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Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2008 > March > 15 > Entry
SXSW review: Mess with Texas
The free-for-all Mess With Texas music festival rocking Waterloo Park all-day Saturday was a welcome respite from the sweaty clubs and the roving hordes that overran downtown Austin during “festival week” (the unofficial name given to SXSW by unaffiliated, independent promoters in order to avoid trademark infringement).
Although there were thousands of people in attendance, by sunset, all three stages had plenty of room to dance and room for some fans to do steady-mobbing head bobs.
Sightlines were excellent, even for shorter attendees, because the stages were all constructed at the bottom of the parks’ slight hills. The moon and the 20th century park lamps were bright enough to cast Impressionist shadows.
The universal problem that audience members shared was the lengthy beer lines; alcohol imbibers had to wait up to 30 minutes for a single drink.
While this reporter was in attendance, Lucero increased its ever-growing fanbase with a loose set of tight alt-country and rockabilly songs. And on an adjacent stage the Breeders started on time, down to the second, playing several new songs that were unrecognizable to even the majority of their fans.
“This is going to be awesome,” said Masonic guitarist John Mason as he waited for the Breeders to bring it. “The light show has been really amazing too.”
Between Fun Fun Fun Festival and the now annual Mess With Texas festival, event producers Transmissions Entertainment have elevated throwing an enormous party in Waterloo Park into an art form.
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