Autumnal Sounds

It's finally feeling like fall here in Austin: the tree in the front keeps throwing up leaves all over the yard right after we rake them, I have to use more than one blanket at night, and it gets darker earlier in the day! Going to shows during the fall is always more fun for me. It just feels more...invigorating. Even though its cold outside, everyone is all bundled up to come out and watch a few tunes with a cold brew in hand.

Minus The Bear -Stubb's 10-27-2010

While I was waiting outside to get the little beauty posted below (all access? whuttt?) I heard the opener for MTB, Tim Kasher & The Globes covering one of Cursive's songs. Fortunately, I got my pass quickly and headed inside to hear the rest of the song, followed by another Cursive cover. The covers were REALLY good. Almost spooky good. And then I finally got to the VIP area where I got to get a look at him on stage. And then my brain turned on and I realized that he WAS the guy from Cursive. (Fail on my part, I know). Cursive's The Ugly Organ was my shiiiiiiiit in high school. I liked his set so I bought his solo album, The Game Of Monogamy, when I got home.


Minus The Bear's set was really good too. The crowd was sparse at the beginning of Tim Kasher's set, but as the night wore on, the ground below filled with folks ready to catch Minus The Bear. The last time I saw them (their aftershow at Lollapalooza) I got there late and had to leave early because it was so hot. My fave this time was "My Time". I also noticed that there were a lot more people dancing rather than just moving along to the music. I guess Austin is a dancey city. I'm okay with that.

p.s. Their Drummer is a BEAST.




Stars -La Zona Rosa 11/18/2010 ($4.50 for a Lone Star should be a crime.)

If you were at La Zona Rosa this past Thursday for Stars, I was the tall redhead being an asshole dancing myself towards the front and blocking your view. (Sorry short people, tall folks like to be in the front too.) I'm glad that my friend wanted to get there a little early because the opening band, Geographer, was really good. I even downloaded their album during their set because it surprised me so much.

This lady is 6 months pregnant still lookin cute. And you better believe her ass was up there dancing along like everyone else.



"I'm six months pregnant, and everytime I come to Austin, I get so drunk. And I can't do that this time, so everyone out there, have a drink for me!"

BUBBLES!

Pictures from an actual camera! (above & below)

Did I mention that Amy did a solo acoustic performance of "Ageless Beauty"?! I die.



"Wasted Daylight"




One of my favorite shots from that night:

andddddddddddd i'm back!

It has been quite a while since I last updated this. I've got quite a few shows marked on my calendar for the next few months, so I've decided that I'm going to start writing about each one.

BUT FIRST, a recap of highlights of the past few months:
So I have this sick job where I get paid to listen to the music I love and connect these artists with various brands for different experiential marketing campaigns.

Bonnaroo 2010: One of our clients wanted to do an activation at Bonnaroo, so we packed an RV and headed east to good ole Tennessee. Besides attending the festival, highlights of the trip include: pushing a walmart shopping cart full of groceries across a highway and getting on an artist bus with one of the bands that we were going to interview later in the day, being in the same room (okay, there weren't any "rooms" at Bonnaroo, but our tent was the size of a large boardroom, and I wanted you to get the idea that I was in the same space as these dudes) with the dudes from Weezer, watching Mumford and Sons in the rain, sneaking into VIP for Jay-Z's set, and singing along to Stevie Wonder with 80,000 other people.








Lollapalooza 2010: The same client was itching to make a stop at Lollapalooza so we packed our bags and hopped on a flight to the windy city. First stop: Perez Hilton's One Night In Chicago party to kick off the festival's, umm...festivities. Guests were treated to performances by J Brazil, Nneka, Lissie, Kid Sister, and B.o.B..

The rest of the weekend was filled with cafe performances by Neon Trees, The Constellations, Chiddy Bang, Andrew Belle, Neon Hitch, and Erin Martin.

My favorite non-festival performances were Minus the Bear, Mumford and Sons, and The Temper Trap.




A really cool dude I met over the weekend managed to get me into VIP for Minus the Bear's show at Double Door in Wicker Park. The venue was SUPER hot inside, but the crowd was really ramped up for the show, so no one seemed to mind.




Probably my favorite memory of Lollapalooza was sneaking backstage to watch Mumford and Sons and The Temper Trap for their sets at Belve Nights at the Hard Rock hotel. Mumford and Sons are basically my favorite band right now. I was really disappointed that I wasn't going to be able to see them back in June because we were going to be on the road to Tennessee, so this definitely made up for not being able to see them at a club show.




The Temper Trap kicked ass as well, I've seen them once before and both shows were great.


8-24-2010: A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of catching Chromeo and Questlove of The Roots in the same night.




My night started at Stubb's here in Austin where Chromeo made a tour stop with Holy Ghost and Telephoned. Luckily, I got to the venue RIGHT before Chromeo took the stage. These guys have GREAT energy. The electrofunk duo fed off of the crowd's energy and played favorites such as "Needy Girl", "Night By Night", "Bonafied Lovin'", and "Don't Turn The Lights On". Stubb's is not my favorite summer venue in Austin, mostly because the big name shows hosted there are always outside when it its simply too hot to enjoy the show. Come October though...




After catching the end of Chromeo's set, I boogied on over to Red 7 to get a good spot for Questlove's DJ set. The man didn't stop spinning FOR 3 HOURS. He played a lot of old school favorites (think "Pass The Dutchie") and mixed a couple newer tracks (a few Jay-Z snippets here and there). After 2 hours at Chromeo and 2.5 hours at Questlove I had to take my tired, sweaty ass home. Two days later I STILL hadn't regained hearing in my left ear.

Next on my schedule is Autolux at Emo's on the 9th...see you there!