Yep. Big ass hug for someone, anyone… right here, right now. 

Anyone? No?? Damn. Oh well.

I got into the song and started singing along, doing whatever and again didn’t care what the people behind me thought they saw me do. That is the whole point of getting into the music like I do…. is to reach that escape into pure enjoyment where the bullshit of the world disappears from my mind and I do not have to deal with it. 

First song and it was finished. I applauded so hard that my hands were going to break apart. Or so I thought.

Then Amanda Maddera turned her back to the crowd setting up for song number two.

She turned back towards the crowd and screamed: “I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!” and the band jumped in. I had never been so scared in my entire life. I was sitting there front and center of the stage. I could hear both the air from her vocal chords coming from her throat as well as the sounds from her larynx as well as it being amplified through the microphone.

It was a song that I inquired about later called “The Egotist.” I know that they are working on a new album and I was told that would be one of them. Unless I heard wrong? That song just broke me into pieces and I cannot wait to hear it recorded. I will never doubt Amanda on anything ever again. Good grief that was bad ass!!!

Those of you in the California area who have seen them play live know all too well what I am talking about! This stuff is just mind-blowing and amazing.

Not your Coyote Ugly show!!

Eventually the set would go on and again I would be reminded as to why Amanda Maddera uses a wireless microphone.

She jumped off stage and roamed around the bar for a while. The band came closer together on stage and rocked their own socks off as well as those in front.

Meanwhile, I could hear Amanda singing but where the hell was she? I mean seriously. Did she slip inside of a wall somewhere and stay put?

Nope. She was standing on the one of the corners of the bar.

She had been given a cookie by someone and she had it and her microphone in hand. By the time I turned around and got closer to the bar for photographs, she fed a woman standing there a nibble of her cookie.

“Communion of Cassandra” ?? Nahhhh!!!

Amanda Maddera (vocals) and Quinton Rivera (bass). Quinton in mid-flight of a head bang…Amanda in a vocal scream.

It was incredible to watch. Then she came back to the stage and finished off the song with a hellacious headbang.

That girl knows how to headbang for sure. She slams and she swirls. And the members of the band all have enough hair to look decent with headbanging…. with the exception of Campagna. But he’s the time keeper and doesn’t have time to think about it. But I am sure he’s doing it in his heart as he rattles on his drum kit.

This was a different set than what I had seen from the first time I watched this band. Most of it was made up of their new material. Songs that they are getting ready to release on their new album. They are guessing it will be released later in May of this year.

Amanda Maddera crawls over anything and everything to “Bury You.”

It was all worth the sacrifice. Even though a couple of days ago I was sick. After being around hundreds of strange people, who knows what was floating around out there.

At the end, they performed their brand new song called “Bury You” and I’ve been listening to that online since they released it. It available for purchase and you choose the price! The money goes to help them go on tour later this year. Anything and everything I am sure will be appreciated by them.

Amanda crawled all over the monitors at the front of the stage and it scared the crap out of me……again.

She was so close to me, screaming and singing, that I could have reached out and touched her. I just didn’t want her taking that aggressive nature in her music to her advantage to rip my arm clean off my body. 

I’m digging that song to death. So the first and the final song….. I TOTALLY am addicted to!!!  I hope that they get to do their tour and blow more minds and bring more into their musical fold.

I am glad that I’ve been in contact with the different members of the band. I’m slowly and surely becoming friends with them and that’s great. Having conversations with different members of the band both before and after the show was really cool.

Since this was a showcase … other bands were soon to follow.

Members of CASKET OF CASSANDRA were not inside of the club at the time the next band got on their microphones to address the crowds at one point… and if ANY of the members of CASKET OF CASSANDRA are reading this, then please know that Echoes In Oblivion said “Thank you to Casket of Cassandra for melting our fuckin’ faces off with their music. They are so good!”

So there you have it. Not only a fan/friend’s point of view. But from the point of view from another band.

Casket Of Cassandra – “Bury You” SINGLE

Casket Of Cassandra’s Facebook Page

 

2 March 2013: Echo Temple at House Of Blues Houston

“Nobody went to jail. Nobody was murdered. Nobody got raped. All in all a good evening.”~ Dr. Froth

Ladies & gentleman. Followers & visitors. Upcoming subscribers. I present to you one amazing 26 hour period. 20 hours if you subtract the time spent traveling by bus.

Lone Star Metal put together a show featuring Wellborn Road and ECHO TEMPLE at The House Of Blues Houston.

You have already read while I was still in shock that I was going to be able to go. But for those of you who know this blog well, know that I must give the story of the entire trip from departure to arrival. And back again.

The previous blog has given you some of the minor details of the trip that took place.

Funky smokers. Inattentive lovers. Crabby cuties. But it doesn’t give the full scope of this short time period. And believe me…. even though it was short…. my exhaustion feels as if it was for even longer.

I was going to give this blog post the title of “Sandwich With Shit Bread” but I think that it would have confused you to read about all that happened in this experience and still believe me when I say to you that I had a wonderful, wonderful time.

In fact the bands did play The House Of Blues Houston. And yes I was there as well. Thanks to a lot of people coming together to put it together to make sure that I was able to arrive.

The first mention of my name by Mrs. Froth that came across the attention of ECHO TEMPLE started a flurry of busy little musical “elves” to make sure that I would in fact be there.

It was a tense and long wait for the day to arrive that I would make it there. A very long and intense 72 hours before I would arrive in Houston. Back to the same convenient hotel nearby the Shell Gas station where the bus arrives and departs.

From the moment that I got off of the bus in Houston, tragedy struck and struck brutally hard.

I stepped inside the Shell to use the restroom. From there at some point, I lost my cell phone. A cell phone that I only had since the previously mentioned Pancake Breakfast. So not even a full month.

It was gone! G-O-N-E … GONE!! I came out of that restroom, went to the hotel and checked in, and then on the way to entering my hotel room is when I noticed it missing. I went ahead and threw my luggage in the hotel room, shoved the hotel key into a pocket where I would feel it and it would not be lost and began to go backwards. I hadn’t been there 20 minutes and not gone far.

I went to the front desk of the hotel to inquire. It wasn’t there. I went all the way back to the Shell station and kept my eyes along the path that I knew I just was on and asked at the Shell if someone had turned a cell phone over to them. When I told them that the last time I knew that I had it was in the restroom, they assured me with a snide and stern voice that was gone forever because many people had gone into the restroom after I came out.

I went back to the hotel front desk and asked to use the phone so I could make some contacts. I bugged both a friend and my sister to get on to Facebook to reach Mrs. Froth to let her know that I had lost the cell phone and not to worry if she had noticed that I was not responding to any text messages or telephone calls she may have been sending.

At the time though she was driving, so those messages weren’t received right away. The only thing I could do was hope, pray, and wait. Eventually, Mrs. Froth found me and I connected with her. And off we went!

I  got to hang out at the House of Froth before going to the House of Blues. (Yeah I thought that was catchy too!)

We arrived a bit late to see Wellborn Road play. Tickets were at will call. But my ticket was somehow not there. It was taken care of by the band… but I had no idea which person. They were obviously inside the venue by that point getting ready. Nobody had any contact information to find out where any of them were to see under who’s name it was under that my ticket was being held under.

As slightly frustrating and irritating as that was, it couldn’t hold a candle to losing the cell phone just hours before. Eventually a ticket was purchased and it was on with the show!!!

Onward we went to the Peacock Room. Had our tickets scanned. Our wrists slathered in pink wrist bands so that we could drink if we chose. And we went inside.

The Peacock Room was unusually quiet I thought. Where the hell was Wellborn Road?? Did they honestly just have a very short set and were gone? And what about the keyboard that was set up on stage?? If Wellborn Road was finished, ECHO TEMPLE doesn’t have a keyboardist.

Dr. Froth noticed a flood of Pink Floyd t-shirts in the room. Then it clicked in our musically inclined minds: We are in the WRONG room.

So out we went. Scanned our tickets again and outward public grumbling ensued.

The show we were looking for was actually in a part of the venue called The Bronze Peacock Room. 

Okay House Of Blues: Why so many similarly named rooms? Where’s the “Silver” Peacock Room? And why ticket-checkers, are you slacking from your jobs from sending people to the correct venue??

We went from a large space with a stage, balcony seats, and tables TO one big-assed room. Something you don’t see in the brochure, I am sure!

As we entered inside, Wellborn Road was still on stage. They were covering “Man In The Box” by Alice In Chains. Not bad at all!! Quite entertaining.

The at the last of their set, the guitarist flipped his instrument behind his head and played The National Anthem. That was pretty sweet. I took a picture of it and I hope it comes out.

While waiting, I was greeted by many of the members of ECHO TEMPLE.

As I was very well aware that without them, I would not have been there … I made really sure that I thanked each and every one of them for their generosity for making sure that I was able to be there to watch them play at The House Of Blues.

I also met Sean Turcott’s wife, Claudia and John Wisser’s wife, Carrie for the first time.

I’m starting to gain one heck of a reputation with the ECHO TEMPLE family.

But I wondered what do ECHO TEMPLE fans call themselves?? But I will digress from that train of thought.

After a few more minutes of sharing and caring, it was time to enjoy the show.

We all crept up on the stage by request of Tom Calandra. And still, I found myself at “crotch level” of the band. Nothing more frightening than the threat of having a musician coming so close to the end of the stage that they could possibly tea bag me in the forehead.

ECHO TEMPLE just keeps getting better and better each and every time that I see them play. This was my third time. So awesome!! But as it has been with the band SIX MINUTE CENTURY, I am becoming more and more of friends with the members of the band, rather than someone who is just a serious fan. It would be safe to say that the friends circle from Houston just keeps expanding. And that’s what makes it so damn difficult to leave when I have to.

Watching them as they combine forces to make such powerful music is always a bonus. I kept wondering that because I was so close to them all if they could hear me singing. Who knows?? These guys just rock!!!

I cannot wait for their album to come out. I’m gonna be making a lot of noise when I hear the news that it has been released. Particularly attempting to earworm the band to death to save me a copy.

With ECHO TEMPLE on stage, and Dr. & Mrs. Froth nearby, all my cares in the world melted away. Its a wonderful feeling.

And as we were all on a natural music high, employees of The House Of Blues went and farted in all of our oatmeal.

As soon as the show was over they were telling people to get up and leave. Every person who didn’t have a “backstage pass” attached to their bodies somewhere were given the motion to get the hell out. Ironically though, nobody came up to me personally and asked me to leave. Even though they were asking other people that were nearby. I did not have a “backstage pass” on me, but they never bothered with me. Regardless, I went outside because I was told that there were plans to meet up with the band after the show. But in the whirlwind of people getting kicked out and others being told to get their gear and go, we never connected. We were on our own.

The parking garage was fun though. Going down ramps rather than going up them. I kept screaming “SLALOM!!!”  as I cruised down each ramp until we reached the vehicle. I could sense that Mrs. Froth was shaking her head while I screamed like a five year old. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gotta love downtown Houston!

After a quick bite to eat at Denny’s, gossiping about worthless crap, and talking about future shows we realized that the hour was not as late as they have been in the past. As a matter of fact I was back at the hotel it was not even 1:30 AM. Such a difference from January where I got back around 4:30 in the morning!

I woke up this morning around 7:00 AM. Needless to say that I could have cursed myself because I could not go back to bed. Being so paranoid that I would sleep too long that I would miss the bus to return home. The unnecessary early hour and the foolish paranoia just had me on the wrong foot to start the day I suppose.

I had a cup of coffee from the continental breakfast. I thought to kill time until 8:00 AM and I was going to finally get my chance to eat at the Harris County Smokehouse. Something I missed back in January.

Jayma Mays in “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”

Sadly, I was not impressed with it. It could have been my sour mood. It could have been the fact that I had been full from having an omelet at the Denny’s the night before and eating one there at the Smokehouse as well. Too much eggs, perhaps?? Who knows. I just know that I wasn’t thrilled.

After that, I returned to my hotel room to push it to the limits of the time of check-out. It was already paid for after all, I might as well enjoy it. I was able to find “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” on television.

I found myself enjoying it more the second time watching it than I had the first time. I realized that Jayma Mays just looks a lot better in HD than anything else.

Yep, such a beauty!

After that, I had about an hour left before I had to check out. I turned on one of the films from the Resident Evil series. I don’t remember which one. But then again, I wasn’t paying much attention to it as I was double checking that I had everything packed and ready to go in order to get back.

I went outside for one last moment of fresh air in Houston, and attempted to go back into the room. But the key suddenly wouldn’t work.

I went to the front desk and they asked me if I was going to check out soon. I still had 40 minutes before noon!!

Apparently, these room keys actually will TIME OUT on you and no longer work!! I didn’t know that!!!!!!! So I got a different key. I went back, grabbed my luggage, turned off the television and the lights and left.

I’m still filled so much with appreciation to ECHO TEMPLE and Dr. & Mrs. Froth for getting together and making this happen. I feel like I could thank them for a thousand days and nights. Words just cannot express just how much it meant to me knowing that I was only a few days from actually missing it.

I’m grateful that I had the experience of being at The House Of Blues. But I have doubts if anything will ever be booked there again that would interest me. I still am grateful for the opportunity to have been able to go.

Another show, another quick trip. Another set of memories to last a lifetime.

MY HUMBLEST THANKS TO DR. & MRS. FROTH AND THE PEOPLE OF ECHO TEMPLE!

I hope to see as many of them as I can at the next show that I am able to attend!! Eventually I shall succeed in yet another group photo, this time will be the members of ECHO TEMPLE and I. It will be just a matter of weeks.

Sad to know that WELL OF SOULS plays this coming weekend and I cannot just run back there for that one. But I’m at the point where I have to be picky.

Still, it was a great time. It turned the weekend from becoming a bore and sent me back into my simple oasis.

Overnight Delivery

“I worked half my life to be an overnight success, and still it took me by surprise.”~ Jessica Savitch

Wow, what a mess!! I’ve probably not had a roller coaster afternoon that blended into the evening and early night hours since the war. (Don’t ask.)

I think that all will be well at the end of the weekend. My fingers are crossed. I’m keeping positive. You can expect to be kept posted right here.

This week has been rough as the sledge hockey team was invited to Houston this weekend. We would have had two opportunities to get on the ice. Friday night and then again at Houston’s regularly scheduled ice time Saturday morning at Memorial City Mall.

And then I was reminded that ECHO TEMPLE was playing at The House of Blues Saturday. That definitely would have been a full day but I was unable to figure out what I was going to do with all of my hockey gear and what not throughout the rest of the afternoon until that night.

I struggled. I fought tooth and nail to make at least the sledge hockey work as Houston threw the gauntlet at us. Oh how I would have loved it!! But with the backwards progress of the team, and the very little opportunity available for grabbing transportation, it just didn’t seem likely to happen.

Missing sledge hockey and ECHO TEMPLE was a miserable, miserable feeling for me!!

I ultimately threw in the towel for it all. Things were just out of my hands.

This afternoon though I had received the brand new t-shirt from ECHO TEMPLE. I received the very first one available to the public. I was over the moon to receive it. Guitarist Sean Turcott was more than willing to drop one in the mail for me.

Then I got so excited about the t-shirt that I posted a photo of me wearing it on Facebook, tagged the band members and thanked them. Suddenly comments were coming from all sides. Family members and fellow fans alike that they wanted one. Some family and even spouses were frumping about the fact that they didn’t even have one yet.

OOOOOOOOOPSSSSSS!!!!!! Didn’t mean to strike the nerve of the wives and families! Sorry.

Even though I thought that I would miss this epic opportunity to go to The House of Blues, the t-shirt was a great silver medal.

So I continued to think until earlier in the evening……….

I was contacted by Sean Turcott asking if certain arrangements were made, that I could make it to the show at The House of Blues.

I nearly shit myself.

ECHO TEMPLE was going to take care of hotel, travel, and a ride to wherever I was going. But I’m still  attempting to help out my sister with watching my niece and I’m doing that on Saturdays. The same day as the show.

My sister knew that I was attempting to cancel for the hockey but I told her that I gave up on that. Hindsight is definitely 20/20. Had I just said I was going, this wouldn’t have been an issue. But I didn’t have this “all expenses paid” offer until earlier tonight.

It would’ve worked out fine.

In my disbelief, I contacted Mrs. Froth. And wouldn’t you know it? She knew about the plans that ECHO TEMPLE was willing to put into action. And she and Dr. Froth was a very important part of this planning to grab me from the hotel and take me to the venue.

I wonder what else she had her hand in making this possible??? Oh well. Its better not to ask questions.

I struggled some more. Frustrated, that I couldn’t make the overnight trip work. I knew that I would have to come back as soon as possible to watch my niece. It wouldn’t have mattered much. If I had gone and still had to watch my niece then I would have to leave Houston around 6:40 AM. What a pain!!

Echo Temple

By 11:00 PM though, my sister pretty much told me that I was good to go. She said that she was 99.9% sure of it. She just needed to make sure it was okay by the uppers of all this work shifting around over the weekend. But I had nothing to do with that. She stated in her message to her work people that I wasn’t able to watch the niece and left it at that. Never gave an explanation and never said why…. just that I couldn’t do it.

I will be able to go The House of Blues in Houston, Texas!!! I am pretty damned pumped up about that. And I will get to see ECHO TEMPLE play there. Dr. & Mrs. Froth will be in attendance and that……. ohhh unholy egg nog, is just one helluva bonus right there. Besides, I’m a little behind on super hugs to the Mrs.

And yes, I will be eating some words that were uttered to Mrs. Froth just this morning. I’ll just go ahead and admit that right now before my arm gets twisted in ways and in places that I don’t want it. NOM!NOM!NOM!!!

So at home base, I’m virtually good to go. I know that I will have things taken care of by the bands in Houston.

But I am not out of the woods at this late hour of the night just yet! I will have to make sure that I can get a ride to the bus  stop here in town. I’m hoping the usual neighbor will be willing. If not, its either the public transportation or a taxi. Yikes!!!!

This ECHO TEMPLE VIP is gonna rock this weekend at The House of Blues!!!!!