The Time I Threw A Sandwich at Hank III


Well, it was more of a toss, but . . .”

At freehank3.org, I have a saying: It’s not about me, it’s about III. But I’m making an exception because this is a funny ass story.

I had totally forgotten about that night until I got a friend request from a great Australian band called Wild Turkey . In their friend request they put that they’d seen Hank III in Alburquerque and that it was a crazy night, and I thought, “Shit, I was at that show,” and it WAS a crazy night.

It all started off a few days before the show. I was writing for another blog, and like a good Hank III apostle I was telling everybody why he’s such a great musician and why his music is so important, and that I was going to a show in a few days. Then at the end of the blog, I’m still not sure why, I said, “And I’m going to throw a sandwich at him.”

Still to this day I have no idea where the idea came from, or truly what the hell it means, but I got the idea to throw a sandwich at Shelton Hank Williams III, and it seemed like a good one at the time.

Now normally when you talk about ‘throwing’ something at somebody, it implies an act of violence or anger towards that person, but that is not what all of this is about. In my wacked rationale, I saw throwing a sandwich at him as a sign of respect, admiration, and gratitude. In fact since then I’ve decided I want to throw sandwiches at ALL my music heroes if I get a chance. I see it as like a kind of gonzo Hunter S. Thompson way of showing the highest amount of respect towards someone: throw a perfectly good sandwich at them.

And yes, I was warned then by blog readers and I know now, throwing shit at people on stage is a great way to get kicked out of a place, hurt someone, or even end up in jail. First, that’s why the throw became more of a toss, but hey, if I get kicked out, that’s part of the territory.

So on my way to The Lauchpad in Alburquerque, NM I stopped at a 7-11 and got one of those pre made sandwiches and smuggled it in in the leg of my jeans. That night was insane. I don’t know if it was a full moon or what, but everybody was going crazy, including me with my ham & cheese hand grenade.

The place was out of control. If you were at the Lauchpad that night, you were in the mosh pit, like it or not. The whole place was moshing even before Hank III took the stage. When Shelton came out the place went nuts. Someone broke a huge plate glass tempered window, and glass came showering down all over the crowd. Still don’t know how they did it, because most of those windows you can’t even shoot out. So the there glass all over everyone and all over the floor. People then are just smashing their beer bottles on the floor. The ground is like this carpet of glass and beer.

If you don’t believe me about all this shit, check out Wild Turkey’s blog about it. Those dudes almost got arrested that night. I’m telling you, it was one of the most raucous music scenes I’ve ever been a part of.

So right after Punch, Fight, Fuck, I find myself on the back side of the two huge bouncers trying to do everything from keeping the place erupting into an all out brawl, and I think “This is my chance.” So I whip the sandwich out, and since I was pretty damn close to the stage, I favor more of a tossing motion than a throw.

I’ve never been too good at horseshoes, and I was a little off. I saw Hank III pick up something flying through the air, but then he looked away in the dim light, like he thought it was just being tossed in the air and not at him. I saw it bounce off the bottom part of the body of his Guild, bounce off the top of the monitor speaker, and do a gainer into the crowd to be demolished. I don’t think Shelton even knew what happened.

Then I turn around, and one of those HUGE corn-fed bouncers is starring down RIGHT AT ME! I didn’t even think, I just dashed toward the exit as fast as I could through the thick crowd. But when I got to the door, the bouncer either forgot about me, or hadn’t seen me do my deed in the first place.

So I jump back into the mosh pit, and after the show, Hank III signed my white trash hat:

So leave comments and kudos if you want, but I also want to hear your crazy Hank III concert stories. I’ve heard some before so I know they’re out there.

Oh, and if you’re wondering when Hank III might be touring again, you can read THIS BLOG but long story short, I don’t see much point in him touring until the new album comes out Oct. 21st. I’ll keep you posted.

Lawyers Note: No grandsons of country music legends were hurt during the writing of this blog or the events it depicts. Nor do we here at freehank3.org condone throwing anything at Shelton Hank Williams III.

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