DAY 1 at SXSW
I was nervous about South By South West. I knew the festival would be amazing. I had no idea about the sheer immensity of it, but I'd only heard cool things. What worried me was that we hadn't sorted out what instruments we would be playing for our showcase, and the cheap accommodations i'd sorted out were shady at best.
In between connecting flights I was attempting to get in contact with "Steve", a friend of a friend who lived in a student "co-op" house that could put us up for $20 a night. When i called Steve in San Jose he seemed to know who i was until i mentioned crashing at his place. I forget what he said exactly, but he seemed to express doubt that we could stay there, before our connection was cut off... I called back but there was no answer.
I called again and again but still no answer. The friend who'd hooked me up with Steve, Jon, was also not answering his phone.
I arrive in Austin with not even an idea of where I should be going. I was extremely well prepared as you can tell. The gentlemen at the information desk was extremely nice and even gave me a map of texas, recommending that I frame it when i get home and mark off all the places that i visit. I've since misplaced the map. Never been one for souvenirs, but it's not to say that i wasn't grateful.
I reach downtown and wander the strip in search of Josh and Shawna. The place was booming. A good 5 or 6 blocks of 6th avenue had blocked off traffic for the SXSW goers and the place was already packed with people. Even more impressive was that every 2nd or 3rd storefront was actually a live music venue. Coming from Vancouver who's venue list is limited and being constantly shortened, the sight was wicked. Walking from one end to the other i saw around 20 to 25 venues and there were still plenty of venues on other streets.
The thing that i hadn't yet learned was that not only did SXSW have between 17 and 18 hundred bands but there were also other music festivals running simultaneously, most free. The gorrila festival, for example, had it's own 400 bands. This resulted in live music around the clock and way way way too many dudes in tight pants, with shitty mustaches or patchy facial, token tattoos, and some form of hipster haircut (i.e. angular, combover and usualy greasy).
I wandered the festival with Adaline and Nat Jay, checking out bands and calling Steve every so often to see if he's answering his phone yet. Nothing.
Finally, at 10 PM, after catching Dan Mangan's first SXSW showcase, Steve picks up his phone. He's quite inebriated at a show somewhere.
"Yeah it's cool for you to stay there man" Steve says. "Just ask for the co-op advisor Rocio. She'll set you up as long as you promise to pay the $20".
I asked "Is she at the co-op right now?"
"Uh... I don't know, she'll get there eventually" he assures me.
Steve gives me the address for the co-op and tells me he'll call Rocio to see if she's there. Moments later i receive a text from Steve that says he doesn't actually have Rocio's phone number, "But she'll be there eventually".
GREAT. REAL FUCKING GREAT.
I send Shawn and Grant to crash at Josh's hotel room. I couldn't handle putting them through what i might possibly be about to put myself through.
The co-op was a mansion probably from the early 1900's or earlier that had in the last year been transformed into student housing. Rocio wasn't there when i arrived but Andrew a resident at the Co-op was nice enough to let me in and give me a tour. The co-op was pretty used to taking in tourists and musician tramps like myself.
Rocio showed up only a few minutes after me to let me know that the extra room was already taken. Another co-op housemate Marshall said, however, that i could totally crash on the couch in his room.
"Better than nothing", i think to myself. Plus, with so many other housemates, how could they possibly kill me. Too many witnesses.
It was after 12 and i figured i'd hit the sack. Plenty of long days on my feet left, might as well preserve my energy. Marshall made his way to bed only a little bit later. He checked his email and then after fussing with some cables he got the music going. Now, I probably can't classify it beyond electronic music but let's just call it Trance music, shall we? It was trance like, and it was LOUD. So loud that i assumed the other housemates would complain. The floor was shaking for pete's sake. But no complaint was made. They were all accustomed to Marshall falling asleep to floor shaking trance music.
I couldn't sleep through it. Pillow on top of my head or not, nothing would work. After over a half an hour of this i decide to make a move. I would either dial the volume down or just shut his laptop and quickly lay back down in hopes that he wouldn't wake up.
I put my glasses on.
I sit up.
The song ends.
Silence....
More silence.
"It must be a long intro or something" i think. Still more silence. Thank heavens, Marshall must have programmed only a certain amount of songs to play before it stopped.
I fall asleep for a bit but am abruptly awoken by a nipping at my heels. I turn to see marshall's dog Chewy staring at me. The couch was apparently Chewy's bed. Chewy was by no means miniature and I couldn't argue with him. I mean, at least he wasn't floor shaking trance music. I moved my legs and Chewy took his place on the couch.
After falling asleep for a short while again, i'm awoken, yet again by a rustling in the room. I open my eyes and there are two girls wandering around the room with flashlights. They whisper to each other and motion to me. One of them flashes her flashlight in my face.
"Hi, I'm Tara" she says.
"Hello" i respond as kindly as i could.
"Do you know where the DVD player is? We had a party last night and we had to hide the DVD player in here, and there's a movie i really want to see, Do you know where the DVD player is?"
"No, sorry". I've never even seen this room the lights on.
Marshall soon wakes up and finds them the DVD player. Marshall heads back to his computer. I get a terrible feeling in my stomach, and not even moments later my terrible feelings are confirmed. Marshall had started that terrible trance loop once again. 45 more agonizing minutes of trance music, while i shared a couch as a bed with Chewy, short for Chewbacca.
My SXSW journey had began.
D
www.thepaintedbirds.blogspot.com
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