Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Dwight

Dale and I recently purchased a 2011 Cadillac CTS. I know, it's pretty fancy. Yes, it's materialistic but I love that dang car. Every time I see it I smile. I love driving her and I love just looking at her. She is a beauty, let me tell you. Shiny black paint, black leather interior, all the bells and whistles. The best part is that it came with some preprogramed music in it's hard-drive. You see, you can add music to the hard-drive from a CD or USB thumb drive. The previous owner added a variety of artists, such as: the Scissor Sisters, Harry Nilsson, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and Dwight Yoakam.
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I grew up listening to Dwight, falling in love with originals like Ain't that Lonely Yet,  Long White Cadillac, and  Please, Please Baby. I adored his covers of Suspicious Minds, Little Sister, and I Want You to Want Me. Having his music available in my car reignited the flame that once burned for Mr. Yoakam. After listening to his music while driving around, I ended up going deep down into a Dwight Yoakam worm hole. I found and purchased his highly acclaimed album  Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. on vinyl. I watched Panic Room, Sling Blade, and The Last Rights of Ransom Pride. I watched several youtube videos of his live performances. I was deep into the Dwightness.

Then, one day I thought "hmm, I wonder if Dwight is playing Austin any time soon?"  I googled "Dwight Yoakam 2014 tour" and wouldn't you know that, at the time I searched, the man would be playing in New Braunfels (which is only a little over an hour away from Austin) in just a few weeks?

It was fate.

I immediately purchased tickets and marked the date on my calendar. Don't you just love having a good show to look forward to attending?

The show was set to end around midnight which would put us back in Austin around 1:30; prime time for drunk drivers. Instead of dealing with that mess, I decided to book a room at The Faust Hotel, a very old historic hotel in downtown New Braunfels. Some say it is haunted....muahahaha!

Hang on, I got off track. Back to Dwight (more on The Faust in my next post).

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Dale and I at the show

The concert was at The Whitewater Amphitheater, an outdoor venue integrated into the river landscape. The setup was nice. You could see the stage from almost any angle. Bars were set up everywhere so you were only a few feet away from your next beer. People were pretty nice, especially when the contents of my purse dumped out (including the car keys and a tampon) without me knowing. "Is this bottle of eyedrops yours"? asked one young lady.

I ran into my friend Rob at the show. Rob and I have been friends since highschool. He is one of the funniest dudes I know. He traveled from Lubbock to New Braunfels to see  Mr. Yoakam. It was so good to hang out with Rob during the show! He made me laugh, dance, and drink a whiskey shot (pssst....I only took two sips and gave the rest to Dale).
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Good ol' Robert

What's that? What about Dwight? How was the show?
FAN-FRICKEN-TASTIC!

He sounds better live than on his recordings. His voice is just amazing and his band is tiiiiiiiight! They played all the hits and some new tunes which were killer. The show was entertaining and invigorating from the first to the last chord. Oh, and yes.....his jeans were very tight. Very.

The man is getting close to 60 and he can still rock it out. This makes me very happy.

Moral of the story, sometimes it is good to go down a wormhole. You might find a surprise in there somewhere. Follow your instincts.