Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Rosi's SXSW 2019, Day 6

White Denim at Radio Milk Recording Company

My Last Day in Austin

Words and pictures by Rose Lamela

My last day I jumped into an Uber and headed over to a day party at Radio Milk Recording Company in East Austin. East Austin was the perfect choice to spend my last day of wandering. It only reassured me that Austin had a place in my future as this music city has my heart in mind.

I headed to the Radio Milk Co. party a little too early and was greeted by a very nice guy that shared the list of the day's events which was labeled with a black sharpie on a piece of cardboard. I told him that I was excited to see White Denim, and he told me to make sure I came back for them.

I decided to go by The Liberty to see what was going on there. Line of Fire was playing, and I got to see a bit of their set. They have an eclectic style to them. The lead singer TJ was sort of b-bopping while the bassist went from playing the bass to playing a trumpet. The Liberty also has such a great vibe. It's covered in Mexican folk art and random shrines that made me feel even more at home.

Line Of Fire

I went out in the back to enjoy some food truck eats and noticed the band Asterism. They grabbed my attention mainly because they were so young. They had an entourage of videographers and photographers with them as well. They sat at their merch table and were signing posters. I began to see people walk in with Asterism t-shirts. I immediately got to the front as the place started to get a little packed. Asterism started off hard right from the beginning with fast, heavy metal, lyricless songs. The bass player slapped out a ton of notes on a 7-string. The lead guitarist went to town as if she was trying to compete with Eddie Van Halen for the lead part in a rock band. According to what I saw that Saturday afternoon, he would have lost. The crowd cheered and screamed. They came all the way from Japan to deliver their powerful set to us.

Asterism

I walked around afterwards and checked out the local thrift stores, and coffee shops. East Austin has a different flavor than downtown. It's a little more "country," and it helped me realize that I was in Texas.

I headed over to Radio Milk Co. where they had a stage set up in what looked like someone's backyard. This was where White Denim was going to play for the night. I had missed White Denim several times, and I wasn't going to miss them again. I got to see a few bands on the lineup like Hidden Ritual, Son of Stan, and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. I almost missed my chance to see White Denim, as the power went out several times during the the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets' set.

Hidden Ritual
Son Of Stan
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets

When White Denim took the stage, I realized that the nice guy with the cardboard dressed in black sharpie was the bassist. I felt like such a moron as I am a fan of the band but didn't know what they looked like. He smiled at me and said, "Hey, you made it back!!"

White Denim
White Denim

I realized I probably should do little bit of homework before shows. They played a very long set, and people climbed trees and the fence around the yard to see them as they had stopped allowing people to enter the venue. White Denim has a bit of a jam band thing to their live performances that I was a little surprised by. They were pretty damn amazing, and lead singer James Petralli told the crowd he would play til the cops kicked them out. No cops showed up, but they played a full, powerful set.

After the show, I decided to head in as I made the rookie mistake of booking a flight back home for 6 am. I had yet another great Uber ride back, and went in for a nap before saying goodbye to Austin. The ride to the airport was a little sad, but I know I will be back. SXSW is something I will be looking forward to every year if the rock gods grant me the magic pass.

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