Thursday, March 22, 2012

SXSW 2012! Part the Third




I played a lot of shows, in that way that you do. Three shows on Thursday, with a photoshoot in between and beginning with a 9am rehearsal. Three good shows. One for the Twangfest KDHX 88.1 party at Jovitas, then one for our friend Duggan at the Nomad up North, and one for Far X Far Out Festival down South.  That first show was only the second time I'd ever played with the full band for a full show, and yet it was like we'd been a unit for ages.

That last show of the day was for 10, perhaps 12 people. And a dog. In a huge ass warehouse. And it was one of the most fun shows in the history of my playing.   Which is the way it works right?  There's a joke we like to bandy about on the road, "If a band plays a gig, and no one shows up, do we still get paid?" The answer always depends on who you're working for, but this night our tree fell and made a beautiful noise. It wasn't about anything but the music and the sheer joy of playing and enjoying other people's playing.
And then Saturday was our non gig, SXSW kid day. We tried to see music, but crowds and toddlers, at least our toddlers do not mix. And so we played outside at the Four Seasons, and played outside at the Farmer's Market. We visited the building where that awesome HGTV party had been thrown and painted on the wall.  We went and saw Brothers Lazaroff play a gig. We stayed out late and ate burgers and fries and then came home and stayed up late.  It was like a perfect, perfect SXSW day.

At the HGTV Wall



And Sunday we played for the TX M.I.L.K. show. This was the show you want to play on a Sunday. Laid back. Kid friendly. Delightful.  David Lazaroff ended up calling an old fiddle tune and getting all the kids dancing (because what child doesn't like dancing like a chicken. What adult for that matter can resist a good chicken dance?) It was a sweet set.

And then, just like that, it was over. The Brothers loaded loaded the gear they had borrowed from us back into the house, just like  the other hudreds of bands did, returning amps and drum kits to friends and rental places.  Dave drove Brothers Lazaroff the airport where they, along with thousands of other people, went back to their hometowns, or the next gig. The town emptied out. Our schedules cleared up.

And suddenly life was back to normal.

It will be a full rotation of the earth until SXSW strikes again and the citywide version of weeklong adult Christmas hits this town. I may need that long to recover.





3 comments:

Joanna said...

"That first show was only the second time I'd ever played with the full band for a full show, and yet it was like we'd been a unit for ages."

Y'all sounded great at Jovita's. I'm so glad I was able to make it to the show!

Joanna said...

Forgot to say that it's really hard to believe that was only the second time y'all had actually performed together. Amazing.

EMQ said...

Those guys really killed it. I didn't do anything but sing. They did the rest!