DAY 3 – SOLDIERING ON…

12:30pm
Having gotten over my ‘cold’ anxiety on Thursday, I woke up with a new enthusiasm on Friday – charged and ready to kick the sht out of the day. My first show was an early one, Do Make Say Think at 12:30. There’s something really strange about going into a dark club just after you wake up – especially if you’re out in a dark club just before you sleep. It’s a weird state. I guess Do Make kind of helped. Their set-time got bumped up so I only caught the last bit, but they sounded bloody fierce.

1:00am
Post Do Make, I headed to a grab some breakfast at one of the free BBQ’s going on. BBC America and the Australian people were both throwing jams, already serving drinks and tasty sausages. Can’t say no to that - though the wine was a little tough going down. I think the bottle must have been off.

3:00pm
I spent most of Friday afternoon wandering around, checking out downtown Austin and popping in and out of parties with my good buddy RJ. His film, “Jandek: Duality of Self” was having its world premiere, so were getting kind of amped for that. Prior to the big screening, we darted into the Arthouse – a really cool contemporary gallery – and poked around for a bit. RJ’s screening was at a really cool café/theatre called the Hideout. There was a good crowd out. I’d call it a success for sure.

4:30pm
I seamlessly slipped back into party mode after the screening and made my way back to the hub to catch pieces of sets by The Broken West and The Big Sleep. Both bands sounded remarkably tight. The new Broken West record is kind of one of my faves of the moment, so it was great to finally see them.

5:00pm
Coming out of the Broken West, I bumped into our good friend Chris Nelson, who had been running around town like a superhero interviewing bands and shooting performances for the upcoming NewMusic SXSW TV special(!). He was about to join me and go see Norwegian punk legends Turbonegro, until he realized the show was across town. You get so spoiled by everything being so centralized that anything outside of the hub can seem a bit daunting. We went our separate ways.

Turbonegro were playing the outdoor stage at this crazy Vice party. Moments after I got in someone started yelling at me to take a beer. Literally, yelling. It’s a good thing I’m not averse to PBR. It was pretty wild. So was Turbonegro. They couldn’t have been more in their element.

Once they were done, I moved into the bar next door where Chromeo was about to hit the stage. These guys are pretty well my favorite party band. The idea of watching them in a dank bar at 5:30 in the afternoon, with the sun blazing outside seemed a bit odd – but the place was packed and the kids there were all about getting down. Chromeo ran through all the classics and also dropped a few awesome tunes from their new record. Can’t wait for that!

Chromeo with DJ A-Trak

Label mates 120 Days followed Chromeo. The Norwegian electronic-rockers (who by the way, are on The NewMusic on Monday!!!) assaulted the crowd with their spacey post-rock. I’m completely impressed by how well they’re able to play the songs from their record live and actually turn it up a notch. Its kind of intense and totally worth seeing if you get the chance.

dudes outside Vice jam

Posted by Geoff M at March 18, 2007 07:57 PM

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