Nice hotel I’ve been staying at. Subpar food everywhere. I called this Indonesian place 5 minutes from the hotel for lunch yesterday, and an hour later I call them back. The cook just left with the food. He wasn’t around until 45 minutes after I called. Then another place takes my order, and after I’ve been standing there 20 minutes, tells me they haven’t started it yet. Got my money back. Took a walk to Walmart through highways in an industrial zone. They have an IHOP there, a taqueria, and a gas station. Got stuff to eat.

Made my way over to downtown, and after a couple of whiskeys did a three hour set at the corner of 6th and Trinity. I’ve got a good bit of it on video, though my head’s cut off.

I notice crowds forming around me, and big cameras, little cameras, everything in between. I ate planters mixed nuts and gave a homeless guy some of my tips. There are several police on motorcycles right in front of me. They don’t seem to mind. I’m playing through some little amplifiers inside my guitar. Thinking I should have brought my big amp. The cacophony on the street makes my audible radius about 15 feet. Finally, I lost my voice. Decided to head back. Some guys stop me and tell me Fox was shooting the show. I recall screwing up a lot when I saw the big cameras. Awesome.

I was expecting not to play Saturday after that, but after seeing it wasn’t going to rain I decided to try it again. Equipment problems though..Seems the ancient brick sidewalk of 6th St Austin didn’t agree with my suitcase dolly. One of the wheels is ripped through the suitcase. And the inner amplifiers on my guitar have ripped the wires out of the solder joints. So, I put on two shirts and a big coat and hat and did the trek through hell to Walmart. I bought a big 8 C battery clock radio with a line input and a battery powered drill. Redrilled holes for the suitcase caster and attached a distortion box to the clock radio.

I played for 2 hours. Bigger crowds, even with the freezing wind. Much louder with the clock radio. I think some of it was really working today. But my hands were getting crusty and blistered. My voice was giving out again. Somebody asked me to play Happy Birthday. I was uncooperative. Should have brought my amp.