SXSW in tow, pt 2

*UPDATE* The band Solid Gold now has a link.

(Photos by Christina)

Weekday day shows are probably the easiest shows to see during SXSW. Everyone's at work so there are are no lines and venues typically don't have cover at these times. That being said I only actually attended one of these shows last week. Wednesday afternoon, Mike and I were to meet Christina during her lunch hour. 6th street, the epicenter of Austin nightlife, was a sunny and blocked off corridor of music venues. Its concrete lay in wait for the ensuing crowds.

The three of us made our way to Emo's but Christina's first choice was a no show. Off to Plan B:

Here We Go Magic


Kinda psychedelic electronic elements mixed in with upbeat rock. They were interesting enough to get an emusic download from me. But now that I have the album, there's a bit too much psychedelic stuff here.

I've already written what I did that night. Thursday was busy with work. Friday was a half-hearted exercise in what not to do at SXSW:

My sister said again and again, for SXSW, you really need a bike. Imagine parking in any downtown. Now imagine parking in a downtown with thousands of people flocking to hundreds of simultaneous music performances. We began the day trying to figure out or little transportation conundrum. Mike had a bike, I didn't. We finally decided to take the bus downtown so Mike could bring his bike along.

After we met Rama at the Austin convention center for Flatstock Mike rode off to meet Christina. Rama led me the 5 blocks, he'd already walked a few times that day, towards 6th street. He complained about the further 7 blocks down 6th we'd have to walk to meet with Mike and Christina. We stopped and ate a $3 slice of pizza and a $4 bratwurst bought with money from an ATM with a $5 transfer fee. (Note to self: be more prepared next time.) He decided not to follow me the rest of the way.

After finding Mike and Christina we wandered around the "outskirts" of SXSW trying to catch some good free shows. We saw a band called Solid Gold but I haven't been able to look them up. Apparently they share a name with a psychedelic soul group. The band has since contacted me with a link to their site. More psychedelic than I remember the performance being. Sounds pretty good, though.

The people owning a house in this area had set up an art gallery in their front yard and a venue in the backyard. We were greeted with a goat. And these guys:

Flatcar Rattlers


Punk-country or something like that. Wish I knew the genre. Not really my cup of tea, though. After dinner Christina and Mike decided to call it a night. Our initial plan involved me running behind their bikes. Miraculously, an empty cab passed us as we considered this.

The next morning I awoke to hear Rama bumped into a few members of Delhi 2 Dublin and partied with them.



Bah.

Saturday would prove to be much better.