Saturday, March 21
Thankfully, I woke up feeling much better than the previous night. I decided to try and keep it relatively low key in the morning, during the first part of the day. I wanted to go to the Yorkshire party, but I decided to go to the Twangfest party. With such an incredible lineup this year, with many bands on my list in one venue, and the opportunity to spend the last official day with many friends, it wasn’t a hard decision.
A whole bunch of us went over from the hotel, and got there just as Ha Ha Tonka was about to start.
I split time between them and Otis Gibbs, who was playing outside.
A couple of us sat down inside for a bite to eat, and we must have hit the sweet spot because it didn’t take long for food to arrive. Unfortunately, I missed Romantica playing outside, but listened to The Waco Brothers as they started their set. It was strange to be at a table with my back to the stage, but I wouldn’t have been able to see them anyway, plus I know what they look like! once I was finished eating, I did stand up on my chair and snap this photo:
I then went outside to catch Steve Dawson, who had Edward Burch join him for a couple songs. I was the only one who gave a “woo hoo!” at Edward Burch’s mention of Bill Fox. If I recall correctly, they covered a song, but I don’t remember which one.
Back inside for a couple Exene Cervenka songs. I wanted to make certain I didn’t miss a second of Magnolia Summer outside so, I planted myself in a chair right at the front. It was a perfect soundtrack for yet another gorgeous day in sunny Austin.
Slaid Cleaves was starting his set inside just as Magnolia Summer ended theirs. I caught most it, and then hitched a lift with Mike, Meri & Mike to try and catch The Breakers. We missed them, but caught The Homosexuals who were interesting to watch over a quick beer.
From there we moved on to Home Slice Pizza, who’s lineup was WAY behind schedule. seriously behind schedule. Since I didn’t really have anything specific to see, I just hung out with the guys and waited at Home Slice. We were waiting for Jason Lytle to start his set, and I’m not a Granddaddy fanatic, but I dig them well enough. He sounded pretty good and was in relatively good spirits.
this was the best photo I could get:
Mike climbed up on the fence to take some from a better viewpoint, but I wasn’t climbing anything!
After that, we headed back downtown and I took a break to rest at the hotel.
Went over to see Two Cow Garage for a really short set at Creekside, which was a mere block away. My camera battery started to die but not before I got a ton of the boys. My favorite of this set:
I’ve been taking photographs of the Two Cow boys for years, and I’ve learned that I can just shoot and I’ll usually catch something good!
back to the hotel real quick to charge the camera battery for a few minutes, and a few of us were trying to decide the 9pm hour..so I listened to songs from our choices, and when I went to Craig & Brooke’s room, I said as they opened the door: The Little Ones! Which was a good choice, because they said the same thing! A few of us ended up there and the bar was packed. They were A LOT of fun!
I moved on to One Hundred Dollars next and was on my own. I had them on my list, and they were playing just before Marching Band. Marching Band had played a number of times all week and this was my last chance! I LOVE their album from start to finish, and love it so much that I was afraid I might be disappointed at the live show. no matter, their set became a Saturday night MUST SEE!
I felt bad for One Hundred Dollars singer, as she was losing her voice rapidly. poor thing could hardly talk at the end of her set. I had gotten from texts from my friend, Eric, who was looking for my must see of the night. I told him where I was and he showed up with a friend (her name escapes me at the moment) in time to catch a bit of One Hundred Dollars too. Heather got there in time as well. Definitely weird sitting in hard wood chairs in a church, but it sounded really good!
Marching Band were reluctant at the beginning of their set. They were concerned they were too loud. It really wasn’t too loud and it sounded amazing. from the first note, I knew I wasn’t going away disappointed! Even better is that my tip paid off to Eric, who loved them just as much as I did. I think after “For Your Love” he whispered ‘again, play it again!’ Beautiful swirling pop sounds, recreated almost to the exact note live.
The one thing about SXSW is that there’s usually little time for just hanging out and talking with a band. Granted, I jam pack my schedule with bands to maximize my time and get my money’s worth. My paycheck doesn’t really afford me many luxuries, but my love for music needs to be fed. A lot of times, there’s only a few brief moments to say hello to a band, because they have to move on to their next gig, sometimes having to run up 6th St or wherever. And depending on the situation, I can easily lose my voice and not have the courage to say anything. Luckily, I didn’t have anyone pressing to see for the 12am slot, so I waited around to say hello to at least one of the main pair of Marching Band. They left their albums & t-shirts at an unattended table, with a cup for money, kind of a free will payment for merch. Three of us were looking at the shirts, which most were in a backpack on the floor, so me being the organizer that I am, I starting taking them out and sorting them. Another girl helped too. At that point, Erik walked over.
I spoke with him for a few minutes telling him the sound was great, and not too loud as they had worried about it during the set. I gushed a bit about how I loved the album from start to finish and had been listening to it as soon as I could get it. When he asked me where I heard their music, I smiled and laughed a little. I replied The power of the internet! I first heard “For Your Love” on the Three from Leith podcast (Hi Grant!) based in Scotland. And we laughed a little at how an American girl got to hear & love a Swedish band while listening to a podcast from Scotland. My music world is truly Global!
Unfortunately, they haven’t had as quick a success with the record yet in the US & he admitted that they could be better with promotion decisions around it. I’m doing my best to tell everyone about it, but these things take time and people who have open minds to new music.
I said my goodbye and hoped I’d see them again soon, and was off into the lovely breezy night.
I made my way back to 6th St. wondering where I’d go next. The 12am slot was well under way, nothing was shouting off the page at me (yes, I had a paper schedule printed out from sched.org) but I sent off a few texts to see what was up.
I’d heard great things all week about The Arkells, so I stopped in to see them. They lived up to the hype and sounded incredible despite crappy PA issues and were having a total blast on stage. I ran into Joe there, after a few songs, I couldn’t get past the sound problems and it was about 100 degrees inside.
I tried to get in to Youth Group at Maggie Mae’s knowing a few who were in there, but they were at capacity. at this point, I started trying to sort out who was going where for the 1am hour. I had already seen The Waco Brothers (and they usually make their way to IOTA) and Dressy Bessy was a bit of a hike from where I was. I was going to go in and see Bobby Bare, Jr. and should have, but I never made it inside. Most were off to see Monotonix, but I wasn’t interested all that much in them.
In the end I walked up 6th St. got a fresh slice of pizza & a coke from the truck just outside the hotel. And it was the freshest. So fresh, I had to wait for it to come out of the oven! I went back to the room, calling it a night. I kind of had a feeling that after Marching Band, there wasn’t anything else I needed to really see!
bands for day 4:
Ha Ha Tonka
Otis Gibbs
The Waco Brothers
Steve Dawson with Edward Burch joining on a couple songs
Exene Cervenka
Magnolia Summer
Slaid Cleaves
The Homosexuals
Jason Lytle
Two Cow Garage
The Little Ones
One Hundred Dollars
Marching Band
The Arkells
tally for Saturday: 14 (6 full sets)
