The Gourds at the Tractor 4.5.2007

Thursday, April 5, 2007

The Gourds at the Tractor Tavern

Opening band: The Spigots

Well, yet another very fun evening at The Tractor! Since it was on a week day again, we decided to drive back home after the late show. Our boy stayed the night at the grandparents’ house, since he had to go to school the next morning. I was off for Good Friday and P took a half day. We were glad we had the morning off; we didn’t get home until about 2:00 am!

After dropping the boy off, we headed down to Ballard early and spent about ½ hour looking for a place to park. We finally squeezed in to a spot a few blocks away from the Tractor. We were hungry, so we decided to try a little tavern across the street called the Lock & Keel. They had a nice selection of sandwiches and regular tavern fare. We ordered drinks and shared a very good turkey sandwich with coleslaw. I had two tasty cosmos. P stuck with straight vodka so he wouldn’t have to pee all the time. Ha

We sauntered over to the Tractor, but it didn’t really open until about 8:00. I don’t think the Spigots came on till 9:00. So we stepped outside and browsed through an old record store where they had tons of vinyl, cassettes, and used cd’s for sale. It was a blast from the past. I used to love going to Tower Records on Mercer St. when I was a kid and just browse and wish I had money. My best friend and I would always stop in there before hockey games on Friday nights.

We walked back in, ordered more drinks and found a nice dark corner where there was a bench and a small rectangular table. We had a really good talk about our relationship. Eventually more people showed up. A nice couple from Alberta joined us on our bench. They said they had all the Gourds’ cd’s and came down just for the show!

The opening act, the Spigots included a lead singer on acoustic (female, with a very nasaly folk voice) and a great harmonica player, another guitar/mandolin player and drummer. They started out pretty lively, then had some weird jazzy stuff in the middle that we didn’t like. The Spigots ended with some livelier music and great harmonica sounds. We then had about a ½ hour wait till the Gourds came on.

We got another round and then got some fresh air. It was getting packed in there, with standing room only. I went to the restroom and P found a great place left of the stage. We were kind of blocking the step by the restrooms, so eventually we crowded in a little closer and ended up actually right next to the stage and had a place to set our drinks.

The Gourds were one hoppin’ foot stompin’ singin’ mandolin playin’ honky-tonkin’, Cajun, bluegrass playin’ accordion squeezin’ crazy-ass fun band from Austin, Texas! Kevin Russell is the lead singer and played mostly mandolin, but also played harmonica, electric and acoustic guitar. There are four other members on drums, keyboard/accordion, fiddle/slide/banjo, guitar/bass/vocals. Very talented group. Kevin looks like a Soggy Bottom Boy with a floppy hat and pointy beard, and big beer belly.

We stomped and clapped along all night! They must have played close to 3 hours. We had so much fun. We met some nice people around us. That’s the great thing about the Tractor. The crowd is mostly older and is somewhat in control. There were one or two pretty drunk guys near us, but they were funny. They got a group of the guys altogether and made them hold each other, including P(!) to feel the love of a slower song. Everyone was high-fiving and singing along.

We’d just downloaded a live cd of their music a couple of nights before, so we weren’t real familiar with the songs. It didn’t matter, though, because they were all so fun to stomp and clap to. I felt like I was down south, in a Texas bar, or maybe down in New Orleans.

After the show, all sweaty and tired, we pulled out of their latest cd entitled Heavy Ornamentals that P purchased earlier that night. I waited around to see if any of them would come out from backstage. Kevin, the lead singer, came out. He was talking for a while to some guy who seemed to be a big fan. He saw us unwrap our cd and pulled out his pen to sign the liner notes. He interrupted the man so he could meet us. I gave him a hug and thanked him for coming to Seattle. I told him we saw them on Austin City Limits, and really enjoyed the show. We’d come back to Bumbershoot to see them again! He thanked us after signing my cd. It was a great ending to a very fun night!

We got back to the car and noticed it was already after 1 am!