DAC

Show date Saturday, August 24, 2001

Life has been pretty hunky dory in the world of music for me since I began writing reviews. My experiences have been everything from good to unbelievably orgasmic. I'm sure some of you think I don't give negative comments on artists or venues. Well, at MissLana.com, we have honest reviews. So here it is.

I've been a DAC fan for about 20 years, best I can figure. I'd consider myself a fairly "hard core" fan the past ten or so. Since Andy and I have been married, we've taken in 2-3 Coe shows each year, and accumulated quite a collection of CD's, books, albums (including my prized possession - a signed copy of "Underground"), and even lobby cards all dealing with this artist. Yes, he's controversial, some say racist, others outlaw musician, many say egotistical, but it my heart he's a songwriter, first and foremost. Some of his songs are pure poetry set to music. Others are strictly fun. He has a huge repertoire of other folks' songs in that play list in his head. I can honestly say, I've never seen a bad Coe show until Saturday night. And Coe wasn't at fault.

We left our house about 5:40 and headed to Farmersville to pick up our friend Mike, who had never been to Southern Junction, nor seen a Coe show. We arrived at 6:30, purposely early so as to enjoy a leisurely steak dinner and some visiting before the show started. Upon our arrival, we paid $40 for the three of us to get in, $10 per head cover and $5 each for Mike's and our memberships. We went inside to find our seats. We were greeted by a hostess, who took us to our table. Our waitress came, took our drink orders and gave us menus. She was back shortly with our beers (no Lone Star - should have been my first clue my night would go awry) and took our dinner orders. This is a place that gives you the choice of cooking your own steak, or paying $2 extra to have someone else cook it. We headed over to the grill area, chose some nice rib eyes, seasoned them up, and Andy threw them on the hot fire to cook. We sipped our cold beers as the steaks sizzled over the flames. I buttered us some Texas toast to grill as well, and we threw those on. Steaks cooked to perfection, we headed to the baked potato bar and loaded our potatoes with all the essential fixins. Upon arriving back to the table, our salads were in place, and the waitress soon came by and we ordered another round of beers.

I got my potato mixed up to perfection, steak cut and doused with a touch of A-1, and grabbed a bite of salad. I had ordered Italian dressing; this was kind of strange. I t was the sweetest Italian dressing I had ever tasted. I salted it, peppered it, then commented to my two dates that it was almost like a French. Well, as it turned out, I had Mike's honey mustard, he had my Italian. Oh well, we both could live with it.

Dinner was good, $15.95 for a 12 oz. rib eye, tater and salad is not a bad deal. From this point on, our beers came TERRIBLY slow, both to order and to get. In all fairness to the DJ, he played some Nashville stuff, but did play some OKOM artists and older country too. I went to DAC's merchandise table during this time and bought koozies, as well as scouting out my spots to go take a few photos during the show. We had a good visit with Mike while watching the place fill with people. It was a much larger crowd and set up, then when I had seen Shaver there two years ago.

It was finally time for the opening band "Dallas". They took the stage and were just fine. They did mostly cover tunes, but at least did some Jack Ingram, Merle Haggard, Radney Foster, and Stevie Ray Vaughan stuff. They were about what I expect to hear at a modern day country club on a Saturday night. Their couple of original tunes were really good. Andy and I even graced the dance floor with our presence. Our beers were all but having to crawl by themselves to the table at this point. I know the place was busy, but her other tables weren't getting any better service either. I know I have been spoiled to the wonderful waitstaff at venues like Love and War in Texas in Plano and Buffalo Joe's in McKinney, but this was getting bad.

It was time for David Allan Coe, they cleared the dance floor so as to put chairs on it, and before they had a completed row, Coe came on stage. He was dressed in his tattoos, braided beard, and hair in a single long braid. He came on stage and began to perform, and my first thought was that he must not be feeling well, it wasn't with the usual energy. Then I realized that the sound wasn't mixed right.

As he moved into the second song, and his momentum began to pick up, the sound system kept going out. And it went out at least four times. When it finally got back up there was a constant feedback roar in the speakers, so it sounded as though it was coming through mud. So, those folks who didn't already know the particular song Coe was singing, couldn't understand much of it most of the time. We never could really hear the lead guitar, but the drummer sounded okay, though. I think the tone for the show in general had already been set.

So, high points to report are few. Coe did as well as he could, I think. He sang a song about what he would do if he were President for a day. He won me over with a line about he'd give the women raising our children a paid vacation. He then won Andy over with "and give the men titties and beer". So, not sure what ticket he'll run as, but he's got our votes. He did an interesting montage of songs while beginning with and periodically inserting verses of "Please Come to Boston"much in the Coe manner I've come to love. He did favorites for the crowd "Willie, Waylon, and Me", "If That Ain't Country", and "Take This Job and Shove it". He then left the stage the first time and we really thought he wouldn't come back. He returned to the stage for an encore, and played "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" as one of the songs. I really missed not getting to hear many, many of his other tunes, some popular and some more obscure.

My previous Coe shows have been fun experiences, be they at Billy Bob's or Cowboy's Red River - both venues that are larger than I prefer. Coe always put on a "high energy, one song after another, rock the house one minute-cry the next" type of shows. We have always been amazed at DAC never stopping once he starts, and the dedicated fans who sing along all the way through. This was a total bust by comparison. Sure, there were a few of us scattered through the audience and up close who did what we could, but the roar of talking audience members soon heavily competed with the music. Coe played and hour, and two songs for an encore, and was done by 11:45. I felt like I needed to apologize to him, and it wasn't even my fault. Usually when he leaves the stage, the crowd all but comes to riot for him to come back on stage. It took work to have people even clapping a little. There was no return after the encore, and I've seen him do as many as four encores before.

At this point, it had been over an hour since last having seen our waitress. She came by, we asked for the check, and 15 minutes later, she still wasn't back. We headed back to the hostess, who went and found our ticket. I will honestly say I tipped about 5% on our bill, and she's damn lucky she got that. As a comparison, I tipped at Shiner Sunday last time I tipped 35% on our bill, and tipped another waitress for helping her out as well. The gal could've made some nice cash, with just coming to the table occasionally. Even if I'd just seen her working hard on the other tables, I would have been more kind. But, they were as abandoned as we were, fetching their own drinks.

It got rather warm and smoky while we were there, though I understand that Coe had requested some of the fans and AC be turned off so as not to blow on him. Still, for folks with problems of breathing due to smoke, I'm thinking this place is not for you. Perhaps it is generally better ventilated, but I wouldn't risk it for someone with any type of breathing problems.

On my way out, I got the name and phone number of manager, Paul Moreland. I'll be calling him on Wednesday to discuss my disgust with the whole thing. I was told by the gals at the door that "Mr. Coe fulfilled his contractual obligations." I'm sure he did, then got the hell out. I just felt like this place didn't fulfill their obligation to me. $150 for the night by the time I paid my sitter, and I came home early, disappointed, sober, and mad. About the only way I'd go to Southern Junction again at this point would be if Fred Eaglesmith were playing, and I'd still be fussing and fuming all the way. I'll post an addition after I speak with the manager.

Dinner with two wonderful dates, good steak, a few cold beers, and a small dose of Coe leaves me hungry for a better "Coe fix". You'll probably see us the next time he's in Ft. Worth at Billy Bob's. I'll be the one in the Coe shirt, singing all the words, drinking Lone Star, looking like all is right with the world. Of course, the rest of the crowd will probably look much the same.

Written by Dana Jones, August 27, 2001

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