Austin Nights 2

Isn't this a fine looking piece of architecture, maybe it's the Chrysler Building's younger and fatter brother? I like this place.

Thanks to a friend's (Ian "Barty" Bartholomew) suggestion I made contact with a local, Freddy Krc ("Kirch"), and he in turn designed my evening.

It started at the Lucky Lounge where I saw Ian McLagan (Small Faces, Faces) he lives here and it was a marvellous set... Transported me back to all those day-long festivals of 30-odd years ago, Crystal Palace Garden Parties, the Oval etc etc, where the Faces always seemed to 2nd or 3rd on the bill behind Mountain or, at the Oval, The Who. McLagan in fine musical form but the bits of chat made it clear that he felt he hadn't had a fair crack; "Cindy Incidentally" was introduced as a song he wrote with the "two big-nosed blokes".

Then on to Threadgill's, a restaurant where I had "Chicken Fried Chicken" (they also do that Southern favourite "Chicken Fried Steak", basically it is battered then fried in chicken fat), red beans and collard greens (like sprout tops cooked with bacon). Then round to the back of the restaurant where they have a stage and Freddy Krc's band Freddy Steady 5 were playing (below)... Now for the "small world" moment, three of the band including Freddy on drums are The Explosives who I saw at the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans with Roky Erickson six weeks ago.