got a pretty late start on day 3...my plan to motivate on 2 hours sleep got nixed when i didn't hear my alarm and woke up at about 11am, which was when i orignially intended to be downtown. Once i was able to use the internet again, i was too busy checking up on email + plotting out the next 2 day's day parties and nighttime showcases (I lost my day party list somehow the other day)...
So I'm ready for the bus at 3pm...it arrives at 330. By the time I get to Stubb's, Vampire Weekend has just gone on for the Spin day party. I figured since I was running late, I'd have to wait in a massive line, but it was no problem getting in...probably because entrance was invite only, which discouraged those who didn't have a pass from even trying, unlike the FREE free stuff. $5 for another excellent BBQ sandwich and then I realize there are free mixed drinks...uh oh. Kinda glad I didn't get here earlier, based on how I felt after just a couple hours there...actually the free drinks stopped at 5, just as Perry Farrell introduced X...but that's also about when some industry and Missouri friends showed up, so it was all good. Why did I not take a picture of Perry? I was trying to get my Missouri friends into the party, and the way they introduced him, it sounded like he might play a set, so I thought I had time to get closer to the stage. Anyway, VW were good, but the singer's crack about getting a "Jurassic Park vibe from this place" in regards to what's probably the best non-theatre live venue in the live music capital of the world fell on deaf ears..."ah, you're all too young," he said. No, it was just not funny. There's a funny track called "Banter" on the Flight of the Conchords cd, and it's just the 2 guys talking between songs in a live setting. As silly as it sounds, that in-between song stuff can really add (or detract) from the live experience...one of the reasons I'm a big Pearl Jam fan, actually. Eddie Vedder has done his research about the venue or town or whatever they're playing, and it just makes the live experience relatable and unique for the audience. Sheesh, Vampire Weekend, work on that a bit, wouldya? And of course, a good 30-40% of the crowd left before the legendary X took the stage (they were the real deal before VW was even born), and it was my 1st time seeing them, and it was awesome! Original lineup intact, and I was able to get pretty close too!
Having met up with a couple Missouri pals at Stubb's for X, we decided a dinner plan was in order after trying unsuccessfully to get into the Levi's/Fader party. We all had wristbands, but there was another line that wasn't moving that we got sick of waiting in, plus the owner of the main clubs in Columbia emerged from the Fader party and was ready for dinner too, so we went across town and met up with some more old friends and caught up over mexican food at Guero's. By the time we got a table and ate, I had basically missed all the stuff at 8pm and 9pm, so it was onto Club De Ville to check in with the White Rabbits boys before they played their midnight set. Seems like they're riding high these days, having been signed by the guy who signed Radiohead and touring with The Walkmen and Spoon this spring. Knowing I'll see them in Norfolk soon, I decided to wander because there about 10 things I wanted to at least check out for a bit before last call at 2am...
Onto Red Eyed Fly for Land of Talk, a band I know very little about - I wrote them down on my schedule based on a little blurb I read - and they were pretty solid. Tried to wander over to MGMT at Stubb's, but even my badge wouldn't get me in because it was filled to capacity....hmmm. Didn't expect that one. Have a feeling lots of Sia and N.E.R.D. fans were in attendance waiting for them to play later at that same venue.
Wandering back up the street in anticipation of a long line for Be Your Own Pet at 11pm, there really wasn't one and I caught a bit of the band before, Tall Firs. There was a young kid in front of me in line they weren't going to let in because of her age, but her mom who was with her pointed out she was in a SXSW band, and she promised them her child wouldn't leave her side, and they got in. Not sure what band she was in...maybe Tiny Masters of Today or there's one other "kiddie" band that's making sorta punk rock waves these days whose name escapes me at the moment...anyway....pretty cool mom & kid. I wish I had been in a SXSW-accepted band and got to see J Mascis and Thurston Moore when I was 12!
Realizing there would be no problem returning later for the end of Be Your Own Pet and the start of J Mascis (who was followed by Thurston Moore, whose Ecstatic Peace label was doing the showcase that night), I walked all the way over to Pangaea, a club I hadn't been to before, to see Nicole Atkins. On the way, I had to stop for some NCAA basketball action (and to rest my legs...so much walking! plus, I can feel a cold coming on...ugh), as a restaurant had a couple of giant flat screens showing the Big 10 and Big 12 tournaments simultaneously, and both games were close with less than a minute left. As I watched through the window, sure enough, Minnesota threw the ball in the length of the court with a little more than 1 second left, and the guy hit the shot, so they upset Indiana! Ah, March Madness, I love thee...
So Nicole Atkins was pretty excellent...swanky venue with lots of couches, which seemed cool, but unfortunately meant an element of what I took to be their "regular" crowd jabbering loudly right up close to the stage. And I stood behind a photographer who had literally the brightest flash on his camera you've ever seen, and to make matters worse, kept snapping photos constantly through the set...Normally, they snap a few during the 1st couple songs and then move on, but this dude was clearly obsessed with Nicole, but it was pretty cool to get up that close in that kind of intimate setting.
Back towards 6th st. after trying to get a pic thru the fence of White Rabbits as they were setting up, but it didn't turn out. Went back to get my elusive J Mascis pic as he got ready for his midnight set. Then wandered over to Red Eyed Fly for one of my favorite new discoveries of the last year or so, Cloud Cult, not very hopeful of getting in because it's a small place and there had been a line earlier. Turns out it was no problem and I'm glad I went...strings, 4-part harmonies, and a painter on stage with the band...plus, they're very environmentally conscious with their cd packaging and touring and the area they live in Minnesota. So check em out, ok?
HEALTH was running late at Flamingo Cantina, and I didn't make it through the end of their 1st song. I kept seeing their name on cool showcases/day parties, so I thought I'd give it a shot, but it wasn't really my kinda thing, for that point in the evening anyway. They were very, um, enthusiastic though.
Heard the last minute of "Summertime Blues" from Blue Cheer emanating from the Emo's Annex, a tent across the street from the main Emo's. Too packed to get in, but you could still see and hear fairly clearly. A guy standing next to me said he'd seen em back in 1968 and we agreed it wasn't like you couldn't hear them from where we were standing...and I think I convinced him to check out Cloud Cult after he asked me what I'd seen that was cool.
By the time I made it back up to Club De Ville, I heard the last half of the last White Rabbits song, and then got to talk to my old Streetside Records co-worker Greg a little bit after. White Denim, one of Austin's most buzzed about new bands, was up next and were really good. One of my fav new bands I didn't even know about when I came down here...
Met up with Amy & Ed from Williamsburg, VA and they came through with some Zicam for my cold. Kind of odd sticking a Q-tip up your nose in the middle of the street at 1am, but hey, I didn't bring any Airborne with me!
They wanted to see N.E.R.D. at Stubb's, while I really wanted to see another one of my longtime favs I've never seen live, Joseph Arthur, so we agreed to meet up later for a possible afterparty Pete knew about. Joseph was pretty amazing, just one guy and an acoustic guitar with occassional female backup vocals. And I got there in time to see "Honey and the Moon" and "In the Sun," 2 of my favorites by him, the latter of which was covered by Michael Stipe and Coldplay for Hurricane Katrina charity relief a couple years back.
Afterparty never materialized, which was probably for the best, as I stopped into a convenience store that was thankfully open late for some Halls and OJ. As I waited for a cab outside the PureVolume afterparty that I couldn't get into, Bushwick Bill of Geto Boys fame comes strolling down the street, posse in tow, with whoever was leading the posse announcing who exactly we were in the presence of...pretty good afterparty entrance.
Cabbed it back home (can't take anymore walking), and now, I'm already getting a late start for another day of adventure that will include seeing the Breeders at the Mess With Texas 2 festival at Waterloo Park at 840pm! Will hopefully see a couple day parties beforehand, and I'm gonna try to see a Jim James (from My Morning Jacket) solo set in a church at 10pm!
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