Oxford Town

I took another trip to Oxford, MS a couple of weekends ago. Josh and Jess Green accompanied me. The main purpose of the trip was to see Dinosaur Jr. play, but we got into some other things as well. Before we hit the road, we stopped by Oz Music in Tuscaloosa to support Record Store Day. I came away with the Sonic Youth/Jay Reatard Split 7", Tom Waits - Live 7", and Guided By Voices - Hold On Hope 12" EP.

After dropping off our scores at my apartment, we got going.

We stopped in Guin, AL to eat at a restaurant called the Frosty Front. I was starving and didn't look over their menu as well as I should have, which resulted in a quick decision for a mediocre order of chicken fingers. I should have gone for a patty melt or a Cajun chicken sandwich. Maybe I'll end up passing by it another time.


Once in Mississippi, we had to take the dreaded Natchez Trace Parkway. It's scenic, but has a tendency to get me lost. Luckily it did not defeat me....on the way there.

We arrived in Oxford and checked into our hotel room and chilled out for a few minutes while watching Alabama's A-Day broadcast on ESPNU. Ole Miss's scrimmage game was also that day, so this was a good way to avoid the crowded campus until that was over. We then headed out to find William Faulkner's home, aka Rowan Oak. That ended up taking much longer than expected, and we ended up arriving 10 or 15 minutes before they closed. Here are a few photos I snapped quickly while we were there:


(Faulkner's Typewriter)

(Notes for "A Fable" on the walls)

The house and the area surrounding it were really great to see, even while rushed. It looked like the perfect environment for writing. After circling the grounds, we drove over to Faulkner's grave site.

After that, we headed to The Square, and spotted J. Mascis hanging out by the venue.

(Phone booth party)

While shopping at Off Square Books (The used book companion to the mighty Square Books), we discovered that Lou Barlow had done an in store performance there earlier in the day. What a bummer. Had I known about it beforehand, I would have made it a point to be there on time. I tried not to think about it too much, and drowned my sorrows in a couple of bags full of books I didn't need to spend money on.

It was high time for food. We went to the Ajax Diner, which I hadn't given a shot in my two other trips to Oxford.

Cheese fries with brown gravy as an appetizer. It was obviously my kind of place. I had a burger with a side of excellent has brown casserole. We headed back to the hotel to rest a bit after this huge meal, and get ready for the show.

The venue, Proud Larry's, was smaller than I expected. We got a good spot up front and held onto it as best we could. Dead Confederate opened, and they held my attention for about 3 songs. One of the coolest things I spotted while inside Proud Larry's was a poster from a Warren Zevon show there in 1997. It would have been mind blowing to see him in such a small place. Dinosaur Jr. took the stage after a relatively long set change, and sounded great. Lou pointed out that J. normally plays out of three stacks (He was playing out of two and a combo amp at this show), and that when they go to Japan, he plays out of four. It still sounded louder than an average band to me. They played all the "hits", a handful of songs from Beyond, a new song, and encored with "In A Jar" and "Just Like Heaven." I snagged the setlist. Hopefully I can find a cheap frame to put it in.



After the show, we headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep, and got up relatively early the next morning to check out a bit of Ole Miss's campus and eat before heading back home. We ended up dining at a place called Sugar Brown's Southern Table. It was excellent, and literally every waitress in the place was cute as hell to boot.

(My choice for the day: Biscuits topped with smoked pork, scrambled eggs, and bean/tomato gravy. Very southwestern and very good.)

(Josh had burger topped with BBQ. I somewhat regret not ordering this. I believe Jess had a chicken salad sandwich, which didn't look anywhere near as gluttonous and beautiful as our meals, haha.)

We headed back home after our meal. Of course, the Natchez Trace got the best of me on the way home, and we ended up wasting a few minutes.

(This tower says "Punkin Water")

All in all, it was an awesome trip.

I Don't Know Which Way To Run

I ended up going to see Lucero play again this weekend, this time in Jackson, MS. Crys and I left Tuscaloosa at 3pm on Saturday and arrived in Jackson about 3 hours later. The show didn't start until 9, so we had time for two very important things: BBQ and Records. On our way to eat, we saw an abandoned hotel:
It was fenced up, locked, and had obviously been that way for years, yet there were 5 or 6 cars parked behind the fence. Hmmm. Something sketch had to be going on back there.

We decided on T&A'S Barbeque after some web research. Their slogan is "Nobody Beats Our Meat." Excellent. We arrived and discovered that it was a walk up only type of place, which would have been nice on a sunny day, but it was cold and raining. We went ahead and gave it a shot and decided to eat in the car. It was great. Their sauce was pretty unique (unlike any I have tasted in Alabama...very thin, and an almost perfect mix of sweet and spicy), and the meat was very tender. I finished my sandwich in no time. They had good sweet tea, too. The woman working told us that another location would be open soon. Hopefully that one will be a full restaurant with seating. At any rate, I'd definitely eat there again. I completely forgot to take a picture of the building and their catering van, which featured the slogan and a painting of Betty Boop. Oh well.

Our next stop was Bebop Records. It was in a shopping center and we almost missed it, but luckily we turned one last corner and there it was. I ended up coming out with a Stevie Wonder Live LP on Tamla, The Jam - Setting Sons and Sound Affects LPs, an OOP Lou Rawls LP, VA - Stax Does The Beatles CD, and Elvis Presley - ST CD Remaster, all for around $45. I saw a really awesome Buzzcocks shirt, but couldn't justify dropping $18 on it. Maybe I can find one cheaper some other time. Check out this awesome Elvis Costello poster they have in the back:

After that, we headed over to The Ole Tavern. The show started around 10. The opening band was called Goodman County. They had a lot of energy, but the sound mix was terrible. They covered "Gimmie Danger" by The Stooges, which I thought was pretty cool...not a stellar version or anything, it just came out of nowhere.

Lucero finally hit the stage around 11:30. The set was great. I've seen them quite a few times, and while this wasn't the best of them all, it was up there. They played tons of requests as usual, including 3 of mine (Raising Hell, Across The River, Fistful Of Tears). Lots of bands claim to be all about their fans. Usually when I hear that claim, I just write it off as horseshit that is said only for good press. This isn't the case with Lucero. They talk it and walk it. Here are some photos I took:

(Crys got up and sang an impromptu cover of "Tiny Dancer." The alcohol made her mix up some of the lines, so I helped her out by yelling the correct ones at her. This was a totally hilarious moment that I'll never forget. The band was cracking up and everyone around the front of the stage high fived her afterward.)

The show ended around 1:30 am, so we hit the road immediately after. Once we hit Meridian, we stopped at Waffle House with Tory and Sophie (who had driven from Tuscaloosa and joined us at the show also). It must have been the only one in Meridian, because it was packed. Somehow we got out of there in about 45 minutes. Did I mention it was snowing for most of the drive back? I had never driven in that much snow before. It was an experience. Here's how things looked when I finally got home around 5:30-6:00 am:

Around 11am, after some much needed rest:

All in all, it was an extremely fun and memorable Saturday.

Quick One

Alabama Vs. Ole Miss 2008

Deep Sleep @ Cave 9, 10/31/08


Cloak/Dagger @ Cave 9, 10/31/08

FC Five @ Cave 9, 10/31/08


Highway, 11/1/08

Interstate, 11/1/08

Cade's 1st Birthday Party, 11/1/08

Gulf Shores, 11/2/08

Gulf Shores, 11/2/08

Playlist:
Bon Iver - "For Emma, Forever Ago"
Fleetwood Mac - "Rumors"
Van Morrison - "Astral Weeks"
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - "I See A Darkness" and "Lie Down In The Light"
Alabama Crimson Tide 35, Arkansas State 0