I had a chance this week to go watch one of my favorite Texas Music "Legends" Joe King Carrasco in Waco, Texas.
Joe lives in Mexico so his shows now are few and far between but once you see Carrasco you'll be hooked by his peppy "Tex Mex" style music.
Whether it be the folk-surf music guitar licks, the pumping accordion or the constant beat of drums and bongos, once you hear it, you'll want more.
I first saw Joe waaay back in the '80's shooting his MTV video"Party Weekend" in South Padre and I along with thousands of Spring Breakers would flock to his Beachside concerts as he bounced across the stage wearing his trademark Monarch Crown while jamming away
As a DJ, I happily played a couple of his songs on the radio and over the years attended his concerts in Amarillo, Galveston and beyond.
So, when I decided to do a side project, of course Joe was the first one I called and being an all around nice guy, he readily agreed to allow me to use his music for my Reality Show demo.
As I mentioned, Joe lives in Mexico now so it's rare to see him perform live and when he announced his "Texas Tour" recently I knew I had to go thank him in person for the loan of his music and relive some of my college days on the Beaches of Texas.
My work schedule wouldn't allow me to check out his show in Austin or Houston but he was playing at an event in Waco which I marked on my calendar. Each day I would look on FaceBook and watch the number of confirmed guests rise for the shows in Houston and Austin.
Oddly, not that many confirmations for the "First Annual River Rat Festival" in Waco, as a matter of fact I seemed to be the only one!
Friday, I rushed home from work, loaded up my girlfriend and off we went to Waco, listening to my circa 1980's cassette tape of "Party Weekend" along the way
After arriving Waco and taking the" magical mystery tour" of a no mans land between I-35 and US 77, thanks to the GPS, I finally went to a quickie mart and got directions to the "area" of the event.
To double check I called Joe Kings Manager Kim, who said they too had trouble finding it but she talked us in to the area.
Picture this if you will, a Lexus going down a path of knocked over corn stalks, surrounded by cornstalks 8 feet high, all in the darkness. No lights, nothing except one sign that had been spray painted with the words ""Musik" Festival" and an arrow
Finally we came to a clearing and a guy on a motorcycle met us, and pointed down a hill we had to go even further "Rat Patrol" style . We crept at a snails pace over the corn stalks and I was just waiting for something to be ripped out from under the car as I heard the scrapes and felt every bump in the road . We pulled up to a tent and a woman told us it was $30 dollars a ticket to get in. Not good for me as I had $40 in my pocket. I told her we were with "the band" and she waived us through.
As we came around the curve there in the middle of a field was a huge stage, lit up and behind it the stars of the Texas Sky.
We parked and got out, I saw Joe and said "Hello" and he joked "this event should be your reality show". I looked around and there were some strange characters wondering around in the darkness, stepping over the corn stalks and fending off the ever angry fire ants.
One of the guys, a dead ringer for one of the ZZ Top guys said his wife who was running a vendor tent "sure wanted to meet my girlfriend" and I should take her over there. Mickie upon hearing this, glanced towards the tent, and went and locked herself in the car and began to shoot me the finger. Now before you pass judgment, you have to realize Mickie is not used to the "adventures" I have lived like this before, let's say she is very "meat and potatoes", which balances out my "combo pizza with extra onions" style life.
I could not figure out why Mickie was still shooting me the bird from inside her locked car as I walked down the hill and put my mid 40's something reading glasses on. As I approached the vendor tent with the big woman wearing a low, low cut top, I looked on the tables, expecting to see arts and crafts, maybe a wind chime or two, or hat made out of beer cans held together by knitting. NOPE, the big woman with the low low cut top who wanted to meet Mickie was selling every type of adult, um novelty known to man and woman kind and then some, and they all came in different colors, sizes and shapes. I glanced over as I walked by and a couple was trying to decide on large or extra large, talking back and forth like they were buying a grapefruit at Target.
I walked back up to the stage area where a group of 20 something's was starting to play, saying this was the best turnout they had had since opening at Sturgis. Umm, there were like 10 people there. If that is "turnout", I think you better stick to Guitar Hero dude.
Talked with Joe and his manager behind the stage for a long time, about life, dogs and funny roadie stories. I had a great time with his band. All this time, Mickie who was in high heels from work, could not take a step in the soft soil without sinking like in quicksand, sat in the car, nervously looking over her shoulder to see if the big woman in the low low cut top was going to bring her a "door prize".
After an extremely long breakdown time from the other band, Joe and his group took to the stage, working like ants to get set up and do what they love to do, play music.
Speaking of ants, the Fire Ants were working overtime to fend off these giant invaders to their turf and while you thought the people there were dancing, they were only moving their feet trying to shoo away the ants.
Joe, is a true professional, whether there are 5 people or 5 thousand the show must go on and they tested the mic's like they would have for "Live Aid". The fella who organized the "1st annual River Rat Festival" came over and told me next year he was gonna advertise "a bit more". I asked what form of advertising he used this year, as I looked at the oddballs staggering about and he said, "oh, just a poster in my motor-cikle shoppe". I told him I was a media guy and could give him some pointers next year for sure.
At that point, the lights dimmed, Joe's trademark music began to trickle out from the stage onto the Texas pasture like one of those old cartoons with the smoky finger tickling your ears making you want more. As song after song began to pump from the group, and Joe dedicated a song to me, I realized that despite the drive, despite the big woman in the low low cut top, and a girlfriend still shooting me the bird from inside her locked car this was a Fantastic Night. Where else could Fire Ants, Bikers, and Adult Toys all come together under a mostly full moon with Joe King Carrasco live on stage? Only in Texas. Only in Texas.
(Now, the drive getting out of there is a different story we will save for another time!) Thanks for a great time JOE and gang!
By lattig-derik
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