South by South West - Messing with Texas (part 2)

Thursday 18th March

On Thursday Allo Darlin' had an early show at Waterloo Cycles, a small bike shop located north of central Austin. With too many of us to fit in a normal taxi, I decided to take the bus and walk to the venue. It turned out to be quite a trek, but it was a lovely afternoon and walking is such a great way to get your head around a city.

I got to Waterloo Cycles just in time to see Standard Fare.

There really is something special about this band. Every single song on their album is great and live they're just so charming and sweet and well...just great.

Allo Darlin were on next and again, they played a great set. Again, there wasn't a huge amount of people there, but the people that were there seemed to appreciate it.



The sun was shining, there was free beer....what else could you ask for? More music! The Lovely Eggs were up next and despite having been promised a drum kit, there was none to be seen. They're not really a band that would let a minor thing like that stop them and they soon managed to collect some bits and pieces for a makeshift drum kit of sorts.

The band was great as usual and I don't think the crowd knew quite what hit them. Again, I tried to convince them to play Tyrannosaurus Rex For Christmas, but they weren't having it. I guess I'm just going to have to wait until they play a December show somewhere.

After they finished we made our way into town. Me and Elizabeth rushed off to catch Say Hi (formerly Say Hi To Your Mom) who was playing a solo show. I absolutely love this guy, but was a bit disappointed to see him play his whole set on acoustic guitar, rather than the usual warm synthy keyboard malarky. He played a few old songs, including Let's Talk About Space Ships, and it was just nice to hear some music that wasn't loud for a change.

Eric Elbogen of Say Hi
In the evening it was time for the Cakeshop/Slumberland Records showcase and I headed over early to make sure I got in. Summer Cats were on as I arrived and they were quite fun.

Frankie Rose and The Outs were up next. Frankie Rose is the drummer from Dum Dum Girls and her own band does a similar(ish) thing, but with ALOT more reverb. Fuzzy 60's style girl-pop with bucketloads of harmonies.


Frankie Rose and the Outs
They were followed by Grass Widow, who I really like and was very excited about seeing live. More of that fuzzy reverby girl pop that is so popular at the moment, but with a rockier edge to it. Their new album is a cracker and well worth checking out.

Grass Widow
Eventually, it was time for the headliners of the evening, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. By now the place was mobbed and it was great atmosphere. The Pains get better and better every time I see them and it was just a great show.


The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

Saturday 20th March

The final day of SxSW, this was always goning to be a busy one. Allo Darlin' had three shows lined up, the first of which was at the British Music Embassy at noon. Despite the early start the place was busy. The promise of a free bar and free food always ensures a good crowd.

Allo Darlin' played an amazing set, probably the best I've ever seen them do. Everything was just spot-on and the crowd loved it.

Fortuna POP! head honcho Sean with Kip and Alex from The Pains at the British Music Embassy

Four bloody Marys later I left the British Music Embassy and headed down to far east of 6th Street, where Adam Green and Let's Wrestle were meant to be playing. Unfortunately, they were having technical difficulties to say the least. Both the PA speakers and the monitrs had blown and theyr were running several hours behind.

But all was not lost. Instead we found The Vivian Girls playing an acoustic set in a tiny room.

I've only ever seen them once before and that was an insanely loud show at The Old Blue Last, so it was nice to actually be able to hear their melodies for once.

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking across town trying to catch Math The Band, only to find out that they had cancelled. Instead, we watched a sweet band called Candy Claws playing outside in the freezing cold.

Made a second attempt at seeing Dum Dum Girls, this time at a small venue called Spider House. Luckily, the cold must have been keeping people away, so we were actually able to see the band....and they sounded just as great as they looked.

The busy and freezing afternoon soon turned into an equally busy and cold evening. Allo Darlin' played their final Austin show, this time at a Mexican restaurant. The band was great as usual, but the crowd was mainly there to have their Saturday dinner, so there was not much of an atmosphere.

In the evening it was time for the closing night party, again at the British Music Embassy. Hosted by MOshi Moshi Records, it featured Best Fwends, Still Flyin', The Wave Pictures and Slow Club.

Dave from The Wave Pictures

Slow Club

It was just a brilliant way to finish off an already great week. All the bands were great and Still Flyin' joined Slow Club on stage for a big sing-along to finish off the evening.

That's it really....we went home to catch some sleep and on sunday morning it was time to say goodbye to Texas.


I'm pretty sure I'll be back next year....

South by South West - Messing with Texas (part 1)

Sooo, the original plan was to keep a day-by-day SxSW diary, but...well...that just didn't happen. Internet cafes seem to be a dying breed these days and there was just too much going on all the time. There was a computer in my hotel, but with a beyond sucky connection speed and a maximum fifteen minute usage policy, it proved pretty hopeless.

Instead, this is a sort of mega post...well, two mega posts....covering most of the fun that went down in Austin over the past week.

Sunday 14th March

I arrived in Austin after the first Greyhound bus experience of my life. Most of the weirdos in Houston seem to gather around the coach station, so it was an "interesting" way to start the day. I also realised that vegetarians aren't really that well catered for in Texas, so my first American breakfast consisted of Doritos and a bottle of water.

The interactive branch of SxSW was still in full swing, so the city was literally mobbed with bloggers, web developers and other electronic geeks. Maybe it was just because I was on my own and had no idea of where to go, but at first Austin was a bit intimidating. Hordes of people everywhere, rushing between festival parties and seminars. It was just a bit full on. Anyway, completely by accident I stumbled across a poster saying that Jad Fair was in town, not for SxSW, but playing a show in small theatre hall along with some other bands. BINGO! Jad is a bit of a personal hero of mine, so this was a most excellent way to start off the week in Austin.

Jad Fair doing his thing
The Salvage Vanguard Theatre is quite far away from most of the festival action, but eventually I found my way there. I met a bunch of lovely people, saw some hideously bizarre support act (the less said the better....really) and eventually Mr Fair and Co hit the stage. I'm not too familiar with his solo stuff, but it didn't really matter. He played Secret, which is my favorite Half Japanese song, so all was well in the world...and suddenly Austin didn't seem so bad.


Monday 15th March is a bit of a blur. Not quite sure what I did. Sun, beer etc. Haha. Maybe I will add something later.

Tuesday 16th March

Another day of exploring the city, this time in the rain. Went to the Highland Mall, which was an intensely depressing experience - the ultimate symbol of America in a recession. It was a completre ghost mall, with shop assistant far outnumbering the shoppers.

The best thing about Austin during SxSW is all the unofficial parties and events going on. The whole town goes music crazy and people turn their shops, restaurants and even houses into venues for the week. I found a place called House of Guys, which was literally some guys' house and they were putting on a bunch of bands in the evening.

The Fungi Girls at House of Guys
Since this was the evening Allo Darlin' arrived in Austin I didn't have time to see much, but managed to catch a band called The Fungi Girls. It was quite an experience watching a couple hundred people trying to crowd into a living room.

The Fungi Girls myspace

Wednesday 17th March

The first proper day of SxSW music. Allo Darlin arrived safely and we spent most of the day registering, getting wristbands, catching up and drinking free bar at some Brooklyn Lager party. In the evening it was time for their official showcase, at a venue called The Tap Room at Six.


The band was in good form and showed no signs of jet lag. The venue wasn't the most exciting of places, but the gig still went down well. It was the first time I'd seen a full Allo Darlin set with Greg on bass and it was nice to see him being so into it and fitting in so well with the rest of the band.

Paul and Elizabeth at Allo Darlin's official showcase gig

Thursday 18th March

The first really busy day and the sun was shining again. Started off by heading to the far east of 6th Street to see Slow Club. They were in good spirits, but weren't having much luck with their gear. The amp kept breaking down, drum kit kept falling apart. In the end they just gave up and finished off their set acoustically.


After Slow Club we headed over to the lawn party at the French Legation Museum. We had some free beer, listened to The Antlers in the background, before heading back to 6th again to catch Quasi playing at a parking lot.

Sam and Janet were in great form and played an amazing set. I haven't managed to get hold of the new album yet, but from what I heard it should be ace.

When they finished we headed back to the lawn party to see if could see some of Dum Dum Girls. By now, the place was completely mobbed and it proved impossible to see much of the band....or to get to the free beer.

In the evening I met up with some old friends from Sweden and convinced them to come along to see Japanther. Their show was at 1am and by then the free beer and free pour tequila was making itself known.

Japanther are always great live and despite the show being in a shitty lounge bar, they gave it all they. Hmmm...I really don't remember much after this show, but somehow I managed to get home. Yay.

To be continued....