meh, either way: i have found nirvana, and it is called pandora

The Roots are killing it on the new Jimmy Fallon show (wish I could say the same for the actual comedy).

The Dead Weather

March 29: Eli Paperboy Reed
March 31: The Hold Steady
April 4: The Bad Plus

Bonnie Prince Billy on Sat. nite. hope he plays some new stuff..

If anyone on here likes the experimental / jazz / metal thing, Secret Chiefs 3 are solid.

3/21 dean and britta (former galaxie 500 / luna) performing to warhol’s screen tests
3/31 bonnie prince billy at the fillmore!!!!
4/11 neko case

recently saw juana molina, listening to her albums all the time

I’ll be in Austin next Friday and Saturday with a couple of buddies from college. Flying out of NYC Tuesday morning, hitting the beach in Galveston for a few days, then road tripping to Austin.

  Going to be at Rachel Ray’s party Friday afternoon (yea, I know) to see the Hold Steady. Friday night we are definitely seeing White Denim, and Saturday we are probably at the Miami Horror show, although it’s all up in the air.

If anyone wants to meet up let me know.

Gonna re-read this one real soon and get some ideas for new shit!

and it’s really growing on me. I feel like this site is making me into an indie kid.

So, we camped on the peach at Padre Island for a few days and emerged burnt and ready for action on Friday afternoon in Austin.

Immediately got into the swing of things in Austin by riding our bikes from our friend’s (very nice I might add) house to downtown. Immediate impressions of Austin were “wow this is Texas?” and “I wish I went to school in a town this cool”.

Lots of different people out and about, anything from skater tweens to hippy grandparents to Southern gents in sport coats and khakis — even a few cowboy hats.

First stop after dinner at some noodle joint (very good but can’t remember the name) was the Scoot Inn were Mayer Hawthorne and the County were playing a set. Show was in the beer garden out back. Very nice on the perfect mid 70’s night.

If you haven’t heard of Mayer don’t worry, not many people have. The Ann Arbor native plays a mix of neo-soul and doowop. He played all his recorded songs (so far only 6) and a couple of motown covers before signing off.

Lots of Tigers caps and Detroit gear in the crowd. Good show and Hawthhorne is certainly one of the bands to watch for ’09. He should have at least an EP ready soon. You can check it out at Stones Throw records.

After that we rolled over to see White Denim on 6th street. Now, White Denim plays rock music, but it’s like sweaty, indie, eclectic rock music. Think the Hold Steady except 20 years younger and with more sweat and dancing. The Austin natives put on one of the most mind blowing (and eardrum wrecking) shows I’ve ever been a part of. I’ve been to some great shows, but the combination of the small tent venue, being in their hometown, and the general SWSX vibe was hard to beat.

After the White Denim show we wondered around aimlessly among an absolute sea of drunk people until about 4am when we rolled home on the bikes, tired and wobbly we made it home.

Saturday came around, once again with perfect sunny weather and temps in the low 80’s. The goal of the early afternoon was to see The Hold Steady at the Rachel Ray party, and then find a BBQ spot and then a sports bar to watch the UM game.

The Hold Steady show was impossible to get into without standing in a line sweeping all the way down two blocks. Screw that. BBQ mission though was accomplished. If you’re ever in Austin and are looking for a quick bite of some fantastic and unpretentious BBQ, check out Iron Works slightly south of Downtown.

The $15 dollar plate of pork ribs, potato salad, pickles, unions, and beans was the perfect start to the night. Full pickled jalapenos on the way to the table was a great touch and added some spice to the meat.

We rolled over to a sports bar to watch UM get hammered by the officials and succumb to Oklahoma. Good atmosphere with several rowdy Purdue fans repping the B10.

Afterwards we crossed the river and checked out the Erykah Badu show. We got their late and she only played 2 songs. Waited in long lines to see her, albeit they moved quickly. Later we heard a stalker at her hotel had caused the delay in her performance and that she only had time to do 2 songs.

After that we tried to get into to the Rosebuds show but could not. Settled for seeing some hip hop at a pool hall and spent the night finishing up around Austin, ducking in and out of lesser known free shows and getting completely smashed.

…………

I’ve been trying to hit up SXSW for years now, and I’m glad I finally got to to this year. The whole thing seems be on the verge of jumping the shark, although the presence of so many indie and obscure bands might prevent that for at least another year.

The “surprise” Kanye and Metallica shows though shows that cat is out of the bag though. IMO it’s only a matter of time before SXSW loses it’s folksy grassroots appeal and turns into yet another corporate turnstile.

I do have hope though that Austin realizes the fine line between promoting little indie bands with small (but passionate) fanbases and getting bigger acts to draw in the masses.

In sum: Austin is great, SXSW is great, hope it stays that way. Get your ass their next year, you won’t regret it.