Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2010 > March > 18
Thursday, March 18, 2010
SXSW 30: A Break in the Dark
We all need a little respite. My SXSW began Wednesday, March 10. By Wednesday, March 17, I was still on pace, not fatigued, but definitely slowing down.
And SXSW Music had only just begun. Five more days to go.
Anyway, after the Mayor’s Welcome, I toddled across the street with colleague Marcus Harper for appetizers at III Forks. Ideal respite. Key ingredient: The room was dark and seemed to grow darker, unlike the shiny, happy brightness outside. The happy-hour prices on the thick, juicy onion rings and blue-cheese steak chips also helped.
By the time we emerged, dusk had fallen and I was ready for music. My advice to you during SXSW: Find respite.
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SXSW 29: The Mayor’s Welcome
Mayor Lee Leffingwell welcomed the SXSW guests to Austin on Wednesday. I didn’t hear him do so. In fact, I’ve come to think of Leffingwell as our stealth mayor. He’s always on the job, always doing the city’s work, mind you. But I always just miss him, unlike his predecessor Will Wynn, who stuck around, soaking up the sunlight of Austin socializing.
Erin and Michael Portman
Just different styles, that’s all. The party — and the exchanges of vital SXSW information — still continued after Leffingwell slipped back into his no-nonsense office off the City Hall extension called the Mayor’s Balcony. Another SXSW Music, another ideal day for the Welcome — bright, dry, slightly breezy. Who could ask for anything more?
Jason Callahan, Melissa Rivers and Nathan Felix
New insights. I got ‘em. I spent the most time with Erin and Michael Portman of Birds Barber Shops. They confirmed an impression I’d heard all over town: Friends were skipping SXSW Music for SXSW Interactive or Film in increasing numbers. Not that anyone would undercut the blunt power of Music, which generated the whole East Austin colony over near the Birds outlet on East East Sixth Street.
It’s just that, perhaps the Mayor’s Welcome should come a week earlier.
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SXSW 28: Green at Fourth and Lavaca
Heading from the amicable Fleadh Austin at the Fourth Street Fort to the more established, roped-off St. Patrick’s Day festival at Fourth and Lavaca streets, I passed SXSW guests bemused by this improvised Green Circuit. While the Fleadh was free, the tented fest outside Fado’s cost $15. Costumes, beads and funny hats proliferated.
Erin Johnson and Caitlin Kuhn
I encountered something unexpected for Austin: The closest we come to Irish toughs. Here were a couple dozen guys, bulked up, wearing the green like a dare, horseplaying early in the afternoon, but looking entirely capable of scuffling as the hours and the beers passed. (I’ve carefully considered this report and I don’t think I’m stereotyping my own people. I was relieved to see a uniformed officer or two on alert in case of hormonal over exuberance.)
Imriel, Carrie and Elliot Ahr
Of course, the vast majority in the crowd proved gentle, laughing, hoisting children up for others to see, carefully sipping their libations. I left fairly early — after checking in with benevolent Saba owner Joe Reynolds — then looped back later during my SXSW evening. The mood was ecstatic.
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SXSW 27: Fleadh Austin
When legendary music manager Frank Murray (the Pogues, Thin Lizzy, etc.) announced he wanted to make Fleadh Austin a revel that would rival St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Boston, New York and other Irish-American metropolises, we smiled. That would be lovely, wouldn’t it, daydreamed the Irish half of my brain.
Frank Murray, Kay Gourley and Dara Murray
Pronounced “flah,” fleadh is Gaelic for festival. Murray lined up some of his Irish acts — Broken Records, the Lost Brothers, Julie Feeney, Villagers, the Minutes, the Mighty Stef and the Coronas for the St. Paddy’s party at the Fourth Street Fort (former Levi’s Fader Fort and, normally, American YouthWorks). Hey, maybe the intersection of SXSW and the “wearing of the green” would produce shamrocks and rainbows. (BTW: I learned the Irish don’t wear green on March 17. Americans do.)
Triona Kelly and Niamh Kelly
In the middle of the afternoon, the first fleadh in Austin felt awfully mellow. The Irish stood in the mild sun, the Texans in the deep shade, each seeking a different precious commodity.
Folks lined up for the Guinness, for sure. (That’s I bet I’ll always take.) But where were the masses? The carousing?
Later that night, the bands and the local banshees loosened up. A quick walk-by revealed a euphoric revelry my Celtic ancestors would have cheered.
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SXSW 26: Celebrity Sightings So Far
Form our various spies this week and compiled in Newsmakers …
On Monday morning, Ashton Kutcher wrote to his 4.6 million Twitter followers that he was “Headed to South by Southwest.” Later, he “checked in” at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on the social networking service Foursquare and tweeted that he was attending a panel at SXSW. Fest-goers reported sightings on Twitter and posted pictures with the actor, who’s increasingly known for his social media savvy. …
Christopher Mintz-Plasse, aka “McLovin” from Superbad, hung out at Star Bar. He was apparently nice but wouldn’t let anyone take pictures. Woody Harrelson was spotted at Barton Springs. Adrien Brody, who appeared at a news conference for the Robert Rodriguez-produced “Predator,” was spied shopping at Whole Foods. …
Rumors are going crazy, but our fave is Snoop Dogg performing with Gorillaz at the former Seaholm Power Plant. The band is the subject of a SXSW listening party. …
Edward Norton, John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill sat together for a long meal at La Condessa; Chloe Sevigny and Patrick Wilson joined a group at that innovative restaurant, then headed upstairs for drinks at Malverde.
Oscar winner Sissy Spacek attended Ray Benson’s birthday party and Fleadh St. Patrick’s Day Party. A.J. Buckley (“CSI: NY”) and Samantha Mathis (“Pump Up the Volume”) were out shopping the boutiques. Actor Robert Duvall dined at III Forks, while Neko Case tarried at the Carillon, UT’s hideaway gem of a restaurant.
Sean Lennon, Ashton Kutcher, Bill Murray and Adrien Brody were later seen all over town.
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SXSW 25: Floating with the Tide
The potential metaphors surge through my consciousness.
Walking the streets of Austin during SXSW, I’m a ship sailing through familiar yet unfamiliar seas. Or I’m flotsam surging with the tide, seeking a beachhead, a momentary haven from the pleasurable swells of sensation.
I’ve begun the SXSW portion of the past 8 days in the same way — sluicing down South Congress Avenue toward the river and the world. Shops, eateries, craft booths, trailers, pet matchmakers, buskers, lounging regulars and tourists, sing, siren-like, for this Odysseus to tarry.
Once downtown, past the cleansing bridge, the sidewalks, many still broken and bent, hoist tens of thousands on their broad shoulders. This is the Austin of my dreams, my visions. A city whose center is a vortex of creative energy without cessation.
What can we do to encourage that? More density in the right places. More affordability in the right doses. More diversity of all kinds. More amenities year-round. I won’t set down the virtual pen until we have them.
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