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So much like last year's South-by-Saturday, the plan is to hook up with my dad's old friend Dale Peterson and head over to South Congress for Mojo's Mayhem at the Continental Club. This is Mojo Nixon's showcase. We get there just in time to see the JD Wilkes and the Dirt Daubers from Paduka, KY. For a 1 PM set, they fucking rip. I am informed by Jade that they end the set with a handful of songs by JD's old band The Legendary Shack Shakers. We all hop out for a minute to see who is playing at the South By San Jose event across the street. The onstage isn't doing much for me, but I find out that Cody Chestnutt is playing at 5.
Back to the Continental. We see some of Dale's favorite Austin singer/songwriters; John Dee Graham, and James McMurtry. John Dee has Marv and me in tears, but James has us white trash boogying through his tales of dirty living.
Back across the street to Cody Chesnutt. We sit through the band before him, which I didn't get their name. They had 2 songs in a row with choruses that had a line like "I am the Passenger" in it. Cody came out about 20 minutes late. They suffered through a few technical issues. Cody sounded like all of the SXSW shows had tore his voice up pretty good. Even still, they did not disappoint me. I think some of those that didn't absolutely adore his music like me were turned off.
Back across to the Continental. We missed the Whiskey Sisters. But caught Mojo's set. He opened with "Can't Hardly Wait" a Replacements cover. Then proceeded to tear the place down. Appearently everything about the government and corporate America can suck his dick.
I kinda wanted to stick around for Tinariwen at the SXSJ, but we were pretty far from our destination and needed to start moving.
We set out headed through downtown to 6th and out of the shit. Determined to not wait in lines or pay covers we skipped Shangra-La, White Horse, and Hotel Vegas. We got micheladas and margaritas at Tukoba. We ate Gator from a guy on the street in a weird trailer with a sign that said free beer. Gator was good, got no free beer.
We hit the Grackle for a beer and to see who was playing there. I ended SXSW at the Grackle last year and heard some metal. This year it was Bipolar Gentlemen. It was some very out-there music. Crazy metal percussion with contact mics. Bass player played with little metal sticks and had his bass laying down. There was a Culligan water jug with a mic in it. Their singer had no eyebrows and crazy make-up and effects on her mic. It was pretty intense. We bought a CD.
On to the Hi-Hat for a beer and back to St Roch's. We turned in early(ish). I told Jake Quam that I would take first shift driving on the way home, so I wanted to be rested.
Today was an awesome day. I saw real Austin music, Cody Chesnutt, and some avante garde. It was a good way to end this adventure. Now for the real adventure. The journey home.
Flavorful Side Note:
We ate BBQ breakfast around the corner from Jade's place. It looked like a dump but the BBQ was perfect. We went back this morning but the ribs and brisket weren't ready. Kinda sad. In other sad food news. It brings me great pains to say that Lucky J's Chicken and Waffle Taco truck is no longer in the food court on 6th and Waller. There was a different Chicken and Waffle Tacos, but they were more expensive and could not hold a torch to Lucky J's.
Musical Side Note:
I wonder how many people that come to this festival actually see 1 band or songwriter from Austin Texas. I'm really glad that I was able to see some. Mission: Spend an equal amount of time in Austin soon and see what music scene here is really all about. I've heard good things.
