© Tomski
Photos: by Tomski / by Jen Powell
The Gourds
Shady Grove
1624 Barton Springs Road
Austin, TX
6-04-09
01. Country Love
02. Lower 48
03. Burn the Honeysuckle
04. Omaha (Billy Joe Shaver/Hillman Hall)
05. The Gyroscopic
06. New Dues
07. Luddite Juice
08. Red Letter Day
09. El Paso *
10. Shreveport
11. Tex-Mex Mile
12. A Few Extra Kilos
13. Fossil Contender
14. Blankets
15. Whiskey in the Jar (trad.) **
16. Right in the Head
17. Nitty Gritty (Doug Sahm)
18. Steeple Full of Swallows
19. Yoli Found a Opossum
20. All in the Pack > Inchworm (Frank Loesser) > I Fought the Law (Sonny Curtis) > All in the Pack
E:
21. Hooky Junk
*Winters version
**First (and last) time in the key of C
Photos: by Tomski / by Jen Powell
The Gourds
Shady Grove
1624 Barton Springs Road
Austin, TX
6-04-09
01. Country Love
02. Lower 48
03. Burn the Honeysuckle
04. Omaha (Billy Joe Shaver/Hillman Hall)
05. The Gyroscopic
06. New Dues
07. Luddite Juice
08. Red Letter Day
09. El Paso *
10. Shreveport
11. Tex-Mex Mile
12. A Few Extra Kilos
13. Fossil Contender
14. Blankets
15. Whiskey in the Jar (trad.) **
16. Right in the Head
17. Nitty Gritty (Doug Sahm)
18. Steeple Full of Swallows
19. Yoli Found a Opossum
20. All in the Pack > Inchworm (Frank Loesser) > I Fought the Law (Sonny Curtis) > All in the Pack
E:
21. Hooky Junk
*Winters version
**First (and last) time in the key of C
Special thanks to Tomski and Karl for the field reports. If anyone has audio/video/photos from this show, please email TheGourdsNews.
You know it's summer wehn the temperatures are consistently in the 90s and the Gourds play a free show at Shady Grove.
ReplyDeleteThe cons: the place was packed to the gills, and it was hard to get a good seat or place to stand unless you got there way early. Chairs were lined up in front of the stage and tables behind that, leaving little room for dancing. And I think the seats up front were reserved, and not necessarily for fans of the band.
The pros: A very family friendly vibe. Lots of kids running around and dancing, and a very casual atmosphere. Nice setting with large shade trees providing shade. Unplugged at the Grove has become quite the little party.
Setlist was chock full of Haymaker songs. Opened with three Kev songs, then a Max, then three Jimmy's. Kev later played three "city songs" in a row, "two of which mean something to me, and one that doesn't." Nice to hear A Few Extra Kilos again. Claude's Whiskey In The Jar was very well received. Steeple was just beautiful, as it almost always is. Nitty Gritty and Yoli even got a few of the chair people in front up and dancing.And getting three Max songs is like getting a bonus.
A good size portion of the crowd left thinking there would be no encore, but they came back with a rousing Hooky Junk.
I think/hope the Shady Grove shows give the band a chance to convert new fans, so I'm sure some new ones were born tonight.
I haven't seen this mentioned on the Web site, but the Gourds will play a 5 p.m. show on Father's Day at Nutty Brown, and another similar early show in July at ... I forget where. Maybe it's Threadgills. But Kev mentioned playing some family friendly show times throughout the summer.
-- Tomski
Great description of the show, Tomski. Rita and I abandoned our too-close-and-tied together chairs to stand in a small piece of real estate by the back bar that afforded an up-close view of the band. Had to dodge the securing guy enforcing the No Standing rule couple of times, but it was worth it. No standing, no dancing during a Gourds show? Are you kidding?!
ReplyDeleteBen
I, for one, thought the show was awful for both the fans and for the band. The only decent view of the stage was from the many rows of chairs lashed together, full of zombie-like people who appeared to be attending their own funeral.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it was a beautiful night in a pleasant atmosphere provided by Shady Grove, the venue did everything to kill the party atmosphere the Gourds inspire- providing nowhere within view of the stage to dance.
I think no converts were made unless they were amongst the seated zombies. My friends arrived 3 hours pre-show and the best place in the grass they were able to procure was nowhere within line of sight of the stage. Since, besides the music, a major part of the appeal of the Gourds is their showmanship, these seats did nothing to demonstrate to my newly-initiated (or not!) friends why I'm such a rabid fan.
People watching and casual Austin lounge vibe abounds at Shady Grove, but it's no place to be if you actually like the band.