Legacy to a Legacy: Hank III concert review by John M. Ellison IV

Where do I start with what happened on the night of 11/16/2011 and how it was a month in the making? Okay, I’ve been on this country music kick for almost a year…well actually since I started playing guitar in ‘99. Even when I was 8 year old, I would try to imitate Randy Travis’s vocal. I’ve always had a respect for Hank III and Hank Sr. In fact, my granddad enjoyed Hank Sr. and Willie Nelson in his younger years. So you can say I’m carrying on a “Family Tradition.” …Don’t worry folks; the puns get worse throughout the story. A fellow writer by the name “Brad Meathook” I knew from the social network Twitter brought to my attention that Hank III is going to be playing Ram’s Head Live in Baltimore, MD and asked if I was going. I realized that if I used my networking skills I can make a deal to review Hank III’s albums and get some tickets to the show. Wasn’t an easy feat but it was worth it. So, out of the albums they sent I reviewed “Ghost to a Ghost/Guttertown.”
Okay folks, rumors can help make or break an artist’s career. To put this in a diplomatic way, some imagery such as a rebel flag that Hank III uses to represent his southern heritage can attract an element of fans that can misconstrue such iconography for supporting bigotry.  One thing that made me kind of leery was the fact that you couldn’t find that many interviews with Hank III that gave you a better clue on who he was. Persona wise, a cloud of mystery can be good and bad for an artist’s image but depending what it is, it could also fuel negative rumors. Okay, that being said, I was kind of nervous to go…especially the missus. The missus is from the southwest and spent 10 years south of Dallas, Texas in a small town where they still have dial-up and not a lot of black people. She had to deal with a LOT of people that how I can put this eloquently…made the “Blue Collar Comedy Tour” a success. Well, me too…I like Ron White and consider him an influence on my writing. The day of the show the missus was nervous and uttering phrases “We’re going to be the only black people there!”, “I’ve dealt with these kinds of people!”, and “We’re going to be out in the middle of nowhere!” I replied. “Uh, babe…it’s going to be in Baltimore city proper. Now if it was in Westminster or Fredrick, MD…I’d understand but it’s in Baltimore at a mainstream venue and not some shack in the woods.” She was still nervous…but somewhat relieved though.

After riding up to Baltimore, we headed over to will call to pick up the tickets. Fans are starting to come in, and I think see somebody I recognize…As I’m about to say hello, the missus yelps out “John! Don’t leave me!” Understanding what she went through, I said “babe, you’re going to be fine. I’m here.” So, we get our tickets, and get in line. The guy taking the tickets was surprised by my appearance…mainly because I cut my mohawk and wear glasses now. So, we get inside…the audience was a mix of metal heads, country fans, punks, greasers and NO HIPSTERS! I saw some dude in overalls that had on a Misfits band tee and a ton of guys that looked like they could be related to Hillbilly Jim from WWF (old school)…and some dude that looked like Danny “Boone” Alexander from country-rap band Rehab. Realizing it’s a standing room, we found a place to sit near the bar. I asked the security guy that I’ll refer to as “Bull” if the booth was for bar patrons or anybody? Surprisingly friendly, he said “it’s for anybody.” I rarely if ever drink so we just got a chicken and fry basket with a root beer.

While sitting at the bar, I saw the guy earlier that who I thought was Brad Meathook…I wasn’t sure if it was him earlier so I asked and he replied “Sketch of Maryland right?” I noticed that his voice kind of sounds like wrestler Chris Jericho. In the last story about Fishbone, I mentioned a guy by the name of Kaibutsu, since he’s out in Baltimore I realized he might want to check this out too…here’s the problem. The cell reception in Ram’s Head Live is spotty at best and my phone has a short or something in it, so when I called him my phone crapped out mid sentence. I’ll try to meet up with him at Katsucon. Later, the opening act came out so the missus and I walked closer and stood there watching the band. I didn’t know who they were but they reminded me of Black Sabbath…well their first four albums at least, Kyuss and Sleep. I saw the lead singer’s shirt and it said “Spirit Caravan.” It then dawned on me that the band was “Earthride.” This is actually interesting in the fact that back in 2010; Hank III didn’t use any opening bands. But in this case, it made sense that Earthride would be opening for Hank III since Dave Sherman did vocals on the title track to “Ghost to a Ghost” and Earthride is based in Maryland. So, after an hour of doom and stoner metal, there was a brief intermission. We got closer and found a wall to lean on and watch the show from.

Then Hank III comes out with a four piece backing band that featured most of the personnel from the Ghost to a Ghost/Guttertown album. For the record, I noticed in some YouTube videos that when he performs the traditional country set that he uses acoustic instruments that are amplified with some effects like phaser. So, the overdriven guitar of “Ghost to a Ghost” is missing. Hank III took the stage with a kind of “happy to be here” demeanor and with a voice that sounds surprisingly similar to his grandfather Hank Sr. but of course the material is quite different. The precision and intensity of the band was amazing.

The crowd was lively to say the least; in fact half of the fun of the show was there was this one dude that looked like Billy Gibbons with a septum piercing and a Harley Davidson vest, one dude had a pentagram and the band “Gorgoroth” logo scribbled on his denim vest and a mullet. Another guy that was near us was a really nice Asian guy in a wheel chair who asked if he was in our way to be accommodating. Interesting enough, there was another black guy there that I’ll refer to as “Greg” was really into the show and when Hank slipped into a few zydeco numbers, “Greg” really got into it. Not surprisingly, a lot of people were drinking. It might be a misnomer that I mention that they were drinking but it comes into play later. As cliché as this might sound, this show was like a heavy metal hoedown that focused on the albums “Rebel Within”, “Damn Right, Rebel Proud”, “Straight to Hell”, the controversial “Hillbilly Joker” album and of course the “Ghost to a Ghost/Guttertown” albums. “Ghost to a Ghost” was a duet with Dave Sherman that had fans either drunkenly doing the tango…or seriously attempting to tango to the shifting blast beats. Then when he went into “Day by Day” a dude in a rebel flag shirt started doing an ironic hillbilly jig that was quite amusing to witness. Also some dude on crutches waved one of his crutches during “Outlaw Convention.” The atmosphere at the show was quite the contrary to what some would’ve expected.

There were some tense moments where the show stopped. Hank III said to the guy “bad move…” or “wrong night…” something to the effect. Next thing I know security has this guy restrained… he was literally being carried off by security but his struggles for freedom had him moving in my direction. Well, I learned this golden rule from years of watching wrestling,”if you ever see a flying chair coming at you…duck.” So, I first moved the missus out of harm’s way because he was getting too close for comfort for us. After the dude got booted, I asked Bull “Did you see the guy that got thrown out?” He replied “Which one?” We both chuckled at that. “Well, I mean what did he do?” He legit didn’t know.
So, after the matter was settled the band went back into “Six Pack of Beer.” The whole night wasn’t all bad; in fact there was also an opportunity to slow dance, so the missus and I watched the drunken couples sway to “Not Everybody Likes Us.” Yeah, we were one of them…the difference being was sobriety was an ally in our case. Around 10:40 pm, he started his Hellbilly set. The Hellbilly set which focused more on “Hillbilly Joker” album was enjoyable…even though I was kind of disappointed that he didn’t do “I’m Drunk Again” but he’s been doing that song for years so I don’t blame him for “sobering up for the night.” Then, around 11:00 he switched it up so his other backing band “Attention Deficit Domination” took the stage and this was more focused on the albums “3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin’” and “Attention Deficit Domination.” Out of the albums I got, I didn’t focus on “Attention Deficit Domination.” I listened but didn’t go through the usual analyzing process. So, the albums were fresh to me still. The set included theatrics such as this weird green lighting, a projector screen that included a montage of B-Movies, war footage and this vocal effect that was similar to Ozzy’s use of a Leslie speaker on Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” album. Half of the Country/Hellbilly fans left by this time for a smoke break and some just left. I ran back into Brad and he noticed the crowd left and we pretty much agreed “Attention Deficit Domination” sounded like Black Sabbath produced by Yanni or Brian Eno stubbing his toe and venting his frustrations musically.

By this time the alcohol everyone consumed kicked in and almost everybody was stumbling drunk and some patrons were ejected due to their behavior. Remember, the missus and I am leaning against a wall and kind of out of dodge. A guy walked up to me and started talking, he noticed that I was taking notes and wondered what I was doing. To say he was inebriated would be an understatement, to keep his anonymity I’ll refer to him as “Shawn.” Shawn was a traditional country fan who stayed around because his friend was still there and he was in no shape whatsoever to drive. In this case, he actually lost his CDL license due to a DUI. He felt awful because he realized that a stupid mistake cost him his career and tarnished his spotless criminal record. I told him “Was anybody hurt in this?” He said “No” and I said “That’s why you got that DUI. The universe was keeping you from harming you or anybody else.” Remember, Attention Deficit Domination was LOUD and at points the band would change dynamics so they would be even louder, so I heard half of what Shawn said. Honestly, it was reminiscent of the cone of silence bit from Get Smart. The “Cattle Call” and “Attention Deficit Domination” set were more like a test of endurance than performance. Most couldn’t handle the brutality of it so they bolted…or were ejected because they were drunk and were causing somewhat of a stir. In fact, I started making a tally of drunks that got tossed out.

The show finally ended, after enduring an additional set of blast beats, down tuned riffs…and samples of auctioneers, fans definitely got their money’s worth at this show.

I got a photo with Hank III, autograph and gave him my card so hopefully I can get an interview with him for the site. The night was over. The missus and I headed back home.

Also if you’re wondering, yes, somebody did yell “Freebird” at the show.

Check out Hank III’s official website

Hank 3’s official website