Thanks to my 14 year old son Patrick's pleading & my passion to partake in live music, he my wife & I headed down to San Francisco last Saturday (2/28) to take in a show featuring Hank III (The grandson of the late great Hank Williams), along with openers "Those Poor Bastards".  What a great evening of fun, family & live music! 

The show was held at a new venue to me;  the Regency Grand Ballroom, which is a wonderful spot near the Civic Center area, on Van Ness Avenue.  The hall is one of those old school S.F treasures, a beautiful room, wood floors, high onamental ceilings & walls,  chandeliers & a warm feeling that is hard to explain, but immediatly understood.  There is a perimeter balcony upstairs, which is where my wife and I sat,  my son chose to head up front to the stage.  From the get go, one could tell it was going to be a unique event.  Hank III actually has 3 persona's: "Updated" Old School Country (Hank III), Power Country (Hellbilly) and straight forward power metal (Assjacks).    The crowd represented these genre's and a few more!  Even for San Francisco, this show's audience was pretty wild.  A casual observer could find, the sleeveless flannel shirted Big Ben overall group, the cowboy crew was in force, bikers a plenty, a few new age & traditional S.F "hippies", a solid core of  metalheads,  the pierced and spiked,  with a few Betty Boop swing types thrown in for fun.   

"Those Poor Bastards" opened the show.  To describe this duo without pictures and audio is impossible. About all I can say is they are honest and real, great entertainers presenting music that is well, strange & unique  (think maybe a demonically posessed very young Johnny Cash).  The lead singer played an old cheap acoustic guitar played through numerous effects, along with a back up vocalist / drummer, who occasionally used one hand to pluck on a keyboard.  I enjoyed their short set, which included a great song called Country Radio, which echoes my view of top 40 Country Radio (I think it is pretty bad overall), another highlight was a cover of the classic Johnny Cash song; "I walk the line" , though classic would not be the word to describe this take!

Soon after the "Bastards" left the stage, Hank III took to the spotlight.  Hank explained that there would be 3 parts to the show, and he began with what would turn out to be far and away my favorite segment.  For approximately 2 hours, Hank and his "country" band (consisting of stand-up bass, pedal steel, fiddle, drums & Hank on guitar) played from his collection of songs, along with a few covers. The musicians were top notch, the sound at this point was great & virtually the entire crowd was on their feet, singing and swaying to the fun set.  Highlights to me were Hank's song: "The Grand Ole Opry, Ain't so Grand Anymore", a well penned tune about his Grandpa's continued banishment from the Grand Ole Opry, also a high note was Hank's version of Johnny Cash's "Cocaine Blues".  Hank obviously appreciates the "classics" of country, with numerous references to Merle, Johnny, Waylon and others,  any fans of these folks, would certainly appreciate Hank III, who provides great hope for the future of "real" country music.

After a pause in the show, Hank  strapped on an electric guitar, and the show transformed into the "Hellbilly's", which I would describe as high octaine psycho country.  At this point, as the volume started to creep up, I started to fade (and thanks to Rock Med, install some welcome ear plugs) , my wife soon decided she would be better off heading back to the hotel.  Alas my son was thoroughly enjoying this portion, as I could see from my perch up above.  I could not understand any of the lyrics and this music was not my cup of tea, apparently my wife was not alone as the exodus from the show had begun.  The Hellbilly's set only lasted maybe 20 minutes or so, at which time all the country bandmates left the stage, and the roadies made quick work of getting ready for the Assjacks. 

A few minutes later, Hank returned, along with an electric bassist, lead vocalist and drummer.  I wouldn't have thought possible, but somehow additional volume was found within' the belly of the sound system, which was definetly over kill, clarity led way to distortion.  La.  A veteran of such fun events as Summer Slaughter & Mayhem, even to my son the Assjacks volume, and lack of comprehensible vocals was a disappointment.  As the ear plugs were loosing out to the volume, and since the weather was nice, I chose to wait out the remaining show on the streets of San Francisco (alas no Michael or Carl were to be found).  I was not alone, and I dare say probably close to 2/3's of the audience had left by the middle of the Assjacks brief set. 

Not long after the last song, my son emerged from the show, with an ear to ear grin, a signed ticket stub & a guitar pick!  We walked back to the hotel room, I too was smiling as I listened to the excited reflections of the evening  from my son.  Hank III is a great entertainer, and even though I did not like ALL of his music, I do feel the 3 hour plus show was given from his heart & he gave his all,  you can't ask for much more than that.  Hank III is a true artist, and as mentioned, provides to me great hope for the future of country music, and I look forward to seeing him again, hopefully at a venue in the Sacramento area.  

Now it is my turn to pick the next "family" show, John Prine is sure sounding good!

Live music is great - please support it!  In the mean time...Keep Smilin'