Tue Oct 07, 2003
Panic at The Backyard Review
Weekend In Austin:
This was a monumental weekend. The largest ground breaking weekend for me because I got to break in two virgins for their first Panic show on Sunday. My wife and her best friend. We got down into Austin about 4 on Friday. Got checked into our hotel and started to plan for the evening. We are not planning on hitting the Friday show since we need to get up early to tailgate and get tickets for the game. Plus I had to pickup a friend at the airport at 9:30 Friday night. So we decide to head on down to 6th street. We hear there is a Kansas State Pep Rally at Pete’s on 6th Street. We stop in and to our amazement the whole bar was for Kansas State. The place was great, Dueling Pianos with some wise asses and lots of great tunes. Saturday we heading out to the stadium and did a little tailgating. Got some tickets and proceded to sit in the great Kansas State section. They cats could have played with less mistakes and should have won but oh well. Had to get out to the venue quick! Made it just in time to enjoy the great sunset, get a spot in front of the tapers, and proceeded to get funky! Nebulous opener!
John Wayne lives
Riding off to another sunset
Learn to live each lie
Shaking off every bit of regret.
I was shaking off my regret from not seeing Warren with the boys the night before. Then they subtlety ease into a great rendition of Blight! WOW! That early? YES! Sliding literally into Rock! God I love this tune. They continue to pound on us with Disco. That little quarter of songs was a serious greeting for this show. JB gets his acoustic strapped on and I proceed to hear my first Mikeyless Casa. Not too shabby. JB gives us the Mexican flavor since we are so close to the border. Wondering>Chunk is standard first set material. Papa Johnny Road is a great tune.
Crawlin' in the dirt all night
I guess this is a place
The place had a dirt floor. It gave you the stumbles sometimes because of the loose gravel and dirt. So this was a fitting song for this venue. Action Man freaking smoked the set closed.
Set break wasn’t a break at all. Got loose to some DJ Logic. Danced my ass off with my buddy and some energetic woman by the bar. Got back with my whiskey in hand for quite a rendition of Slippin Into Darkness. They set the mood for this one. Gotta love the intro for this tune. I was drinking my whiskey while laughing at the moon right over the stage! Perfect. Then we get George’s Doretha in the middle of the normal Slippin>Barstools. Kinda different. Barstools was off the charts fun. JB was rapping away. I have to decipher this one! I like Travelin Light a lot more in the middle of a set. They had the energy this song needs to be successful. Can’t Get High was the bomb! I love this song. Have not heard it with George before! JB backed him up with some powerful vocals. I think JB was soaking up electricity like Bourbon and Gin!
Then Visiting Day. “Why can’t we just take a look around us, and notice all the things that make you smile!” Nuff Said. This venue rocks. Great people, small liquor lines and lots of nature. Only problem would be the bathroom facilities. Then Sunny got his turn to shine right into Papa Legba. Could hear it coming from a mile away. Hasn’t been played yet this fall. Makes Sense>Climb To Safety closes it out. The story of the night is the Encore! Holy smokes. Schools comes from behind Todd’s kit and nobody is out yet. All you hear is the intro to Bowlegged! OH MY GOD! WHAT A RUSH!
They rip it up and I was left with a huge smile on my face. Not sure if they would do another tune or not. Then JB breaks out the mando and End Of The Show finishes us off in style! Great times had by all! Go to 6th Street after the show and proceed to people watch. Lots of interesting sites in town.
NEVER MISS A SUNDAY SHOW.
The place was half empty. Everybody must have had too much the first two nights.
The wife didn’t come to the Saturday show because she wanted to party in Austin. So they waited until Sunday to see their first Panic show. I’m glad they did too. PLENTY OF ROOM! We were free to move about all we wanted. No lines and the place was just relaxed! Acoustic first set too! Tonights the Night! Damn right. First show with the wife. Then a great Fishing. I got my first acoustic Pilgrims which was a treat. But the real heat was Driving Song > Breathing Slow, Can't Find My Way Home, Mercy!
Man was this good. First time they played Breathing Slow since Mikey passed.
First straight Driving with George! Last straight Driving was 4-28-02 at Oak Mtn.
Also that was the last Breathing Slow. Then Can’t Find My Way Home! Everybody was shocked! I can’t believe they did it! Very Special. Wrangler brought us to the setbreak.
Cheers to friends so near!
Old Neighborhood is a great way to open a set. Lots of energy. Parsons, Thin Air follwed it up with some more electricity. Speaking of which, lightning was approaching and the sky began to grow eerie. All of the sudden Sunny starts his Hatfield intro and it is on. JB spoke to us and let it fly. Paid his respect to his Pabt’s Blue Ribbon once again! Then we get JoJo’s new tune. Busted Big. Fit my show to a tee. I got not one but two pieces taken from me during this show. How ironic they played it. Jerry Joseph came out and played a great rendition of Light Is Like Water. Heard this tune my last Mikey show at Red Rocks. It brought me back to that moment big time.
Only the lyrics were more fitting this go around because of the wife.
Love, love is like water
Only water is just like light
A little faith and a paddle
Will surely get you, and your baby
Through the night
Then I got my first Road To Damascas with a little We’ll Be Fine rap by Jerry at the end of it. Then DJ Logic slips out to his turntables and we are ready to get dirty!
A big ol’ nasty Fishwater to send the set to a close. The boys came out for a Love Tractor encore and I was bouncing in my seat for the ride home! Great times.
great venue, great people, great city!
Ben Kruetzkamp
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