The coolest man ON THE PLANET

Dale Watson and his Lonestars (http://dalewatson.com/index.htm) BAR NONE! Have you met him? Have you seen him perform live? I have, I am proud to say I have and I will go see him again and again. Just like some of my other local Austin music artist friends (whom I love dearly as friends, associates, and musical performers) Dale is worth following and talking about all the time.

I saw Dale do a set for the first annual Dia de los Muertos (http://livemusicinaustin.blogspot.com/2013/10/dia-de-los-muertos-austin-2013.html) at Fiesta Gardens. Although that was awesome, there are no bones (pun intended) about his performance at The Broken Spoke (http://www.brokenspokeaustintx.com). I recently had dinner there and saw a really nice performance by Lohman's Crossing (http://livemusicinaustin.blogspot.com/2014/02/sounding-better-than-taste.html),but this night was in the dance hall.

Here, being what I would call a typical Honky Tonk dance Hall, is where all the magic happens. The Broken Spoke dance hall is deceivingly HUGE! The dance floor is in typical fashion is long and narrow. Wide enough to make the turn in front of the stage when you are dancing, and then down the stretch. Lots and lots of seating on the left and right sides, front to back and I mean LOTS of seating. The stage is, of course, located at the opposite end of the dance floor from the entrance. So when you walk in, it is nothing but an intimidating sight to behold. A packed dance floor, with a sea of swirling bodies in full speed rotation, and a band somewhere, wayyyyy down at the end.

For Dale Watson and his Lonestars, I have no doubt they feel completely at home and comfortable rocking the house on that stage with it's SUPER, low slung ceiling. So low, in fact, that if the bass player extended the bottom of his bass, it could stand up by itself, floor to ceiling.

So Here I am with this huge crowd, taking turns two stepping with Ms Cruz and then my camera. It is a hellified site to see. The great thing is this is a performance everyone can see damn near weekly, as The Spoke is one of two places that I believe Dale would call home here in Austin.

About that performance. It is proof that Dale crosses every damn generational line and racial lines don't exist. As I stood there and had the chance to pay attention, it was proof in seeing everyone dancing with everyone. It is such a good time to be had by all in the most literal translation. I would see someone take a spin on the floor for one song and then the very next song there they are again, but with a different person. Old and young, Dale Watson and his Lonestars IS every persons good time band!

Laters

Dia de los Muertos Austin 2013

for the Easter Seals Central Texas (http://centraltx.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=TXCA_homepage)

I had the fantastic opportunity to join a few thousand other folks on a beautiful Saturday for the 1st Annual Dia de los Muertos festival at Fiesta Gardens in downtown Austin, Texas. The beautiful grounds to walk around on, moving from the Fiesta Garden stage across the bridge to the Festival stage. Everything was set up well, with food booths, merchandise vendors, and two stages set up for non-stop music and fun. You just can't beat good music, family, and fun on a beautiful Texas fall day. With all sorts of good food to eat, souvenir shirts to remember the day with, awesome face painting, music and dancing for all, it was a can't miss day.



Austin Samba school (http://www.austinsamba.com) was kicking up their heels on the Festival stage when we arrived and was showing everyone a great time. The rhythm of drums was powerful and driving, the dancers were moving on the floor and through the crowd. All of this building up wonderful join in and dance along! Just check out the photos and a quick video here http://youtu.be/1TuQ0W82eH8

Moving through the festival, down across the bridge, and to the Fiesta stage where I caught DaHeBeGeBees (http://dahebegebees.com). These guys put the soul in Latin rhythm without a doubt. DaHeBeGeBees are a staple in the Austin music scene and can be seen regularly at many of Austin's fine music venues. When you get a chance you will not be let down at the good times and great feelings you get listening to them. In fact it will probably be the only time you can say you were happy to get DaHeBeGeBees! My personal favorite is 'Hurts to Hate', that is some powerfully fun stuff there. Check out these photos and video from the festival. http://youtu.be/ORO-obOfM4Q

Running back across the grounds was so worth it to see Flaco Jimenez (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Flaco-Jimenez/187073768014785), Rick Trevino (http://www.ricktrevino.com), and Los Texmaniacs (http://www.texmaniacs.com) on the Festival stage. WOW! All that grammy award winning talent right there on one stage. It was great and the Tejano dancing crowd couldn't have completely agreed more. I will be happy to admit that I am not thoroughly familiar with all of their music, but that has nothing to do with how much fun the crowd was having and how great Los Texmaniacs were on stage. We will see if the 2nd annual festival can top a great gathering of talent like this.

Back across the grounds, to the Fiesta stage, I caught some of the performance of another of my Austin Favorites, El Tule (http://www.eltuleband.com). I first caught this band a few years ago at the Hot Sauce festival and darn glad I did. This group has that Latin sound with a cool horn section and a smoking hot rhythm section. It was completely and utterly uptempo. El Tule had people in the crowd moving to the groove. Loved It!

Now for the last time, I made it back across the grounds to catch the utterly amazing and incomparable Dale Watson (http://dalewatson.com/index.htm). Are you kidding me! This, for me, was the greatest thing. Dale Watson has had the people in Austin doing the 'quick quick, slow slow' (C'mon ya'll - the Texas Two Step) and the 'quick, slow slow' (HELLO - the Waltz) for years. I was thrilled to death when OUR Dale Watson made his recent appearance on national television on The David Letterman Show. All of that doesn't matter though as Jonas Schwartz, Chairperson of the Board, Executive Chair for Easter Seals Central Texas proudly introduced Dale Watson to the stage! My goodness you don't understand, a fan of Dale Watson for many, MANY years and I have not one darn good excuse for not going to see him at The Broken Spoke or any other place in Austin, or the central Texas area....and here he was. It was every bit worth the wait. The audience definitely agreed with me as it got really crowded and EVERYONE seemed to be dancing and singing to EVERY SINGLE SONG. The crowd even loved every second of Dale's Lonestar commercial, in the middle of his set. Here are some photos from his performance.

 

To finish off the evening on the Festival stage, on his 73rd birthday, Little Joe Y La Familia (http://www.littlejoeylafamilia.com). This looks like the event that the crowd was holding out for. Everybody up on their feet and on the floor. It was definitely a celebration of music and good times. With an epic history of making music and performing, it is undoubtedly the best way that the Easter Seals Central Texas could have capped off their 1st annual event. 

I look forward to next year and hope to see many, many more people there. Remember it is not all just good times, but for a great cause!

Special thanks to KOKE FM for allowing me this opportunity to tell everyone about this special event!

Laters