extravaganza

sxsw 2008, day 2: leave this to the professionals

day shows during sxsw have become a lot like night shows– there’s an overwhelming amount of them, and you must approach them with a great deal of flexibility and patience. in fact, it’s kind of a science. sure, some people just walk around and poke their heads into any place that emits the sound of good music and the smell of free beer, but, as a planner pants, i’m nerd out over my day schedule just as much as my night schedule.

and i am NOT ALONE. i present to you: jessica, with her hand written (old school!!) day schedule:

matt, john and i ran into jessica early thursday afternoon at the emo’s day show. initially, we had planned on getting into the NPR show, until we saw this line:

dude. it’s 1 PM. it is WAY too early to stand in that kind of line. queues like this should never see the light of day.

my personal day show philosophy features two rules:

1) the environment should be relaxed

2) there should be free items for consumption, preferably food and/or beverages rather than, uh, cds. NO MORE FREE CDS. seriously.

while emo’s fulfilled rule #1, there was definitely NADA on the #2 front, so we headed to the mohawk, which not only featured free beer but ALSO boasted this incredibly chill rooftop patio (complete with juicy hipster filling!).

in spite of the american apparel overload, mohawk proved to be the perfect place to settle for the day. they even had free food! it’s difficult to balance free food, free beer, free music AND socializing, but matt here can show you how it’s done:

only a professional can manage that pose.

the upper level of the patio was reserved for VIPs, so i furiously scanned the crowd for anyone famous.

there was NO ONE! NO ONE! how can you be a VIP without being famous? i read celebrity blogs, so i *know* who’s famous, and none of these people passed my, “OMG! it’s __!! right there! that is cray!” test. obviously, i was disappointed, but it was only thursday. i still had plenty of time to surpass the pinnacle of my sxsw celeberity sightings, the 2005 climactic encounter with elijah wood.

lots of people met up with us at mohawk throughout the day, which was super fun. here’s caitlin with matt, who really loves having his picture taken (almost as much as ray).

see what i mean?

even though the patio was pretty crowded, i manged to secure chairs for our little group. cos i totally have eagle eyes when it comes to empty chairs. like, i can sense when people are about to leave, so i’ll jump up the SECOND their bottom leaves the seat and quickly drag the chair over to the circle like this squirrel i saw one time at rice who dragged an entire bagel from a table back to his little squirrel house. plus, like a squirrel, i am small and cute (well, i try), so no one stops me.

chairs are *really* vital when it comes to day shows. cos yr feet have to be prepared for the 6+ hours of standing during the night.

henri took the opportunity to catch up on the latest issue of harper’s. of course.

when sxsw began, i wondered what sort of new hipster trends i’d encounter. one year it was bandanas (still happening, can someone explain WHY PLEASE), the next it was fannypacks (seriously, that is more irony than i can handle). i decided that this year, the new hipster trend is cut-offs. observe:

hmm. i think prefer fannypacks.

as the day progressed, the sun peeked through the clouds and made the day even more glorious and relaxed. here’s j. and i, soaking it all in:

i liked the fact that we could listen to the music without actually watching the stage. although, when clipse was about to come on, i made sure to drag my chair (no standing!) to the railing so i could watch the show. and guess who i spotted in the crowd?

when clipse began their set, i totally had the best seat (MUAHAHA) in the house. i mean, check out this view!!!!

clipse: hate it or love it

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if clipse isn’t on “stuff white people like,” they totally should be. just check out this crowd:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCbqHX8Dfhk 325 260]

i’d personally like to nominate the #1 most annoying person at this show, The Guy Next To Me!

not only was this guy a chipster (i just learned this term from meredith, and it’s a combination of chad and hipster, like a frat guy dressed hip), but he *insisted* on contributing his own vocal stylings to the show, which consisted of him moving his hand up and down and going “uh uh uh uh” throughout every single song. yepola.

in the bathroom, i saw this graffiti and wanted to add The Guy Next To Me as #4.

then i thought about actually having to befriend that guy, and decided NO.

speaking of bathrooms, guess what? there was NO LINE for the girl’s bathroom. even more amazing? THERE WAS A LINE FOR THE BOY’S BATHROOM!!! I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. i swear, no hallucinations involved. so, whereas i was in and out of the bathroom in just a few minutes, john had to stand there and wait. and make conversation. which apparently is an experience he’s never had before. i interviewed him about it, along with his impression of clipse:

we rounded off our day of free food and beer with… happy hour at manuel’s! yesssss. i love going to manuel’s during sxsw, cos i can never get there in time for happy hour when i’m coming from work.over dinner, the subject of living on the moon came up (this is what happens when you hang out with matt), and we tried to decide who would get killed (by another member of our party) first. guess who it was.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGaINJSb9Xk 325 260]

in case you can’t watch youtube at work, it was john. let’s hope for his sake that we never get stuck in a space station together for longer than a week. also, if that happens, i really hope there’s gonna be astronaut ice cream involved.

the plan for the night began at emo’s, where jens lekman was playing. we got there early, before they opened the doors, cos i wasn’t sure what kind of crowd there would be. honestly, the line was pretty short, but OF COURSE there had to be a debate about it between henri and john. of course.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao_ZviZbWS4 325 260]

personally, i’m ok with lines, as long as i know i can get in AND it’s at night. i really don’t like waiting in the sun. probably cos i am a vampire.

jens put on a really precious show– it was just him! i like the way he tells long stories about each song, cos it makes you feel like you’re just having a lovely conversation over tea.

jens lekman: the opposite of hallelujah

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after jens, john and i decided to walk over to austin music hall to check out ya la tengo and my morning jacket at the austin music hall. i’ve never been inside, so i was excited! cos it looks kind of majestic, don’t you think?

unfortunately, you can’t take pictures inside. well, people do, but there are tons of signs that say the security guard will take yr camera away. and i am totally one of those pansy pants that follows the rules, cos i HATE getting in trouble. so i kept flossy safe inside my purse and just enjoyed the show, but i’m sorry i don’t have more pictures to show you.

i was happy to discover that not only does the austin music hall have a balcony, but you can sit in it! yes! by this point, i was feeling pretty crappy… like, i couldn’t tell if i had a bad cold or if the strep throat monster had paid me a visit (HATE). so sitting and listening to the awesome musical sounds of these two bands was pretty much the best thing ever.

my morning jacket: what a wonderful man

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also the best thing ever? watching people try to sit in the VIP area right in front of us. basically, about every ten minutes, like clockwork, a new group of people would walk over, spot the empty bleacher row and think to themselves, “even though this place is packed with people, no one has thought to sit here! so i will!” and then security would come over and tell them to leave. if i hadn’t been sick, this would have made a *great* drinking game.

after MMJ, john and i called it quits and shared a cab back to our apartments. even though my throat was killing me, i felt incredibly satisfied with my first full day of sxsw– i had carefully balanced a relaxing day of music with a night of rocking. i know it’s tough, but i consider myself a professional. a DR. professional.

LINKS

did you guys here there’s gonna be a new 90210? but wait, didn’t that already happen, like, in the form of the OC? or the hills? eh?

speaking of bad ideas, there’s a new lost boys movie!
SQUEEE TINY DEER!!! i want to pet you. but only if you are clean.

my latest “THIS IS SO TRUE” entry on stuff white people like: the wire

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