austin: day 5

if blogging now about my last full day in austin is any indication to how tired i am, there you go. my muscles are aching from schlepping shit all week. my ankles are killing me from constantly standing at shows. and my throat is clogged from all the smoking. in short, sxsw 2006 was awesome.

on saturday i got up and headed over to the filter party. i forgot i wasn't setting up for that party and started setting up. then i ran over with joe from dirty on purpose to check out the free asics that were being given away over at beauty bar. we ran into sarah and doug from the jelly party -- they were getting ready for their awesome party with art brut and apollo sunshine -- jello shots in the fridge. the beauty bar in austin is a lot fancier than the beauty bar in new york. it was actually a really great place to hang out though. i have no idea if they are related.

then i jetted off to try and catch the silversun pickups (who i had missed at the dangerbird showcase the night before) at moonshine and got there shortly after they started their set. they totally wowed me with their live performance. there tension between beautiful guitar lines with the driving bass and the lead singer's passionate growl.

then i ran back over to the trade show to the listening kiosk and just hang out and talked with people at the trade show until i went to go see sam champion at emos iv. afterwards i caught the last few songs of art brut at the jelly party. i had never seen them before, and enjoyed their stage banter. musically they were OK, but the lead singer had such charisma. art brut -- top of the pops! he kept shouting that out at the end of their set, every once in a while throwing in other band names like "apollo sunshine -- top of the pops! big daddy kane -- top of the pops!" so funny.

then i went to the orchard party at the driskill (where jay was staying) to celebrate the dirty on purpose and north street records union with our whole team of peeps. after that i ran back to my hotel to get stuff to set up for the ascap acoustic showcase at whisky bar. then i met up with dtl over at emo's annex to check out swearing at motorists. this was a band he and i saw at sxsw 2004, and they won me over so much i bought all of their freaking cds after the show. there's just something that is so open and vulnerable and defiant about their music that catches in my throat and makes my heart cry out. i lurve that shite.

then i went to grab some food and check out knife skills at lava lounge and also say hi to slim and portia from 5rc -- who are putting out their full length this summer. that was the best knife skills show i had ever seen and my heart had massive palpitations (sp?) as they played their set. even dtl, who was going to leave in the middle of their set -- had to stay to the end. it was that compelling.

then i ran back over to the ascap acoustic showcase. i saw jennifer from our la office who i didn't get to spend much face time with during the entire week, so i went with her to check out a couple more bands before heading back to whisky bar officially for the night. we went to check out living better electrically at the blend bar balcony but ending up only catching their last song. from what i could tell it was pretty good. then we headed over to maggie mae's to see the duke spirit. the lead singer was like a punk rock chan marshall. lots of sex appeal, and i liked what i saw of their set. this was a relief because i actually like their cd. i ran into beach there and we chatted for a bit. then jen and i ran back to whisky bar and we heard the chapin sisters rehearsing upstairs before their set. lovely melodies. later -- the rest of my gang was watching gang of four on some rooftop. i skipped out and headed to my hotel because i literally couldn't stand anymore. i got a call a little later that mike was bringing a whole bunch of people back to my hotel -- george, joe, liz, jonathan and some girl named claudia. joe was tired and cuddled up to me in bed like he was my son, and jonathan started to take photos like he was the papparazzi, even when i told him to stop. i knew everyone in the room except that claudia girl and she decided out to cuddle up to me in bed too. at that point i had enough, and i kicked everyone out of the room so i could go to sleep. sweet sweet sleep. that was my austin 2006. can't wait again for next year!