Good and Bad with the Trailer Park Troubadours
("How I Spent My Weekend" post 2 of 4)
On Saturday night, I went with William, his mother Cathy, and two of her friends to see Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadours at Don Quixote's International Music Hall in Felton. There was a lot of good (the show), a lot of bad (the venue), and a lot of unusual (the fans).
GOOD: The music was great! Antsy describes it as “Folkabilly”. It's sort of Country-humorous. The songs range from the very silly (“Weenies and Beans”) to the almost poignant ("Falling in Love in America"). Most of the songs fall somewhere in the middle, and they’re all great fun. I definitely became a fan!
BAD: The venue was lousy. We ran into our first problem when Cathy went to get the tickets from the “Will Call” table. The guy at the table informed her that the tickets were Cash Only. (There had been nothing anywhere on their website when she reserved the tickets to indicate this.) She was understandably flustered and a bit annoyed, as she hadn’t brought enough cash for 5 tickets. “Tickets are ALWAYS cash only,” the man said snippily, as if people in this plastic-oriented world were supposed to divine that information. Luckily, there was an ATM available so Cathy could pull out the needed money.
Don Quixote is a Mexican restaurant that features live music almost nightly. Great, we thought. We could get there early, have dinner, and watch the show. Well, easier said than done. For one thing, it took ages for them to take our order. Once they did, we waited ... and waited … and waited. It wasn’t until we flagged down a waiter - the only helpful employee we encountered all night - and inquired about our orders that our food miraculously showed up. We also had to re-order our drinks. All told, we were there for nearly an hour before we got our orders. And of course, it wasn’t very good. The nachos I ordered were soggy, and the ground beef on them tasted burnt. The others reported that their food was no great shakes, either. (At least the complimentary chips and salsa were delicious.)
It was incredibly hot and stuffy. The attached bar has ceiling fans, but for some reason the main room - the one that gets packed crowds for concerts - does not. It wasn’t until the band complained that they finally opened the doors and let some air circulate.
For some reason, despite the fact that this place features concerts almost every night, they’ve seen fit to wall off the back half of the room - which, of course, is where we were stuck, since apparently people showed up 3 hours before the concert to get the front seats. Luckily, there are two large doorways that have a view of the stage, and we were sitting by one. Unluckily, the patrons who WEREN’T sitting by a doorway pulled their chairs in front of us. I jumped onto a nearby bar stool that was against a wall, so I could still see. The others weren’t so lucky, unfortunately. (I offered the stool to Cathy a couple of times, but she turned me down.) Additionally, there aren’t speakers in the back half of the room, which made it difficult to hear. Plus, some people who weren’t interested in the band were seated behind us, and they kept talking rather loudly. Poor Cathy was ready to blow a gasket by intermission.
GOOD: During intermission, I decided to buy a CD from the merchandise table. On my way there, I saw Antsy by the stage talking to fans. I went up to him. “Hi,” I said when he acknowledged me, “I just wanted you to know I’ve never heard your music before, and I’m really enjoying the show.” (Actually, I realized later that I’ve heard his song "My Baby Whistles when She Walks," although I can’t remember where.)
“Well, thank you very much!” he enthused. “That’s great to hear.”
“Will you be available for autographs after the show?” I asked.
“Why wait? I can do that now!” he replied. So I went and bought not only his latest CD but also his book, It Takes a Trailer Park. He signed the book jacket, “Julie - this book will change your life! Antsy McClain”. I brought Cathy up to meet him, too. She told him about the problems with sitting in the back. He tried to find us seats up front, but there simply weren’t any. Still, he was incredibly down-to-Earth and friendly. He is clearly the kind of performer who thinks of his fans as his friends, which is wonderful.
UNUSUAL: To say the group’s loyal fans are colorful is both an understatement and literally true. The fans are called “Flamingo-heads,” presumably after the plastic flamingos stereotypically found in front of trailer homes. A lot of them were in either casual ‘tropical wear’ or in pink. One woman had on a pink sequined dress with pink feathers in her hair! A few people were even carrying stuffed flamingos.
They’re as dedicated as Deadheads, too. One couple and their two young daughters had traveled from Vancouver, Washington just to see the show. Antsy said they had been saving up for a trip to Hawaii, but hadn’t been able to afford it yet because they kept spending money traveling to TPT concerts. So he had fresh flower leis made for them, which I thought was really sweet.
A man with long flowing white hair and a bushy beard (and sunglasses and a visor) spent part of the show standing by the stage, dancing and lip-synching to the songs. After the concert, we saw his van. Whoa. It was fully decorated in “Trailer Park Troubadour fan” slogans and pictures! There were even light-up flamingos!
Overall, it was clear the band inspires an extremely dedicated following. Not that I know anything about obsessively following, say, a cult movie or anything ...
BAD: As I said, there was a group at a table behind us who clearly had zero interest in the band. They were talking and drinking, and getting increasingly loud - which did nothing to alleviate the problems we were already having hearing the music. Cathy kept asking then to keep it down, to no avail.
After intermission, the group got even louder. Cathy, now at the end of her rope, spun around. “Are you doing this on purpose?” she asked.
“You could move up, you know,” said one of the women in the group.
“Where?” asked Cathy, as the place was still packed.
“Hey lady!” a man in the group shouted. (And I mean SHOUTED.) “This is a bar. Get over it!” Actually, no. The bar was in an adjacent room, where they could have gone and talked to their hearts’ content instead of bothering everybody.
“There’s six of us and only one of you!” the man continued. Oooh, real macho, buddy. Threaten a woman in her 60s. Tough guy.
Thankfully, someone must have complained, because a staff member asked the obnoxious group to keep it down. They left not long after that. “It’s not their fault,” Cathy said later. “They were raised by trolls.”
GOOD: I got to talk to Antsy again after the show, and he signed my CD. William was standing with me. “Are you guys together?” he asked. We thought he meant had we come to the show together, so we said yes. “Are you married?” he asked. Startled, we said no. “Oh,” he said to William. “I was gonna say, you married up!” (One of his songs is called “I Married Up.”) I was flattered by the compliment!
We went outside to find Cathy and her friends talking to Uncle Frank, who I believe is the band’s manager. Cathy told him all about the problems with the venue. He gave her a free copy of the group’s Christmas CD as an apology, even though it was in no way his or the band’s fault! I have such respect for folks that take care of their fans like that, I really do.
So, overall: Great show, great music, great people, lousy venue, obnoxious customers. I'll be happy to see the band again, but I would far prefer it be somewhere else.
On Saturday night, I went with William, his mother Cathy, and two of her friends to see Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadours at Don Quixote's International Music Hall in Felton. There was a lot of good (the show), a lot of bad (the venue), and a lot of unusual (the fans).
GOOD: The music was great! Antsy describes it as “Folkabilly”. It's sort of Country-humorous. The songs range from the very silly (“Weenies and Beans”) to the almost poignant ("Falling in Love in America"). Most of the songs fall somewhere in the middle, and they’re all great fun. I definitely became a fan!
BAD: The venue was lousy. We ran into our first problem when Cathy went to get the tickets from the “Will Call” table. The guy at the table informed her that the tickets were Cash Only. (There had been nothing anywhere on their website when she reserved the tickets to indicate this.) She was understandably flustered and a bit annoyed, as she hadn’t brought enough cash for 5 tickets. “Tickets are ALWAYS cash only,” the man said snippily, as if people in this plastic-oriented world were supposed to divine that information. Luckily, there was an ATM available so Cathy could pull out the needed money.
Don Quixote is a Mexican restaurant that features live music almost nightly. Great, we thought. We could get there early, have dinner, and watch the show. Well, easier said than done. For one thing, it took ages for them to take our order. Once they did, we waited ... and waited … and waited. It wasn’t until we flagged down a waiter - the only helpful employee we encountered all night - and inquired about our orders that our food miraculously showed up. We also had to re-order our drinks. All told, we were there for nearly an hour before we got our orders. And of course, it wasn’t very good. The nachos I ordered were soggy, and the ground beef on them tasted burnt. The others reported that their food was no great shakes, either. (At least the complimentary chips and salsa were delicious.)
It was incredibly hot and stuffy. The attached bar has ceiling fans, but for some reason the main room - the one that gets packed crowds for concerts - does not. It wasn’t until the band complained that they finally opened the doors and let some air circulate.
For some reason, despite the fact that this place features concerts almost every night, they’ve seen fit to wall off the back half of the room - which, of course, is where we were stuck, since apparently people showed up 3 hours before the concert to get the front seats. Luckily, there are two large doorways that have a view of the stage, and we were sitting by one. Unluckily, the patrons who WEREN’T sitting by a doorway pulled their chairs in front of us. I jumped onto a nearby bar stool that was against a wall, so I could still see. The others weren’t so lucky, unfortunately. (I offered the stool to Cathy a couple of times, but she turned me down.) Additionally, there aren’t speakers in the back half of the room, which made it difficult to hear. Plus, some people who weren’t interested in the band were seated behind us, and they kept talking rather loudly. Poor Cathy was ready to blow a gasket by intermission.
GOOD: During intermission, I decided to buy a CD from the merchandise table. On my way there, I saw Antsy by the stage talking to fans. I went up to him. “Hi,” I said when he acknowledged me, “I just wanted you to know I’ve never heard your music before, and I’m really enjoying the show.” (Actually, I realized later that I’ve heard his song "My Baby Whistles when She Walks," although I can’t remember where.)
“Well, thank you very much!” he enthused. “That’s great to hear.”
“Will you be available for autographs after the show?” I asked.
“Why wait? I can do that now!” he replied. So I went and bought not only his latest CD but also his book, It Takes a Trailer Park. He signed the book jacket, “Julie - this book will change your life! Antsy McClain”. I brought Cathy up to meet him, too. She told him about the problems with sitting in the back. He tried to find us seats up front, but there simply weren’t any. Still, he was incredibly down-to-Earth and friendly. He is clearly the kind of performer who thinks of his fans as his friends, which is wonderful.
UNUSUAL: To say the group’s loyal fans are colorful is both an understatement and literally true. The fans are called “Flamingo-heads,” presumably after the plastic flamingos stereotypically found in front of trailer homes. A lot of them were in either casual ‘tropical wear’ or in pink. One woman had on a pink sequined dress with pink feathers in her hair! A few people were even carrying stuffed flamingos.
They’re as dedicated as Deadheads, too. One couple and their two young daughters had traveled from Vancouver, Washington just to see the show. Antsy said they had been saving up for a trip to Hawaii, but hadn’t been able to afford it yet because they kept spending money traveling to TPT concerts. So he had fresh flower leis made for them, which I thought was really sweet.
A man with long flowing white hair and a bushy beard (and sunglasses and a visor) spent part of the show standing by the stage, dancing and lip-synching to the songs. After the concert, we saw his van. Whoa. It was fully decorated in “Trailer Park Troubadour fan” slogans and pictures! There were even light-up flamingos!
Overall, it was clear the band inspires an extremely dedicated following. Not that I know anything about obsessively following, say, a cult movie or anything ...
BAD: As I said, there was a group at a table behind us who clearly had zero interest in the band. They were talking and drinking, and getting increasingly loud - which did nothing to alleviate the problems we were already having hearing the music. Cathy kept asking then to keep it down, to no avail.
After intermission, the group got even louder. Cathy, now at the end of her rope, spun around. “Are you doing this on purpose?” she asked.
“You could move up, you know,” said one of the women in the group.
“Where?” asked Cathy, as the place was still packed.
“Hey lady!” a man in the group shouted. (And I mean SHOUTED.) “This is a bar. Get over it!” Actually, no. The bar was in an adjacent room, where they could have gone and talked to their hearts’ content instead of bothering everybody.
“There’s six of us and only one of you!” the man continued. Oooh, real macho, buddy. Threaten a woman in her 60s. Tough guy.
Thankfully, someone must have complained, because a staff member asked the obnoxious group to keep it down. They left not long after that. “It’s not their fault,” Cathy said later. “They were raised by trolls.”
GOOD: I got to talk to Antsy again after the show, and he signed my CD. William was standing with me. “Are you guys together?” he asked. We thought he meant had we come to the show together, so we said yes. “Are you married?” he asked. Startled, we said no. “Oh,” he said to William. “I was gonna say, you married up!” (One of his songs is called “I Married Up.”) I was flattered by the compliment!
We went outside to find Cathy and her friends talking to Uncle Frank, who I believe is the band’s manager. Cathy told him all about the problems with the venue. He gave her a free copy of the group’s Christmas CD as an apology, even though it was in no way his or the band’s fault! I have such respect for folks that take care of their fans like that, I really do.
So, overall: Great show, great music, great people, lousy venue, obnoxious customers. I'll be happy to see the band again, but I would far prefer it be somewhere else.