Live on the Black Market (Revival)

Black Market Revival left it all on the stage, literally.

I had all the right intentions. I prepared questions. I thought about the story angle. I used all the journalistic skill honed from skipping classes in college to get this story right.

Then Saturday rolled around. After starting the evening at "Twisted Spurs", we relocated to the House of Rock for a homecoming. My favorite local band done good, Black Market Revival, returned for some home cooking. This gig had the same electric feel as all other shows for this talent group. Old "family" friends made their way back to the dark and scary venue that we loved. It reminded me of Festivus.

Turning the clock back a moment, D-Small and I had an AM radio show called "The ALT". Yes, I have mentioned this bit of trivia before - I know. But it never gets old. It was a nice run. We had 25 weeks on the air. One week featured BMR as a three-piece. And the band was awesome enough to be on the lineup for our holiday show, known as the Festivus for the rest of us. Ah, memories.

So, Saturday had that same special feel with some alterations. House of Rock has gone through some cosmetic changes, making a cellular split from HoR to The Venue. BMR had a new bassist in David. I was married. Sasha got another haircut. There were some other bits and pieces that were there or missing or in flux, such as The Davids not in attendance. All in all, the band sounded great (as I was kicking myself, I did not grab a set list before the set). And a great time was had by all.

It is why I regret the bittersweet feeling I am experiencing the day after. Sure, part of it is remembering the halcyon days of hanging out with a rock band (regardless of being local or national...a rock band is a rock band). But maybe it's the fact that "you can't go home again". I might catch another BMR show again someday. But more than likely I will have to travel for it. The quartet now claims Austin as their base of operations. Usually, that is a kiss of death for former Corpus Christians...

Tangential: next time you talk to someone from or in Corpus, count how many times they make out-of-town references. Nine times out ten, it's in reference to cool items or subjects. For example, I got a great new pearl-snap shirt. When I was in AUSTIN, I picked it up off South Congress. I called my buddy in SAN ANTONIO to see if there were any techie or security jobs available. The Lovely used to live in NEW YORK CITY.

I digress, it's like the restaurant you used to go to as a kid. You go back, it's not as good. Don't get me wrong, BMR was magnetic as usual. But with all the compiled differences of this show in comparison with all the previous BMR shows, I just felt...depressed. You knew it was different even though you were still singing along with "Pigtails and Pocketbooks".

So, I guess when you get older you can't enjoy anything anymore. I need to call the state and get my name changed to Debbie Downer (queue the music: whaaa-waah).

Lessons Learned, my three things.
1) So, El Nino is back. Somehow that story doesn't have the same impact during an economic downturn. Why were the 90's so awesome?
2) Speaking of economics, I freaking love this feature story from Texas Monthly. Apparently, this guy loves technology more than I do.
3) I am one more screw up away from kicking Time Warner Cable to the curb.

I need to quit depressing myself with these sobering posts. Maybe I will do some politics or arguments versus massive megafarms and their impact on national health. No, I think I need to complain about sports. Talk later.