Monday, February 20, 2006

Poor David’s Gets Kinky

By Laura Evans

DALLAS — No winter storm could keep loyal Texans, fans and animal lovers from Saturday night’s Funding Utopia "Bonefit" hosted by Kinky Friedman, the one and only Jewish rocker/politician. Poor David’s Pub was packed with a frostbitten audience ready to make contributions to the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch and anxiously awaiting performances by Kinky Friedman, Jimmy Dale Gilmore and Billy Joe Shaver, with special guests Butch Hancock and Josh Alan.

Now, as a girl in her early twenties, I must admit I felt a little out of place in the midst of all the older adults. One woman even told me how surprised she was that someone my age was there. However, as soon as the guys got on stage, my age (or theirs for that matter) was of no importance. Soon I was tapping my foot and laughing at Kinky’s jokes just like everybody else. The place came alive with country music and laughter, and it was one of the most entertaining and easy-going shows I’ve been to.

Kinky Friedman started the show with his sidekick Little Jewford (a.k.a Jeff Shelby). For those of you who have never seen Kinky and Jewford together, they make quite an interesting and hilarious pair, with Little Jewford sounding like the announcer on the Price is Right and showing off his many talents including playing three, yes three, kazoos at the same time. Oh if only I had an audio recorder as Kinky led in a sing-a-long with everyone singing lyrics like “I’m proud to be an asshole from El Paso” and “Ol’ Ben Lucas had a lot of mucus”, from his Old Testaments and New Revelations album.

Country singer Jimmy Dale Gilmore rocked the house with a few solo songs, and was later joined by songwriter Butch Hancock, fellow band member of The Flatlanders. Butch opened with a beautiful a cappella song about war and peace that instantly hushed and captivated the audience, creating a somewhat melancholy atmosphere. But the mood lightened up real quick with Jimmy and Butch performing some of The Flatlanders songs.

Billy Joe Shaver gave an energetic and fun performance, backed up by his band Diamondback Texas, with vocalist/guitarist Lanky Moore, bassist Scott Thornton, guitarist Jeremy Woodall, and drummer Randy Grimes. Billy was right at home on stage, jammin’ out with his band and entertaining the audience with a solo hoedown.

This “Bonefit” was one-of-a-kind that ended in many contributions to the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, and they definitely showed this 22 year-old a good time.

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