bittersweet good-southby, pt. ii

picking up on friday morning, it's only appropriate that i dragged out this second post by so many days, as that's what getting up and going friday morning felt like. thursday was epic in a sense that though we called it a fairly early night by austin standards, it was a day that seemed like it would never end, and we never really wanted it to.



i like the above picture because it kind of captures lorne, roni, and i each in our most natural element of the weekend. it was also taken on saturday, so each of us had definitely built a healthy resume by this point of what our weekend m.o. was and we were comfortable in it.

friday morning was actually pretty unique for me, as i was asked by my friend samantha to come be in a little indie flick a couple of british guys named ed and jay were filming while in town for the week. i went and shot early in the morning around 8, which was good, because i was to be playing a skeezy prostitute solicitor coming out of a gas station bathroom who looked ragged and a bit hungover. let's just say i didn't have to go to make-up. i found out the guys were also following around a little band called viking moses! who oddly enough i had actually heard of. they told me he was playing at a monkeywrench books off north loop and 53rd st. at noon, so i went to check him out to start the day. pretty unique little sx experience, as i watched this guy wailing on an electric with a girl on keys with about 6 others in a bookstore no bigger than my kitchen.

then it was back into town where i met ronnie the bear and went to emos to catch the pains of being pure at heart. there was a healthy little buzz about these kids, and that's just what they were, and it was a nice, tight set considering listening to a band at emos inside is like being trapped inside the drum monitor. i had to find a place to sit afterward though, and the back porch seemed like as good an idea as any, where another band was playing. i didn't bother to write down who it was. besides, it was time to get to the levis/fader fort.

now, the thing about the fader fort is, well, a lot of things. see, what happens is, levis and fader magazine get together and this fort is built on east 5th street and they have all kinds of free and promotional stuff going on all day, every day, including tons of music, photo booths, merch, blogger lounge, and of course, free southern comfort and budweiser. all you can drink. of course. why not. why would you not serve free southern comfort and budweiser all day every day for four days to a bunch of crazy, young music fans from all over the world? naturally, this was the thing to do. all it took to gain access was a simple rsvp online days before the festivities and standing in an unnecessarily long line to pick up the wrist band, and you're in. this actually happens at sxsw a lot more than one might imagine is reasonable. at any rate, this location was a total success. after getting there around 4:00 to camp out for the impending free peter bjorn & john show later that evening, we caught a slew of reasonably talented musicians while enjoying friends and atmosphere. then pb&j came on, and all the world seemed right. of course they came out for the encore, and played a smashing rendition of young folks (this is from 2007 at mohawk. no 09 clips available). it was all in all another totally brilliant day.

saturday.

oh saturday. this is all i will say about the music on saturday. i saw these people in order at halcyon on a 2' tall stage standing 6' away from the artists.
the dashing suns
lou barlow
m. ward
will scheff

think about that. think about why those guys were playing a mid-saturday afternoon free showcase in a tiny coffee shop off 4th street. i know. i can't make sense of it either. but it was the perfect cap to an essentially perfect sxsw. it didn't even matter that we saw thao nguyen (who i developed an immediate crush on, let's just be honest) again and then later saw bun b, kanye west, and common. by then, it was just all icing.

really though, the main thing that made sxsw 2009 what it was, was the people. so many of our new york friends came down, put together the showcase paul played in, worked, and hung out. we had quote from nashville crashing with us for the week, where the poet matthew king taught me how to make a hookah bowl using an apple and some scotch tape. friends from houston, san diego, and dc, and made new friends with people from madison and manchester. we saw bands from portland, chicago, london, and jönköping, sweden. i unexpectedly ran into an old flame and gladly got to spend some quality time with a new one. we made new lifelong connections and played witness to art in creation. we sang and danced and drank merrily as the lord intended. it was so.



(the essence -- me, jules, & jesus)