After snagging a couple of excellent posters (one of which is by my favorite artists: Jason Munn of The Small Stakes), we headed down to Waterloo Park to meet some non-SXSWing friends for free music at the Mess With Texas festival. The weather was perfect for hanging out at the park, and it was nice to have a leisurely time after the balls-out partying of the previous three days. The only band I really cared about hearing was Two Gallants, who put on a good show.
After some dinner, we headed over to St. David's Church to try and catch M. Ward, who is awesome. I know, that sounds like a strange name for a venue, and it would be, if it weren't an actual church, where people worship Jesus and stuff. Is it weird to watch a show in a church? Well, I can't tell you, because the place was so packed that not even badge-holders (read: assholes of whom I am jealous) were getting in. So much for the 650 ducats you dropped on an all-access pass, chumps. Note to SXSW planners: put good artists in real venues that can hold more than 80 people, preferably ones that don't involve naves or pews. kthxbai
Feeling the bitter sting of rejection but still unfazed, we decided to watch Okkervil River's show at Stubb's. Now, as most of you know, Okkervil River is The Official Favorite Austin Band of Smarmy Hipster. But not even we were prepared for that good of a show. Will Sheff and company really tore it up, playing some of their best songs in a tribute to their departing guitarist (he's leaving to tend to his young'uns). I was disappointed the set couldn't go longer, but happy we lucked in to such a great concert.
After the Okkervil show, we decided to head to Dirty Dog early in order to make sure we could get in to see Two Gallants and Tokyo Police Club. We first caught some acoustic duo that I couldn't care less about. Then Nena Dinova came on. They had a good sound, but nothing that blew anybody away. Two Gallants, however, sounded fantastic. A bar like Dirty Dog is definitely much more their speed compared to an outdoor festival. They should have played Nothing to You, but other than that, I was glad we caught their second show of the day.
Unfortunately, Tokyo Police Club didn't sound anywhere near as good as they did earlier in the week. They just seemed tired and done with playing after four days and around 8-10 shows. Sparks can only get you so far, kids (like to the White House, or the North pole). Anyhoo, I'm glad I got to see them at a day show earlier, because it would have been quite a letdown otherwise.
The highlight of the evening was Lashford convincing the door guy at Dirty Dog that he was in Two Gallants (which only has two people, who were both warming up on stage at the time) in order to get my friend T Bone in after the club was at capacity. Take that , Fire Marshall! Oh, also, we saw a naked chick in a car at the valet stand at the Hilton Garden Inn. The best part is that she was completely naked in the passenger seat when the car pulled up, and still completely naked in the passenger seat when the valet drove the car up to the parking garage. You tell me.
Good weather, good music, good people, and random naked chicks: that's why Austin is great. I can't wait to move back.
