I mentioned the Maker's Mark vending machine in my last post. It was only a dollar but for whatever reason, neither of us had the bright idea to see what actually came out. My guess is Maker's Mark
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| This thing was easily 3 times the size of a normal vending machine |
I don't know if anyone realizes how funny the masks were to us.
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| Cay-otes |
This was taken at roughly 11pm after a full day of standing in the sun, head banging, and drinking copious amounts of free booze. In no way, shape, or form was this picture staged. There literally would have been no way we could have put enough thought process in to creating this picture. Just happened to be perfect timing. Also, we had a guy hold a flame behind Katie's head.
Last time we were here, I had finished up Friday night. We managed to catch a cab Friday night and not have to wait hours upon hours for some random lady to come to our rescue. Who would've known that Austin actually has cabs.
Friday night, we again planned to wake up early the next morning so we could get downtown around 10am to get to the Rachel Ray Show and BBQ. The thought was that we'd have free BBQ for breakfast. The reality is that we woke up around 10:30 again. We managed to make it downtown and to the Mess with Texas Fest by about noon. This fest was a smattering of mobile food trailers, two beer tents, and two stages in an empty field. And yes, it was as glorious as it sounds.
Some of the bands we saw at Mess With: Deer Tick, the DoDos, Surfer Blood, DOM, and possibly the best band name of the weekend: Screaming Females.
The brutal sun coupled with the multitude of beers means I don't really remember many specifics from these shows. DOM was pretty awesome. They're on the radio with this song. It's so sexy. Livin in AMERICA. Patriotic and musically talented at the same time. My kind of band.
As with the lady who drove us home on Thursday night, my guardian angel was also looking over me at the Mess with Texas fest. We were standing in the middle of a field with the Texas sun blazing down on my pasty, Irish skin. I was in line for one of the food trailers when some girl in line said my nose was looking red and asked if I wanted to use any sunscreen. This may seem like not a big deal for people who tan, or are Italian, or who are jackasses in general. For me though, this saved me from a week of burny, peeling skin. Whoever you are Miss Sunscreen Provider, I thank you dearly.
One last note about Mess with Texas: they had a giant tent that had a hole cut into the top where a giant tree was standing. Proving that they will literally play music anywhere and everywhere they can for South by.
After Mess with TX fest, we ventured our way down the street to the Big One presented by Shiner. Shiner as in the beer. Beer as in the free Shiner beer they were giving away. And by free beer I mean HUGE tubs of beer with no lines. If I knew that God didn't hate Texas, I would have sworn this was heaven. Deep Eddys Sweet Vodka was also giving away free shit. And by free shit, I literally mean that their sweet tea vodka and mint tea vodka were horseshit. Granted, we still drank it because hey, free booze.
I have no idea why, but this party was not overly crowded. No wait to get in. No line for the FREE beer and vodka. Had some pretty awesome bands. Not complaining whatsoever, just kind of curious. Bands we saw here: The Lines, Solid Gold, WhoMadeWho, and Empires. I have no thoughts and/or recollection about the first two bands. I think my mind was definitely concentrated on those free drinks.
WhoMadeWho had a singer who had, without a doubt, the best mustache I have ever seen. When their set ended, the band came down and mingled with the common folk. The following conversation is accurate and can be corroborated by at least two other people.
Me: "In all seriousness, how long did it take you to grow that mustache?"
Lead singer of WhoMadeWho, (not sure if he was creeped out or excited about my question): "3 to 4 weeks."
My hilarious sister then chimed in: "J, you couldn't grow that mustache in 3 to 4 years."
Har har har. Everyone is a comedian when it comes to mustache and beard growing skills. Side note: while on Skype with my parents tonight, my mom asked if I had a 5 o'clock shadow going on. Turns out it was just an actual shadow but still. Starting to get some street cred for the facial hair. One day some youngin will ask me about my mustache. And I'll tell him how long it took me to grow it. My answer will be 3 years.
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| The mustache in question |
Last band we saw was Empires. They are from Chicago. They fucking rocked. Really wish I could remember more specifics about the shows.
Sadly, The Big One party and the free beer eventually ended. We made our way back to 6th St. downtown and ended up in some random bar with a balcony. After sitting on the balcony for what seems like 2 hours but was actually probably no more than an hour, we made the executive decision to call it a night. As we walked inside the bar to head downstairs, the last band of the night had just gone on stage so we decided to wait it out. And that might have been the best decision of the weekend. This singer, Rich Aucoin, was on stage and had a crazy light show going on. That link is video of the actual show we were at. Howeva, he also added the element of this video and brought out a parachute for the crowd to go crazy with. (In grade school, we played a game called "Popcorn." We had a parachute-like sheet and everyone gathered around the outside, grabbed it, and shook the motherfucker like crazy. The object was to get the dodgeballs to fall through the hole in the middle.) This dude had that same parachute-like sheet. Only he didn't have dodgeballs but a shit ton of confetti and lights. We just happened to be standing in the back and the edge of the sheet landed right in my hands. I shook that bitch like my life depended on it. It was definitely the most intense dancing that happened all weekend. And to think, we almost missed the whole show.
Thanks in large part to Rich Aucoin and grade school memories that had suddenly resurfaced, Saturday night went out with a bang. Definitely a crazy ending to a crazy weekend. Couldn't have scripted it better. I guess we could have had the cay-ote masks again but let's not get greedy.
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Sunday hit us both like a bat out of hell. Katie's flight wasn't until the next day so we had nothing planned all day. We pretty much sat in silence and watched college basketball all day. Silence, that is, until the sun, beer, and other booze finally caught up to me. Ladies and gentlemen, I am officially old. I puked on Sunday afternoon after a weekend of partying. Hadn't had any booze in at least 12 hours. Had eaten a hearty breakfast. Just couldn't keep it all down. As much as I hate to throw up, it proves my point how hard we went that weekend.
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I will never forget (or remember) SXSW '11. The music shows were phenomenal (and free). The weather was perfect. The beers were cold and a lot of them were free. There are some things I'll do differently next time, which sadly won't be next year since someone decided to have their wedding on St. Patty's Day next year.
SXSW '13- you've been warned.
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Some more random pics from the weekend:
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| Free Shiners from the Big One |
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| Jake Fogelnest, DJ on Sirius/XM radio. He was at the Fader Fort on Friday. He's pretty short |
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| Had to get one last cay-ote pic. |
Y'all come back now y'hear
