Musings and Eats with Mikey

“the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco” – Mark Twain

So I have returned from a short trip to San Francisco.  The main purpose of the trip was the Asian Man Records 15 Year Anniversary Festival, a celebration of a record label that has been very important to the underground music scene during the past two decades.  I took the trip with my good friends Stu and Grant.  While we were up there, we also had some time to explore the city and hang out with some old friends.

We rolled into town, over the Bay Bridge, around 10pm, and made our way to the Bernal Heights neighborhood, the place where we would be staying for the next few days.  After we got settled, we went out to a local bar called Knockout to have a few drinks and catch some live music.  Of particular interest was a singer/songwriter named St. Christopher, from Lincoln Nebraska.  He played some aggressive blues rock with a stomp box (sort of in the vein of Mike Ness).  His songs were very typical, but his showmanship was great, and it made for an entertaining night.  The next morning, we got up, ate some breakfast, and then went for a hike up Bernal Hill.  When we reached the peak, we could see the entire city.  It was pretty epic.

After the hike, we meet with our old friend Matt and headed for the Sutra Bath House Ruins.  From what I understand, Sutra Bath House was a giant public swimming pool that was destroyed in the earlier 20th century by either a fire or earthquake (don’t remember exactly).  The ruins of the bath house remain and you can walk around on them.  It was a pretty cool little adventure of exploration.

That night we attended the first of three shows that we planned to attend which were part of the festival (I think there were a total of 10 shows).  Our old friend Mike met up with us and we headed to Slims, the venue.  Now Mike, Matt, and Grant used to play in a band with me back in high school called Better Off Dead.  We used to all go to shows together all the time back in those days (listening to Asian Man Records bands and such).  This was the first time we had gotten together in the same place in nearly 10 years, so it was pretty cool little reunion of our own, and it was kind of a funny how after about an hour together, it felt like no time had passed.  That night’s show was the biggest of all the shows, because Mike Park was able to get the infamous Slapstick to reunite for this one night only.  But first the show start with one of Mike Park’s bands, The Chinkees.  Back in the day, The Chinkees only played 5 shows in America (most of their shows were overseas in Asia for some reason) and we were all lucky enough to attend one of those five shows.  Anyway, it was fun to see the band again, with their organ driven punk ska sound.  Halfway through the set, a drunken Matt Skiba (singer of Alkaline Trio) got up on stage and danced with Mike Park through a cover of Operation Ivy’s “Bankshot”.  The band sounded pretty good for not having played in 9 or so years, but it was clear that they had not played these songs in a long time.  Next up was Mu330, who have been defunct for the past 5 or so years.  We had seen these guys a number of times back in the day, and that night they sound tighter then ever as they played through a set of fan favorites.  It was a lot of fun seeing them again.   Next up was the band that everyone had come to see, Slapstick.  Slapstick, from Chicago, existed from about 1993-1996, and members of the band have gone on to be in bands like Alkaline Trio (Dan Andriano) and the Lawrence Arms (Brendan Kelly).  Like many in attendance that night, the band had broken up before I had ever had a chance to see them, so this was a real treat.  After a short wait, the band took the stage and ripped right into their first song.  The band sounded tight, with very minimal mistakes.  Clearly they had rehearsed for this reunion and were taking it seriously (even if Brendan Kelly, the singer, kept making fun of how immature the lyrics to the songs were).  The show went off without a hitch, with the exception of a drunken Matt Skiba stumbling on stage and saying a few inappropriate things (see below), and the band played the majority of their 25 song discography.  All in all, it was an awesome night, getting to see bands I used to love as a teen and getting to hang with the friends I used to go to show with back in those days.

Slapstick – drunken Matt Skiba/ 74 Fullerton

After staying up all night the night before, we got moving around 11am and had a little breakfast at the Squat and Gobble (I recommend the chorizo burrito).  After eating, Grant and I ventured to the DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate park to check a new exhibition on Picasso.  It was a very nice and expansive exhibit, with over 110 pieces that ranged through all different parts of Picasso’s career.  I’m glad I got to see it, and it gave me an excuse to go hang out in Golden Gate park.  After a light dinner of sushi, we headed to Thee Parkside to see Slow Gherkin play a reunion show.  When we got to the show, Monkey was just finishing their set.  Next up was Unsteady from San Diego (I believe this was a reunion for them, but I don’t know enough about them to confirm this).  They were alright, their songs all kind of sound the same to me, but they did play the one song of theirs that I really like (“Bad Attitude”).  After Unsteady finished, Buck O Nine took the stage.  Another band I used to listen to back in the day, and it was fun seeing them play.  After that, Slow Gherkin got ready to play.  Now back in high school, we used to see Slow Gherkin every time they came town (they are from Santa Cruz, but Orange County sort of became a second home to them).  They broke up about ten years ago and I have missed them, as they used to put on the most energetic live show of any band I have seen.  They blasted on to the stage with “Slaughterhouse” and the crowd went crazy.  Suddenly I was thrown back into a moment, something I hadn’t seen or felt in a long time, like seeing an old friend for the first time in a long time.  It was like it was ten years earlier, nothing had changed.  There is just a certain energy that this band brings to the live show that makes you have to dance and just have a great time.  So that is what I did.  I loved it.  Seeing Slow Gherkin again just brought me back to a special place and feeling that has long since been gone, and I am grateful to have been able to experience it one last time.

Slow Gherkin – How Now Lowbrow at the reunion show

The next morning we got up and went to the Bottom of the Hill for the only matinee show of the festival.  The Broadways (Brendan and Rob’s band after Slapstick) were playing their one and only reunion show.  Before they took the stage, there were three surprise openers, but we only got to see the last one, which was Bomb the Music Industry!.  Unfortunately the sound mix for them was terrible and made the band sound horrible (when in fact they are a pretty good band).  The Broadways then took the stage to play some political punk rock that hasn’t been heard live in years.  Most of the show Brendan was laughing at the fact that when they actually were a band nobody cared about them and that this was probably the biggest crowded they had ever drawn.  Regardless of how small their following was, or still is, the kids who came out to see the show loved it.  Though the band did not sound quite as rehearsed as Slapstick, they still played pretty good and it was great getting a chance to finally see them.  After the show we had a good pasta dinner at Emmy’s and then took it easy for the rest of the night, as we were pretty burnt out at that point.

The next morning we began on our journey home.  On the way down, we stopped at the Winchester Mystery House (which was interesting, despite our lame tour guide Nick) and Casa de Frutas.  After some horrendous traffic in LA, we made it home around 7:30.  All in all, a pretty good little trip.

SXSW Part 4

The next morning I woke up feeling like all kinds of hell.  But it didn’t matter.  This was Southby, and I had a things to do and people to see.  So I got up and ventured on my own to get some breakfast tacos.  After getting a taco and some coffee in me, I headed back to 6th street and a little venue called Plush.

There I saw a band called East Cameron Folkcore.  They were your typical folk punk act, but they had a trombone.  It was pretty good.  After that I saw Fake Problems, again.  This time they were playing acoustic, just to switch things up.  It was fun seeing them a bunch of times and having it be different each time.

After Fake Problems went on, Laura Stevenson and the Cans took the stage.  I was glad that I got a second chance to see them after really enjoying their performance a couple days before.  Again, they sounded great.  I then left the venue for the free outdoor festival known as the Mess With Texas Fest to Lemuria play.  When I got there I caught a band called the Strange Boys, who were pretty good.  Lemuria then went on, and despite the sound not being stellar, I thought the play really well (but they do sound a little empty playing live as a three piece).  From there I headed back to 6th street to catch Fang Island play, but on the way I popped into Red 7 to see what was going on over there.  I caught a bit of Native’s set and then, of course, Fake Problems was playing again.  I saw a few Fake Problems songs and then headed across the street to see Fang Island.  They had been rad last year at Southby, and again this year they were rad.  After that, I headed back to the hotel to rest, as my feet were killing me (it felt like I was walking on rocks).

After a little rest, I went to Auditorium Shores to meet up with some friends for the free Bright Eyes show to close out the official festival happenings.  We got ourselves a good spot and Bright Eyes gave us an awesome hour and half set, playing a lot of new songs, but also a good amount of old songs.  During the last song “One For Me One For You” fireworks started to shoot off behind the stage.  It was a beautiful way to end the music experience of Southby.

After the show, I headed with my friends to the bars on the East side to have a few drinks.  It was a good night and eventually I made my way back to the hotel.

The next morning we got up and checked out and headed out to the famous Salt Lick for some all you can eat BBQ.  After getting a little lost, we made it and enjoyed our cooler full of Lone Stars as we waited to be seated.  After being seated we were served the most ridiculous amount of BBQ, family style. After filling ourselves silly, we headed toward the airport for our flight home.

After a fun, but exhausting, week, I had made it home from South by Southwest in one piece.  Writing about the journey has been quite exhausting as well (as you probably can tell from how much I have been summarizing in parts 3 & 4).  Another successful festival, come and gone.  Till next time.

Soundtrack: Moneybrother – Born Under a Bad Sign (off Real Control)

SXSW Part 3

Thursday started a little later, taking our time to get into the city.  At this point, they had opened a poster art exhibition in the convention hall, so I decided to take a stroll through.  It was pretty cool.  There were a lot of tour posters and the artists who did them, a lot of good work.  After that, I went a grabbed a quick bite to eat from a food truck outside the convention center.  I found a place that did a Korean BBQ burger with bulgogi beef. It was quite good.

After that I headed back to the convention center to catch Laura Stevenson and the Cans playing outside of the poster art exhibition.  I had never seen Laura Stevenson before, but had liked her album a lot, so I was excited to see them.  They came on and played a lot of new songs and few old songs, including my favorite “Nervous Rex”.  I loved them and thought they sounded great.  I know a lot of people with say they sound like a lot of other jangly female front indie groups, but there is something about them that I am just really into (but can’t put my finger on).

After that I headed to the other stage in the convention center where DeVotchka was playing again.  They put on such an incredible performance the night before, I thought I should take the chance to catch them again.  The environment was a little more controlled and there were a few technical difficulties, but it was cool to see them a second time.  I then popped into a panel for a little bit about the next generation of music executives.  It was interesting and they talked a lot about how taste-makers who act as filters are going to be playing bigger and bigger roles.  Being that I had to pick my friend up from the airport in a few hours and how exhausting the week had been thus far, I thought it would be a good idea head back to Dane’s a crash for a little bit.  When I got there I relaxed and spent sometime writing a song (I just had a sudden surge of inspiration).

From there I headed to the Odd Duck food trailer.  You may recognize the name from the time No Reservations was in Austin.  I figured this would be my only chance to check it out, so I ventured there alone.  Odd Duck is located amongst other food trailers, one of which is the famous Gordos Donuts (know for putting many fattening things on donuts).  At Odd Duck I tried the pork belly slider and the Parmesan cheese grits with poached duck egg.  It was pretty amazing.  Unfortunately the sun was beating down pretty hard and eating that heavy/salty of a meal in the sun was not the ideal experience.

I then headed to the airport to pick of Andy.  Picking him up was easy. Getting back into the city in time to see the Strokes play their free show at Auditorium Shores (the big outdoor stage) proved not to be so easy.  After getting slightly lost getting back to the city, we ended up sitting in some pretty bad traffic.  Luckily I pulled a slick move and got us a good parking spot.  We headed over to the park where the show was.  We got there with plenty of time to see the Storkes, but just like last time I saw them (at Outside Lands), there was so many people there that I really just couldn’t see anything.  We stayed for about half their set and moved out to find another show to go to.

From there we attempted to go to the Cold War Kids show, but quickly found out that it was going to be difficult for Andy to get into shows without buying a wristband.  So we headed to Stubbs BBQ and got Andy a wristband.  We then popped into the show at Stubbs.  The band that was one was Noah and the Whale.  They were pretty good live.  After that, Portugal. the Man went on.  It had been a long time since I had heard them, but they are pretty rad live, very atmospheric sounding.  We then played a game of pool at Stubbs and then Tv on the Radio came on.  Again, I was not that impressed with them live.  From there we headed toward Scoot’s Inn to try and catch Talib Kweli play.  Unfortunately by the time we got there they were no longer letting people in.  We listened to a few songs (since the stage was basically outdoors) and then headed back to the car to go and crash at Dane’s place.

The next morning, we got up and headed back to Torchy’s Tacos for some great breakfast.  After that we headed to the W Austin, where Andy and I would spend our last two nights in Austin, to drop off our bags and car.  After dropping everything off, we headed to Red 7 for the annual Shirts for a Cure party.  When we got there, there was a long line, which resulted in us missing the first half of the Flatliners set.  That kind of sucked cause I was looking forwarded to seeing them, but at least I got to see them play some songs.  After the Flatliners played, Dave Hause (from the Loved Ones) took the stage to play some of his solo stuff (and a few Loved Ones tracks).  He was really good live, and has done a good job of moving into the singer/songwriter realm.  After Dave played, we headed back to the W to actually check into our room.  When we got into the room it was real nice and we kicked back a bit and relaxed.

We then headed back to Red 7 to catch the Riverboat Gamblers, Fake Problems, and Paint it Black.  The Gamblers put on an awesome live show, they really are a great band.  They were followed by great performances from Fake Problems and Paint it Black (who played “Memorial Day” with Dave Hause doing back ups).  We then headed back to the hotel and hit the pool for a little.  The W had just opened and some of the hotel has not been completed, this included a lot of the pool area.  The lap pool was open but not the regular pool or the hot tube.  We took a quick swim in water that happened to be freezing.  We then grabbed a bit to eat and headed to the show for the night.

That nights show was at La Zona Rosa with Cool Kids and Chromeo and Classixx was djing between sets.  It was a pretty rad show and Chromeo was great as usual.

We then headed to a bar for some drinks and then continued with the drinks at the hotel (resulting in not getting to bed till around 5 am).

Soundtrack: Laura Stevenson and the Cans – Master of Art (off Sit Resit)

SXSW Part 2

Tuesday turned out to be a long day of panels that related to legal issues in the entertainment business.  The good thing was that I was able to get continuing education credits for my license by attending.  The bad thing was that sitting in panels for 5 hours in a row was not fun.  Some of it was interesting, but it would have been nice to break it up a bit.

After spending most of the day in the convention center, I met up with some of my local friends and they took me to the Elephant Room.  The Elephant Room is a nice little jazz club, right off the main drag.  It was the late afternoon and it felt like the Elephant Room was avoiding most the hustle and bustle of Southby that was going on around it.  At the Elephant Room was a little Jug Band Trio playing New Orleans style jazz and blues.  One of my friends was friends with one of the guys playing clarinet/washboard/jug.  They sounded great, and it was an amazing way to catch up with some old friends and have an intimate show (there was probably 7 people hanging out in the bar while they were playing).  After this, I headed up toward the University of Texas to a little place called Cafe Medecci to meet my Aunt and see a band from Colorado called Elephant Revival.  My Aunt had run into Elephant Revival while vacationing in Montana, so she brought a few of her local friends out to see them.  They sound like a mix of Jolie Holland and Mumford and Sons, mixing bluegrass and folk.  I liked them a lot (and ended up picking up there cd when I got home).

When I had parked my car, I had noticed what sounded like a ton of birds chirping above where I parked my car.  When I returned to my car, there was a whole lot of poo on it, the kicker is that is was not bird poo after all, it was that of the bat.  After that I headed back to Dane’s place to meet up with him, as he has just picked up one of our other friends from the airport.  From there we ventured to some of the locals bars on the east side, away from the craziness of downtown.  Though the bars are less touristy and more mellow, they are still very “hip” and the “celebrities” make there way out to them.  At the first bar we were just hanging out in the patio area and we look over and Sam Rockwell and Justin Long were just hanging out with a bunch of people.  Now, I don’t really care about seeing celebrities, as I got my fill when I went to the independent spirit awards, but there is something funny about seeing them just hanging out in dive bars.  After hoping around to a few bars, we went back and crashed (again on the futon).

The next morning I got up fairly early and headed into town with a friend of mine.  After walking around town for a bit, we grabbed a bite to eat at a little crepe place.  I had something called the Norwegian (it had smoked salmon in it).  From there I partied was with my friend and headed to the convention center for the first “official” day of the music part of Southby.  Inside the convention center, there were certain rooms set up with stages for bands to play.  I went to see Casiokids, who I had discovered the year before at Southby.  The indoor stage was a very nice setup with great sound and a lot of places to sit. The band sounded great.

After that I met back up with my friends and we made our way to Waterloo Records, Austin’s local independent record store, who was hosting free outdoor shows all week long.  When we got there the band Wild Flag was playing.  After that the band I wanted to see, Fitz and the Tantrums, went on. Fitz and the Tantrums are a motown revivalist band and I thought they sounded great.  The funniest moment was when the older gentleman behind asked if the band played any originals and the guy next to him said they were all originals (they just sound like a band from motown).   Although my friends did not appreciate when the band made everyone “get low” during the last song.

From there we ventured to a bar called the Jackalope for free beer and the first of many times seeing one of my favorites, Fake Problems.  It was good fun seeing Fake Problems in a little dive bar and I enjoyed their set.

From there we went and got some seafood at a place on 6th street.  Fresh shrimp, oysters, and blue crab.  It was good and fairly cheap.  After that I split with my friends again to go back to the Moody Theater to see Floggin Molly play.  The show start with a few opening acts that I can’t really remember their names, but they were okay.  After that, Moneybrother from Sweden took the stage.  I had never heard Moneybrother before, but they were awesome and had so much energy it was hard not to move your feet.  They sounded like a mix of the Clash and Bruce Springsteen (the guys voice sounds just like Joe Strummer).  After that DeVotchka took the stage.  I knew I would probably see them while in Austin, so I checked out their latest album before I left for the trip. DeVotchka sounded amazing, bringing a mix of orchestrated indie rock and eastern European music, with instruments like fiddle, accordion, tuba, cello, and trumpet.  At one point two curtains came down from the ceiling and two dancers came out and started to climb up them like a circus.

Just around the stoke of midnight, just as it was becoming St. Patrick’s Day, Flogging Molly took the stage and played their usual fun mix of punk and Celtic music.  As usual, they sounded great and it was a lot of fun.  After the show, I met back up with my friends at Taco Cabana so I could give them a ride home.

Soundtrack: Fitz and the Tantrums – L.O.V. (live in studio)

SXSW Part 1

So I have been home for nearly a week and this is the first chance I have really gotten to sit down a recollect my time in Austin, Texas for this year’s South by Southwest (SxSw).  The night before leaving town I decided to head out to Alex’s Bar in Long Beach to catch Chuck Ragan play.  I thought it would be a nice way to kick off a week of music and god way to start my vacation.  The night went well, as Audrea Mae opened for Chuck and Chuck played some great songs (accompanied by his stand up bass play and fiddle player).  That night went pretty late, but was only the start of late nights to come.

The next day, around noon, I made my way to the Long Beach airport to catch my flight.  Now normally I like the Long Beach airport a lot because of its classic feel, but on this day, things were a little different.  When I arrived, I noticed my plane was delayed for over an hour.  I also noticed how crowded the airport was (unusual from my past experiences here).  To top it off, there were a ton of crying babies in the airport.  So after hanging out for a little, we get on our plane, and off to Austin we go.  It was a fairly pleasant trip out there (but again, a lot of crying babies on the plane).  When I landed in Austin, I proceeded to go rent a car.  I rented a Mazda 6.  The only reason I bring this up is that this was the first time I have driven a car other than mine since I got my Prius.  Now, the Prius’ accelerates slightly different then normal cars, and what I didn’t expect was how much I had adapted to that in the past few months.  Driving the Mazda was a little touch and go at first, as the acceleration felt very punchy to me.  Though I wasn’t driving my best (and I was on foreign roads) I was able to safely make my way to meet my Aunt in South Austin.

In South Austin I arrived at Central Market, place that seems somewhat similar to Whole Foods.  Attached to the market was the Central Market Cafe, and like most places in Austin, there is a live band playing.  So I ordered up a tasty tandoori chicken sandwich with sweet potatoe fries, and of course a Lone Star (the only beer you drink in Austin), and joined my Aunt in watch The Carper Family Band.  This talented trio, played a mix of bluegrass and some traditional Texas music.  They were quite enjoyable.

After the band finished up, we headed back to my Aunt’s place in Spicewood.  After catching up with her and the family for a bit, I headed to bed, for I had some big days ahead of me.  There was an air-mattress inflated for me to sleep on.  Funny thing about sleeping on this air-mattress was that it was like sleeping on top of a whale out in the ocean.  I swayed back and forth till eventually I just rolled off the mattress and on the to couch next to it, where I spent the remainder of the night.

The next morning I got up fairly earlier, as I wanted to get into town as soon as possible.  Of course, I got lost driving into town.  The thing about Austin is that many streets have multiple names, for example Mopac is also Loop 1.  I did not know this.  So after a 20 minute detour, I finally found my way to the Austin Convention Center.  I got into the convention center and got myself quickly oriented, and then I registered and picked up my badge.  I had made it. I was at SxSw, and I was there officially (unlike last year, where I didn’t get a badge and just kind of winged it).

So I headed to my first panel.  It was a panel about using branding to make your company more than just the product you make.  The room was super crowded and I had to wait in a line just to get into the room (something I would be getting used to).  It was an interesting panel and made some good points about diversification in both products and targeted marketing.  After this I headed out of the convention center to find the Paramount Theater, where the world premier of Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop was going to happen shortly.  I made my way to the theater and got in line.  After a short wait, they began to let us into the theater.  Just as I was approaching the door, on the other side of the velvet rope, Conan was next me doing the red carpet thing.  The next two hours were spent in the theater watching the documentary about how Conan was fired from the Tonight Show and how he spent his time on his summer comedy tour.  The film was funny and interesting and shows that Conan does not stop, because he is driven by a need to perform.  I liked the film and totally recommend it.  After the film, Conan and the director came out and did a short Q & A with the audience.  Like the movies shows, Conan is just always on.  He spent his time cracking jokes and having fun with the audience, much like the monologue to his show.  It was very cool to get to see him just being himself and having a good time with everyone.

After the screening, I headed back to the convention center to catch a few more panels on film.  I then headed back to my Aunt’s place for one last night.

The next morning, I got up early and headed into town to meet up with Dane and go get some breakfast tacos.  Austin loves breakfast tacos, and most places in Austin have them.  We went to Torchy’s Tacos, which is a great taco place that I had gone to the last time I was here.  The meal was good and we spent sometime catching up.  I then headed back to the convention center to catch an interesting panel about Film Festivals and how the films are chosen.  I then attended a few other panels before Dane picked me up and took me with him to his band rehearsal (not his band, just band he has been playing in).

We then grabbed some dinner and met up with Dane’s buddy Tim and headed out for the night. The original plan was to go to the Yeasayer show at the Moody Theater.  Unfortunately when we got to the Moody we were told that only people with badges were going to be let in (and I was the only one with a badge).  So plan B was in effect.  We headed over to a party that was being thrown by Zynga where Sleigh Bells and Tv on the Radio was going playing.  Luckily Tim knew someone throwing the party and we were able to get in with ease.  The party itself was pretty ridiculous, with lots of free food, free booze, and free arcade games.  We had our share of the free stuff and watched the bands.  Sleigh Bells was pretty good, but I was not that impressed by Tv on the Radio (but to be fair, the sound in the venue was not particularly good).  One funny moment came from when we found a Zynga employee guarding a room that had nothing in it, yet when we asked why she was guarding the room, she would not tell us.  It was very strange.  Around 1 am we started to head back to the car. As we headed to the car, we walked by the Moody Theater and noticed they were still letting people in.  We decided to see if they would let us into the show, and they did.  We got into the show and Yeasayer was only about half way through their set.  The Moody Theater was amazing; it is the place they built in order to shoot Austin City Limits for PBS and the acoustics and lighting are perfect.  I had heard of Yeasayer before, but had never actually heard them before.  I really dug them and had a great time seeing them play.  After that we returned back to Dane’s place and I crashed on his futon.

Soundtrack:  Yeasayer – Ambling Alp (off Odd Blood)