South By South West - A Retrospective pt 3

SATURDAY - Day Five

The day started excellently with a trip to the Seattle party down town. Freebies, good food, and familiar faces (Ryan was one of the co-hosts) meant that we were all in high spirits by noon. We watched Ryan's sister's band and then left to find the Johnny Cash themed Bar that we were due to play in as part of the Mojo party. The line up was excellent. The Felice Brothers (who I missed but bought the CD of because all the crowd were raving about it), Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip (who remixed the Antiques Road Show theme tune amongst other bits and pieces) and Laura Marling (playing the set that I have now heard a million times but still enjoy) were all playing on the same bill. We started our set well but halfway through the Wrote and the Writ Johnny broke ANOTHER guitar string. We needed saving badly and up to the plate stepped our cellist, Joe Zeitlin, to play the first movement of the First Bach Cello Suite. He was visibly nervous when I announced him over the mic (well coerced him over the mic), but he swallowed his nerves and played. It was amazing, a real South By South West moment, and by the time he finished to captivated applause Johnny had changed his string and we could carry on. I did then offer to beatbox but the crowd weren't up for it. Philistines. Anyway, after we'd finished up, and I'd had a nice chat with my friend's friend Riz MC, our South By South West crew - Laura Marling and her entourage, Peggy Sue and the Pirates, and us lot - went for a big lunch in a nice Mexican place. Unfortunately, I got stuck to the only tag along - someone who had come because he wanted to do business with us in tour managing or something. I nearly cried with boredom till I made my escape.

I did escape though - via a lift from a man named Bill who saw us play at the Mojo party and loved it - and back in town I took in two great shows, Hanne Hukkleberg (who've I wanted to see for ages) and Riz (who I've never seen live before). Tired but reflective, it was nice to then make the huge long walk to join Chris and Johnny who were at the out of town country music club where men are men and women are also possibly men. Together we watched a true hick country band called Sons and Daughters, got a bit drunk, and called it a night.

SUNDAY - Day Six

Sunday is the day of rest, and so it was for us and the rest of Austin. South By had finished, everyone was leaving, and we were up for a chilled one. We met our south by crew at Laura's hotel and played a monumental game of Basketball for a couple of hours. We were joined by a hugely fat taxi driver who called himself 'Jordan....Markus Jordan'. He was immense, schooling us on the court with his skill, panache and those sort of chortles that fat people do. We saw his ass far too many times though because he was so large that he basically couldn't move and when he fell over it took him a long, long time to get his pants back around his waist.

The rest of the day was much less energetic. A long lunch with our new friends (excluding Mr. Jordan) was followed by a great evening in a spacious bar. It seemed like every band in the world was there; Us, Laura Marling, Peggy Sue and The Pirates, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong, The Pan I am, and more. Still, I preferred to talk to Laura Marling's lovely tour manager Steve about his wacky conspiracy theories about Hitler. It's all about the Spear of Destiny, he claimed. Brilliant. This is my last memory of South By....

The night came and went and so did the plane back. We came crashing back to english earth on the monday as we had to do a bloody video for Tickle Me Pink where teenagers danced unconvincingly round our awkward and jet-lagged bodies. It never rains in this business....