hank III at mississippi nights

Me and Q went to see Hank III at Mississippi Nights last night. It was a great show, albeit a very long one - we were there from 7:30 until 11:30, and it still wasn't over.

The show was really good. Hank III first did his country songs, which are great. I'm not a huge fan of country, but I do like the good ol' boy stuff - not anything pop country at all. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, all of the Hanks - I like that kind of stuff. Anyway, he puts on a great show. The only disturbing thing was the upright bass player. I'm pretty sure he's a serial killer. Or that he eats babies. Check him out (to the left) - he had a big ol' mohawk, and the creepiest stare ever.

After the country stuff, he does his 'hellbilly' songs. It's kind of a combo of really heavy music and country. For those of you who don't know, he does both - he also plays with Superjoint Ritual, which includes Phil Anselmo from Pantera. This stuff was pretty good, but by this time, I was super tired.

Next he plays with 'Assjack', and this stuff is really heavy. The singer (I guess III does backup) was a total turd, so that was unfortunate. Or maybe I was just really, really tired by this time, and couldn't tolerate much of anything.

Anyway, the people watching was the best part of this whole show. It was a very strange mix. And the place was packed to the gills, which made for interesting times. I'd call at least half of the crowd hillbillies - and I think they'd call themselves that too. I'm not being insulting, just pointing out a fact. There were lots of people there with parents, and also people there expressly for the heavy music. Plenty o' girls who wore WAY less than they should have, with fat flying everywhere. We also saw a pregnant girl downing beer - I'm pretty sure it was beer, anyway.

And there was so much smoke my eyes burned. It was the kind of thick smoke that sticks with ya even after you've showered. Even though I was kind of bitchy, I had a really good time, and am glad I went.