Filed under: Austin, entertainment, events, music | Tags: austin music festivals, bay area take-over party, cedar street courtyard, cold war kids, Datarock, filter party, flosstradamus, lisa hannigan, N.A.S.A., ra-ra-riot, SXSW 2009, SXSW 2009 video, Wallpaper, white lies
It was a great weekend to be in Austin. Temps were in the low 80’s during the day and high 60’s at night. The sun was out, the sky was clear, there were people from all over the world strolling the streets and the downtown was alive with music.
2009 was my first real attempt to “do” SXSW. I studied the party lists, RSVP’ed to every event possible, studied up on bands I wanted to see and in general went out of my way to take advantage of the fact that 1,800 bands were converging in this town for 4 short days of intense shows. On Thursday I saw Themselves & Wallpaper at the Beauty Bar, followed by the Cold War Kids at Auditorium Shores. Friday started at lunchtime, where Lisa Hannigan was playing a show at B.D. Riley’s (thanks to Beth for introducing me to her music!). After work I went to Radio Room to see Ra-Ra-Riot, and then headed down to Cedar Street to catch some of the White Lies show. Saturday I rode my motorcycle downtown to catch two afternoon shows: Flosstradamus & N.A.S.A. at the Filter Party. Saturday evening we said goodbye to SXSW with a major dance-off at the hip new club at 2nd & Lavaca – Malverde. The Norwegian band Datarock came out to spin a DJ set for a few hours following their preformance with Devo & Tricky at Austin Music Hall. It was pretty amazing… the event was way under-advertised and I don’t think many people realized who was spinning for them.
My favorite shows from the weekend were Wallpaper & Ra-Ra-Riot. I had a blast at the Datarock show, but the experience was marred when I slipped on the dancefloor and cracked my head. Not their fault, I know. But I still blame their amazing spinning skillz.
as seen shortly before the concussion...
The N.A.S.A show was one of the more ridiculous performances (besides the Wallpaper show, which I posted about previously). I’ll leave you with a few images and video clips from the weekend… and my apologies for the poor video quality.
Filed under: Austin, entertainment, events, music | Tags: Austin music, austin music festivals, Black Gold, champagne champagne, Datarock, do it to it 2009 rsvp, N.A.S.A., Passion Pit, pure volume party, sxseattle party, SXSW 2009, SXSW RSVPs, sxsw shows, the bay area takeover party, the lose control party
SXSW is coming to Austin soon, and once again I find myself both excited and befuddled by the event.
ACL is so much easier. Buy one ticket for the day or buy one ticket for the whole weekend. Go to one location, see music.
Maybe the weirdness is what makes SX a true Austin experience.
Here is my conundrum: with a purchased wristband, a person can get in to see any number of shows at any number of venues. Without a wristband, a person can still get in to see shows. So here’s where the mystery begins: without a wristband you risk not being able to get into a show (wristbands get first priority). In some cases, you need to RSVP to the shows to even be considered for entry without a wristband. Some shows don’t need RSVP’s. But some shows do. How do you know which ones will need RSVP’s and which ones won’t? Darn if I know. So my theory this year has been to RSVP for every known show and party.
Current RSVP’s (and links to get there):
Pure Volume: http://www.purevolume.com/thehouse
Do It To It 2009: http://www.burlesquedesign.com/doittoit/
SxSeattle: http://ultra8201.blogspot.com/2009/02/sxsw-2009-sxseattle-day-party-321-rsvp.html
The Bay Area Takeover: http://ultra8201.blogspot.com/2009/01/sxsw-2009-bay-area-takeover-party-rsvp.html
The Lose Control Party: http://www.losecontrolparty.com/
I’ve got a list of bands I’d really really really like to see. I’m not sure if I’m going to get to see them (see above wristband/RSVP system confusion). Obviously, I need more practice at this SXthing. If I get my every music wish, I’ll get to check out:
Champagne, Champagne @ Red Eyed Fly (Wednesday 03/18 @ 8:00)
N.A.S.A. @ Emo’s Annex (Thursday 03/19 @ 10:00)
Passion Pit @ Emo’s Main Room (Thurdsay, 03/19 @ 12:00)
Datarock @ Emo’s Annex (Thursday, 03/19 @ 1:00) <— this is obviously going to make for a rough Friday morning…
Black Gold @ Prague (Saturday, 03/21 @ 9:00)
Anyone know of any other RSVP’s I’m missing? Please tell me. I’m clueless over here…
Filed under: gadgets, lifestyle, music | Tags: found electronics, found ipod, ipod, ipod mini, lost & found, lost ipod, pink ipod mini
My Ipod Mini resurfaced today!!!
“Skinny Mini” had been gone for so long that I can’t even remember when I lost her. I’m pretty sure it happened last October, when I went home to Pennsylvania for Kimmi & Drew’s wedding. Though I could never place the exact time when she went missing, I was fairly certain that some punk kid in the airport had swiped her from me. As far as I was concerned, Skinny Mini was gone forever.
Then today, a miracle happened! I was out at Auditorium Shores doing some site reconnaissance for an upcoming project we’re working on, when I reached into a side pocket of my dorky, ill-used ASLA laptop bag for my camera. And lo and behold, there was my pink ipod mini. I’d looked through that bag countless numbers of times since it went missing, and I have no idea how I’d overlooked it each time.
This couldn’t have come at a better time – my roommate and I are throwing a big party next weekend (ps, you’re all invited). All week I’d considered throwing down some money for a new Ipod so that I could have portable tunes for the weekend. And now, thanks to my random decision to carry that bag this morning, I’ll have portable music without buying any new electronics. Brilliant!
Filed under: arts, entertainment, movies, music | Tags: 13th floor elevators, Austin music, documentary, drug culture in music, music, music history, musicians on LSD, roky erickson, you're gonna miss me
magazine cover, from www.rokyericson.net
I haven’t written in a bit – it’s been kinda hectic around here. After recovering from my rowdy weekend in Philly, my dad came into town this past weekend. We had a good time. I felt sort of bad because I didn’t have a whole lot lined up for us to do, so we spent a lot of time sitting around & chatting. Even after all that relaxing, I’m still feeling a little blah so last night I went home and did something I don’t usually do: sat on the couch and watched a movie.
Frankly, I didn’t know a lick about Roky Erickson or the 13th Floor Elevators until my couch-sit last night. Now today I feel like maybe I know too much…
This documentary follows Roky from childhood through his musical career with the 13th Floor Elevators. There is a lot to be learned in 94 minutes of film. I picked up a bit of pop music history, saw a little of Austin’s past, and learned a lesson or two on how LSD can completely and permanently rearrange the insides of a human’s brain.
The great thing about this film is that it’s available on Time-Warner cable’s free movies on demand (Channel 1002, offered under Sundance Channel’s listings). So, if you’re in the Austin area and subscribe to Time-Warner, chances are you can go home tonight and watch this film for free. It’s disturbing at times, but incredibly interesting and inspirational (when it isn’t depressing).
