Waco's Punk Rock Past Part 5

Before we get into the drama, I want to set the stage. The Faction was playing a matinee show with Garage 34 and Hollywood Casualty at some dive bar on 25th Street. This was early 2003, I think. At that show we met someone who was trying to be a new promoter in Waco. He had just moved from south Texas, and asked if he could book us at Le Cafe. Of course we agreed. By the time we played that show, Kevin was on his hiatus, and we were playing as the three piece Fallout. When we got to the show it was chaos. There were too many bands, no schedule times, and an issue with the sound system. Thankfully a lot of us had been doing this for a long time, and pulled everything together to make the show happen. We weren't too happy about the promoter's performance though.

During that year Well Inside Out and Garage 34 went out on the road to do a skatepark tour, and record a DVD with Hero Records. Hero records was the brainchild of Dusty Saxon, he had envisioned local bands coming together and playing, touring, as well as a small record store on Austin Avenue. By the fall of 2003, WIO and G34 were ready to release new albums. Aaron was leaving for college the Monday after, so we decided to try and put on one last show with The Faction. I called Jason Jordan from WIO and asked if we could jump on their CD release for our final show. Jason immediately said yes but then told me he had to check with the promoter. The show was supposed to be at Kim's Party Place, a small spot next to Kim's Burgers. Jason calls me back about 20 minutes later to let me know that there's just not enough time. The venue was only booked for so long and they had to be out by 8pm. I figured this presented an opportunity, so I called up the Jubilee Theater, Jud from ADD, and my younger brother who had just started a new band called American Foreign.

I put together a show that would start 45 minutes after the WIO/G34 CD release show. I fronted the money so that our show could be free, and it was only a few blocks down from the CD release. Immediately the promoter began talking about how I was sabotaging his show, and how The Faction had betrayed their friends. This started a back and forth that would go on for years to come. Of course I was angry at the accusations, and I retaliated with veiled threats, and bad-mouthing. Both shows went on as planned, and both shows were a rousing success. American Foreign, playing their debut show, stripped down to their boxers, ADD put on one of the best performances I've ever seen, and we played our hearts out that night.

As that night faded into memory, I began putting together shows myself, but the animosity between the other promoter and I was growing. Soon there would be so many lies then it was hard for anyone to know what the truth really was. I can only tell my side of things, and hope to set the record straight. Sometime later the Hero Records store was shut down. I had heard it was due to the fire inspector. Rumors began to swirl that I was somehow involved in shutting down the store. This is absolutely false. I went to those shows, I supported the bands and the record store. To this day that other promoter still maintains the story that I was somehow involved. Even after trying to set the record straight and extending my hand with an apology for all I actually had done, I was turned away. This situation caused many within the scene to pick sides. It eventually tore us apart. Shows got smaller, venues stopped booking punk rock bands, and new bands stopped being formed. Believe me when I say, I regret my part in all of it.

Over the next few years Well Inside Out and Garage 34, ADD, American Culture Experiments, Lint, American Foreign, and others would continue to play, and continue to draw good crowds and play great music. In the next portion of this story, I'll talk about that awesome show in 2005, and where things went from there.