Report on Austin Show

We got back from the Capitol city of Austin earlier. My review of the Chesnutt/Richman double billing would be a positive one. The venue was in a VERY small University of Texas cafe/bar called the Cactus Club located right in the Student Union. Vic's set was great, but it went by really too quick. He had a few problems with his mostly crippled hands cramping up while playing guitar and had to literally pause in the middle of a few songs to bend his thumb back into place, but he played through it. It was a really low-key set, too with most people sitting on the floor so everyone could see the wheelchair-bound singer. I really like how the quiet songs were puctuated by his souring voice and awesome lyrical ability. Since it was a double billing, they only played about ten songs each. Jonathan was slightly impeded by a seemingly nasty cold, but, as always, he played a very entertaining set, too. Everyone left happy.

Aside from the show, Austin proved to be a pretty interesting town filled with students, hippies, bums, and pretty much every combination of those three, including the drop-out student turned hippie-bum. I guess that's pretty much any college town.

Best bum sighting, though - on a freeway intersection near the IHOP, there was a forty-year-old guy holding a sign that said: "37¢ short of a soft shell taco."