Butch Walker Withdrawal and Renewal

Finally re-energized after the mercifully short period of lowdown blues that slammed into Bibi the week after seeing Butch perform three times in five days.

But, like the Rolling Stones say, that's all over now; the blues, that is.  Bibi keeps remembering:  man, what a roller coaster rush that week was!   Did spend a short time in the dumps thinking about not being able to speak when Butch signed the motorcycle magazine,

but finally told myself:  whatever!  You did speak when you (finally) met Angus and think about how great and memorable that was for both of you.  LOL

What does Bibi owe the renewed enrgy to?  She's gotten to do some things she loves to do.  Like, talk about: 

• Butch Walker,
• the wonderful "Week of 3 Shows (March 11-15)",
• Butch Walker's music, his voice, his rock star qualities,
• the set lists in Dallas and in Austin at SXSW,
• SXSW 2013 as one of the best Spring Breaks ever.  Right up there with the Spring Break in Paris with my favorite person on earth.
• the development, reveal, and gifting to a select few of the new and best ever, Butch Walker Mixtape IX*

One might ask:  did/does Bibi ever experience a sense of surfeit of Butch Walker?  What a question!  With only one response:  NO!  Really, how could that be possible?  It's not like Butch has shows every day, has frequent mentions on the web, tv or radio.  Even his tweets have become few and not so frequent.  (This is something Bibi actually thinks is good, or at least okay.  Could mean that Butch is too busy working on the upcoming album to be tweeting about the weather where he is, his latest stop at Starbucks, his current favorite cat video.)  A key element for the fan-star set up to exist successfully requires a scarcity on the part of the star. It's basic economics:  if the commodity is scarce, or rare, the consumer wants more of it, waits for it with great anticipation and is willing to pay when it becomes available.  Butch Walker fans are just lucky that he doesn't make us pay high prices to see him; just requires us to wait, wait, wait....  From a marketing standpoint, "[he knows] how hard it is to be the easiest thing to love" and that fans are willing to wait as well as willing to continue as fans.  Butch is definitely worth it!

Bibi doesn't understand how she could have thought that she might not follow the summer tour.  Cats!  Who can understand their labyrinthine thought processes?  (woohoo--check out the big brain on Bibi!)  Sure, she can't be stalker-like about it, make the entire tour, but hopefully some short stints on both coasts.  Bibi realizes there's no chance Butch will come back to Texas and that's fine.  Who wants to go to Amarillo or Corpus Christi during the summer?  Can't imagine that Butch's management team has stats that would back up a tour schedule so bizarre as that. 

Anyway, Bibi has a renewed sense of purpose:  let as many as possible know about Butch Walker, his music, his talents.  Have already given out three copies of BWM IX, made a new supply of the BW cards.  Going to a possibly cool party on Saturday; hoping to let new people know about the one, the only, the truly remarkable and talented, Butch Walker.  I know.  How could it be a cool party if Bibi's invited?  Ha, ha, ha.

Love you, Butch!

*She Likes Hair Bands Bodegas and Blood
Summer of '89
Sweethearts
Day Drunk
Synthesizers
The Closest Thing to You
Bullet Belt
Sucker Punched
Mixtape
Race Cars and Goth Rock
The Weight of Her
Here Comes the...
Ponce de Leon Ave.
Oooh...Aaah...
Hot Girls in Good Moods
Bethamphetamine (Pretty Pretty)
When Canyons Ruled the City
Maybe It's Just Me
Pretty Melody
The 3 Kids in Brooklyn

Butch Walker Rocked Us in Dallas AND in Church!

Bibi has been dragging her dainty little paws in letting y'all know about Butch's performance in Dallas on Monday--what can I say:  I come from race cars and Goth rock....  Yes, it's a wonder and a curse:  responding to almost any comment with lyrics from a BW song.  Really, though, it was SO INTENSE!  The venue, the Kessler was set up with very limited seating around the edge of the room and most of us standing. Believe it or not:  I was at the front of the stage, Butch was standing in front of me!!!  Possibly, some of his sweat fell on me during the show. lol Just let me say:  BUTCH KILLED IT!!!  It was Bibi's expectation and Butch satisfied.  On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, Butch scored at least 17!

He looked fabulous, of course, sleeveless vest over white undershirt, jeans, lace up boots.  Looks like he got a haircut that clipped the hair on the sides really close.  Said it before:  Butch has the best hair in rock!  And one of the great guitar acts!  Although, when he first came out, he sang Cigarette Lighter Love Song (!)  a capella.  
Beautiful voice, Butch Walker

Butch has such a fantastic voice, it was so beautiful!  Here's how close I was: I could see the set list taped to the floor in front of Butch! It wasn't much different from the December 30 show at the Double Door, except he started with Cigarette Lighter Love Song (Butch loves that song and I'm SO happy he included it.  It wasn't written on the set list--Joan was and didn't get sung.) 
Another difference from the Chicago show was the  duet from the new album with Nikki Lane (she was the opening act with Odessa didn't get her last name).

As usual, he was at the keyboard for ATL--I have really come to love that song--then he played guitar by himself for the next couple of songs.  The rest of the band joined him for the remainder of the show, starting with the middle of Closer to the Truth --excellent way to showcase his phenomenal talent:  voice, guitar, keyboard, AND his great rockin' band.

Getting confused, so here are the songs he sang:

Cigarette Lighter Love Song
ATL
Passed Your Place, Saw Your Car
Race Cars and Goth Rock
Battle/War (with Nikki Lane)
Going Back/Going Home
Closer to the Truth
Pretty Melody
Let It Go Where It's Supposed To
Dublin Crow
The Weight of Her
The Closest Thing to You
I've Been Waiting for This
Synthsizers
Hair Bands
Summer of '89
End of the World
The 3 Kids in Brooklyn
Sucker Punched

He was so personable, joking about forgetting lyrics, musing on his long absence from Dallas, and attuned to the really exuberant crowd.  WE LOVED HIM! 

Got to stand in a crowd in front of Butch after the show and have him autograph his motorcyle magazine cover!  (He was wearing a cowboy hat!)  He was so sweet to everyone who spoke to him or gave him something to sign. 

However, once again, in the presence of greatness, that happens to be combined with total hot-ness, Bibi could not formulate actual words to say to Butch.  Talk about a case of being Butch-struck!   

Then, Thursday night at SXSW in Austin---Butch totally brought the house, er, church, DOWN!!  Bibi was so happy to see a very Butch-friendly, slightly wild (for being in a church) crowd at the show, especially since it was 1 am.


I had been worried that I wouldn't be able to get a ticket for the show, but things worked out very well.  Met some people, including PinkSparkle from Twitter and her dad and a friend.  Very nice fans!  Since the venue was unusual, Bibi had some concerns, but once Butch got started and the fans warmed up--as you know they would with Butch singing and playing--the church was rocking! Not sure the church authorities wanted that, but Butch Walker fans are incorrigible and once you get the Butch spirit, well, it takes over.  If, for God, it's all about making a joyful noise, He certainly heard that on Thursday night, ahem, Friday morning.

Given the time constraints, it was a short set, but totally Butch, i.e., great:

ATL
Passed Your Place, Saw Your Car
Going Back, Going Home
Closer to the Truth and Further from the Sky
Pretty Melody
one of the new songs
The Closest Thing to You
new song
Synthesizers
3 Kids in Brooklyn--starting to really like this song

Bibi got back to Round Rock really late, about 4 am, so today has been laid back.  A really beautiful sunny day, so went to the famous Round Rock Donuts (pretty good stuff!) and to the Round Rock geologic formation--yes, there's a round rock in the stream/river that runs through Round Rock.

Thinking a power nap would really be a good idea before heading back into Austin.  I had heard there would be a lot of people, but it's monumental, really!  Reminded me of crowd scenes in The Ten Commandments or other bibilical proportion movies.  SXSW is a truly immense production.  Hope Bibi can get into the venue tonight (Vice Bar), but the line up is impressive:  along with Butch, the two acts following him are well-known, with the last act (added late?) being Fall Out Boy!  So, we will see.  Paws crossed!

Love you, Butch!  Fantastic couple of shows this week!