SXSW 2005 Music.

The first official night of the SXSW Music Festival was taken up by prior engagements, so my Music actually started on Thursday... For the second straight year I decided to bite the bullet and go in on a wristband. The only reason I decided to go for it this year was because I had a guarunteed music buddy in my friend Gertrude. Last year I hit everything with my girl Sia, but this year I guess she had BETTER things to do... I don't know what those could have been, but whatever. (wink, wink)

Now we all know what a pain in the ass it is to try and communicate via cellphone at a live music show. So Gertrude and I did most of our correspondence through the almighty text message. My '05 Music Wrap-up will be framed by the series of text messages back and forth, in between shows, blah blah... Here's who's who:

IB - that's me. The Invisible Boy.
Gertrude - that's my music buddy.
Sia - that's my girl.
Amita - that's my roomie.

Got it? Cool.


Thursday.

Went to see Nicknack at Zero Degrees. He did a badass set (to way too few people) in true Nicknack form. Had Enfoe all the way from Paris layin' down the cuts. Bavu was there as an impromptu MC for the duration. Even threw a little freestyle bone out there for the fans... Towards the end Nick had Ephraim come up to kill the horn for a little bit. As usual, it was a really tight performance... Just not near enough people there.

Ephraim, Nicknack, & Enfoe

Mr. Blakes

Ephraim Owens

Lil' Bit... Winkin'.

Ended up staying for a bit after Nicknack while DJ Panko from Spain played. Panko had a great selection of music... Shit you usually don't hear in these parts. But I was pretty underwhelmed by his actual abilities. What ever happened to actually MIXING records... He wasn't even really playing the records live. Had 2 turntables set up, but he never used them both simultaneously and it sure seemed like he had everything programmed from beginning to end on his laptop. Can't believe people fall for that shit. He was backed up by some pretty dope visuals though, being projected onto and behind him... Oh well. He was worth hearing I guess...

IB 8:42 PM
Whut it dew girl?

Gertrude 8:48 PM
YES!! I am in line @ la zona. Where r u?

IB 8:56 PM
Zero degrees. Gonna head to Elysium at 10 for ratatat. What's your plan?

Gertrude 9:00 PM
Well I don't really know. LZR is @ capacity, but I want 2 wait it out a bit. Will keep you posted...

IB 9:03 PM
Cool. Do you have hot hot heat aspirations?

Gertrude 9:05 PM
More so doves. If this goes nowhere it's off to Elysium.

Well, I ended up screwing myself and not leaving early enough to hop in line for the Ratatat show and more importantly the LCD Soundsystem show at midnight. It's a very delicate thing those lines... Especially the "big" ones. Unfortunately, almost all the shows are "big" ones. By the time I got to Elysium, the line for badge holders was around the block, leaving things pretty hopeless for us lowly wristband wearers... Gertrude wasn't having much luck either.

Gertrude 10:02 PM
Ok. Been in this line over an hour. Not getting in. Is there a line there?

IB 10:20 PM
Dude. Doesn’t look good at all. Gave up and got some pizza. Plan B?

Gertrude 10:30 PM
Gave up too. At the fucking fox & hound having a beer. I think I hate sxsw 2nite. Wanna come meet us?

After inhaling my "dinner", I decided to make my way through the St. Patty's Day crowds to meet Gertrude & Chica at the Fox & Hound...

IB 10: 43 PM
Where u at?

Gertrude 10:47 PM
Fox & hound…i

IB 10:49 PM
Me 2.

Gertrude 10:51 PM
Very 1st tack

That's code for "very first table". Sometimes you have to know when to ditch the text message and go for the phone call. I sat down, ordered a beer and we related our SXSW line horror stories... Just terrible. But we decided to not let our spirits get too low.

That's the girls pretending that they're having a grand 'ole time at the fucking Fox & Hound. We got a new gameplan together for the rest of the night which consisted of going down to Stubb's for... I don't even remember who now. I was kind of hoping to make it back down to Zero Degrees to catch Diplo at around 1:00, but I really didn't care at that point. I was up for whatever. Gertrude did tell me about the possibility of being able to get into the MTV party at the Speakeasy. So really our plan was to just kill time while we waited for the word on that.

That picture didn't turn out very well... But "Gorillaz" was being projected huge-like on the side of that building back there. They were doing their CD Listening Party at the Red Fez... Yup. We missed it.

So we made it to Stubb's, grabbed a couple more beers, and caught the beginning of Fat Boy Slim. FBS must be one of the biggest dorks I think I've ever seen... But his pure enthusiasm I guess makes for a pretty energetic, fun show. Whatever, we didn't stay very long for that... That's 'cause we got word from Gertrude's friend about the MTV party... Things were all systems go, so we slammed our drinks and hit the pavement once again...

We finally get into the party... I guess it's 11:00 PM or so? The soirée was being put on by MTV and Napster, and they were literally giving shit away... Shit like Napster stickers, Napster t-shirts, Dell Jukeboxes... That's right. Frickin' Dell Jukeboxes. Gertrude and I scored ours pretty early on and decided that we were in the right place and should stay for awhile.

The "scene" was pretty funny. Downstairs was some way-too-serious college rock band playing. And there really weren't very many people there. But the real party was up on the rooftop.

A couple of guys from The Sounds were there DJ'ing, infusing their hipster vibe into the "eclectic" crowd.

That's Snapshot Louie, fuckin' tearin' shit up! He scored one of the greatest SXSW gigs ever... His job was to just cruise around to all the shows and parties and take plenty of pictures. But I ain't jealous or anything... Lucky cuss.

That's Gertrude and The Hookup posing for the papparazzi.

So Carson Daly was there. He was much taller and much skinnier in person than I was expecting. He was playin' it pretty lowkey... Sportin' a baseball cap and black hoodie, just hangin' out by the DJ table like that creepy guy at the party that's just hangin' out by the DJ table all night. That was Carson. Bam Margera and crew were apparently suppose to be there. But they never showed... That's probably a good thing though considering I wasn't feeling ready to get my head shaved or have human feces thrown at me. James Iha was there too, looking very, very androgenous. (Surprise, surprise.)

After I ordered myself an Amstel, I was informed that Heineken was gratis, so I immediately slammed by beer and started grabbing Heinies two at a time. That made for a pretty quick road to InebriationVille, especially workin' on my single slice of pizza from a couple of hours ago. Luckily I wasn't alone...

That girl? She's guilty... Guilty of bustin' out some crazy-ass cheerleader shit on the dancefloor! WTF?!?!?

Gertrude was obviously in awe of that chick's killer cheerleader dance moves.


The Sounds doods continued to rock it... Carson continued to hang around being creepy.

This girl continued to be guilty...

And it started getting really chilly.

2:00 AM starts to roll around, the temperature continues to drop, and I begin to worry that the alcohol will soon be coming to an end.

Gertrude is clearly distraught.

But luckily, I guess since it was a private party, they continued to serve alcohol well after 2:00. Fuck yeah! We were just at the mercy of some pretty arbitrary drink prices... One minute I'd be paying $4 for a beer, the next minute it would be $6. But whatever... I was so smashed it didn't really matter.


Dancing ensues...



And then BAM! It's 4:30 AM... The painful realization that I have to be at work in a few hours sets in... And Gertrude and I decide to pack up our Dell Jukeboxes & Napster t-shirts and make our way home...

We trudge our way back to my car which seemed like it was parked on the other side of Austin...

And along the way I feel like a good sobering technique would be to sit down on a bench and compare drivers licenses.

It must have worked because I was able to get Gertrude and myself home, safe and sound.

Right when I pulled into my driveway I called Gertrude to tell her I made it home safely. There was no answer, but I did get a text reply...

Gertrude 5:17 AM
Sweet. Good 2 know. Thanks 4 being my music buddy!


Friday.

Good lord.
Friday got off to a really shaky start. Had a bunch of work responsibilities to tend to while my body was poorly attempting to detox itself... Sia informed me that she could still smell the beer on me halfway through the day... Nasty.

Gertrude 10:32 AM
Hello. xxxxxx here. Whoops. Forgot to go to work this morning. Have you seen my camera?

I somehow missed this first message, but got back to her much later...

IB 1:58 PM
No. Crap. I’ll check the basement. I thought I lost my keys but I found them. I feel like ass.

Gertrude 2:03 PM
Holy shit. We got free dell jukeboxes!

IB 2:05 PM
Fuckin A!

My plan on Friday was to try and make it to Chicken George's website launch party, and then make it to some of the day events... Namely the Spin party at Stubb's. And then there were some bands at Club de Ville that I was hoping to check out as well... Bear in mind that it is now the 3rd day of the music festival, and I had yet to see an actual live band perform. I was kind of having issues with that...

Gertrude came through again with some passes to the Spin party.

Gertrude 3:10 PM
Can just get 2 passes from someone here 2 get yall in if u want. Let me know…

IB 3:12 PM
Only if it’s easy. xxxxx’s def got dibs.

Gertrude 3:15 PM
She can get in too. Just let me know when u r on your way.

IB 3:18 PM
Where it’s at again?

Gertrude 3:20 PM
El stubb’s.

I ditched work early and went down to Chicken George's party at Factory People. South Congress was a fuckin' zoo... People just hangin' out in the middle of the street. No parking anywhere. But I lucked out and scored a spot right in front of Factory People. CG had a pretty nice showing... With DJ sets by Take and Malcolm Kipe. It was pretty dope. Drinks were free, but I wasn't quite up to drinking just yet. Didn't stay for very long and had to jet, unfortunately right when all the Geishas showed up. Oh well... Other things were a callin'.

IB 3:46 PM
On my way. I’ll call when I get there!

Gertrude 3:49 PM
1 pass or 2?

IB 3:55 PM
1 por favor.

Walked my ass down to Stubb's... Passed a very, very crowded Club De Ville and mentally scratched that off my list of things to do that afternoon.

Gertrude 4:02 PM
U here?

IB 4:04 PM
Walkin up now.

Unfortunately a line had developed to get into Stubb's, but the wait wasn't that bad. Bloc Party had just gotten on stage so I was able to listen to them during the wait.

IB 4:08 PM
Should be in there soon.

Gertrude 4:14 PM
On the rock by the soundboard.

Finally made my way to my buddy, grabbed a beer and enjoyed the rest of Bloc Party. They were only alright... Quite honestly, I'm not sure what all the hype is about. Oh well. At the very least you have to support a hipster band that has a black frontman. That's the shit...

I was feeling guilty about ditching work, so I left before the New York Dolls came on and went back up to my office. Wrapped up my work week, and decided that a nice dinner with Sia and little bit of rest would do me some good before I started the weekend of shows...

So of course there were a shitload of great shows all playing at the same time on Friday night. But I decided early that I was just going to one venue and hang out there. A couple of dope hip hop showcases were going on... Some TX hip hop shit was going on outside at the Fox & Hound. My roomie was trying to decide between that showcase and the one at the Flamingo Cantina. My choice was Emo's to catch The Kills, The Raveonettes, and Har Mar Superstar. Decided to touch base with my music buddy to see what her status was... But didn't hear back from her till much later.

IB 7:59 PM
So you gonna try emo’s? If so what time?

Making my way down to Emo's I walked by Flamingo and saw a line down the frickin' block... Decided to let my roomie know wussup.

IB 8:25 PM
The line at flamingo is already a block long.

Amita 8:31 PM
Alrighty slim thug will get my full effort. Thanks

Got to Emo's before 9:00 and there was no line... Walked right in and parked my ass by the bar. At the time The Lashes were playing. They were alright. Some fun, 80's inspired rock. Decent enough to drink some beers to. Wish they had some kind of female presence with them though... Don't know why. I guess cause they're just a bunch of dudes singin' dude stuff.

After The Lashes came Blanche... They were pretty lowkey. Maybe a little too lowkey... But still put on a pretty good show. The change of pace was nice.

You would never guess from the picture, but one of the band members Tracee had a great Kate Pierson meets Loretta Lynn thing goin' on for the performance. It was cool.

The worst party about staying in one venue through 4 or 5 different bands is that the break down and set up is excrutiating...
So I started just texting people... Sent a sappy one to my girl...

IB 8:45 PM
Hey babe. Love ya.

But she has a nack of never answering her phone, much less replying to text messages...
My music buddy finally got back to me though...

Gertrude 8:59 PM
Just walking 2 emo’s now. Will look 4 u.

And ran into some familiar faces...

I like to go rollerskating with Mieke and Melissa during the Summertime on Adult Skate Night at Playland. We do some serious Hokie Pokie shit. Tried to text my girl again.... but nothin.

IB 9:24 PM
Hi. I love you babe.

The Kills fuckin' rocked. Definitely my favorite show of the night.




I love watching their uniquely flirtatious dynamic on stage... Especially when they're "making love" (euphimism) up there. Though there were times when I fully expected him to smack her across the face with his guitar, stand over her, arms akimbo, shouting, "TAKE THAT YOU PUSSY CAT!" Maybe that's just me though...

My roomie was nice enough to give me updates in her world...

Amita 10:34 PM
No line @ fox & hound. $fifteen

I thought it was funny that she spelled out "fifteen". What a rookie! Or maybe I'm just a dork.

Amita 11:16 PM
No drinks in here.

My girl finally got back to me... And only 2 hours later!

Sia 11:16 PM
I luv u!

IB 11:20 PM
What? That blows!

Just so there's no confusion... That last message was directed to my roomie... Not to Sia.

Amita 11:24 PM
Beer, the show is awesome

Next up for me were The Raveonettes. Another solid show. They did all the faves, and then played some new material off their upcoming album "Pretty In Blac". (May 3rd y'all.) They were excellent. See what a badass front woman can do for a band? (Hey Lashes... Take note.)


Decided to check in on my roomie to see how she was holding up...

IB 12:08 AM
So how’s the show?

Amita 12:17 AM
Pretty fucking good, texas.

Amita 12:25 AM
Chingo bling is coming on now.

At this point in the night is when the sickness really started to hit me... Throat started to get all scratchy. Body achy. Poopy. So I stuck around a little bit for the beginning of Har Mar Superstar

Always a delight that Har Mar...



Left the Har Mar party and began making my way back to the car. On the way I stopped in at Eternal (what kind of fuckin' name is that for a club?), and caught the very tail end of Goldie Lookin' Chain. Unfortunately I missed them performing "Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do", but they closed with "Your Mother's Got A Penis" so everything was right and correct. God Bless the GLC.

Gertrude ended up having to wait in line at Emo's for an hour, and didn't want to do a La Zona Rosa repeat, so she and her crew took off. I was off to nurse my sore fucking throat.


Saturday

Sure enough, woke up with a wicked sore throat and chest full of goo. Things were better after I took a hot shower, but eckhhh... Nastiness. Had a little brunch with my girl at 34th Street before hittin' the music again.

Dang... She's so shy!

After Brunch, I hit the free Scion Show at Stubb's. Had a pretty dope bill... Chicken George, Haul & Mason, Breakestra, Dakah, and Rahzel. Who wouldn't want to see Rahzel?!?! The weather was beautiful, and it was really the perfect setting for an ampitheatre show. When I got there Breakestra was on stage... Pretty damn impressive. And then after that, Dakah, the hip-hop orchestra took the stage and they fuckin' killed it.



It was pretty ballsy of Scion to fly in all 70 of the Dakah crew from L.A. for a FREE show. It was a lot of fun. Rahzel ended up not performing, so that was a bit of a bust... But oh well.

As soon as I left Stubb's, the weather turned on a dime and all of a sudden it was a shitstorm of wind, rain and hail. Only in Texas... My music buddy filled me in on the haps in her world.

Gertrude 5:43 PM
Ummm…hello rain! Goldie lookin chain was not @ poke jo’s. Doves instore was awesome. Hanging out w/chunk now. What’s 2nite’s plan?

IB 6:02 PM
I know right! And hail too! WTF! Rahzel was a no show. But it was still dope. You doin’ the Aimee Mann Esquire thing? I’m thinkin’ Antone’s Music Hall.

Went to dinner with Sia and her rents... Was feelin' really good. My hopes were to make it to Antone's to check out Kings of Convenience and then try and bounce back and forth between the Strange Fruit Project and the Queen B the Music Hall and Phoenix at Antone's.

IB 7:35 PM
Say. Just sat down for dinner. Should be there @ 8. Grab yo mittens girl. S’cold.

Gertrude 7:45 PM
That is a super fast dinner. On my way now. See you there. Feels awesome out.

Of course dinner was taking longer than anticipated...

IB 8:02 PM
Aight. I’m late. Hope I’ll be able to get in.

Gertrude 8:05 PM
Ummm i am in line now. At effing halcyon.

Eventually we wrapped up a fine meal...

IB 8:52 PM
What’s your 20 lady pimp?

Gertrude 8:57 PM
We’re almost in antone’s. Once we’re in I think we are staying. What are you thinking?

Sia was nice enough to drop me off at Antone's... Just in time to catch the end of Kings of Convenience.

Gertrude 9:16 PM
Hey…saw you called. U here?

IB 9:20 PM
I’m in. Where are u?

Gertrude 9:20 PM
In the middle right under that upstairs booth thing. Before the 2of bar.

The Kings were sweet... And from what I heard, their whole set was very nice. Antone's was super crowded and very smoky, and I immediately began feeling like ass again.

West Indian Girl hit the stage next, and they were pretty alright... Their members were oddly uncohesive in appearance. Especially the token hot asian chick on the stage... How did she get involved with those guys? Oh well... She had a pretty nice voice, and they were tolerable. Unfortunately I just found myself counting down the bands to Phoenix...

Amita 11:55 PM
Batman

"Batman" has a whole other backstory worthy of another post for another time....

Ed Harcourt came on next, and he was an absolute snoozer... Maybe it was the music. Maybe it was the people and all the smoke... But I suddenly started feeling very, very shitty. I immediately began to question my stamina... By the time Ed Snooze-court got off stage, I was ready to pass out. Shivering, but sweating... hate that damn feeling. Eventually The Golden Republic got on stage, the penultimate band before Phoenix... and though they sounded pretty damn good, I just couldn't do it. Had to jet... Else I collapse on the dirty Antone's floor.

Gertrude 12:08 AM
We’re sitting on the floor right by the t-shirts, fyi…

Gertrude 12:18 AM
Ok, now we’re standing, but in same spot. Right by exit door to right of stage. Think i like this band.

Lost the message, but on the way back to my car I texted Gertrude about how I had to go home because I was dying...

Gertrude 12:41 AM
DO NOT DIE ON ME MAN. In home & rest. Feel better.

The rest of the night was a tough one... Again, the sweaty, shiverry feeling all through the night. Yuck. Serves me right I guess for abusing my body so...


Sunday.

There's still some music going on during the Sunday of the music festival, but I can never do it. Especially this year, I desperately needed that day to recuperate a little bit before starting the work week...

IB 6:00 PM
Say lady
Thanks for bein' my music buddy. Your da shit.

Gertrude 6:06 PM
So, what’s our plan tonight? Ha ha. Hope you are feeling better. Had so much fun (tho wristband wasn’t used 2 fullest potential…) Talk 2 u soon.

Whew.
And so see?

That's how we do it...