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On this page I'll include reviews of the shows I've seen by this band, both recently and in years past. I'll also include reviews that others send me.

Frank Erwin Center-Poste by Mike

I left for the Frank Erwin Center directly from work knowing there wasn't much
time between the end of work and the beginning of Monte's performance. Rush
hour in Austin isn't a lot of fun and free parking is rather tough to find in
the center of town so I elected to arrive early and grab a quick meal before
the show. I could see a large group of spreadheads tailgating in the arena
parking lot as I drove by. I met Deborah and Kyle out front waiting for the
doors to open at 6 p.m.

Once inside, I walked down to the floor to find my seat and to survey the arena
layout for the show. The venue looked huge compared to the cozy little clubs
I've seen Monte play in previously. The stage was gigantic yet totally filled
with instrumentation and sound equipment. But there in the front center of the
stage was Monte and band's stuff tightly nestled. As I looked around, I could
only find FEC staff and stage hands preparing for the show. No one was there.
Finally Maggie came my way, charming and gracious as ever, excited about the
night and what the future may hold for her son. She said Monte was noticeably
nervous backstage but pumped to be playing the FEC for the first time. Shortly
there after, the Fox New crew filmed interviews with Laurie, Maggie, Carla,
Terry, Janet and others prior to the show. Amazing few people were inside with
Monte and the band about to take the stage in only a few minutes. Phil Bass
walked by and said to me, "At least you'll be here to cheer." I must admit to
being rather disappointed that few of us were present when Monte stated playing
1st and Repair promptly at 7 p.m. We did take advantage of the opportunity to
walk right up to the front seats to watch the band at close range. What a
strange feeling it was to feel the power of the amps vibrating my entire body
and hearing Monte's voice and guitar reverberating inside the arena. It was
surrealistic.

Monte indeed seemed nervous at the start of the show. He was unusually
stationary and didn't speak a word prior to initiating the set. But it didn't
take long for Monte to respond to the rousing cheers of his family, friends,
and major league fans that came to see him on this occasion. By the end of
their set, a fairly good sized crowd had assembled up front to see Monte and
the band up close. I'll say this, the guys sounded great and give a heck of an
effort for those of us that made the effort to be there. Their performance had
to have been the quickest 45 minutes I've spend in recent memory as it was over
far too soon. This being the only time I've seen Monte open for anyone, I now
can appreciate the feelings expressed by others "not getting enough Monte" from
an abbreviated opening performance. All and all I'd say the band had a great
experience playing the biggest venue in Austin. Did they got the exposure we'd
all hope for, probably not with the spreadheads fans, but I think they scored
some major points with the local media and national music industry. Here's to
hoping the time is short before Monte and band are the main attraction at the
big venues across this great land.

Mike