DALLAS - The Travis tour train rolled east and landed in
Lower Greenville. The
Granada Theater hosted the party and with a few
of my co-workers in tow I headed out to yet another new venue. It
didn't take me long to find the right papers and websites to get dialed into
the music scene in Dallas. I have a reputation since I sniffed out the
Howie Day show a few months back so I chose carefully knowing that Travis
always puts on a great warm show full of singing and anglophiles.
Travis is a favorite here in SF but I guess quality always shines through
since the show in Dallas was sold out. This posed the group a riddle,
how do we get three people into the show with only two tickets. That
wasn't much of a challenge so we upped the ante a bit prior to show time.
Four people in but only two tickets. Now there's a challenge and it
led to more than one trick in our efforts to see Travis.Unfortunately I can't use their names here but the story is still worth telling and if you have the poor fortune of working with me you can guess the names of the landing party with ease. Tic toc tic toc...two hours to show time and we leave my apartment and head out to the rented Grand Am for our trek into Lower Greenville. I had spent two months building up the Travis show and in all that time I was only able to convince one person to buy and advance purchase ticket and commit to the show. A last minute add on decided to try and score a ticket outside and join us at the show. With confidence on our side and Travis on the car stereo all seemed right. My co-pilot had spent the previous three days planning our assault on Lower Greenville. The intel was scattered across our desks and just when it seemed we had everything planned to perfection we were hit with the news of the show being sold out. Two other co-workers bowed out not wanting to risk scalpers pricing or worse. I was warned the area had alleys that were built for muggers too. Hey at least they give you a warning.
So our little party of three found the theater, parking and a place to
eat with relative ease. I made sure to not park in the mugging alley
and it almost felt like a lock until we stepped onto the sidewalk outside
the converted movie house. Plenty of people looking for tickets but
not one single scalper. What kind of place is this? Maybe my
California experiences of tickets always being available, for a price, for
any event at anytime, including after it has started had spoiled me. We decided to
wait a bit and grab a bite at Snuffer's. Snuffer's is located directly
to the left of the Granada and I thought I could watch for scalpers from our
seats next door. The service at Snuffer's was family style, in that
the servers all covered all tables and then kept their own tips.
Better service for everybody means bigger tips for everyone. Whoa!
Oh yeah they, I mean she was cute too. Anywho as curtain time
approached we needed a new plan since my few quests for tickets yielded
nothing except for the lowdown on the snow in town from two fine gentlemen
who were at the pay phone outside the Qwikie-Mart around the corner from the
restaurant. In hindsight perhaps not the best move but it turned out
fine. I was warned about mugging alleys not payphone pushers.
Ralph and Little Leon told me where to look for tickets and were generally
well mannered and amiable. We chatted about San Jose for a bit and
then parted ways since I was blocking their drive through lane and thus
holding up their business flow.
Back into the pub I hopped, dejected but I thought maybe one last chance. Ask the locals silly. Damn, I should have done that first. The waitress clued us in to a side door that the staff uses to bring food in and out. She claimed if you pried the door open and walked in like you owned the place it was easy to get in. With a few empty carry out containers for added effect our two ticketless tigers headed out. The co-pilot and me headed for the front door with our tickets and hoped for the best. We walked in just as Travis hit the stage. We squeezed and squiggled ourselves into a nice spot about 20 feet from the stage. Enough of a slope that we could see the band over the heads of those in front and the sound was perfect in the middle of the hall. Travis had the crowd singing and waving from start to finish. Five minutes later I noticed one of our friends ducking through the crowd. I pulled him over and as I pushed him behind the co-pilot her pulled off his glasses and beanie. Ahhh, I little disguise because now I could see a security thug with a flashlight eyeballin' the crowd near us. It was explained that both made it in but one had been captured and escorted back outside.
Damn. So close but it wasn't over yet because my phone was ringing.
We have a man down out front, code blue, switch to plan C, meet in the
smoking area for a conference. Our man was down but not out, he asked
for $10 and promised that he would soon be inside. I was worried but
we shared a smoke and I watched him disappear into the night confident in
his training and skills. I rejoined gate crasher 1 and the co-pilot
and regained my groove. The band was on fire and so was the crowd.
As Travis tore into "The Fear" our missing man appeared and thus our
fellowship was complete. Challenge met and conquered, four in with two
tickets plus $10. Not a bad effort since this was a new team
thrown together at the last minute.
The next two hours Travis gave everything and then a little more at the end. I was the only one in our group who was familiar with the magic of Travis but now everyone shares my love for this fine Scottish band. The evening had something for everyone and a killer soundtrack to boot. Jimmy and Westside Johnny warned me that Travis was back and it turned out to be everything and two bags of chips. Make new friends and make new adventures, this is how to live a life, make it come to you and you make your destiny.
Special thanks to Greg for sharing his pictures from the show. You can check out more of Greg's stuff at his website http://groovebydesign.com.
Peace,
Sean
more Travis reviews here...