SXSW Day 4

Saturday we were up early enough to enjoy the free hot breakfast at our hotel for the very first time this week. Good day for a hot breakfast since the rainstorm that gave us 2 inches in about 2 hours made for a very cold & gloomy day. Shuttle, covention center, SXXpress passes. Stubb’s again.

Fletch had to get to Casino el Camino to set up for It’s True’s noon photo shoot. While he was waiting for his subjects, he met Casino himself. And no trip to Casino el Camino or a photo shoot that early is complete without Bloody Mary's! 

IT'S BLOODY TRUE!!

While Fletch was shooting I checked out indie band from Kansas City, Roman Numerals, before heading over to finally see Miho Wada at noon. I met them on the shuttle the first night. They were a fun little Japanese Punk Jazz band.

After all that we ended up at Galaxy for the Brooklyn Vegan showcase. Inside was psychedelic garage rock band, Crystal Antlers. The raw energy of Johnny Bell entranced me and the rest the crowd. Outside was Think About Life, a party band w/ fun, feel-good, energetic electronic pop w/ catchy anthems. On our way out Duchess Says was starting & I'd be interested in hearing more from them.

Over to Stubb’s for Rachael Ray's Feedback Festival to catch the indie folk of M.Ward & Zooey Deschanel of She & Him where we stood in the freezing cold. It was so cold & windy, I had to buy some gloves, the only pair in Austin I think.

Oh No! Have I been busted?

Nope. Not a smart phone.

Just textin' Tim McMahan to let

him know I just saw his beloved

Zooey.

Before that I sampled a tasty meatball

sub, a pulled pork sandwich & chicken

quesadilla courtesy of Rachael Ray while listening to Jakob Dylan w/ Neko Case & Kelly Hogan. In between I enjoyed the funky beats of Street Sweeper Social Club w/ Tom Morello.

Back to Galaxy w/ Jesse & Sarah. Inside was an over-flowing crowd there to see The Local Natives, an indie rock band w/ 3 harmonious singers which I really liked. Outside was psychedelic rock legend Roky Erickson backed by fellow Austinites, Okervil River. Then over to Beerland for folk rock singer/songwriter Harlan T. Bobo from Memphis.

The 4 of us spent the next hour or two at Daddy’s. We were so exhausted & needed a TIME-OUT from the cold. We invited ourselves to a table w/o even asking. Made friends with a friendly guy from Kansas that we probably could’ve chatted with the whole night.

                                                       
Off to Mi Casa to see Omaha band Thunder Power for the first time who sounded better & seemed more interesting on myspace. Maybe I was just over banded by that point. I’ll have to give them another try. Then Fletch & I caught the tail end of punk legend Excene Cervenka's folk country at Red Eyed Fly.

We got lazy so headed over to Stubb’s early to hook back up w/ Jesse & Sarah, but not in time for Minus The Bear. Next was 80’s sounding pop band, The Drums, which again I like better on myspace.They just kinda had a weird stage presence. Progresseive indie rock band, Circa Survive, was next.

We were too busy making a pizza on our pizza stone, the only flat surface in Austin, w/ new friend Allie, to enjoy either of these bands. A flat disc that fit 3 people comfortably. If any passerby's stepped on our stone, Allie would scare most away by asking if their feet were hot. If confused, she'd say "you just stepped on our pizza stone". This seemed to really upset one girl who told Allie, "No it's not, bitch!" & insisted on standing on our stone for about 2 minutes. We just sent her some cheesy energy until she left. We really needed Marq Manner. Instead, Allie & Liz turned into terrorists. The rest of the time they were perfectly pleasant napkin faces.

Seriously though, it was the only flat surface in Austin. All the bars in Austin had uneven pavement, dirt floors, gravel lots or steep hills for floors. Dancing on that sucks! And that is why my feet & legs were killing me, not from bad shoes or walking 10 times my required 10,000 steps a day.

We had fun singing "Oompa Loompa doompety doo, I've got another pizza for you!" But after what seemed like hours, we got bored with the pizza and moved up close and "cut it up" as we all danced our asses off to an awesome festival ending show by glam rock disco band & fashionistas, Scissor Sisters!
 
Although I had an awesome time, I feel I failed terribly at SXSW. I blew it on researching which bands I wanted to see before hand. I didn’t really figure out day showcases until the end. I relied on others opinions & that‘s always a mistake for me. At other festivals I figure out which bands I’m going to see when & how long I can I stay before moving on to the next. I usually do a pretty good job keeping up w/ my planned schedule. And I didn’t get to see my celebrity boyfriend, Matthew McConaughey, who was actually at a few of the same places I was & didn‘t realize it. So I didn’t see nearly as much as I thought I would. Next year I am going to attack SXSW!!