37

were offering ? and the
Mysterians t-shirts, bandannas,
glossies, and "sunglass". The
sunglasses were random
design -- all black, all
different, by no means a
signature style. I saw both the
Shakewells and the Sir Finks for
the first time and they were
both excellent. And when they
were done a ? and the
Mysterians pitch man took the
stage and told the crowd about
the most recent rave reviews
found in various organs of the
mass media. He also pitched
the items for sale at the merch
table, and finally, he
introduced the band. The
various middle-aged Latino
men, all dressed in orange-
and-black ? and the Mysterians
shirts and bandannas swung
into a snappy sixties garage-
psych-rock ditty. It was really
good. I was trying to guess
which one was Mr. ?, when he
came bounding on stage. OH
MY GOD! I DID NOT EXPECT
THIS. This guy was a spandex-
panted-flamenco-shirt-wearin'-
cowboy-hat-bandanna-(wig?)-
headed animatronic cross
between Prince and a Latino
Richard Simmons. [see photo]
So, long story short, they were
fucking great, played "96
Tears" last, did a six-song
encore including two new
songs (to be released on their
upcoming Norton album) and
"96 Tears" again, and, as I was
finally leaving, some of the
band had left the stage to be
replaced by Joe King Carrasco
who was dueting with Mr. ? on
the Rolling Stones'
"Satisfaction". It was all I
could take. But they are
coming back this summer, so
you gotta go. I'll definitely be
there.

Those Bastard Souls
1.17.98
Emo's

Missed the openers, but I had
come expressly to see how this
band could pull of what the
Grifters' Dave Shouse had
created in the studio to come
up with the only release under
the name Those Bastard Souls:
the fantastic Twentieth Century
Chemical. The lineup at this
show consisted of Dave Shouse
on guitar and the late Jeff Buckley's
girlfriend on violin
and some other guys. (Sorry
about the lineup vagaries --
I can't seem to find the letter that
Dave sent me, which is where
that info resides.) Anyway, the
show was incredible. I am
really tempted to give up hope
for the rest of the year
and proclaim it the best show of
'98.

George Jones
1.24.98
Billy Bob's Texas

This was not so much a show as
it was a weekend-long Texas
experience. My friend, the
bluegrass superstar Miss Emily,
my boyfriend Cooper, and Ileft
Austin on Saturday morning.
Miss Emily is from Nashville
and is the biggest country