Irony at its best

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South By Southwest

We are on the road heading from the Gila Wilderness Lodge on a long, two-day trip to Austin. The first day we make 500 miles and crash at a motel 6. Next day while Katie is driving the 300 or so more miles, I get on the phone and call a couple places to stay recommended in Lonely Planet (and confirmed by some other guests at the Lodge.) I ask if they have any rooms available for Friday and Saturday night and the clerk checks and says “No.” I ask if he can recommend any other places and he says that most everything in town is booked and so I ask what is going on and he incredulously says “You don’t know? (Idiot) It’s the South by Southwest Festival!” Turns out SXSW is one of the largest music, film and technology festivals with 10,000 musicians, 1700 acts and a few million music fans. Plus the film and technology people. I think brother-in-law Dan went a couple years ago and raved about it. (The biggest irony is when I started the blog in December; I named it southbysouthwest ‘cause that was where we were traveling.)

So, I get a number for a hotel about 5 miles out from downtown and we stay the weekend. On MY. Think of Mardi Gras. Or Jazz and Heritage Festival times 5 or Bele Chere times maybe a hundred and that’s SXSW Tickets for the conferences, trade shows and performances are like $600 and are long sold out. Music company executives, artists from around the world, agents, TV and movie stars all checking out the newest hot sounds and bands at special performances. Headliners include Smokie Robinson, Alejandro Escovedo, Band of Horses, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops,

However, there is free music everywhere in the city-outdoor events with bigger named artists and then clubs and parking lots-even churches. There are 79 named sites and many others that just pop up. Most of the clubs don’t charge a cover, which makes it easy to pop in, take a listen and stay or go to the next place. I was in sonic heaven and Kate was a good sport for tagging along. Friday night was great-we take the city bus into town, the weather is clear and mild and we just wander around to places that look or sound interesting-every kind of music you can imagine. Get on the Congress Avenue Bridge at sunset and watch the million and a Mexican half free-tail bats fly out from under the bridge to feed on insects up and down the river. They are there from March to September raising their young. Stop at a sushi place when we get hungry, end up taking a cab home ‘cause we finally figure out the buses stop running at 12.

Saturday, it is rainy and cold so we stay at the hotel until about 4 and head in again. The temperature is in the 40’s and the wind is fierce, making it hard to be outdoors. We go to the Ginger Man bar and they have the music outdoors- the bands are playing hot tunes and the audience is dancin’ and grovin’ trying to keep warm. When the band changes, most people go inside to warm up.

They only have beer and wine here, so we go around the block to find a nice quiet bar at a steakhouse with a friendly bartender who fixes us up with an Irish coffee. We come back later for more drinks and the chef makes us a Portobello burger even though it is not on the menu. Then on to an outdoor concert near the river with Justin Townes Earl and then She and Him. The crowd is pretty large, but smaller than expected ‘cause of the weather. Everyone huddles together to try to stay warm. We leave before She and Him finish their set and go to a few more places before taking the late bus and walking a good ways to get to our hotel. Katie is so sweet and patient with me. Sunday, she is cruising the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. We head south and west though the rest of Texas toward Cajun country. Stay tuned.

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Comments

[Ian Breckheimer]

Man, wish I could be there!
Glad to see you had a good time in Austin! I loved the mix of cultures there when I visited in 2008. Miss you both.

[Frankie]

That is so cool!!!
The concert sounds magnificent!!! I looked closely at your pictures for my brother who is a homeless person in Austin. He looks like the cool dude but his hair is longer and lighter plus one of his legs has been badly burned. He rides his bike everywhere and lives in a park under a lean-to with several other homeless people. He called last week, but I was not home to take his message. He must have borrowed a phone from someone in the crowds. Other than the weather, the concert sounds awesome.

[linda e]

Yuma connection??
Did you stop in Yuma for your stash? Feswtival sounds fun - very appropriate! Brent and I went to the SF blues and arts festival yesterday. Today my nose and sinises are filled with the dust from the very windy beisbol field. However, the music was great as was the crowd. When ya gettin home? Linda