BeatNonStop A Weblog by Chris Macias Bee pop music critic Music geek (n. myü-zik 'gEk) 1: A person who proudly wore KISS commemorative pajamas in third grade. 2: A person who owns multiple copies of the same album, still buys vinyl and has a room dedicated to 2,000 or so CDs and records. 3. A person who wrote a five-part series about traveling with a local band in their stinky van - and loved every minute of it. 4: Chris Macias, the Bee's pop music critic, serving Sacramento's music scene since 1999.

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March 16, 2005

Texas Hospitality

In the rush of packing and preparing for my early arrival to South By Southwest, I'd overlooked a key gig. Queens of the Stone Age, one of my favorite heavy rock bands, was playing on the eve of the festival.
I slapped on my Decibel Devils t-shirt and hightailed it over to Stubb's, the great BBQ joint and outdoor music venue at 8th and Red River. But when I arrived, the box office said the gig was sold-out.
I was really keyed to see this show, so I did something that I normally don't do: I bought a ticket from a scalper. He was charging face value, so I gave him my money and waited in the line that snaked around the block from Stubb's.
I should've known by the way the scalper snatched my money.
After 30 mins. in line, on a chilly Texas night, I finally made it to the ticket taker. She took a look at my ticket and said, "Where's the stub on the ticket?" I didn't protest when she told me that this no-stub ticket wouldn't do. No question about it, I'd been had. So I sauntered out of line - and ran into another scalper.
"How much?" I asked.
"$30," he replied.
I said, "Nah, never mind. I just got ripped off, anyway."
This second scalper heard my story and said, "Here, follow me."
He slapped an all-access pass on my Ben Sherman jacket and escorted me through the VIP line. Once I'd trotted in with him, he just asked for the pass back and told me to enjoy the show.
I patted him on the back asked who he was, but Queens of the Stone Age was already playing and it was so loud that I couldn't quite hear his response.
He walked off and I moved into the crowd. And it was a glorious show.
Queens of the Stone Age previewed a bunch of tunes from its upcoming album - "Lullabies to Paralyze," out March 22, and plowed through some of its back catalog. The band played an especially devastating version of "Song for the Dead," and I thanked the rock gods for smiling on me.
To the Dave Grohl look-a-like who hooked this brother up, thanks and thanks again. You rock.

Posted by cmacias at 9:48 AM | Comments |