I got to the club about an hour early since 1) I’ve never heard of the place before (Houston has what seems like a million clubs) and didn’t know what to expect and 2) I didn’t buy a presale ticket on line (which I knew I should have done) so I wanted to be sure I was going to be able to get into the club. No one was there so I sat in my car biding my time with a book and the radio (I said it wouldn’t be exciting).
Finally a few people started arriving and getting into line. So I joined them. As I was walking across the parking lot I spied Steve talking to a group of girls with shoe polish dustmites drawn on the car windows…I wonder who they were??
I was standing in line chatting with the high-school kids (it was an all ages show) when Shalovee, MissFish and QueenJewel get into line. They’re all giggly and giddy from their recent encounter with the godlet. They were “surveying” everyone (all 5 of us-it was early) on who we were there to see (Steve, of course), how we found out about the show (For me it was on MTV and of course the cool high school kids found out from various music sites), what’s our favorite song (hard to choose just one), etc.
Since I was at the show alone, and they immediately adopted me and included me in the fun. We talked about misc. things – the road trip from Austin, the show in Austin, Steve in general, our ages, kids or the lack there of and the gathering crowd.
It was well past 8pm before they finally let us into the club. They said sound check was running late. I was very surprised by the club. It was very open and was much larger than it looked from the outside. (If you want to know more about the stage - read MissFish’s review). But I will add that it was small and crowded with all of the equipment.
Finally the show began. Moderator opened. They were amazing (check out the site if you get a chance moderator.org)! After they were finished they started to tear down and Steve and the Starlight Mints set up their stuff.
While Steve was untangling some electrical cords a girl sitting next to the stage tried to hand him an empty beer bottle to throw away for her (I think she thought he was a roadie). He took it and put it somewhere behind her.
I don’t really have any new insights into the show other than I thought it was incredible. Steve puts forth a lot of energy into his show. He has a very captivating stage presence. He was sweating a great deal (read Shalovee’s review about the t-shirt) but then everyone was it was so hot in there (and not just because of Steve). There was no central AC and so many people in the club that they were blocking the fans.
After teardown and before the Starlight Mints Steve was in the back talking to people. Of course The Posse went to say hi and snap some pics. Once they said their hellos and goodbye’s to Steve I returned Shalovee’s bag (containing THE t-shirt, an autograph, and Jason’s broken drumstick). We all retreated to the parking lot to say our goodbyes to each other.
All in all it was a wonderful experience and went by much too quickly. So when Steve gets to your town make it a priority to go. You will not regret it.