El Valiente: Blog

Eric grew up in San Antonio, so the feeling as we rolled into San An-tone was that of a homecoming. Our first stop was Eric’s parent’s house for laundry, followed by dinner with Eric’s family at a Mexican restaurant. Club 1011 felt familiar to Eric – years ago, he had played many shows there (when it was called Irie Vibes). First on the stage (well actually they played on the floor…) was Grasshopper Lies Heavy. To say that Grasshopper is loud is a sad understatement. You not only hear Grasshopper, but you literally feel them. Those Texas boys’ amps push some serious air and make your body vibrate along with the walls. The stream of well crafted instrumental tunes they provided was nothing less than awesome, and El Valiente had an instant band crush. After the El Valiente set, SOHNS threw down a killer set with relentless energy. Great bands, old friends, couldn’t ask for much more…

Everything is bigger in Texas – including cabbage patch dolls, insects, cats and dogs. Super Happy Fun Land (the venue we played in Houston) boasts a ten foot cabbage patch doll, among other craziness , such as mountains of Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls and seven foot insects…. It’s hard to really capture Super Happy Fun Land, but here is my best shot. A circus, a graffiti artist, and an abandoned movie theatre dropped acid, had a three-way, and Super Happy Fun Land was born. Thanks to the Super  Robot Party and Racing for Red Lights for holding it down with us.

Austin
Our second Texas show was much improved! Thank you Austin! On the way to Austin, we sent out an “APB” that we were looking for a place to stay (several generous folks responded…thank you). We were hooked up with the artist/musicians b.b. and Char, a sweet couple with several cottages on an acre of land in south Austin – they spoiled us rotten. After giving us our own cottage, Char prepared salad while b.b. cooked up some mashed potatoes, green beans and took the ham out of the oven.  After gorging ourselves on southern goodness, we headed over to Lucky Lounge on 5th street.
Lucky Lounge had a laid back vibe, cool lighting, and a nice crowd. Eric was able to share some drinks with old band mates and friends. Thanks to DJ Tam Laird from the show “Fade to Yellow” on KOOP for coming out and bringing some friends by. After our set, the genius that is “Opposite Day” took the stage and put on a clinic. If you haven’t heard these [...]

Rolling into Dallas, we received an email that the locals were canceling due to illness…bummer. So it was up to El Valiente to hold down Sunday night in a new town. Nonetheless, the bar took sympathy on us and hooked us up with brew and AMAZING pizza! The set up at Bryan Street Tavern was a little strange, and didn’t help us scoop up some of the bar crowd. They didn’t really hang show posters (except one in the bathroom and one other spot). Also, the room where bands play was kind of hidden in the back of the bar, and it was behind a door that (for some reason) had to be shut while the house music blared in the bar. Not the best set up? In anycase, thanks to Ross for tweaking the knobs and keeping it moving!

On On the drive from Kansas City to Wichita we stopped for lunch in Lawrence – being “sconnies”, of course, we stopped at a microbrewery, Free State Brewing Company…  Upon arriving at Kirby’s Beer Store in Witchita, we were greeted by the friendly bartender (Sol) who said, “you must be El Valiente: I was listening to you guys on the radio today, great stuff.” Thanks to Jedd  for spinning El Valiente on his show (Strange Currency-KMUW).  
Overall, Kirby's Beer Store was RAD! Kirby’s is a cozy venue plastered with band posters, stickers, and funky vintage whatnots. For you Madisonians, imagine a smaller, cuter Mickey's Tavern. All the folks we met were friendly and lovers of live music. Awesome! The crowd was digging El Valiente’s set and we made some new fans and friends for sure. Among other awesome peeps we met, one new El Valiente fan swore (via a spit hand shake) to be El Valiente’s pen pal…the first post [...]