I ate a meal with Roky once. Of all the amazing things a life time in music can give you, eating with Roky and listening to him tell you about whatever it is you talk about over Texas food, that is a top notch thing. I will give up a 401K all day long, as long as I can hold that memory of Roky speaking directly TO ME.
13th Floor is a relatively new spot and they get this old Austinite’s full support. I lived there from 1992—2011. Great town, and I was there for some cool times. I can bag on it, like all “I was there when” folks, and sometimes do, but it’s still fun to visit and I have a lot of friends there. A lot of these stories here are Austin stories.
Wow. Powerful stuff. Every hear the term ‘heart-breakingly beautiful?” I think we all have those feelings, especially if we don’t focus it all on one individual. There’s an urge for generalized sharing.
Fantastic post that reverberates like Tommy's jug and goes straight to the heart, Jamie. I can feel the depth of the many layers you are peeling back and exposing to us all.
I lived in London for fourteen years. Like Vancouver for you, London is in my blood forever. The last concert I saw in London before I moved back to the States was Roky Erickson and the Explosives at the Royal Festival Hall on June 18, 2007 (and "Starry Eyes" was in the set!). A year later, I saw him in my new city of Portland, Oregon, with The Black Angels.
I wanted to go to Austin Psych Fest to see the reformed Elevators in 2015 but couldn't make it. However, a good friend of mine did, and he got me an Easter Everywhere shirt.
I never got to see him live, although there was a time he played in Vancouver and like a complete idiot, I did not go. I'm sure there was a reason, but it couldn't have been good enough, in retrospect.
That's great you got to see him on two separate sides of the planet! Seems fitting.
I get chills when I hear Starry Eyes. Also 'You Don't Love Me Yet' is a purty little song. I think love became to abstract for Roky in his later years, but he knew of it. As much as he knew of the demons!
It’s like you have to know both to know either. “Hasn’t Anyone Told You” is another one of my faves. And yeah, ‘Starry Eyes’ always gives me chills, too. I need to go through my posters that are still in storage, waiting for me to decide where I want to live, but I’m hoping I have that Roky poster you did; I know I have a Daniel Johnston one.
I don’t even think I have one of those Roky posters I made! I will never forget seeing Roky for the first time in the mostly empty concrete cathedral of Seaholm Power Plant (before it was “repurposed” or whatever) with Black Angels backing him. I just couldn’t believe I was seeing him. A beautiful moment.
I ate a meal with Roky once. Of all the amazing things a life time in music can give you, eating with Roky and listening to him tell you about whatever it is you talk about over Texas food, that is a top notch thing. I will give up a 401K all day long, as long as I can hold that memory of Roky speaking directly TO ME.
That’s the kind of thing you get to take with you when you leave! What a great memory to hold onto.
Also, I am pretty sure I only understood like 80 percent of what we talked about.
Rad story! I've only been in Austin for about 4 years so I don't know if the 13th Floor (DT live venue) existed back then.
I was obsessed with that song, "Stand For the Fire Demon" for a hot minute last year.
13th Floor is a relatively new spot and they get this old Austinite’s full support. I lived there from 1992—2011. Great town, and I was there for some cool times. I can bag on it, like all “I was there when” folks, and sometimes do, but it’s still fun to visit and I have a lot of friends there. A lot of these stories here are Austin stories.
Wow. Powerful stuff. Every hear the term ‘heart-breakingly beautiful?” I think we all have those feelings, especially if we don’t focus it all on one individual. There’s an urge for generalized sharing.
Thank you. Heart-breakingly beautiful rules more and more of my life the older I get.
I would have said, "Randy Newman, who has a sister, Sandy, and a little brother, Ray," but that's just me.
Fantastic post that reverberates like Tommy's jug and goes straight to the heart, Jamie. I can feel the depth of the many layers you are peeling back and exposing to us all.
I lived in London for fourteen years. Like Vancouver for you, London is in my blood forever. The last concert I saw in London before I moved back to the States was Roky Erickson and the Explosives at the Royal Festival Hall on June 18, 2007 (and "Starry Eyes" was in the set!). A year later, I saw him in my new city of Portland, Oregon, with The Black Angels.
I wanted to go to Austin Psych Fest to see the reformed Elevators in 2015 but couldn't make it. However, a good friend of mine did, and he got me an Easter Everywhere shirt.
Thanks Michael. You always get it.
I never got to see him live, although there was a time he played in Vancouver and like a complete idiot, I did not go. I'm sure there was a reason, but it couldn't have been good enough, in retrospect.
That's great you got to see him on two separate sides of the planet! Seems fitting.
I get chills when I hear Starry Eyes. Also 'You Don't Love Me Yet' is a purty little song. I think love became to abstract for Roky in his later years, but he knew of it. As much as he knew of the demons!
It’s like you have to know both to know either. “Hasn’t Anyone Told You” is another one of my faves. And yeah, ‘Starry Eyes’ always gives me chills, too. I need to go through my posters that are still in storage, waiting for me to decide where I want to live, but I’m hoping I have that Roky poster you did; I know I have a Daniel Johnston one.
I don’t even think I have one of those Roky posters I made! I will never forget seeing Roky for the first time in the mostly empty concrete cathedral of Seaholm Power Plant (before it was “repurposed” or whatever) with Black Angels backing him. I just couldn’t believe I was seeing him. A beautiful moment.