Andy’s Stupid Blog

“Customized” means that I get it without the tomato.

Compare this to the spin of our current administration. The video is 35 minutes long, but well worth watching.

Day 2 & 3:
Woke up and wrote the last update.

Chilled for a bit, did a little planning, got some lunch, then went to see the Donnas, who were terrific

From there went south a bit to see Del the Funky Homosapien, which I enjoyed.

After Del, Spoon went on. I wasn’t too impressed by them, although I think it could have been the large outdoor venue. I just wasn’t feeling it.

About 3/4 of the way through the show, I started feeling kind of queasy. I retreated to an open area and sat down for a bit. Made it back and proceeded to spend most of the night throwing up.
I’m not sure what I ate, but it sure didn’t agree with me.

I spent most of Friday sleeping. Here are the shows I wanted to see, but missed:
Tally Hall
The Fallouts
Land of Talk

Day 1 recap:
3:30 AM - 4:30 AM
Woke up, did a little last minute packing and left for the airport.

4:30 A.M. - 6:30 AM
Arrived at the airport, started reading a book I hadn’t gotten around to reading yet (Wicked).
Forgot I had some toothpaste in my bag, it was quickly confiscated.

6:30 A.M. - 7:50 AM
Flew to Kansas City, MO (Midwest). Uneventful. Dined on a Quaker granola bar and some orange juice.

7:50 AM - 8:40 AM
Arrive in Kansas City, fight was changed to a different terminal so I had to go through security again.

8:40 AM - 11:00 AM
Flight to Austin, another granola bar and some more orange juice.

11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Picked up SXSW (Or “South By” as the locals call it) wristband for the low price of $165, Grabbed some lunch, checked out the area a bit.

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Sleep

4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Got some food, decided on a list of bands to check out, walked around the area a bit.
The streets where the main bars are were all closed down and people were everywhere.
The crowds were manageable though.

7:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Emo’s Annex - which strangely resembled a parking lot. Saw the following bands:
Casket Salesmen        8:00p.m.        Corona CA       Rock
These guys were good enough that I thought about buying their album, but not good enough for me to actually do it.
I never heard of them before, so I had no expectations and was pleasantly surprised.

Dazzling King Solomon Band     9:00 p.m.     Austin TX     Rock
I didn’t actually know the name of this band until I looked it up on the sxsw website.
The singer didn’t introduce the band or talk at all during the show. They went on stage, played and left. They didn’t even say goodbye, just set down their instruments and left. They weren’t terrible, sort of 70’s style rock like The Doors or Zeppelin, but didn’t have a lot of energy and I wasn’t feeling it at all.

Pretty and Nice     10:00 p.m.     Boston MA     Rock
These guys were a really fun punk band. They were quirky and had a ton of energy.
Singer was wearing a shirt that said “I’m Bye Sexual”
I picked up both releases they had. Would probably go to another show if they came to Milwaukee.

The Von Bondies     11:00 p.m.     Detroit MI     Rock
These guys were really good as well. Lots of energy, really polished sound, got the crowd into the show. The singer said I was clapping out of rhythm, but then said he was just messing with me. I had been drinking a bit by this point, so anything is possible. Will probably get some of their music from itunes or amazon, the merch table was really crowded. I definitely recommend checking them out if the opportunity arises.

11:00 PM - 1:30 AM
The one band I really wanted to see on this trip (The Black Keys) was playing at a bar across the street (Emo’s something) at 1AM. My humble wristband was not enough to get me past the hordes of badge holders, so I was stuck in line for two hours. People ahead of me gave up and left, but by that point I figured I wouldn’t get into any other shows, so I may as well stick around and see if I got lucky. Could sort of hear the show outside anyway.

1:30 AM - 1:50 AM
Success! Made it into Emo’s other location and caught the second half of the show. Kind of tired, with sore feet. grabbed a seat on some bleachers in the back, but had a decent view of the stage.

1:50 AM - 3:30 AM
Got some food at Katz’s, which the young lady behind me assured me “Never Closes… not even on Christmas or Easter.” It was totally overwhelmed. Enjoyed a tasty TUrkey Ham & Swiss on Sourdough sandwich.
Made it back, went to bed

fin.