Austin, TX -- November 6, 1999

      I'd been waiting for years, but here I finally got to see my first MTX show on November 6th. Since moving to Austin to attend The University of Texas, I had seen some great shows that I would have never seen in my hometown, Corpus Christi, TX. To quote Joel at the show "No one ever goes to Corpus." Sad but true. Anyways, the show was at Emo's in Austin, which is a great venue. They were playing in the back on the second stage, which has a lot more room than the stage in front, so it was a good thing.

      I got there early and waited outside for the people up front to start taking money. While we did, Dr Frank came and started greeting everyone. It was great to meet him, you hear a lot about MTX and other bands being such great guys, but sometimes it's really hard to believe it until you see them in person.

      After we got in, MTX started the sound check, and I started chatting with some people. Turns out that two of the people who were there already were from Corpus, and we talked about how unexciting the scene is down there. Then, something hit me. Any of you who go to college know how tedious the registration process in. For some classes, you have to apply for "consent" from the teachers, who grant you special permission to take their classes. Anyways, my friend had gotten consent for a Jazz theory class, which he had been itching to take for a while. He was out of town for the weekend, so he had asked me to add the class for him during his scheduled "add/drop" time. And of course, I had it written down, but in my haste I had forgotten to add it before I left the dorm. So I had to bicker with the guy at the door that no, I was not going off to get drunk. Anyways, I finally got out and rode my bike home at full speed, and got back in time to find The Go, the opening band, just starting to warm up. I was so happy that I had remembered that before the show and not during MTX's set!!!!

      I also found a pleasant surprise in the courtyard…My friend Luis, who lives in Corpus and had told me about the MTX show, had gotten there! It was great to see him, and it made seeing MTX a little sweeter. We talked to Joel a little, until some girl came up and poked him to "see if he was real", which was so unbelievably gay. Moving on, we talked to Frank about the new album, and about shirt selection, which is very important in the rock and roll industry. Hearing The Go warming up, we said bye to Frank and went over to the stage.

      The Go were the most pleasant surprise of a band that I have ever seen. They were sort of like a fusion of The Rolling Stones and Iggy & the Stooges. They were awesome! I personally prefer older punk rock myself, so they may not be for you, but if you are interested, you can hear their stuff at Sub Pop's website.

      The next band, Dynamite Boy, was terrible…unless you are into stereotypical bleach haired nasal-voiced "punk", I really would not recommend any of their stuff…

      After them, Ann Beretta played. Ann Beretta was really an OK band. Once again, the yelling nasal voice was present, but it was used to less effect in their music. To end their set, they did a cover of The Clash's "Clampdown", which was exciting for me since The Clash are my favorite band.

      After that, MTX took the stage. Everyone was abuzz with excitement, and was ready for MTX's set. I'm not sure if I remember this right, but I think they started off with "I Wrote a Book about Rock and Roll" and it just kept getting better from there. They continued with a slowed version of "I'm Like Yeah, but She's All No." After that, I don't really remember the order of the songs. From what I remember they played "More than Toast", "Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba", "Naomi" (which sounded a lot better live), "She's My Alcatraz", "I Fell for You" etc. etc. It was great! I pogoed my ass off, much to the disappointment of the people behind me. But as Luis put it.."there is probably a kid in Switzerland dying to see MTX, and these people were barely moving!" It's MTX! You gotta dance, guys!

      After the show (and the two subsequent encores) Emo's started emptying and Dr Frank was standing by himself in the courtyard. I went up to him to tell him how much I appreciated Mr T's music. He was understanding and seemed very gracious…once again it reinforced how great musicians can be. There are some bad apples out there, but some bands really appreciate it.

      Overall, seeing MTX for the first time was fabulous. I will never forget it, and I hope that I can see them many more times in the future.