When Centro-matic and Slobberbone perform at Gypsy Tea Room or Curtain Club in Dallas, or Dan's Bar or Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios in Denton, they play to decent crowds, sometimes packed houses, but getting into one of their shows is usually not that big of a deal. When they travel to Austin or Houston, they might have a good show or they might pull in only 100 people. The rest of the country, well, let's just say it's hit-and-miss. And the same goes for most other local bands that have dared to get in the van and take their rock show on the road. In Europe, however, Centro-matic and Slobberbone are practically stars; if one of their shows doesn't sell out well in advance, it'll probably be sold out by the time they take the stage. And Amsterdam is the best place of all. They play to festival crowds over there, and they get police escorts so they can make it to the next venue in time. In short, it's the perfect world, home to the kind of audience we've always thought Centro-matic and Slobberbone and a ton of other local groups deserved. They get prime radio exposure in Amsterdam--VPRO Radio recorded one of Centro-matic's live shows for broadcast on the station and recently paid for the Nourallah Brothers to fly there and record as well--and a documentary crew came to Denton last year to film Centro-matic in its home environment. Maybe this sounds like the false promise of the "big in Japan" non-endorsement, but being big somewhere is much better than being unappreciated everywhere else.