Mar Sellars is a music journalist and former CBC Radio 3 producer. She is travelling to SXSW along with Toronto band Absolutely Free, and documenting the whole thing.
Day 2 of SXSW
Thursday was a long day. It’s our first full day of SXSW and my heaviest day of partying. We bounced around shows and free booze parties, as you do. Mint Records had an all-you-can-drink (bad idea) party at Cheer Up Charlie’s, and the Germans had an amazing free lunch (which surprisingly wasn’t all sausage). I finally saw the Thermals (after 10 years), new-ish London band the Cheetahs and old favourites Surfer Blood.
Absolutely Free ended the night at an unofficial show at the 1808 Club, which is at one of the scariest intersections in Austin (Chicon and East 12th streets) known for its drug dealing and crime. The venue has a big backyard and we spent most of the night hanging out with other Toronto friends Moon King, Austra and Tasseomancy outdoors. I am still finding leaves and twigs in my jeans days later.
I got a ride home that night (including my bicycle) by a professional driver, who drives celebrities around for a living. She even had her dog in the car. I think I just looked desperate enough at 4 a.m. that she pulled over and asked, “Y’all need a ride somewhere?” The stereotype of friendly southerners has been proven!
Day 3 of SXSW
The band played two quiet, unofficial shows. We all went out for real Texas barbecue afterwards at a place where the most vegetarian thing was half a chicken. I ordered that and it literally was just that, half a chicken on a piece of paper on a tray with some pickles on the side. Matt [King] and Moshe [Rozenberg, both from Absolutely free] were brave enough to try the brisket plate. Even after eating it, I’m still not sure if any of us actually knows what brisket is.
Day 4 of SXSW
Saturday was the day of the band’s official showcase. Absolutely Free’s label, One Big Silence, is a cool little 100 per cent Toronto artist label, so the bill was all hometown friends, Tasseomancy, Moon King and Rituals. Again the audience was made up of a lot of Canadians (Beliefs, Austra, Dusted, Neon Windbreaker were all in the house). It’s nice how all the Canadians support each other, but I do hope some other people saw the shows. I sometimes wonder if at SXSW bands just end up playing to their friends or actually to a new audience? Wherever you go, whether it’s a British showcase or German or Vancouver or Montreal, people seem to like to stick to their own crowd.
Absolutely Free were the gear heroes (or gear-os) of SXSW. As one of the only bands that drove down, they were reluctantly forced to lend gear to every band they played with. By the final night, a drum stool and rack tom had already been broken. There was a brief panic that their guitar amp had blown as well. But it all came together and the show was the busiest and best of the trip.
At the end of the night we had to wait what felt like two hours for the van to load gear. Downtown Austin is a nightmare during SXSW, and most streets are closed because of pedestrian overcrowding. While waiting, we got to people-watch and I saw public urination, vomiting, sleeping on the streets and just about everything else.
Sunday morning we started driving back to Toronto. As we drove through Texas it was 30 degrees out, destroying our recently purchased cheese and veggies. We stopped for a bathroom break in West Memphis, where we met two ladies named Nora who asked us if we knew Michael Bublé because he’s Canadian. Somewhere in Michigan, 24 hours later, still driving, the band is excited as they check emails and get messages from European booking agents, new fans and other people they met at SXSW. Thirty hours after we leave Austin, I’m dropped off at my doorstep in Toronto. I’m exhausted, dirty and, of course, it’s snowing.
Related:
SXSW with Absolutely Free, part 1: border guards and yeast rings
SXSW 2013’s freaks and fashions
Everything you need to know about SXSW 2013 (even if you weren't there)