Headed to downtown Austin yesterday for my first official all-day venture into the SXSW 2009 Music Festival. Had to stop off for a few work errands off of Barton Springs Road, and by the time I finished up around 1:00 p.m., the vehicular chaos was already in full swing. Spent an entire hour driving up and down the nearby streets, checking out my usual parking spots near 8th & Red River, 4th & Congress, etc. Finally realized there was no way I was getting a parking space down there. So I then began examining all of the lesser-known (and more distant) lots for parking. About another 30 minutes of that before I found a diamond in the rough: a half-empty LEZ lot off of 5th & Nueces across from Little Woodrow’s (near Key Bar). Parking was $10 until 7:00 p.m., or $20 until 2:00 a.m. Beggars can’t be choosers. I tipped the man $10 for saving my life, and won his heart in the meantime. He offered to place a cone in my parking spot if I had any need to leave and return throughout the day, and to save me a spot all weekend. Score one for overtipping.
2:30 p.m.: Peckerhead’s on 6th for free Red Stripe. At this point, I’m operating sans wristband, so day parties with free stuff are the way to go. Met up with Rob and some cool chicks he knows upstairs, and enjoyed the vocal stylings of Reverend Payton’s Big Damn Band and Port O’Brien. Good stuff. And the free beer rumor was true. Hooray Beer! I Tweet and Facebook my (Rob’s) find, but am sad to see I have a low battery on my iPhone.
3:30 p.m.: Stop in at Nuno’s to say hello to Tank and check the band list for the night. (Who am I kidding? It’s always great music.) Tank gives me a big hug and tells me I look even better in the daytime. Rob decides I come here way too often. Promise Tank I will return between shows later in the evening. My dying iPhone makes me sad. I want to Tweet my whereabouts and cool discoveries, but AT&T’s poor planning for SXSW combined with my low battery = Michelle sucking at social networking.
3:45 p.m.: Rob and I duck out of Nuno’s and head back over to Mohawk for the Rhapsody VIP party, featuring free Trudy’s tacos, and open bar, and some really cool bands (namely, Vivian Girls and Trail of the Dead). I missed out on Vivian Girls by showing up later in the day, but Trail of the Dead was awesome. Tacos were delicious, and the liquor did in fact flow freely. Met John, a friend of Rob’s who works for a federal judge in Atlanta (small world!), and Rob’s official SXSW girlfriend, a married woman with lots of energy who informed Rob that it’s alright if they make out, but they can’t go to third base. Duly noted, married chick. Duly noted. Crystal, a friend of married chick, introduced herself to me by burning my arm with her lit cigarette, then apologizing profusely. We became great friends. Very cool girl. Quite a bit of sun on the upstairs deck, so Rob supplied us all with margarita-scented SPF 30 from his backpack full o’goodies, and saved us all from an untimely skin-cancer-induced death. Thanks, Rob. And another very special thanks to Rob for sliding not one, but three additional people, into the Rhapsody party on his VIP invite. We bow down to your popularity and generosity.
4:45 p.m.: Rob, John and I leave Mohawk to make our way to HiLo for the Soy Bombs show. Stop on the way to take a photo of me (in a very short skirt) on the Jackalope. Rob entertains the masses by waving his arms wildly above his head and screaming “Soy Bombs @ HiLo! Freeeee!” as he runs down 6th Street. I briefly consider slapping some random woman on the back of the head after she calls my friend a douchbag. I decide it’s SXSW, and I refuse to perpetuate the hatred. Soy Bombs, as always, are a blast. Bought a cool new Soy Bombs tee for the bargain price of $6. I run into Cheryl and Holly there, and Cheryl leaves with me to go pick up my wristband and grab some food. My iPhone is really dying now, and I don’t have enough battery to waste my time waiting for Twitter to load.
6:45 p.m.: Dinner @ Hut’s Hamburgers hit the spot. My iPhone is totally and completely dead… like, won’t even show me a red battery indicator. Thankfully, we’re near my car, so I stop to charge the phone for a bit, and we part ways. After allowing a miniscule charge to my phone, I call my buddy Connor and we decided to meet up at Mother Egan’s so he can provide me with the hallowed “Artist Wristband.” Wristband on my arm, I set out for Stubb’s.
7:15 p.m.: iPhone still dying. I stop in at the Emo’s Annex to use the phone charging station. It’s gone for the day. FML. I use one last text to tell Rob I’m going to Stubb’s.
Peace, Love & Michelle 