Whatever it was, I doubt it was awesome as this...
Taken from the archives of lovetheloft.com, it's my Road Diary from SXSW 2006.
Enjoy!
(p.s. - click the link above to read about the whole trip, not just one night)
Friday 3/17/06
For those not familiar with the South By Southwest Festival (or SXSW as it's commonly written), it's a 7 day music festival that takes place literally all over downtown Austin. 10 to 12 bands a day, all day for 7 days, in over 30 clubs. Everything from garage bands who've never played live before this week to Beastie Boys to Willie Nelson to Slayer were playing. Oh yeah, also pretty much EVERY record company exec, A&R person, producer, MTV, etc. is there too. Every year a dozen or so of bands get signed solely on their SXSW appearance. Dave Matthews Band? Played SXSW in 1992 - first major label album in 1993. White Stripes? Played SXSW in 2000 - first major label album in 2001. The list goes on and on and on...
We got into Austin just before noon, checked into our hotel, and split up to find lunch. Burke, Phil, Todd, Biggs, and Boots went to a steakhouse while me, John Banzhoff, and Nathan hit a Mexican Restaurant. I can't speak for the other guys, but our lunch was great (a common theme for this trip - those Texans like to cook and cook well). I do know there was a large field full of cows just outside the steakhouse. Does anyone else find this a bit weird? I imagined a bloody Texas version of Red Lobster ("Shoot Your Own Lunch").
Around 5 PM we headed downtown. Getting off the bus onto 6th street was like those scenes in the movies where the ray of light shines down and the classical music starts...pure heaven. Burke summed it up best: "DisneyLand For Rockers". It was better than I could've imagined. Wall to wall music, 4 blocks long and 3 blocks wide. True sensory overload. Metal bands playing next to Salsa bands playing across the street from Emo bands who were next to hip hop bands.
The Loft was playing Darwin's Pub, a cozy little room right there on 6th in the heart of everything. The band that played before us "The Brian Schram Band" was one of the highlights of the weekend. Kickass garage punk from Detroit. Great bunch of guys too. Phone numbers and email addresses were exchanged quickly, look for these guys in Nashville soon...and The Loft's Detroit debut sometime soon as well.
Taking the stage a little after 8, the eneregy was palpable. What started out as an audience of maybe 20 grew VERY quickly. It was amazing watching the scene going on outside Darwin's. People would walk up, hear a little bit of music, start dancing, and the next thing I knew they were there in the crowd. By the third song the size of the crowd had more than tripled. By the end of the set the place was absolutely packed.
Afterwards it was almost Loft Appreciation Night in Austin. Lines at the merch table, lines of people wanting autographs, very very cool. Everyone seemed to have been blown away by what they just saw. Even me, Todd, and Boots who between the 3 of us have seen practically every Loft show ever. It was obvious the band knew how important this show could end up being and brought their "A Game".
Once the scene at Darwin's died down and the gear was loaded up, we hit Austin with a vengeance. After going bar to bar to bar for a couple of hours, we found what would double as our homebase for the next 2 days - Cheers. $2 drafts, $2 wells, and $2 shots. Yeah, we were home.
For those not familiar with a Kamikaze, it's a shot of Vodka, a shot of Triple Sec, and a shot of lime juice. Now the name "kamikaze" brings up visions of incredible violence, yet those ingredients seem, well, a bit girly. Combine the 2 and you become a zombie. No place on earth should sell $2 kamikazes. This was one of those places hardcore alcoholics would go the night before they check into rehab. This would quickly become the Official Drink Of SXSW 2006. While there Todd met Bailey - you'll have to ask him to explain, but it's a great story with pictures to go along.
After several hours of carousing we met back at the bus and left for the hotel.