sxsw 2005

march 16-20, 2005

After having had so much fun the previous year (see SXSW 2004 parts One & Two) I decided to head out to South by Southwest again. Special thanks to Sarah who was kind enough to let me (and like 5 other people!) crash in her hotel room again! Wednesday, March 16th Because I'd waited so long before making up my mind to buy tickets, the only flight I could find to Austin left from Neward at 5:45am. So I decided to just stay up all night and then catch a cab to Newark. Newark bound. My eyes feel like sleepy. About 30 seconds after this pic was taken, I conked the fuck out and slept the rest of the way to Texas. Sarah had flown in earlier, so I hung around the airport waiting for Josh's flight to come in and then we took a cab into town together to meet up with....*drumroll* TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARA! Not just regular old Tara, PREGGO Tara! Hahahah. Look at her six month-old bump! Tara used to live in NYC, but then she moved away back to Texas, got married and got knizzocked up! She and her friend Emily drove from Houston to Austin to hang out! Emily, Josh and Tara eating tasty Thai. Mango monkey! Eating for two. Hahaah. Foooood baby! By Tara's hand gesturing I'm guessing this is the part during lunch when we were talking about "preggo boobs." After lunch, we hopped in Tara's car and headed over to our hotel to meet up with Sarah. Sarah and Emily touching Tara's preggo belly! Hahahah. Later that night we hit the town to see Vince's band (Army of Me) play a late night showcase. Durning the entire show, this is what I saw in front of me. Hold on, let me turn my camera's flash on so you can better see what this is. It's three fucking text-addicted NERDS! And after the show? Midnight-snack at the weiner wagon! Thursday, March 17th On Thursday morning we all admired Josh's new "Tommy Sunshine" tattoo. How about a closer look? Hahaha. I think the resemblance is uncanny. See? (PS - Josh, you are so going to hell now.) So Josh, Sarah and I all sharing a room together turned out to equally COMPLETE silliness. While Sarah was trying to get ready to check out some shows, Josh decided to dress up like... ...a smooth twink! Timmy, awaiting camera call for his gay porno debut. (Hey, once you know you're already going to be sent to hell, why not have some fun, right?) Then, to wash away the gayness, he dressed up as slumber-party boy! Hahaha. Tara and Emily had been out the whole morning shopping and running around Austin, they came back to the hotel to grab their stuff and say goodbye before heading back to Houston. Big belly takes a Red Bull for the road. Hahaha. Looking forward to meeting you in a few months, Lucy! After seeing Tara and Emily off, Sarah and I headed into town to meet up with Karen for some lunch. And afterwards we hit the Fader Magazine party. Aw, man talk about trying to harsh my mellow! I was all trying to party down and have fun and then people have all got to be reminding me that we lost a great man earlier in the year. We miss you, Dimebag. Not forgotten, indeed. Afterwards we hit the Red Bull house where we drank for free, ate for free and dorked out on some catch up email. Josh and Robbie. Hahaha. King of the Beanbag! Niki and a friend (from college?). Then later that night we went to some party that Kill Hannah was DJing and Army of Me was playing at. The thing was sponsored by Napster and at the end of the party... ...everyone got free Dell mp3 players. (Totally the best party freebie I've ever gotten). Friday, March 18th On Friday morning Sarah and Josh were watching TV in the living room and I came out of the shower to ask if there were any more "bigger towels." Josh was like "I think they just left a stack of fresh towels out in the hall." Me, "Out in the hall, eh? I guess I'll just turn around and walk out there and get one." To which Sarah and Josh replied "Uh, ok." So I turned around and... ...WHAMMO! Say hello to my leeeeetle friends! Hahahaha. You should've heard the screaming and shreiking that happened. Oh Em Gee! This picture is censored becuase, as funny as it is, you DEFINITELY do not want to see the back of my just-got-out-of-a-hot-shower hangy bag . Trust me! Ewwwwwww, indeed. So fresh and so clean! After Sarah and Josh had recovered from the trauma my nizzuts had inflicted, we hopped into a cab and headed over to Stubb's for... ...the Official Spin party! Performances by The HOld Steady, Louis XIV, The Futureheads, Bloc Party and the NewYork Dolls! We missed the first two acts but there just in time to see the Futureheads! Who are fucking amazing live. The crowd got even bigger as... ...Bloc Party took the stage. John (aka - DJ AssGold) and Jon (I think). Josh and Vince. Niki and Sar. That Guy and Lizzie. Sarah, who's been a nut about Interpol since their first EP, used to get chastised by the rest of the Spin staff for liking them. A week after she left the magazine to start her own label, Spin put Interpol on the cover. Hahaha. Lastly, the New York Dolls took the stage. Crowd shot. I didn't know too much about them so I wasn't really expecting much - but they sounded fucking great and they put on a really good show (until one of them broke a hip during the last song. I keeed, I keeeed). Marc Spitz is a fucking communist treehugger. (But that shouldn't stop you from buying his last book which I loved!) Afterwards, I headed over to Flatstock (which is this huge poster designer's conference that was going on in Austin at the same time as SXSW) to try to find a poster for my buddy Devin. But it turns out that the artist he wanted a poster from was no longer there! (I think he didn't believe me that I went, but look, I did, I did!) Sarah (who looks really happy in this pic!), John and Jon (?). Back at the hotel, I went to our room, hit the bathroom and accidentally walked in on ... ...this guy! Hahah. Embarrassment quickly turned into... ...tantrum...which gave way to... ...indifference. Which then quickly gave way to... ...motherfucking OWNING it. "Yeah, that's right, I shit. And I look good doing it. Unnngh!" (I'd just like to point out that Josh took his pants completely off so that he could cross his legs for this pic. Hahahaha). It's what all the fashionable boys read when they're dropping duece. Product placement, anyone? After we'd both finished "our business," we headed over to... ...Ben Brown's house to help set up for Sarah's debut party for her brand new record label, Stolen Transmission. Ben Brown (who's since moved out to SF after his start up was acquired!) who kind enough to donate his house for the party! Special delivery! Let's hear it for sponsorship! Woooo! And doobers! Wooooo! Here's where the uber-strict door policy was enforced. (Said strict door policy quickly degradated to "Fuck yeah! Come on in! Woooooo!" Kicking the party off, Maximo Park performed in Ben's backyard. Hahaha. Amazing. Double Exposure. They were so fun to take pics of. Yay! It's Moshi Moshi Stephen! Hula hoop party. Vince and Sarah. After Maximo Park was done in the backyard, everyone crammed into the living room to see Idlewild play. Yay, it's Ben Brown! Thanks for having us! (PS - Holy shit, Idlewild's about to play your living room.) It was pretty surreal watching them play in someone's house. They put on a great show. woo. OMG, I was close enough to steal a lock of Roddy's hair. Karen shows off the mark of the Spark. This guy was super nice! He reads this site! Sorry I forgot your name! If you still bother checking my piss-poor site which I only update like 3x a year, email me and tell me your name! Peter, Tom and Mark! Then after Idelwild had finished and packed up, MC Chris hit the stage, er, living room floor. After the bands were all finished playing, a dance party broke out in Ben Brown's living room. The party late night as thing were winding down. Congrats on your label's very first party, Sar! Saturday, March 19th On Saturday we went to go see Apartment play. Their lead singer's dreamy. (Shhhh..don't tell!) There was a giant tractor tire in the corner and Sarah posed in front of it all cute like a lil' mini-munchkin! Awwww. Niki and Sar. These were Sarah's friends that had just recently gotten married. Congratulations! After the Apartment show, we ate huge meal that forced us to go over to Lizzie, Marc and Nikki's room for a meal-recovery nap. We watched TV (and Sarah's buttcrack). And then I guess I fell asleep and was promptly... ...paid back for all my braining. (This is the worst girls can do? Sheee-it, sign me up! I usually have to give a stranger a dollar to get this!) After our nap, we hit the town and headed to the MTV2 party to see.. ...Idlewild! (See, they don't always play living rooms). Oh my god, I think Karen must be ill! This is the first time I've ever seen her tongue pink instead of orange. The sound here was sorta better than Ben's living room (no offense, Ben!). Afterwards, I met up with Stephen and a few of... ...his friends. (Hey Slash, you might want to slow down on the Jack there. Hahah). And we hit the Vice party (which was so mobbed we had to find famous people in bands and then sneak in as part of their anonymous entourage). I can't believe they let this guy in again. Ugh. The stage was inside this huge metal airplane hanger-type deal. I think this was Bloc Party (again!) playing. Then we watched some band called Hamburger (maybe?). I ran into Victoria mid-Hamburger. We decided to take pictures that would show everyone that we were serious about "taking in" the show. This is me being critical. Then the Go! Team played. On the way out, I ran into Imran! Sunday, March 20th Sunday morning = time to go home. While packing, we sorted through all the schwag bags we'd grabbed to see if there was anything worth keeping. The most puzzling schwag bag we received had to be the one that contained only two things: A t-shirt promoting the nation-wide release of the indie film Garden State (size: XXXL) and a single packet of Astroglide personal lubricant. I can honestly say, my curiousity about the film was certainly piqued! But the award for "best freebie" has to go to... ...this handmade dress someone gave to Sarah! It was made by a designer (who's apparently a big INXS fan) who wanted to start a line of clothing called Elegantly Wasted. Hence, a silky, mauve dress for Sarah with the words "Elegantly Wasted" ironed on the front. The best detail of the dress? How about the zipper that you can use to "zip your head off!" On our way to the airport where we almost got arrested. (Remember that, Sar? Hahahaha.)   (added on 09.25.2006)

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