You may be wondering what I mean by an UNCENSORED recap of SXSW 2008.
Fuck
See? Now it’s uncensored. But that taboo-est of taboo four letter words pretty much encapsulates the entire week that myself and the Uncensored Interview crew (I know it’s improper grammar, but I am an egomaniac) spent down in Austin, Texas. I won’t bore you with a long winded, pretentious review filled with impressively long words that I found perusing Thesaurus.com, but I will do my best to share in the incredible experience of working four straight 15-hour days in the middle of what can only be described as Mardi Gras knocked up by an alcoholic with eclectic music taste on a massive coke bender. Or perhaps put better by Los Campesinos:
The UI team and I flew in on Wednesday from frigid New York and quickly began to bask in the warm embrace of the Texas sun. And by “bask in the warm embrace” I of course mean we found a restaurant with outdoor seating and started drinking right away.
Click each thumbnail for larger image
Perched high atop Iron Cactus restaurant, we had a bird’s eye view of the craziness percolating below on 6th street. Music blaring out of every establishment, hundreds of people filed out onto the streets, drinks in hand, screaming, dancing, jaywalking (gasp!), and generally just partying. At noon. On a Wednesday. Fucking drunks.
On the way back to our hotel, we ran into Nell Bryden , who was very happy to see us, and handed us some free CDs. Sweet, I’ve only been in Austin for 2 hours now, and I’m already half tanked and being wooed with free shit. I felt like a Jersey girl on prom night. Minus the Camaro.
A few naps and a trip to Wal Mart later, we find ourselves at the Domino Records Showcase at Antone’s, and it does not disappoint. I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t even get to go inside, as The Bark and I were working the line while the bosses mingled inside and enjoyed awesome sets from Lightspeed Champion and The Kills. Our sad, puppy dog faces convince the bosses to actually let The Bark and I attend the Afropunk showcase on 6th street, and it does not disappoint. Particularly awesome were The Noisettes, who startled a tired Shark with their high energy mix of Ramones-like punk riffs and Billie-Holiday-esque vocals.
Day 2 was all work, little play, as the Uncensored team set upon the Austin convention center to spread the UI word, make new friends, hand out minterviews, beer coozies, and t-shirts, and interview a ton of great indie bands, like Ungdonskulen, The Whigs, and Cary Brothers:
After a long, hard day of interviewing, The Bark and I hit up The Whigs/My Morning Jacket show downtown.
More to come in part 2 later this week, including my highlights/lowlights of the festival, and a sneak peek at some of the awesome bands that we caught up with.
TOPICS: theshark