So, my brother in law is headed to Dubya's Dance in the Desert, and as a sort of last hurrah, my sister wanted to take him to a Trucker's show, and a fine weekend in the world's best college town, The Classic City: Athens, GA.

The show, as Bloor posted in the weekend thread, was billed as "The Dirt Underneath," a laid back, acoustic affair, with John Neff playing mostly pedal steel, Shonna busting out the stand up bass, and Cooley maybe playing the banjo. They also added SPOONER FUCKING OLDHAM to the mix on keys, and brought Clay Leverett, late of Lono, now, apparently drinking himself to death, on stage for some harmonizing.

They played a lot of older stuff, basically demo'd some new songs, and did some haunting, beautiful versions of songs like "Zip City," "Sinkhole" and my fave of teh night, an Alabama Getaway-esque "Get on the Plane."

The crowd was the usual mix of heavies, hippies, rich dilletantes (me and bloor) and monster like my bro-in-law aka "NOT A MAJOR!"

I am sure there are people still wondering why in the fuck Bloor and I kept yelling "Don't Shoot Me LEE!!" and generally carrrying on like we do.


For anyone who has spent time in Athens, the Theatre has been refurbished a bit. No permanent seats on the floor, new seats in the balcony, and a much needed bathroom remodelling, which resulted in the two bathrooms being switched, and there is no longer 2 inches of standing pee-pee water on the men's room floor.

Also, this weekend coincided with The Twilight Criterion, so the mood was festive, thankfully the weather was good, and though the town has changed like all places do, the spirit and feel of the place is still intact (and T-Stand two days in a row will still rough you up.)

More on the set list, including a d/l torrent At Nine Bullets

pictures to follow later.

Awesome. And during the Twilight no less! Jesus.

I remember Leverett. Dave Marr used to pull him up onstage a lot during Star Room Boys shows - he sounded like Hank Sr. And Bloor tells me Neff is / may be permanently on board with the Truckers? He's so... goddam... good. It's disgusting what that guy can make a pedal steel do, and yet he's so damn calm and humble about it. Watching him play was what made me want one (it looks so easy) but then trying to make anything decent come out of the steel I bought taught me a LOT about how much work he puts in. There aren't a lot of people in the world who are at his level. Probably less than 20 or 30, and most of the rest of them are high-dollar session guys. If Patterson wants that kinda player, he's right to snap Johnny up fulltime.

They played 4-5 new songs as well and are definitely gonna have Neff and Spooner in the studio for the next album.

I toally wish Isbell well, but I am now convinced that they won't miss a beat without him.

And the show was really great, really special. Pretty cool to see even the hard rocking tunes like "Lookout Mountain" get the stripped down treatment and still be just as intense.

Sounds like I missed a good one.

I leaned over to Loogs at one point and said, "Damn, I wish Stu and Benny were here for this shit"

I believe the consensus is that they seem happier without him. Like they can get back to rockin out, and not worry about assuaging his ego. (At least superficially)

and Stu, you and Benny were definitely missed.

Also, dunno if anyone is monitoring current college girl fashion, but the return of the baby doll dress made for some uncomfortable moments. I definitely noticed a lack, or severe smallness of undergarments as well.

sonofabitch!!!

yeah, though at my advanced age I'm starting to feel like Tommy the Titty Toucher openly leering at college girls.

Yeah, I was saying that, though I still feel like I am young, my Junior Executive attire and Edwards-esque coiffure definitely make me look 35-40 to those kids.

I will say, it is nice to still have one or 2 places in town that remember how hard we used to get it. The reception from Adam and Russ at The Roadhouse made my weekend.

Also, if I were still in school there, I would hang out at Beuregards, regardless of how frat-tastic the crowd got. That place is a Sons of the Confederacy recruiting post with a lounge area like The 40/40 Club.

Holy shit, Stroker Ace did Loaded Gun In The Closet at the Friday night show...nice.

You ever meet Lowe's older brother Kevin? The two of them came to UGA once when I was a junior or something for New Years. Kevin turns to me at one point, and was like "these people are looking at me like I'm somebody's dad or something" because he was 32 at the time. And then without missing a beat, he turns to some hotty 19-yr-old and says all enthusiastically "so, what's your major?" and busts out laughing.

College girl attire has also drifted firmly into "sweat pants and fur-lined boots with J-Lo OBNOXIOUSLY OVERSIZED sunglasses" territory here. Every single one of them wears it, and yet none of them feel unoriginal. I could honestly have counted 20 or 30 in the lobby of our building at any given time when it was colder out.

Damn. Didn't realize it was an acoustic affair. Jesus.

I was back in Atlanta and passed out in bed by the time ya'll even got the check for dinner I'm sure.

I remember during my 2nd sophmore year the girl I was dating's Big sister (in her sorority) was quietly dating some 30 year old in Atlanta. She was 22 at the time.

I try to think of that when I'm down there and that helps me keep the dream alive.

if my lady ever wises up and leaves me for someone richer/handsomer, i'm selling Redlands and going Athens Townie 4 Life.

You'll seem so ... mature. And your bed isn't held up by cinderblocks. Some 20-yr-old would be lucky to have you as a fuckbuddy.

Dude, I could live like an Arabian prince in that town.

...they would bring me chinese food and pizza. I would buy them beer.

This is pretty much my goal - and one of the enticements - related to the job I'm applying for in E. Lansing.

Yeah, I was throwing money around at a prodigious rate, and didn't even dent the bank account.

Fuck it, we should just do it anyway. Buy a fine house in 5 Points and set up a "student consulting business"

Same thing at LSU. I want to ask every girl, "you realize you look retarded, right?"

"You know this isn't a fashion shoot at the south pole, right?" And putting "Hottie" across your ass doesn't make it hot.

I enjoy this time of year when the college aged girls come out in their flip flops, and walk like waddling ducks. My wife and I were laughing as these two girls came walking down the stairs and into the park on Sunday. Looked like they had just been in the backseat for a bit.

My intern wears ginormous sunglasses and uggs on occassion. She also has her "Juicy Couture" bag, which immediately was deemed the "Juicy Cooter" bag.

I saw a girl wearing those terry cloth short shorts the other day. That should be mandatory attire on all hot girls.

was this with/without Isbell? I'm going to miss him being in the band the next time I see them.

without; as i said above, they didn't miss a beat.

also, you can just go see Jason on his own, right?

i haven't heard his solo stuff yet. i just like what he's done with the truckers.