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| Mrs. Magician |
Car Seat Headrest and Little Dickman Records w/ Mrs. Magician, Sharkmuffin, BOYTOY, Dentist, and More
Saturday was my last full day in Austin, and I'd checked off many of the bands I wanted to see during the week. Car Seat Headrest were playing their last set of the festival for BrooklynVegan at noon over at Cheer Up Charlie's.
After Friday night, noon felt extremely early for me on Saturday; but I managed to make it downtown just as Car Seat Headrest were starting their set. The outdoor stage area at Cheer Up Charlie's had already packed out, so pictures weren't really going to happen. I'm glad, though, I got to check out the band. Their sound is based heavily in a lot of the acts that I love (Stephen Malkmus, Yo La Tengo), and it was a great way to start the day.
From there, I decided I'd spend the day with our friends at Little Dickman for their showcase at Dozen Street. Lots of friends would be there as well as some bands I hadn't seen before. One of the latter was Brooklyn's Rosebug, who started things off. Formed by members of Sideasideb, Rosebug are a dream poppy band fronted by vocalist Becca Chodorkoff. I really enjoyed their set, but I didn't quite figure out the lighting in the room for pictures until after they were done.
Then it was time for a run of familiar faces as Psychiatric Metaphors, The Off White, Dead Stars, Darkwing, and Dentist all took their turns on stage. Psychiatric Metaphors and The Off White had just arrived in town, and both showed how much touring has honed their performance. This was the second time I'd seen the very busy Dead Stars this week, and I still love them. Darkwing brought members of Sharkmuffin, Fruit & Flowers, and Sidebitch up for a song. Dentist played a great set to a room that was really starting to fill.
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| Psychiatric Metaphors |
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| Sean Jones of The Off White and Amy "Dickman" |
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| Dentist |
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| Darkwing with help from Sidebitch, Fruit & Flowers, Sharkmuffin |
Dentist have been recommending San Diego's Mrs. Magician for some time. Little Dickman booked them for the show, and the room filled up nicely by the time they took the small stage. The Swami Records band shook the room with a sound that mixed garage, surf, and pop. They had fans singing along and turned out to be some of the sweetest guys around. Check 'em.
From there, things went at a breakneck pace as the time (even though it had been extended by the venue) was running short. In quick succession we got BOYTOY (for whom I'd been waiting all week and sounding a little beefier with Lena Simon from La Luz on bass), Sharkmuffin (who won the "Who Did CoolDad See the Most at SXSW" contest. Congrats to them!), T.V. Tramps (featuring Tony Bones), Fruit & Flowers (doing a great Zombies cover), and Sidebitch (Chris Pierce on drums. First show ever.).
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| BOYTOY |
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| T.V. Tramps |
On Friday, I'd run into A Deer A Horse's Rebecca Satellite. She came by the show; and, when the venue told Little Dickman they had more time, A Deer A Horse became a late addition to the line-up. They waited patiently and then delivered an intense four-song, fifteen-minute set that was a great capper to the day.
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| A Deer A Horse |
Dinner at Waffle House with Dentist and the crew from Little Dickman. I headed back to my hotel and stressed about my early flight the next morning.
On Sunday, the line for security at 6am was disastrously long. I was randomly chosen to have my shoes swabbed in case I was the second person in the history of commercial aviation to try boarding a plane with exploding shoes. In the confusion, the TSA gave my MacBook to the wrong person; and I flew to Nashville with tears in my eyes thinking of all the things I could've done and didn't do to back up my pictures for the week.
As I waited for my connecting flight, the very conscientious Samuel DiRaddo of the TSA called to tell me that my laptop had been located in Miami. The individual would be FedExing it to me immediately. Disaster averted, and I just had to wait until Tuesday to get my baby back. I will cover it with stickers and other identifying markings when it arrives.
In all, I absolutely loved my time at SXSW. Sure, I didn't even attempt to see some of the very biggest acts, but you can check out SPIN or Pitchfork or Rolling Stone or NPR to see how those went. I punished myself a little bit physically in the name of taking in as much as I could, but I got to see some new bands and bands that I love and lots of friends. I'd no doubt do it again.
Once I get my computer back, I'll finish going through the pics and post them to the galleries.
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