One More For The Road
Posted By Mike Orren in SXSW on April 5, 2006
Posted by Kate Mackley
Friday March 17
Never wait a week after the event to blog. Make that two weeks after. So much of my memory's detail has already been lost in the minutia of the daily grind. I won't bore you with the details of my personal life (downloading, uploading, no blogging) on Friday; instead, send you to the photos of two band shoots I did that morning. The light outside was perfect- luminescent gray clouds that didn't threaten rain. I set up my background for The Dirty Novels from Albuquerque and we had a great time.
But then, since I had the background rolled out, why not have some fun?
I'll let my insane friends speak for themselves. No, this is not a real band, but don't you wish it was? I'm thinking they should play '80s dance remixes sampled with Mexican hip-hop. They're missing the steel drum, but the drummer had to work.
And now, for some structure–
The Schedule
1a Foxymorons @ Spiro's
No, seriously? That's it? My whole Friday DFW SxSW schedule? Impossible. Well, for official shows, yes. That is the beauty of SxSW. You actually can go down to Austin without a badge, wristband, or any other sanctioned admission to the shows and have a fantastic time. There are bands playing on every flat surface throughout the city. You may need to do a little more research, and a whole lot of more legwork, but fun shows are everywhere. (In fairness, Centro-Matic did play on Friday, but I knew every other reporter from all other DFW music anything would be there, so I skipped out on Will Johnson's critically-acclaimed band. I'll see them at home some time.)
This was my real, mostly unofficial schedule:
7p Jayson Bales and the Revival @ Jovitas
(Radiant* also played at 7pm for the Texas Music Magazine, but I wasn't a subscriber, so didn't ask for the invite needed.)
9p The Heavenly States @ Antone's (sorry, no photos of them)
10p Over the Rhine @ Antone's
I'm originally from Cincinnati and I've had the distinct pleasure of trading emails, trying to arrange an interview, with the elusive Detweilers. But I had never been able to see them play. They had been on hiatus at their farm last time I was home. This was my first opportunity and Antone's is a great place to see bands, with a wonderful, wide-open stage. The show was relaxed and fun, with both Karin and Linford feeding off the crowd's passion. They are absolutely adored. This was a highlight of SxSW, swaying to their dreamy, folksy, powerful songs. Plus, Linford looks a lot like an older John Dufilho.
11p Verve Forecast showcase with "Stewart Ransom" Miller & The Believers (the stealth show) This is, yes, you guessed it, Rhett Miller. It was also a Dallasite reunion. There's a horrible photo of everyone there on my Flickr site. This link isn't it.
After this, my friends and I were supposed to head over to the Arctic Monkeys, but I knew. It was a trek all the way down 6th Street, as far from one end to the other to La Zona Rosa, and I knew that I'd make it in vain. THE buzz band of SxSW 2006 would have a line so long that my measly wristband wasn't getting me in there, even if it was one of the coveted (or so someone mentioned) purple ones. There was another color? Anyway, my friends with badges optimistically hoofed it there, and as I heard later, didn't get in either. You had to be there by 11:30pm, and it was already midnight. So what to do at midnight during SxSW, on 6th Street? Well, eat sushi, of course! "Ewwww," you say, but no. I had some the best sushi ever at Sake on Sixth just around the corner from Stubb's. Of course, everything was fresh; as I'm sure they had a total turnover of inventory in the last two days, so no worries there. It was really great though; quality stuff. We could have gone to see Brian Jonestown Massacre (too crowded), or Headkrack (too far), or The Motels (are they still touring?!), or even attempted The Magic Numbers (not likely to get in), but rather, we stayed put as I had to see the ONE AND ONLY show actually on my schedule: Foxymorons at 1AM, just around the corner at Spiro's, within sake strolling range.
Foxymorons is made up of members from Mesquite and members from Nashville and the odd session player. They look like a rather cool chess club. They don’t play that often in Dallas, which is a shame. My friends weren't that into their poppy, fun music, but I loved it. I definitely want to go back and see them again; maybe the next time they play The Cavern, when their set will be longer than Austin's allowed thirty minutes. However, at SxSW, by 1AM, filled with sake and dying to get out of the nice-looking (not so much nice-feeling) boots I had mistakenly put on at 6pm, their set seemed quite long enough. Time to call it a night. After all, there was still one more day to go, and Saturday's schedule was overflowing.
