Gotta love Ft. Worth,TX I'm going to tomorrow nights show, just wondering if any other Fchatters will be there. http://www.axisfortworth.com
Hey Will, ya beat me to the post. I was gonna pose the same question. See ya there. BTW, IIRC, the owner is a friend of yours right?* *shameless attempt to get "on the list"
Randy, let me know when your in town. I'm always up for a beer. Dave, I'll be there I just hope I can stay awake. I got to be at work at 6AM today. PM me for show details.
What a show, the Rev packed the AXIS with pure rock-a-billy goodness. Also it was great to see some folks that I haven't seen since my college years, the gang's all here for Turkeyfest 04. If anyone has not seen the FLAME TRICK SUBS from Austin, TX, I highly recommend you do. The upright bass player is missing a hand & he still played incredibly well, I was in complete awe on how well he jammed with the rest of band. I picked up some decals at the show, now Im just trying to decide which one goes on the back of Robs 355 challenge car.
I vote for the top left sticker! I missed the show last night (I was also trying to get old chums together, and none wanted to go. Dammit.) I'm going to try to redeem myself by chatching the Friday RevHo show at Trees. I hope the Flametrick Subs are also on the bill Friday, I saw them open once before for the Rev at Ridglea Theater. They rock. Will, that the first show you've seen at the AXIS? I know it's fairly new, how does it rate with some of the other local establishments (I am picturing a Deep Ellum Live style venue - am I way off base?)
AXIS is located in the warehouse area south of downtown Ft Worth. It reminds me of many Deep Ellum clubs, the Axis investors have put a lot of money into their lighting & sound system & are expecting other new clubs to follow. One thing that is for certain, parking will be a problem but that is in the works with other property owners. Since most of the Downtown Ft Worth north of I-30 has been developing town homes, condos, and luxury apartments there has been plenty of room for expansion where the AXIS is located. There has been talk for the last 10 to 15 years to develop that area into a Deep Ellum/West End Market Place clone. Too many have tried over the years ideas have come & gone. Ft Worth is very limited as for rock music venues, the only popular places that survived the last 7 years are the Ridglea Theater, Wreck Room (same investor of the AXIS), & The Aardvark near TCU. There are other places in Tarrant County but don't have a small venue Bohemian style that has attracted bands like the Toadies, Jello Biafra, Caulk, Pennywise, Reverend Horton Heat Pantera, Flame Trick Subs, GARUDA, Woodeye, Junior Brown, & Flickerstick. Other venues include Casa Manana, Bass Hall, Billy Bobs Texas, etc.. Im still waiting for the day that GWAR plays Bass Hall but most likely that day will never come.
GWAR at Bass Hall... LOL! what a vivid picture that paints in the imagination. I was sad to see Caravan of Dreams shut down. I know it wasn't exclusively a rock venue, but it's where I saw the Rev for the first time. The Rev's DVD has an "extra" featuring Jim Heath walking around Deep Ellum with an interviewer and a cameraman, discussing how deep ellum came to be what it is today, and his experiences living and playing down there in the beginning of the "modern" era of deep ellum. It was incredibly interesting.
I'm usually able to find people to go with me to a Rev show, but not this time. With so many people in from out of town for Thanksgiving who I rarely get to see, I had to make the sacrifice and do what they wanted to do. And none of them wanted to go to the Rev show. That said, It's been a pretty great weekend!
http://www.reverendhortonheat.com Punkabilly. Jim Heath has been around since the late 80's. He got the name from Rev. Ivan Stang from the Hour of Slack radio show on KNON. (89.3 FM Dallas if anyone can remember those days) Ahh, Deep Ellum back in the late 1980's, what a blast that was.
Will, I believe KNON is still on the air, isn't it? I don't listen too much, but I always loved tuning in. There are so many diverse shows (blues, metal, native american dance chants, the vietnamese show spoke entirely in their language.) I like to call it "Roulette Radio" cause you never know what's gonna be on. I had never heard or heard of the "Hour of Slack" or Rev. Ivan Slang. Sounds like I should have, though.
There's a slightly different version that Jim Heath gave on his DVD's special features interview. He tells it that Russell Hobbs (who is currently the proprietor of "The Door" in Deep Ellum) opened up a place called the "Prophet Bar" in Deep Ellum, which was nothing but industrial businesses at the time, and gave Jim Heath a regulay weekly gig. Hobbs told Heath that he was going to publicize him as "The Rev. Horton Heat." Heath says he was slightly uncomfortable with the name, but at the end of his first gig, people came up to him saying, "Reverend, that was great!" He said that he was so flattered that people liked his set, that he could have been performing as "Crap on the Ground" and he would have gone along with it. P.S. At one time in my life I thought it would be cool to get into the music business as a promoter. So I started asking around and was told that Russell Hobbs would probably let me do some volunteer promoting. I met Russell, who gave me my first assignment: pass out a thousand flyers. I thought about it, and then decided that the music business wasn't for me. It was only a passing fancy, I'd much rather enjoy the show. I didn't realize at the time that this guy was one of the key figures in the creation of Deep Ellum as it it today.
Ok Dave, my rock trivia is a little fuzzy from way back when but he did get air play on Hour of Slack on KNON. I need to borrow your DVD. I'll even make you a copy of a rare Deep Ellem promtional CD from 1987. It features such artist as The Buck Pets, New Bohemians, The Daylights, & very early days of Reverend Horton Heat.
Will - Great CD! It was cool to hear The Devil's Chasin' Me in a "low-fi" version... makes that song so much better. BTW, Your story about the date you took to a RHH show - Classic. Ever since the first time I saw the Rev play at Caravan of Dreams and he grinned while singing this song, and wearing his trademark flame tuxedo, the pic below is my personal mental image of what the devil himself looks like. I have met JH since and I know he's a friendly guy, but hearing this song and seeing him play it gives me the heebyjeebys. Image Unavailable, Please Login
