My last night at SXSW was so mind-bendingly amazing I’m not sure I’ll be able to wrap words around it…but here goes:
Started my day at the Summer Break Records party somewhere on Lamar. Caught last two tunes of I Love Math’s set, then got my food and drink on (I think I had 5 Shiners in the hour and a half I was there). But but but! The coolest part of the time there was randomly seeing “The girl from Infrangible” as I put it when I walked up to her and asked her if that were she. She and Khoi were there for SX…their friends wanted to see I Love Math. We talked for a while and it was a truly kind of bizarre experience for all I think.
Then into town. I called the number I had for Peter Wilson, actually his manager’s phone, and went to meet he and Chip. We went for some BBQ at a totally authentic place on the other side of 35 (except there was very little for the veggie Peter and the temp veggie me…but Chip wanted meat so there we went).
Immediately following dinner we drug them to the Salim Nourallah show, which was another Dallas lovefest but yet another amazing set.
At that point we all split up. Peter and Chip went to the venue they were playing later, and a Mr. Hal Samples swung by and picked me up. We cruised back to the vicinity of Lamar to drop off work he is showing tonight. After that brief hang time, he dropped me back in town.
Peter had informed my very shocked but pleased self that Iain Archer was not only in town for SX, but playing that very night at an Irish restaurant. I found the place after a little hunting and sure enough it was full of people from the great green islands. I bought Iain a drink and tried to talk to his wife Miriam who seemed about as impressed with my conversation as she would be with the stomach flu. Then I stood next to this incredibly attractive woman who turned out to be a musician who performed earlier in the evening. Then during Iain’s set she was kinda all over this really old fat guy who I assumed was her manager and there was some kind of Celine Dion thing going on there. But but but it was so good to get to see Iain. Duke Special and Iain Archer in the same night, in America!?! Unbelievable.
Then I ran off to see Martha Wainwright, catching her last 3 tunes. She was followed at the same venue by Josh Ritter, who was amazing as expected.
Then off to see Duke Special, who was fraught with sound problems during sound check – to the point I wanted to chloroform the sound guy and just take over – but by showtime the sound issues were resolved and they played one of their better sets I have seen (save their main stage show at last year’s Greenbelt). Iain showed up along with some other Irish/English/Scottish/Welsh people, and I do think the Americans in attendence were really blown away – there were a few doe eyed people approaching Peter after the show somewhat still in shock about the excellence of what they had just seen. Before we left Peter gave me a copy of his vinyl single for Freewheel.
Then then then! I was invited to an afterparty. Ok, whatever. We show up there and I hear music. We walk around the corner and Ours was playing. At this point my brain almost exploded. They played an amazing set of almost all new songs.
What a day.