Yes, once again it was THAT time of year – SXSW in Austin, TX – This being my 17th year to attend. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it – it’s just that its such a massive undertaking (especially if you are here for work like me) that will have you sleeping on a friends couch (if you get to/decide to sleep at all) enduring parking/congestion nightmares and just a horde of revellers that grows bigger and bigger every year. It’s kinda like Christmas, there’s much to look forward to and enjoy but there’s a shit-ton of work involved.
I don’t know if its because last year was such a traumatizing nightmare that this year by comparison just seemed so easy breezy, but for the most part, everything was coming up TrickyKid.
For one, the basics were squared away – Last year my automobile didn’t even make it to Austin and once we did, the real trouble began with where/who we were staying. I was also flying solo – where as I enjoyed having Jess here last year, there’s just a certain level of navigation that can be accomplished when your alone anywhere, ESPECIALLY here.
Also I didn’t over-do it – In past years I’ve come for as long as two weeks (last year was 10 days) – So this year, I just stuck to what I was committed to and anything can come as it may. It may have taken 17 years but it feels like I may have finally have this mastered (at least until next year) –
Sadly, anything that went right this year was overshadowed by a fatal accident when a mad driver ran his car through the crowd trying to evade the police. Our thoughts are with those affected by this tragedy.
Day 1 – March 12th
Ok so I pull into town on Wednesday the first “official” day of the music portion of the festival. I had planned to get here before noon but we had a pre-party in Dallas the night before so I leisurely took my time + due to traffic I didn’t get to where I was staying till after 5pm. I was staying with Matt again after a two-year hiatus due to his transitioning. He is in the same apartment but now with his wife and 2 year old child and calming (and LONG overdue) sense of domestication. That’s not to say there weren’t any hiccups but it was nice to not have to play bad cop/voice of reason the entire time. I had my own room/privacy that was respected and I just got up and went to work every morning I was there. They even had dinner waiting for me when I arrived.
I caught up briefly with Matt before he had to go to work and his wife Stephanie got me settled in and we caught up a bit before I hit the town for my first night.
I knew Ume were going to be doing a ton of shows this week but they all conflicted with other things I had going on so I thought they would be the perfect act to catch first.
Ume – The Market
This band is so the real deal – I can’t say enough positive things about them – Any asshole that would dare to tack on “for a girl” when discussion of Lauren Larson’s insane guitar abilities comes up has clearly never seem them live. She is such a genuine badass – she melts faces and makes instant converts of anyone . Its not enough that she plays impossible leads and solos with the greatest of ease, but looks amazing doing it. Just devastating looking with the coolest hair and clothing style combined with just an overall sonic attack aimed to kill – You are not ready for this – Their new LP Monuments is already on my Best of list and my good friend Justin did the video to the first single Black Stone – You can check it out here –
The next and one of the only hiccups I had to deal with all week was I was to meet up with this girl concerning details about a DJ gig I was doing later in the week.
Few things get under my skin quicker than today’s version of the aloof 22 yr old precocious “party girl” who is only concerned of herself.
We had planned to meet at Republic but when I got there it was dead and the asshole bouncer was now trying to charge $30 to get in. I text her to say “Hey come outside” only to be told that she was now over at Maggie Mae’s (about 7 blocks away) – Hmm..ok. so I trot over to Maggie Mae’s, its a total shitshow when I get there and when I do I again text her…only to be told “Oh…well now I’m over at Lanai” – WTF?? could you be anymore annoying and self-involved?
I text back “Can you stay there until I get there?” – When I do, its a complete waste of time – she gets me to buy her a beer, tells me nothing of the gig and prances around saying everything and nothing at once, while her friend is wearing me out with a never-ending list of name-dropping. I got the fuck out of there as quickly as possible.
My dude Claude (drummer/Ween) was in town doing a few gigs with a few different bands – One of them being Pure Luck, a local Austin band made up also of our friends Jeff P (Butthole Surfers) & Stephen H who is currently also doing a tour with Ween offshoot – The Moistboyz.
Pure Luck @ ???
Until the Ribbon Breaks/Warpaint – Maggie Mae’s
A friend at Rough Trade was kind enough to leave my name at the door so I didn’t have to bother with all that badge/wristband crap that’s for suckers and people who apparently enjoy spending alot of money just to wait in line.
I’m ushered upstairs with no wait and arrive to find that its fucking freezing (around 40*) and they are running so behind that the band before them, Until the Ribbon Breaks still hasn’t gone on yet.
This information comes from the most unlikely of sources – The place is pretty sparse so I ask the person closest to me what the score was – Tommy,a tall, late 20s, red-head dude from Glasgow with an accent so thick it would be impossible for us to speak on the phone. He is hanging with another guy he just met seconds prior – Christopher, mid 20s, from Manchester.
The three of us form an instant if unlikely group and hang for the rest of the evening and it was an enjoyable one. Tommy and I were making each others sides split & Christopher, was fun too, he was much more reserved in an Englishman from Manchester sorta way.
This venue made absolutely no sense – You had to WALK ON STAGE (while the band was playing) to go to the bathroom – I looked up one time to see Tommy’s red hair and think he’s about to sing back up on his way to use the toilet.
Anyway those guys made a freezing wait a very enjoyable one –
Until the Ribbon Breaks
Had never heard of them, Tommy tells me they are from Wales and worth seeing – who do R&B-inspired electronic grooves – not bad, but the sound was so terrible and this place really does not have it’s shit together.
It was after 1:30 am when Warpaint FINALLY started, so the show was cut short to three and a half songs until Austin’s iron-clad 2 am curfew hit.
We joked that the girls planned it this way, so that when they insisted on playing after 2am they would appear to be rebellious and defiant.
Regardless, these girls are so insanely hot that if I only got to stare at them for 15 mins it was better than nothing.
After saying my goodbyes to my new friends from the U.K I’m walking on Red River headed North when I’m stopped by what looks like a warzone ahead
At that point, I had no idea what had happened other clearly something terrible had taken place. I wanted to get back to my car safely and plug my phone in so I could find out and also to make sure those that I know are ok.
Terrible Accident
This is what I learned had happened:
Early Thursday morning, a driver fleeing police crashed into a crowd of people at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, killing two (a third later died as well sadly…and now sadly a fourth as passed as well) and injuring 23 others.
According to Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, five of the injured are in critical condition. Acevedo said the two people killed—a man and a woman—were on a moped that the driver struck before plowing into group of people gathered outside of a club.
Police said the man pulled into a nearby gas station in a silver Toyota sedan after an officer working a drunken-driving patrol tried to stop him. He wove his way through a series of parked cars, then took off at high speed the wrong way down a one-way street. He took a right turn on Red River Street, crashing through a barricade and narrowly missing a police officer who was standing guard.
He hit some of the victims in front of The Mohawk, a local club hosting events during the five-day music conference. He continued down the street where he struck and killed the two victims on the moped and then hit the curb before finally crashing.
Just awful –
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I found out a few days later that something cool happened in light of this tragedy:
18-year-old Mason Endres was one of 23 people injured & over the weekend, one of her favorite bands, Jared and the Mill, played a few songs at her bedside.
According to a doctor interviewed by the Austin American-Statesman, Endres suffered a number of major injuries, including a cervical spine fracture, a broken nose, a broken femur, and a severed artery in her opposite leg. The doctor also noted that Endres was concussed during the accident — in which her friend describes her as being hit “like a bowling pin” — and doesn’t remember much of what happened.
The same will not be said for this moment.
Photos –
Roy Turner
Oliver Bouchard
Ian Witlen
