The Loud Family Tour 1998:

From: David Marsteller
Subject: [loud-fans] Pre-Jackson (NS)

I guess I'll start the story of my trip now. I flew into Memphis early on Thursday morning. I was questioning my sanity at booking such an early flight (I got up around 3am for a 5:30 flight, changed planes in Atlanta and got to Memphis around 8:30), but it did give me a little time to do some extra things. It was way too early to check into the hotel, so I had breakfast and headed over to Graceland for the mansion tour. Having been in some real mansions down here in Florida (Vizcaya, Henry Flaglers' house), I was expecting Graceland's house to be much bigger. It was definitely worth seeing though. I then did some record shopping while driving in the general direction of the hotel. I eventually got to the hotel after lunch, then stopped to peruse the maps and figure out how to find Shangri-La Records. I did find the store, and did find it impressive, but didn't actually buy anything there.

Before I left Miami, I found out that Lucinda Williams was playing in Memphis on Thursday night. I spent a good amount of time deliberating on whether to go or not (I'm not a big fan, I was planning to drive to Jackson Friday morning) I called the theater, found out that tickets were still available, and decided to go. The theater that had the show (New Daisy Theater on Beale Street) was really nice-lots of seats and a casual atmosphere. I liked Lucinda's opening act, Joy Lynn White (I hope I got that right). She started off solo with an acoustic guitar, then brought some members of Lucinda's band out for part of the set. As far as Lucinda herself, well, maybe I would've been more knocked out if I'd heard the album first, but a lot of her songs came off as too similar to me. The audience obviously loved her, though and got all the local references in the songs. She said it was one of her better audiences, but after all we were in the Delta...

Next morning, I got in the car and headed to Jackson, Mississippi. On the way down, I saw a billboard advertising a museum exhibit on "The Splendor Of Versailles" in downtown Jackson. Since I got to the hotel around noon, I figured I had enough time, so I spent an hour or so looking at paintings, tapestries and such. A little more time spent checking out various CD emporiums and I was about ready for the evening's show. More about that in the next installment..
Dave

From: David Marsteller
Subject: [loud-fans] Jackson!

I was afraid no one would show up. I had been hoping for a pre-show get together with Terry from Louisiana, but we hadn't settled on a meeting time or place. He had said that he expected to be in Jackson around 6. It was getting near 6, and lightning was flashing outside. I was concerned about getting trapped in a thunderstorm, so I decided to head towards the show and eat (maybe shop) on the way.

First, let me point out that the show wasn't in Jackson proper, but in a adjacent town named Ridgeland. The club was fairly close to a major road called County Line Road, which was filled with stores, restaurants, and what have you. I'm not sure what factors might contribute to the area's success (liquor laws, tax differences?). Muddy Waters' Electric Lounge was a ways from County Line, and you needed to cross a little bridge to get there. The club looked small from the outside, but was actually pretty spacious inside.

I got to the club a bit after seven. There was no sign of the band yet, but the club was open and a few employees were hanging out. There was also somebody lying down on one of the bleachers in the patio. I later found out that it was Alison's husband. I had been expecting things to be further progressed when I arrived, because I had called the club to ask when the show would be and was told "The Loud Family would be on at 10:30." I found out that there was no third act, only Nielson Hubbard and The Loud Family.

I puttered around the club for a while waiting for the band (and audience!) to show up. I finally sat in a comfy chair by the front door, wondering if it was finally going to rain or not. A short time later, Scott showed up at the door and seemed to be having trouble getting it to open. I think that one side might've been locked. It wouldn't do to have the band locked outside, so I went to open the other door. I tried to get over being tongue-tied by introducing myself, then giving Scott a couple of mix tapes with the explanation that Janet had told us that they needed some new ones. I mentioned that the tapes were kind of 60s oriented, and Scott answered that they hadn't been given much 60s music so far. He noticed that one of the songs was by The Turtles and seemed to like that. Scott mentioned that he'd been told that Muddy Waters was not directly involved with the club, but that he would stop in on occasion. I told Scott that I thought Muddy had been dead for a number of years (he has, I looked on the web and he died April 30, 1983.) Maybe someone had said that some of Muddy's relatives stop in and Scott misunderstood. I would hope that the club is not haunted...

I noticed Gil outside, and went over to introduce myself. I'm not sure if anybody had any idea who I was (probably not), but I felt like I knew Gil a little from reading the posts he's sent to the mailing list. He explained that the band was all a bit shaken from the ride over from Atlanta. The stormy weather that I had hurried over to the club to avoid had apparently been all around them while driving over. Nasty storms combined with lots of road construction made for a very unpleasant commute. I later told Gil that the trip to Memphis should be a lot better. I made the trip down in about 3 hours and there had been almost no road construction.

After a talk with the club folks, the van was moved to the back and unloading began. I helped carry some of the gear in and was kind of worried that it would start raining before it was all inside, but it was pretty quick really. Soon enough, The Loud Family were ready for their soundcheck.

If anyone wants to avoid hearing what was played in the soundcheck/gig, I guess you oughta stop now....

Scott, Kenny and Gil started into a cover of "Couldn't I Just Tell You" before Alison got into place, but they did play "Here It Is Tomorrow" at soundcheck. Then they moved their equipment aside and Neilson Hubbard started setting up. After some basic setup, they discussed one song (I forget which one now) during which Alison would play keyboards, and they asked Scott if he would like to join the band for a song also. He wanted to, so some of the pre-show time was spent playing "Everybody's Doing It" repeatedly so that Scott could get the words/chords/structure down. Neilsonhimself decided to go elsewhere for dinner, while the others ordered some food to be delivered (probably a good idea considering the weather). In any case, Neilson pretty much missed the soundcheck, but Scott ran through "Everybody's Doin' It" with the other band members. At one point, he started reciting the lyrics of the chorus in a "Monster Mash"/Boris Karloff voice, which cracked everyone up.

At warious points during soundcheck, people took time off to have their dinners. Gil stopped by for a visit and we had a most pleasant chat while he had his dinner. One of the Neilson Hubbard boys got the soundman to play the Poptopia 70's disc, so we talked about that a bit. At other points of the evening we discussed my trip to Graceland (Gil said that Alison wanted to go there when they were in Memphis) and a strange CD I'd just bought called King Mackerel which had Don Dixon on it. I ended up going out to the car to get it for show and tell later...

The bartender told me that the club had been getting a pretty good turnout on weekends, and that people would start showing up after 9:30. That they did. The club started getting pretty full, but I was perplexed about why they seemed to be gravitating towards tables in the back of the club rather than in the front. I commented to Gil that I hoped people intended to move up once the show started.

The reason for the seating choice became more obvious as the show started. First, the sound was quite loud in the club; second much of the audience preferred to talk during the show. This became particularly noticable during a quiet song that Neilson sang and during "Where They Go Back To School And Get Depressed". I felt bad for Neilson and Scott then. Maybe Scott should get Alison to play "Hot Rox Avec Sweet Talk" if that should happen again. Gil sat up front with me for a bit during Neilson Hubbard's set. During that time, Terry from Louisiana arrived and spotted me (I had told him what I was going to wear). After a bit, Gil left and took a position further back in the club. I'm not sure whether it was because the music was too loud or so he could psyche himself up for the show, maybe a bit of both.

Neilson Hubbard's set was ok. I like some of their songs, but thought there were too many mid-tempo ones, and that the set was paced strangely. Alison got up to play keyboards during the second to last song. Unfortunately, the keyboard wasn't mixed high enough, so you could barely hear her. :( Scott played guitar and sang harmony during the closing number, and Alison jumped around playing tambourine. That was good fun.

The crowd thinned out a bit after Neilson's set. Apparently, they had some family and friends locally. Some of the remaining folks continued to socialize during the show however. :(

Now it was the Loud Family's turn. Near the start of the set, Scott discussed the artistic arrangement of the beverages that the band members had. For example, Kenny had one open bottle of water, one closed bottle of water and one open bottle of beer, while Alison had an unopened water bottle.

The set conformed to the set list with one exception. Someone shouted for "Inverness", and Scott started it out, soon joined by Kenny on bass, Gil keeping time on cymbals, and vocal harmonies from Alison. They got to the middle and Scott stopped, saying that he thought the band would have problems if they took it further. One high point was the cool new arrangement of "Sword Swallower". I wish they'd record this when the tour ends. It would make a nice bonus track some time. I also dug hearing the interplay between the band members, and was knocked out by Gil's jazzy rhythms near the end of "Spot The Setup".

When the show was over, I bought two T-shirts and Alison's 45 from Alison's husband. I guess I was tired, I forgot to offer to help carry stuff back to the van. What a bad guest I am ;)

I fotgot to mention that although I brought drive tapes for myself, I didn't get a chance to use them. My car was AM/FM only. I ended up listening mostly to an oldies station. When I got to the hotel after the show, the radio sation started playing "A Horse With No Name". Plants And Birds And Rocks And Things indeed.

I'll write about Memphis tomorrow unless Miles or Tim or Dan or Jeff want to take over. (Please say yes.)

Later
Dave

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