Henry had met the Big Boys while on tour with Black Flag in 1981 and told me that they were really nice people. I knew them only through fanzines and their Live at Raul's split LP with the Dicks, but I called Tim about playing in Austin in the summer of 1982. This was Minor Threat's second attempt at a US tour (the first ended in Madison, WI, when angry parents demanded the return of the van we were using) and we were trying to play anywhere that would have us. We drove straight to Austin from Los Angeles, crossing the desert and blowing a tire just forty miles from our destination. Tim and Beth waited for us to get in before they left for work. It struck me as immensely cool that these people would let five strangers into their house and trust them enough to leave them there alone. I remember the air conditioner because it was impossibly hot outside. The concert was at the Ritz, the shell of a theater in the middle of the nightlife strip of Austin. The Dicks opened up and I immediately realized that we were in trouble. Here on stage was this enormous man with his head completely shaved except for a baby curl sticking out from the front of his head, with him were three guys who looked like they had just escaped from some chain gang a different league altogether. I knew that we would have a difficult time getting up there after them, but nothing compared to the way I felt when the next band went on stage the almighty Big Boys. I felt humiliated, how could we play after this? The Big Boys pulled out the stops. More enormous men, decorated in jump suits, food props, great songs, a horn section, 200 friends on stage singing and dancing... we were fucked. We made it through our set, maybe it was a good one, I can't recall. I only remember the other bands. The next year we came back to Austin and did it right we opened for the Big Boys. The way it should be. -Ian MacKaye Amazing Tim Kerr video in his art studio.Well worth the watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSSny_uJRyc
Tim is so talented it is scary - musician, artist, music producer. I had the pleasure of hanging out with him on many occasions while living in Austin, Texas from '92 to '94.
My old band from Pittsburgh (Half Life) stayed with him in 1987!! My friend and I were amazed by his collection of Japanese toys. My friend got chased by a loose Doberman outside, that was fun. Tim was super cool . He had an inflatable Space Cruiser Yamato kite if I remember correctly that RULED.
