The Roky Road To Austin

I'm at La Zona Rosa on 4th Street, watching a legend from Austin play before his home crowd. It's Roky Erikson and he's singing I Walked With Zombie, with feeling. This is the guy who released some pioneering psych journeys with the 13th Floor Elevators, sketching out the potential for the San Francisco bands and for many other classicists like Primal Scream who covered Slip Inside This House on their Screamadelica set.

Roky was famously hospitalized in 1969, put away in a joint for the criminally insane. Later he would claim that his body had been invaded by Martians and in truth, many thought that he was permanently lost in space.

Happily though, the Roky rehabilitation has been steady since 2005 and in his latest guise, he's accompanied by Okkervill River, a band that are clearly sympathetic of his art and mindful of his situation. There is much love in the place as Rocky steps out in a tangerine shirt and plays hesitantly. But the night builds and the happiness is apparent. We miss Alex Chilton, but are glad that Roky is still essentially with us.