Jet Blue. Best fly I’ve had in a long time. Baustin to Austin. Good leg room. Tolerable free snacks.

Got picked up in a stretch limo – we always travel on the maximum stylization principal. We accept nothing less. (except the next day when 4 of us were in the back seat of a Camry….)

A couple hours and sleep-delays later we played an internet radio show for WOXY – we don’t like that kind of thing much, but we’re told it’s useful. Besides 3 of our own “songs”, we played our version of the Yardbirds’ astounding “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago”, their last hit, probably ’66. What’s most remarkable about this song is that it is 150% psychedelic, yet by referring to Clairvoyants and memory/sleep, it side-steps the actual use of psychedelic drugs. A very natural Burma cover.

We cut the interview portion as short as possible to make sure we caught The Jesus Lizard. Rockabilly meets King Crimson with Capt. Beefheart ranting stories. Or….. Led Zeppelin meets the Birthday Party. Or….. I could add another 501 comparisons, but you gotta give up and realize the more influences buried in there, the less each one weighs. At that point one just yelps: “They sound just like The Jesus Lizard”!

On the first beat Yow hurled himself into the audience and sang the entire first song on his back, held up by crazies. “Hello Dallas!” Guitarist Duane D. looked identical to Jimmy’s dentist and their bass man looked like he’d kill the goddam dentist if he even went near his teeth. As the sound swirled and crystalized, the rain started pouring down. We were warned that Barton Creek may flood, but no one prepared us for the influx of fetid animals crawling up the slippery grassy slope. Girls screaming with their legs covered with water-bugs, and our hands were useless in batting away hysterical birds and bats buffeted by the wind. Over the water skipped these insane lizards. Oh my god, those are The Jesus Lizards! The entire festival was shut down early, and we were glad to just get the fuck out of there and back to our hotel beds. An auspicious beginning for our short tour of duty.

RM