>>In the 90's, I played clubs in Mississippi, with REAL chicken wire
>>around the stage..cause the folks who LIKED ya, tossed glass. We learned
>>REAL FAST...HYPER SPEED..to make friends with the 'door' n bouncers.
ALL within a 45 mile triangle of Meridian. Good times..
>Yep, people have laughed at the contrived facade in a movie like
>'Roadhouse', but yes, we have had places with chicken wire around the
>stage, and beer bottles flew almost every night. Usually those are
>places with the word "Landing" in the name, or cute monikers such as
>The Slab House or the Broken Spoke, the ShareCropper, the Golden Bell,
>the Hi-Hat or Pap's Place.
I just filled in for some bass player who couldn't show, but yes,
the names were so far from the dives I played as a 'youite' around
central Mass. But I found many many more good times then bad.
People down there were much more real, no games, no BS, and maybe
that's why (a damn yankee like me) had to DEAL with folks being
this real. They REALLY liked ya, and the women are H-O-T..
As a 'Yankee' Bass player (b4 M'Lady) I had no problem talking
with women there, they were kool, their BF's were kool, and those
who were NOT kool never lasted long enough for me to have 2 notice.
>I've had ribs broken, had a few firearms pulled on me, been cut with
>boxcutters, stabbed with scissors and knives, not counting the usual
>choking, wrasslin', kicking and punching.
I found very little of that, as the 'talent' (used loose), the place's
folks knew WHAT to do with WHOM, and to be blunt, I loved the c/wire
and glass, I always (due to lights) wear Shades onstage, and I knew what
to expect. The crowd..the GOOD crowd..and the crew were always great n Kool.
>6' 7", 350 lb college football players, USAF security cops from the
>airbase, hordes of Mexican construction workers, cornfed cowboys, etc.
We just saw drunks who were out for a good time. But I roadied around
Sweetwater and had to deal with it. Never got too heavy, but @ 24, I
was having a ball. Weeks later, I had the ELP NY thingie. ah, youth..
>I finally got smart and went for the high end places with names like
>Classix and Bonnie & Clyde's. High admission, reserved seating, good
>security equipment and layout, management that backs you up, big name
>bands and show talent. Too bad I got too old to handle those linemen
>from State, but I have no doubt I can handle one loser, serial
>litigant from PA any day.
Funny you mention this. I found the dives had better control in MS,
then Jackson, and between places that did the big $ were just so happy
to get the biz, they didn't care about what needed to be handled.
Yep, at 51, I can still play out (every other Tues in NH) and still
carry my Marshall Major 1/2 stack. Well preserved. Vintage..
JJTj
I am frolicsome, I am easy,
Good tempered and free,
And I don't give a single pin' me boys
What the world thinks of me.
