Submitted by Lori Acid King:
Friday March 18th - Small Stone Showcase @ SXSW
A most triumphant trip for Acid King. Guy decided to quit the band and bail on our tour 3 weeks before we were scheduled to leave! There was no way in H.E. double hockey sticks that we were going to let that get us down so we called in bass #5! Rafa Martinez is a great musician he played guitar in Gamera/Secret Order of Tusk, Bass in 16 and plays drums in Black Cobra. Rafa was out of the country for some of the tour so we had to cancel the 1st leg. Joey and I drove straight from SF to Austin and met Rafa at the airport. Our good pals Dixie Witch were kind enough to let us use their practice space and we immediately went from the airport to the practice space. After a quick review we were feeling good and went to our pals Amy and Paul's house to shower after stanking for 2 days in the van and we were off to the 710 club to rock! Good thing we were playing early that night cause I was ready for some drinking. Went out for sushi in Austin with my old rock pal Bryan from ATP saw lots of fellow rock buddies including the X-Husband all in the same place at the same time and it was a good night 4 sure. We got up there and kicked some major ass. It was proven that NO ONE can stop The King!!!!
Saturday - Day off! Hung out drank margaritas at Gueros saw some band and drank free beer. Bumped into Mark Deutrom one of the many many old bass players of the Melvins and went to the Relapse showcase. It was a long ass day so we were burnt out and ready for some RnR.
Headhunters, Sunday March 20th in Austin
Well, we had no other shows booked as it's a pain to even play around Austin during this time. Every band from every coast is doing the same thing. So, Wendy Wad was nice enough to let us play on her Slayer Sundays show. A weird night 4 sure. Stragglers from SXSW that were still there. The line up was mostly Country Punk bands and US!! I was like OH SHIT we're headlining and no one will be there at 1am by the time we play!! Well, as usual I'm always surprised. We take the stage late and holy hell there's people in the audience!! I look out and see Jello Biafra in the audience along with the singer from Nashville Pussy. Not bad 2 celebrity sightings at 1am on a Sunday night! We fucking rocked as best as we could at 1am and it was a pleasant surprise. Some fans from Australia were there and that made it all worth it. Thanks for coming, mates!!
Monday March 21st - The Conservatory, Oklahoma City
Never been to Oklahoma City before and we had no idea what to expect. We hooked up with Bay Area rockers Drunk Horse and played our way back home with those guys. The club was in the middle of nowhere and next to it was a really cool record store. I found a copy of 'Say you love Satan' and bought it for Rafa. He already read it as it's an initiation we give to each bass player! The club was a filthy dump, the toilets were worse than CBGB's and the bartender had a copy of 'Bartending for Dummies' displayed for the world to see but hell we got $1 Coronas and free local crap beer so no bartending skills needed! For a Monday night it was a decent crowd. Quality 4 sure. 'Teen Dusthead' was requested so we played it! Nice people, good fans but too many people wanting to talk to me about the Melvins!! Don't ask me about the Melvins!! I haven't seen them for 5 years!!! I'm not married to the drummer anymore!!!!
Tuesday March 22nd - The Bottleneck. Lawrence, Kansas
I've never been to Lawrence either. A nice college town BUT it was spring break!! We played with a few other bands, a local and another from Missoula, Montana. 4 bands on a Tuesday night during Spring Break and oh yea did I mention it was snowing?? Free plastic big mouths of Miller Lite. No thanks!! The show was well, pretty dumb. We basically played to the other bands and a handful of people that came. We of course played like it was a packed house but needless to say without a crowd it's hard to put your heart and soul into it. I was in a hurry to pack it up and hit the freaking Road! Motel 6 here we come YEA!! Another night of no designated drive. All in all a totally uneventful show.
Wednesday March 23rd - Larimer Lounge - Denver, Colorado
We've played in Denver several times so I knew we would have a pretty decent show. A decent crowd and we got to reunite with pals from Turambar a local band that we met last time we were in town. The clubs stage was better than it was last time and we got free pitchers of PBR! I don't care how cool it is to drink PBR I hate that piss water! We were served the same Costco lasagna with garlic bread and a salad that we had the last time we were there and Joey saw a mouse go for seconds upstairs where we were hanging out! Some totally drunk guy kept grabbing my arm and kept singing 'Teen Dusthead' to me!!! He said that song changed his life! Hmmmmm. a song about some pals of Ricky Kasso changed this man's life. Very touching I must say. We totally rocked in Denver and played 'Teen Dusthead' for the drunk. A popular songs with the fans I guess. He got all agro and started pushing down on my wah wah pedal with his hands! He didn't even make it thru the Drunk Horse set. Must have passed out!! Crashed out at the Turambar house and they made us breakfast. Pretty kick ass!
Thursday March 24th - Burt's Tiki Lounge, Salt Lake City, Utah
It was cold and the drives were getting longer but Salt Lake here we come. Yet another town we've never played. Burts was pretty cool a small dive that served 32 oz plastic mugs of low alcohol beer!! Those Mormons! Rafa's friend and old singer Scott from Gamera lives there now and his band along with one other opened for us and drunk horse. We were told by the booker that we could get whatever draft beer we wanted but when I went up to the bar the crabby ass bartender gave me some "tude" when I went to order my drink. "Another person in a band" he says!! He attempts to open me a can of PBR where in I said no way I ain't drinking that at a minimum I'll have a 32-oz of watered down Bud! I think I had 3 32-oz beers and no head change! Some total old school fan that hadn't listened to us for a while since he just got out of the slammer bought me a shot and wanted us to play '39 Lashes'. Sorry pal, next time maybe!! Thanks for the shot though! The stage was weird and there was a big pole in the center so you weren't quite sure where to put your vocal mic. After the show some dude got upfront and personal asking me way too many Melvins/X-Husband questions and I got annoyed!! We all piled in to Scott's house, drank beer, played video games and passed out/.. Drunk Horse was smart enough to pick up some real beer before hitting SLC!
Friday March 25th, The Zephyr - Reno, Nevada
A got this gig thru My Space. A fan and lover of music Tim put this show together so thank you Tim!! Reno is a weird ass place that's 4 sure. We stopped by Tim's place first and his house was covered with Kozik posters, crazy! I mean covered wall, ceiling, bathroom etc...Drunk Horse rocked as usual and took off back to SF. we were up next and our friends Jim and Jen drove up from SF to the show as well as a fan from Seattle who flew to the show! Damn, the pressure is on to play good. Rafa's fingers are thrashed from playing all week with us full force and having no time to practice. We cranked out the tunes and pretty much cleared out the place!! There was about maybe 5-10 ladies there and they were the 1st to leave!! Wimps I tell you! Had a good time! No designated driver as usual and Dave drove us back to Tim's house. We were sooooo tired and ready to get back to SF. His roommate had us sign the Kozik posters that he had of our shows and I was a freaking zombie by then! A good night had by all and we woke up early and I got us back to SF by 1pm!
Saturday March 26th El Rio - SF, CA.
Yea, we're home and we're playing with Ludicra tonight. I've only been trying for a year to play with this band. I love them and Aesop is a kick ass drummer, John is an amazing guitar player. They make Acid King look like a bunch of pansies! I was not on top of my game this night. We rocked don't get me wrong but I kept stepping all over my cables and pulling them out of my guitar and fucking up my sound. Luckily not that many people noticed! I was beat by then and ready to rock out to Ludicra and sleep in my own bed.
All in all a pretty good trip. No accidents, no speeding tickets and no DUI'S!! We haven't been out there for a while and with the odds against us traveling during SxSW we did pretty good. Rafa kicked ass and saved the tour for us. THANK YOU FOR COMING TO THE SHOWS!
Love & Distortion
Lori S / Acid King
