Middle

Day 7 - 3/14/96 - Baton Rouge, LA.
(Why in the hell did we do this?)

(Chris)

"I hit the city and I lost my band"
After an unusual gig in Baton Rouge we reached Austin and I lost a couple of people. Baton Rouge was strange. We got there and were greeted by our most excellent host Chris Dalrymple. He spread out the red carpet -- food, beer you name it. He did a killer job with publicity and the gig looked like it was going to be, well... rockin'. We did the longest sound check I've ever experienced and three hours after we started we were done.
By the time we were ready to go on the place was packed. We had three openers: Bobby Swayze, a local guitar legend who rocked to his own sampled backup. Then came the chicken eating man, "Feared by many, understood by few". This was basically a homeless dude ranting at the mike while eating chicken. We didn't get it but we liked it. Then a rap group came next called Thadeus and the Invisible Man. By the time we got up, the crowd of 19 to 21 year olds acted as if we had just told them they couldn't borrow the car.
We started out strong and alternative with The First Thing, a song I wrote with only one chord. We didn't loose them until the country rockin Perfect Girl. It was all over. I sang my heart out and tried to get them back but it was not be had. A few people dug it and told me so. We finished our sixth song and one person clapped. I said "thanks, I heard that."
By the end of the first set everyone was so bummed that they started getting drunk. My rhythm section drank Jack Daniels during the break and played a semi-sober second set. I could give a fuck was the prevailing attitude at this point, and I spit every word like a bullet into the sullen crowd. They dodged every shot. Later that night we went to a super lo-fi party of burnt out kids. I felt old.

Sometimes you have to be hard. Glad I cut my musical teeth in New York City. The aloofness of the NYC crowd prepared me for the bummer in Baton Rouge. Chris, our host, was great and did everything to make us happy and it was just the crowd. The drive to Austin through bayou country was great and our stop at the Crayfish ranch was one of a kind. Once in Austin we went to the convention center and found there were no wristbands for the band to see music. They were bent and so was I. I'm kinda the dad here and my kids were't happy with me. Last night I saw Hammill On Trial (amazing) and Rasputina. They had the same problem we had in Baton Rouge. Everyone ignored them and they were great. Their sound man also sucked. Tommorow I'm going to the conference to suck a little butt. I'll try to find the rest of my band and get back to you later.

Paul Page was last seen at the Omni Hotel. Where he is now we do not know. We expect him for the trip back but we heard he O.D.'d on Dreamland Barbecue and had to go into sauce detox.

I can't remember when I last wrote (the days are all blending together.) Baton Rouge was a trip. Chris, our host, was most generous with everything (crib, beer, food, beer, conversation, beer, etc.) When we got to The Bayou we were ready to rock and roll but it soon became apparent that the crowd was solely looking to smash some pumpkins or grow some long nails. Oh the narrow, narrow minds of these kids today...
The next morning I volunteered to pilot the dodge that is our home to Austin. I was shaky after the eight hour haul, but Austin is awesome. More on that later.
I still miss you Jeff.

austin is cool - kind of strange to be off for a couple of days
baton rouge was the weirdest mix of sweet people and an absolutely uninterested crowd - chris was great and his mom, sharon, made the jambalya that saved me
today and tomorrow will be spent looking for metal objects to hit for the wisdom tooth show on saturday... already found washing machine parts but semi-truck hubcaps aren't lying around everywhere
got to catch some bands - tons are here
met kilgore trout from seattle - tape sounds great - hate i'm playing and can't see the show
more barbecue to come tonight - had excellent breakfast here in austin today - caught myself on fire very first thing
signing off from the lobby of the omni hotel - austin
dl

Well, if you've read the other entries, you know Baton Rouge was somewhat of a disappointment in spite of the hospitality of Chris and Sharon Dalrymple. The only thing I can liken to playing The Bayou in Baton Rouge is a country-western band trying to go over in Limelight (NYC) where you need a kind of nihilist/hedonist edge that Little Green just doesn't delve into. The beauty of the road, however, is that I don't have to see those people at work or in class the next day.
The Texas landscape between Houston and Austin is breathtaking. I can see people made Western movie after western movie here.
I'm going to a Rykodisc party here. I'm crashing, hope I get in.

Sam Zimmerman is taking sanctuary under an assumed name.