I survey the scene upon awaking at Greg's place. We five chaps sleep in a single open plan room at the apartment - reminds me of the Big Brother bedroom in a visual sense, and has been home to many a band passing through. It's going to need more than a few sprays of air freshener come the end of the week, mind. We stayed here last year too, and it is a great place with a pool and patio which was the scene of a rather eventful "end of" SXSW 2006 party. It feels really great to be back, not least because Greg, Britney and Tim make us feel so welcome. Now a little bit about our good host Greg - he is the one of the greatest men you could ever hope to meet - he ferries us around from gig to gig, makes sure we are fed and watered. He orders in Mexican food for breakfast, he brings home Pizza for supper. He's the man, man. And without doubt his greatest strength is that he brings a wonderful sense of calm to the madness of SXSW week. If a tour budget ever allowed, I would campaign that Greg should be brought along. His job title would be "head of vibes."
This week, we are also backing the wonderful Piney Gir, as her band The Country Roadshow were sadly unable to make it over. So we head down into town for the first Piney/Goldrush gig. As we cruise along in an open backed jeep with the wind blowing through our hair it seems that life could seldom be sweeter! As we edge nearer to the main drag of SXSW (6th St) the haircuts become a little more distressed, and the jeans that little bit tighter. Here we are! I drink in the sights - oh look, there is the drummer of Razorlight talking on his phone. Oh, there's the Automatic trundling merrily along! Bands, Bands, Bands, Movers, Shakers, Wankers - they're all here...
There's no PA set up at The Shakespeare pub for the Piney gig, so we are told we will have to chill out for a while until it arrives. Oh no, what a drag! Me and G head to a bar called Bourbon Rocks where they are dishing out free drinks and Tex Mex food. I learnt my lesson from last years SXSW which is that at any given time someone will be giving out free drink on 6th St, you just have to know where to look. Record labels, clothing companies, radio stations and so on want bands to be seen to be drinking at their parties. Beer companies want their product to be seen being drunk at their parties - by bands. Everyone's a winner, baby! We had back to The Shakespeare before we forget we are here and "business" and the gig goes well, lots of intrigued passers are drawn in by Piney's superb country rock n'roll. One gig down, lots more to go...
We have to go and "check in" at the Austin Convention Centre, a process that should be painless but resembles the whole airport experience a little too closely for my liking. Still, once the hallowed wristbands are on, the pain subsides. Tonight's gig is actually not part of the "official" SXSW line up, and the venue is described as the "Enchanted Forest." We head to the outskirts of town and arrive in search of said fantasy land, and are in awe of what lies before our tired eyes. This guy has set up an incredible performing space in the middle of beautiful forest, with a stream between the stage and the woods, where there is a viewing platform. There is a PA but no-one seems to be up for doing sound so who else but Joe steps up to the plate. As he soundchecks the fabulous Hopewell, I observe that the connecting cables between the stage and desk go through the stream itself. They can't do that, surely? I am assured by the owner that there is special waterproof insulation around the cables, and that I will not die on stage. He looks pretty "relaxed" and speaks with such conviction that I decide it's not worth worrying about it - especially on a tour where I will be boarding seven planes, and riding in the back of an open top 4x4.
We start up the gig with "Aperture" whilst looking out at one incredibly unique setting, the likes of which we may never see again. There doesn't seem to be a lot of people watching on the viewing platform, but as "Cruel World" finishes there are ripples of applause from all around. After the set I head into the woodland and discover a good few hundred people sat around who weren’t visible from the stage and it makes a little more sense. We stick around to watch LA band Spindrift's psychedelic rock and roll freakshow (the guitarist Frankie is in full clown regalia) and marvel at how different our night has been to most SXSW revellers stuck in crowded bars on 6th St. Don't get me wrong - I like bars AND enchanted forests, I’m just grateful we get to see both...
15/3/2007 - SXSW Day Two
Wake up feeling pretty human today, having not pushed the party boat too far out last night. Food is first thing on the agenda, as is standard practice in the Goldrush camp, so Greg leads the way to the hilariously named "Juan In A Million" mexican restaurant.
The restaurant owner Juan greets as if we are his own children as we walk through the door. Hands are outstretched so he can give us each a high five - my palm is met with such ferocity I briefly wonder whether I will have to cancel today’s gigs. Juan confesses to Joe later that he has had a little too much "coffee." We lose track of time, and realise we better get our limey asses over to the Moonshine bar for the Windswept showcase, they being the publishers of Goldrush in America. It is good to see John Anderson again, who works for Windswept and is an all round top fella.
The sun blazes down on the patio and we play a good gig, slightly more assured than the previous evening. Various members of Hopewell join us for a very percussive "Heart Is The Place" and Piney plays melodica on it which sounds really cool. We return the favour by backing her for her set which is straight afterwards, a sort of Truck Roadshow double bill. We toast a job well done, and have ourselves a few hours to explore SXSW ahead of the all important Gram Parson's tribute concert this evening. I discover an invite in my pocket for a party that David (whom I met on the plane) told me about so I head over to Maggie Maes on 6th St. I head up to the rooftop part of the venue where it's blazing hot. As I sup on complimentary frozen Margarita’s looking down on the madness of the street below, I have another "moment" where I can't believe lucky I am to be here. Then I spot two familiar looking stragglers walking down the street, they being G and Garo and drag them inside to share in the exceedingly good times and hospitality. For me, 6th Street is far more pleasurable in the daytime - by night it can be simply too much for a man to bear.
Good job then that tonight’s "Gram Jam" is off the beaten track. It's an outdoor stage in a field, and the gig is open to one and all, not just idiots with laminates so it begins to fill up with a healthy selection of country music fans and local revellers. We are well up for this one tonight, and were delighted to have been invited by our friend Mary to be on the bill for a second year running. The night is compered by Polly Parson's, Gram's daughter and get's off to a great start. We look on in amazement as we witness Charlie Louvin sing "The Christian Life." It soon becomes apparent that the stage times are beginning to over run, and by the time we are setting up the self appointed "Musical Director" of the show tells us we have twenty minutes, and the guitar amp has just blown. Standing up there onstage, trying to get everything working in front of a field full of people is a nightmare. When we finally got everything up and running it was with a huge amount of relief, and there was no way we were not going to play for our allotted 30 mins. And the gig was a belter! Goldrush have always been such huge Gram fans, so when Polly decided to join us on tambourine and BV's through our whole set it was something of a dream! I did however manage to commit a bass atrocity during "Grievous Angel" for which I am truly sorry Polly (if you noticed). Please forgive...
The night then just got stranger by the minute. One of those gigs where you sensed a fight could have kicked off at any second. More overrunning, and arguments. One poor band only got to play four songs having travelled to Austin just for this gig, the poor buggers. They were breaking down their backline whilst the next band started playing and showed their annoyance by barging into them mid-set. Bad times...still at least we had managed to get on and off the stage in one piece with dignity in tact and had a great gig. Oh yes, and speaking of dignity - I forgot to mention that Danbert Nobacon from Chumbawumba also performed a couple of numbers dressed in an ultra camp jumpsuit. As I observe the man from Leeds giving it some in a field full of locals, I make a mental note that I should speak to Gervais about doing an "indie" version of Extra's. After a failed attempt at getting a taxi, our salvation comes in the form of Hopewell, who arrive in their van and save the day. Thankyou lads...
16/3/2007 - SXSW Day Three
Two gigs for us today. The first is dubbed the "Psychedelica" Party, held on a small outdoor patio area of a restaurant called Jamies. The band playing as we load in are one of the many Brian Jones Massacre "influenced" combos who seem to be doing the rounds this week, where by there is a three tambourine player minimum. They kindly lend us one of them though, so we ain't complaining. We were having major hassles getting the monitors to work, and in the end just decided to crack on regardless and hope that spirit and determination would pull us through, which it seemed to. It's hard to explain, but sometimes when sound equipment is bad or none existent, you can play better than if you have a slightly shoddy monitor mix. Anyway, I digress - this is after all a tour blog about triumph in the face of adversity, not the letters page of Which? PA. It was good looking out into the audience and seeing beaming faces like those of Y and the Better Looking posse looking back at us. The set was sounding good now - mostly tracks off "Heart Is The Place" with a couple off "Ozona", and the chaos of making a gig happen at SXSW was by now second nature. Robin and the gang back up an impromptu show by Y (yrocks.com) straight after which was pure un-refined, unrehearsed rock n' roll baby...
As we wait on the corner of Red River for a cab to tonight’s gig we are stopped by Rolling Stone (yep, infamous US rock rag) who ask if we would do a video interview to put on their website. Oh, go on then, twist our arm! However, all this posing for camera's meant we are late loading the gear into Maggie Mae's - scene of my Margarita meltdown yesterday - and tonight home to our official SXSW showcase gig. I say official, because if you look in the "official" programme it's the one that is listed. The venue staff and sound people are pretty on the ball when we arrive, which puts me at ease. They offer firm handshakes, and have names like Chad - the whole thing doesn't seem quite as fraught as other gigs. There is a bit of promo stuff to be done, and then about three hours to kill until the gig. Me and Robin head to a Sushi place which offers a quite haven away from the madness of 6th St, which by now is beginning to resemble Reading town centre on a Saturday night. From there we head to a Canadian music showcase where we bump into some of the Broken Social Scene posse, who we had the great pleasure of playing with in Berlin and Oxford. It's cool to see them lovely guys again...
We head back to Maggie Mae's catch a bit of the band before us. In the crowd is Albert Hammond Jr, watching his girlfriend who's is band it is. I engage in a bit of banter with him, having met him several years ago at festival in Holland. Nice chap, good solo album, great clothes - the man's got the full package. As we start setting up, the cross fire of sound from all the other venues is unbelievable. That's the trouble with SXSW - if someone has a bathroom going spare on 6th St during this week it's considered fair game to put a PA and stage in it. Our showcase goes really well, the room is busy and we play a solid set. Afterwards though, we all agree that it perhaps wasn't quite as fun as some of the more haphazard events we have played at. As we load our gear off, I catch sight of those loveable rogues Electric Soft Parade who are up next, and whom we will be seeing a lot more of this week. There's something about Mathew Priest's cheeky demeanor that cheers me up tenfold every time I see him! After they finish, we have an absolute nightmare trying to get a taxi. Everywhere is chaos, and gangs of youths start to fight. The police move them on, and I catch sight of one of them with a knife. 6th Street is hell on earth. More than an hour passes before we manage to convince a cab to pick us up, and I crash out as soon as we get back.
17/3/2007 - SXSW Day Four
I jump in the pool this morning to liven my tired bones, and its bloody cold. Still, it has its desired effect as I feeling "pumped" as we jump in the truck and head for the final Goldrush gig of SXSW. The venue is a familiar setting - Homeslice Pizza restaurant on South Congress. This restaurant was set up by our host Greg along with several other like minded souls, and serves up amazing thin crust pizza like the stuff you might find in NYC - and is by far the best pizza in Austin especially compared with the gruel available on the main drag. We played here last year also, and the manageress Terri makes us feel right at home by making sure we are kept in Pizza and beer for the day. The stage is in the Courtyard at the back, and when we arrive there is already a decent crowd out here basking in the sunshine. And I dare say that this afternoon is our most enjoyable show of SXSW. The crowd is really enthusiastic, and during "Sun In Your Eyes" Robin climbs onto the restaurant roof for the trombone finale. Afterwards I chat with Terri, and thank her for putting us on again this year. When we played in 2006 I was given an amazing t-shirt with the slogan "Pizza Is Your Friend" by the Homeslice crew. Everywhere I go in blighty I have people asking where I got it, so I suggest to her that she exports some over to sell in the UK.
There are plans afoot for a bit of a celebratory meal out this evening, but first there is one more Piney Gir feat. Goldrush showdown to attend to. We cruise into town in the back of the jeep one final time, shades on and hair blowing in the breeze. We find ourselves back at The Shakespeare pub, scene of the first Piney gig at SXSW which brings a nice sense of closure to proceedings. This time we are playing in the little courtyard out back, and it is a really fun gig, enhanced by the fact that the bar staff very kindly brings over tequila shot for everyone as soon as the last note is sounded.
Time to kick back a little! Afterwards we head out to a nice restaurant with the lovely David of Mute song to enjoy some fine food and wine. A steady flow of Margarita’s are sent over to our table, and we raise a toast to what has been a rather marvellous few days. On the way to the restroom, Robin is recognised by someone who enjoyed the Homeslice gig earlier, so we must be making at least some headway out here! By the time dessert comes, I am truly bollocksed. 
I am quite tempted to call it a night but decide to stagger into town with G, and the long walk does me good. I want to try and see Kings Of Leon, but alas after waiting in line for an hour and a half to get into Stubbs’s, it becomes apparent that this is not going to happen. What I hear from the queue sounded great though. I finally gain entry just as they finish, and contemplate sticking around to watch The Stooges, but decide I would rather hook up with the rest of the gang for more fun and frolics. Joe, Robin and me head to a KEXP party (they being a fab Seattle radio station) and watch The Black Angels. The boys from Hopewell are there too, who whip out their hipflasks and generously share the wealth. Now would have been an advisable time to head back, but Robin and me somehow end up at the house of the guy who owns the legendary Stubbs venue for a few more libations. When we finally arrive back at Gregg's, Piney is leaving to catch her early morning flight and we have to be up in a few hours to go to the airport. Not really looking forward to that a great deal...
0 comments:
Post a Comment