We had one of, if not the best week weeks we've ever had as a band at SXSW in Austin this week just gone. From meeting at the airport to driving back to Houston to fly home it was amazing.
Our initial fears of being under 21 and being trapped in our hotel rooms between shows were fortunately quashed by the amazing free parties put on by Todd P at Ms Bea's Yard. Literally every band I'd made a note to see played the carpark behind a bar that served us booze on the first night. The alcohol didn't flow freely all week but this didn't hamper our ability to have a good time.
Our shows ranged from industry showcases on 6th street to Lesbian bars outside of the main strip. All were experiences within themselves and gave us gratification on different levels. If you search on YouTube, all manner of videos from various shows have been uploaded. From the perspective of playing shows, it was a great introduction to the USA. Whilst I was a little apprehensive about crowd response due to the nature of the festival, a bunch of people completely kicking off for our official showcase in the biggest venue we did put my nerves to rest. If any of you folk who danced reads this, thanks.
I was lucky enough to catch no less than 26 different bands whilst we were there, some twice. My top 5 (in no specific order) would probably be something like this:
Cursive - who played The Ugly Organ almost from start to finish
Trash Talk - the most INTENSE hardcore band I've seen for a long long time
HEALTH - first time i've caught these live. The new material is mindblowing.
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - an intimate set in the aforementioned car park
Dirty Projectors - similarly to HEALTH their new stuff is great. so so technically proficient.
Only downers were the lack of vegetarian food (huge piles of meat anyone?) and having to leave. Fingers crossed we'll get the opportunity to come back and visit more places very soon.
Until then, our headline tour of the UK is on in 3 weeks and we, like everyone else, now have Twitter. http://www.twitter.com/rolotomassiband
Peace x
