We arrived at the airport in Austin, Texas a bit after 11am. I lost the jet race, for anyone that's interested in how that turned out. Our hotel is clearly not as close to downtown as advertised which is going to be a bit of a pain for coming and going. But it does have a great fried seafood eatery right next door named Captain Benny's.
Stepping into the Convention Center, which houses the SXSW trade show, it looked every bit the part of an adult film convention with people drooling over picture disk vinyl and industry networking booths rather than slender / half nude starlets. One welcome difference: Since the companies didn't have porn to help attract you to their booth what could they use? FREE BEER! The Convention center is a fantastic way to pre-game/day-drink your way through until the showcases start that night.
Here's what's about to happen...my spicy chicken is getting cold so I'm going to skip to the first night of music...
First up was Flamingo's where we caught a great nerdcore hip-hop showcase. Duel Core was our first experience here and it was a good one. His speed and flow were krysp as he hit the crowd with "Hostage Down" an ode to Counter Strike. Some stayed behind to continue the rhythm lesson while I hopped up the block to The Bat Bar to catch a folk band from scotland Admiral Fallow. They were worth the walk. Wonderfully layered vocals over top of full guitar work, a driving drum line, and a flute move the crowd.
After Admiral Fallow, we headed over to Emo's to see Surfer Blood and Gold Panda at the Pitchfork showcase. The line was all kinds of retarded so we passed. We changed the game and made the place to be Latitude 30 for Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. On our way there, however, my dream of a friend passed on the inside info that across town....the Foo Fighters were playing a secret show. It was obvious not many knew, while this was happening, as we were seemingly the only people hustling over there. But the walk was too far...and we were unable to make it in. SO...now TEED was soon to play and here we were on the other side of town.
Enter my angel, Maranda (hot name right?). Maranda rides up to us like on her shiny chrome steed (a 10 speed). She is a rickshaw driver and was brave enough to take the three of us clear across town. With her beauty and skill she peddled us up hills at speed I've never been a party to. She made it to Latitude 30 so fast that not only had we not missed TEED, but we were there to see Pulled Apart By Horses. Needless to say, they were great.
TEED takes the stage in a full body dinosaur overall...thing. He claims his stance behind his table of midi controllers and wires and places a native american headdress, fashioned of pheasant and crow feathers. His samples and tones were krysp and got everyone in full dance party club mode. It was enough beat to fall in love, but just for one night. What he was doing wrong? He kept apologizing if he messed up and his flow between songs needs work. There are two places you never apologize, on stage and in bed. The artist needs to let things go. We're here, we're dancing...what happens happens. Move on and keep the beat going. His transition between songs was caught somewhere in between being a continuous DJ mix and fully stopping a song at its end, pausing, and starting the next song. That being said, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaur was great. HIGHLY recommended. As well as all the bands I've mentioned in this post.
Follow me on twitter @chasehammerton for all the up to the minute data and PHOTOS!!!!!!
Email me @ chasehammerton@gmail.com if you'd like to see us cover anything. I've looked at all the artists you've all already sent in and we will do our best to see what we can see...if they were any good. Most of the bands you want me to check out suck. Go listen to Duel Core and Pulled Apart By Horses and come back with a revamped list of what you want me to check out.
If you're in town, buy me a drink. I'll be the one in a suit, playing guitar, in the back of a rickshaw piloted by a beautiful blonde.
xoxo see you later.
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