Sep
01
2005

Kevin Montgomery & The Road Trippers

And Meeting Danny White

Thursday, September 1, 2005 - 10:59:07 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Tempe)
Tonight, Cath and I went to see Kevin Montgomery & The Road Trippers at the Cornish Arms Hotel. Not that I know or am necessarily into Kevin, but one of the road trippers is Danny White, formally of the Peacemakers. I read about this show a while ago, thinking it was going to be Danny, but on writing to him, it seems his touring with Kevin Montgomery. Which makes sense, as it'd be pretty impressive if Danny could finance a solo tour to Australia.

Cath and I decided when we first head that we were going to go to this show, but as it came closer, it was a bit more dubious about whether we were going to or not. At the last minute we decided that we should, and did.

On getting to the Cornish Arms in Brunswick, it was evident that Kevin had a much older crowd, us both commenting on how we were properly the youngest people in the place. Also, being a US artist, I'd initially expected a bigger venue / show, figuring he was like say Keith Urban. The Cornish Arms however was just a regular pub.

The opening act was obviously an Australian country band, who were somewhat painful to listen to. During them, we talked about the lack of a music scene, in comparison to what I experienced in Tempe months ago. We also chatted about how when Kevin Montgomery came on, they should do a Peacemakers song. Of course, without no real expectation of such. However, when the band did take the stage, throughout the show covers of songs the band members were from (Mavericks - drummer, Steve Earl band - guitarist), it seemed like it could be possible that they'd perform either a Peacemakers[ song, or one of Danny's from South Of The Big Town. However, neither actually happened. It was also funny how that once the band did came out, Danny was completely recognisable by the shirt he wore - I'm not sure I've seejn him wear any other shirt.

Throughout the show, Danny took a break on a song here and there, and sat and watch the band from the table next to ours. Kinda sereal to be sitting in a pub in Melbourne with Danny White sitting just across from you. Kevin's music wasn't bad by a long shot - not that I needed to run out and by his album, and Danny was certainly the reason to see the show, but it wasn't a bad show at all.

Throughout the show Kevin played Heartbeat, which apparently his father wrote with Buddy Holly. Before the song he mentioned how since being in Australia he's had a chance to see the TV show Heartbeat and how terrible it was, which we both loved.

In the second half of the show, the band started a song which immediately struck a chord with me - totally seeming like it was one of my (band's) songs. In the span of about a second I went from thinking that, to figuring not, to thinking I knew it, to again not. Then I glanced at Cath's face, which had lit up, when kicked my brain in gear - "holy shit, this is Cajun Song". It took a second to confirm, and I almost fall off my chair when I did, that the band was doing a Gin Blossoms song! Too freaking cool! I had been glad that we'd ended up going to the show, but sitting there listening to Cajun Song being played in live in Melbourne made me think how bad it'd have been not going to the show. Honestly, the night was complete at that point - everything beyond that could have sucked, and it would have been A-OK. Not that it did.

After the show, Cath and I talked about how cool it was to hear Cajun Song, and how I wanted to say "hey" to Danny. We sat around for a little bit, until I had my moment, and walked up to the stage while Danny was packing up. I mentioned that I'd written to him to find out about the show, and was a big fan, and just wanted to say hi. He immediately stopped packing his gear up, eager to chat. First off I'd mentioned being a big fan of The Peacemakers (probably obvious given I wore my Switchblades shirt [wink] ), and he said how he still keeps in touch with the guys, particularly Scotty and Steve. From there I had to mention how awesome it was that they played Cajun Song, to which Danny said "yeah, we love those guys (Gin Blossoms", and went on to mention how that when he got home he was going to get his website fixed and work on the follow up to South Of The Big Town, and would be working with Phil Rhodes Gin Blossoms - which I meant to mean that Phil would be playing drums on the new album.

I had expected just to have a quick chat to Danny, however he was really engaged in the conversation, and I relayed my trip to Arizona, seeing the Peacemakers for the first time. He relayed memories of being a Peacemaker, like how the started out playing for 100 and by the time he left they were playing to 4,000 people in Mexico. He also mentioned that playing with Kevin is the first time he's really played since leaving The Peacemakers.

The mention of Mexico was a perfect segway to mention that we are both going to the Mexico show next year, to which Danny said how much of a blast the Circus Mexicus shows are, likening to the movie Mad Max. Why exactly I'm not entirely sure, but it was great getting Danny's first hand take on the Mexico shows. He also brought up the Watering Hole and asked if we were on it. He also mentioned that there had been talk of the Peacemakers plans to come to Australia, and how unfortunate that it never happened (damn straight! [smile]).

From there he talked about how much he loved Australia, and asked us if we were from here. He asked because he had been talking about the American / Phoenixans at the Sydney (@ The Basement) show and was unsure if we were from here or the US. He also talked about enjoying the Gympie shows, which were outbush, and how the equivalent sort of shows in the US come with some fear of being shot by a redneck. [lol]

Towards the end of the conversation, he told me to give him a call when we got to the US / if we were in Nashville, and asked us to wait while he got a pen and paper to give us his number and the address for his studio. We waited while he headed over to the bar, and from behind me I heard "excuse me, by any chance, are you Mark Ord?". Although it was unexpected, I immediately figured it had to be Chris Koo],l, who I know from the Watering Hole. Catherine was pretty impressed, someone who I'd never met before just knowing who I was. Of course, given we were talking to Danny, and were the only people (excluding himself and his friend) under 35, it was probably a safe bet to guess it was me. Definitely cool meeting Chris after all these years. We talked to him for a bit until Danny returned with his details.

With it being pretty obvious that Chris was waiting to talk to Danny, and being more than satisfied with how much time Danny had given to chat with us, we told him we'd better make a move. We said bye to Danny, and to Chris and his friend and headed for the door, both commenting on how cool and personable Danny was.

All in all it was a great night. The opportunity to see all the Peacemakers this year (Danny being the only one I hadn't until tonight), getting to hear Cajun Song and having a great conversation with Danny rocked. We're both glad that we decided to actually go!

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