The Loud Family Tour 1998:

From: Mike Curley and Nancy Dow
Subject: [loud-fans] Austin Show Revisited

Hey...sorry about my lame 2:00 AM update on the Austin show. I'll try to make up for it by sharing a few of the interesting events from the night (with a few minor spoilers):

MINOR SPOILERS FOLLOW

Dumptruck - Played a great opening set. Seth (guitarist, singer, guiding vision behind Dumptruck) blew his amp half way through the set. Alison was gracious enough to loan hers. This was pretty nice, considering Dumptruck had already borrowed a microphone and a cord from the Loud Family. In response to an earlier question about Dumptruck, Seth mentioned that they have a bunch of new songs recorded, and they should begin mixing them soon.

Spot the Setup - Scott used the supermodel line. I was hoping for Sandra Bullock (famous Austin resident) or maybe the Cowboy cheerleaders. : )

Temperature - Unlike previous shows, the Electric Lounge was positively chilly. This allowed Scott the luxury of wearing his Nehru Jacket and tie (very appropriate for "Businessmen"). Pretty weird, considering that it's been consistently over 100 degrees here in Austin for the
better part of a month.

Encore songs - In response to comments that he had in fact played both songs within the last year: to be fair, Scott said something like "we haven't played either of them in about a year." Or something vague like that. I don't think he was trying to be exact. I was just excited that he was playing one of my all time favorite songs (and I was the one to request it).

Dinner Plans - Folks familiar with Austin might be glad to know that the band had dinner at Chuy's (a famous local Tex/Mex eatery). Kenny sported a Chuy's shirt (a button up short-sleeved shirt with sewn-on patch...very reminiscent of the archetypal gas station attendant of
yore) for the show.

Loot - Nancy and I picked up two Loud Family shirts. We promise never to wear them at the same time (unless we're goofing on being tourists some time).

Overall it was a great show, and a very memorable experience. I'll echo what everyone else has been saying. This band plays very well together. I really enjoy the group's chemistry (they remind me a lot of earlier Game Theory lineups). Oh yeah...Kenny and Gill make a great
rhythm section... I was amazed at how well they can play.

It looks like I'll probably be out in SF on the 10th for business (some businessmen are OK), so I'll try to stretch it out to include the 8th and make it to the Bottom of the Hill show. Looking forward to meeting some of you there.

Mike

From: Jason Smith
Subject: [loud-fans] Austin report(better late than never)

While visiting my mom in Houston I had the special opportunity to drive her luxury Buick to Austin and see the Loud Family. Having relatives in Austin made the trip extra special and cheap too. When I got there I guess I had just missed out on going to dinner. I didn't find out if they'd gone with any loud fans, but I guess they didn't or we'd have heard the report by now. I sat at the bar and had conversations with the friendly staff at Electric Lounge as well as a fellow loud fan named Paul who drove down from Texas Tech(Lubbock) to see The Loud Family. When I got the answer to the question "Who's opening?" both Paul and I were amazed that the famous Dumptruck would be in our presence. We both took liberties to talk to Seth when he arrived and find out that he does indeed have a work in progress and would be happy if anyone wanted to reach him about it at dumptruk@flash.net . He was cordial and interesting to talk to. I'd never invested in his work, so I was looking forward to hearing it, and was sorry I hadn't picked up his albums before that night. Not long after listening to Seth tell me the ins and outs of his relationship and lawsuit with Big Time Records, Scott and the band arrived at the venue. Scott was surprised to see a "Californian"(I'm a native Texan) in Austin, and I was happy to see him. Kenny really had to do the "place the face" double take, so I said "Jason from California" and he remembered me. Scott sat down at the bar with me and we discussed chart position(in and out of the 90's in CMJ). I asked if anything especially unususal had happened on tour and he related the story about the sound man in Washington DC. I haven't read the latest digests, so this may have been covered before, but apparantly the sound man tried to drown encore requests by pulling up the house music right after the show, and then pulling the faders on the board to zero. Scott said he may be out of a job because the owner was right there and a lot of people were unhappy. When I asked him about Sunset Valley, a group I like, he said he thought they were about the best group they played with on the tour. He also mentioned that New York was a great show.

A few people came up and introduced themselves while we were at the bar, but I wished that everone in the whole club would have come and said hi, because Scott Miller really is not unapprocahable. The exact opposite is the truth. Paul from Lubbock had an interesting discussion about the philosophy of how culture gets started and scapegoating which I tried to pretend wasn't going over my head once in awhile. Maybe Paul could fill us in. I think he's on the "important news only" version of the list.

Scott was emphatic that everyone go to Ticketweb.com for their Bottom of the Hill tickets. John Wesley Harding is on the bill(as an opener) so he believed it will sell out, and he doesn't want anyone to be left out. I took that advice this morning and there are still tickets. The service charge is only a dollar($9 ea. all together).

Anyway, Dumptruck got started and they were in the ballpark of the kind of music I enjoy. Seth's voice is a little less melodic than I like, but they rocked pretty good and were not boring at all. I found an empty booth and watched. Not long after I sat down, Scott came and sat next to me which I thought was pretty nice. We had a good conversation between songs about recording process and how they hook up his ADAT to sixteen tracks of analog. I was curious because I knew he did some stuff at home, and I'm getting Pro Tools soon for home recording and I wondered if he ever used it. He said he's been in the room while someone was using it, but he hasn't been in full control of it.

As for The Loud Family's set: I thought that it was as if they'd asked me personally what my favorite LF songs are and then played them. SodiumLS, I'm not really a Spring, the best of the new album; it was a great song selection. Yes, the air conditioning(can't live with or without it) was getting to the band and drying out throats and making noses runny. Scott warmed up enough to take the jacket and tie off at about the 3rd or 4th song. Alison said something like "I didn't know you owned a tie." For the encore "yell out requests" I was trying to remember one I knew they'd played recently or that I heard about on the list so I yelled out "Here it is Tomorrow" and got my wish. I'd also yelled out "2nd Grade Applauds" which is my favorite LF song, but I don't remember if they know that in the new line up. (Guess I'd better look it up.) I've been spoiled to the triple encores we get in SF so I was disappointed when the house music came up after the 1st encore of 2 songs. The band were as energetic for this crowd as they are for SF crowds, but I guess it wasn't a sell out crowd so people were satisfied with one encore.

Afterward Alison sold lots of merchandise, but most of the 50 or so people filed out pretty quickly and quietly. I said goodbye and good luck in the 100 degree west to the band. Looking forward to seeing everyone(and I think it is almost everyone) in San Francisco,

Jason Smith

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