Austin360 blogs > Almost Urban > Archives > 2007 > March > 14
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Cape, ceremonial garment, potato, potahto
11:20 p.m. I feel stupid. Cody Chesnutt’s set was quietly beautiful. Part performance-art meditation, part Marvin Gaye-style social outcry. I was standing in the back of the venue when Chesnutt came back to pack up his guitar, so I told him I appreciated his set. “Oh yeah,” I added, “I like your cape”. (You know, because it was gold, and glittery.)
“It’s actually an Ethiopian ceremonial garment,” he replied.
Uh, yeah. I suppose I probably should have been cued by the big gold crosses woven onto the shoulders.
Your girl’s an idiot.
Now where’s the party?
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Cody Chesnutt’s wearing a cape, a SXSW adventure continues
7 p.m. I’m whining about the drizzly weather and T’s boy Abraham tells me he hopes it rains again tomorrow. “People come here during ACL and they don’t want to stay because it’s 110 degrees outside, but they come during SXSW and it’s the best time of the year and they all think they want to live here.” He’s not wrong.
9:23 p.m. On my way to see Cody Chesnutt, I stop by the hip-hop showcase at Visions looking for my girl L Boogie. While the cats from Lower Life Form warm up the stage I spot Mattsoreal of Houstonsoreal working the sidelines. I’ve never met the man before, but I read his blog all the time, so I bumrush him to introduce myself and say thanks. He is, after all, the one responsible for curating the hip-hop presence at SXSW.
9:53 p.m. When I arrived at Exodus shortly after 9:30 there was no line and you could buy your way in for $15. Now the club’s filling up. The moral of the story? SXSW kids tend to sleep on urban music, so there’s a good chance you can get into these showcases if you make it to the club early enough.
10:10 p.m. Cody Chesnutt is wearing a cape! Said cape is stitched both with sequins and thick gold braided thread.
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SXSW: Searching for hip-hop day parties on day 1
This is my first year on the street at SXSW. I’ll be out and about today, Friday and Saturday, and I’ll provide a blow-by-blow account of my adventures throughout the Fest.
3:15 p.m. In an attempt to catch some afternoon hip-hop, I drop by the Raw Word day party at the Creekside Lounge to catch Las Krudas, the Cuban female hip-hop trio who have recently taken up residence here in Austin. I’ve heard good things about these chicas and have been looking forward to seeing them perform. Unfortunately, the show was supposed to go down on the club’s expansive patio, but it was short-circuited by the rain. Instead I find myself punking out with the Applicators.
I like these girls. They’re feisty, loud and mad sexy. It’s a good look, but punk rock has never been my scene, and in the cramped space of the Creekside, the distortion is a little much for me.
3:40 p.m. I slip across the street to the Beauty Bar where DJ Cat NYC is dropping a hipster-friendly blend of ’80s and house music while a bunch of indie-looking white dudes lounge around in the club’s trademark hairdryer chairs. The crowd is sparse in the actual club, but before I can move along to the livelier party on the back patio, the lovely Donie from Joie De Vie spa offers me a free arm massage.
Never the type to turn down a free rubdown, I happily indulge, and the rich pear-scented lotion is luxurious indeed. Incidentally, this is the first time I’ve engaged in actual beauty-related activity at the Beauty Bar. As soon as I get up from my massage, one of the indie dudes slips into the chair. I wonder if he’ll choose lavender, cucumber honeydew or pear like me for his massage lotion.
4:45 p.m. I exit the scene at the Beauty Bar to continue my search for afternoon hip-hop, I head over to the Fader/Levi’s ‘Fort.’ The ‘Fort’ is an impressive complex. They’ve taken over the American Youthworks space on Fourth Street and turned it into a colorful, graffiti-decked grown-up playground. There’s an Adult Swim video lounge, a blogger room, a huge outdoor stage and an onsite Levi’s shop. Urban and almost-urban industry types of all varieties roamed the halls. The music is still a little more dance club than what I was looking for, but I’ll definitely be back on Friday night for Amy Winehouse’s set and on Saturday when Redman is supposed to rock the spot.
5:15 p.m. Downtown is a mess. I head out on foot to my man’s work to avoid relinquishing the stellar parking space I managed to grab this afternoon. Heading off to grab a bite to eat, then I’ll be back in the mix.
