Typically, when someone goes to SXSW, it’s a 5-3 day adventure of drunkeness, loud music, lines, guestlists, VIPs, and mayhem.

Last year when I went to SXSW, I managed to climb on stage during the Horrors set and get hurled off by the lead singer. I walked away with a concussion that lasted about 5 days. That was AFTER he had dumped a bucket of garbage onto a crowd at the Stolen Transmission showcase the night before, and me and my friend Rob Stevenson some how manage to land in it the center of it.

Videos and more after the jump

This year, however, I was in and out like a Hooker and John at a pay-per-half-hour motel. I landed at about midnight on Thursday evening and shared a cab with my buddies Matt Galle and Mike Marquis. They’re booking agents and the band they were most excited about seeing was InnerPartySystem. Unfortunately, i would be missing the IPS show since I had tickets to fly back to NYC for saturday morning (kill me).

I met up with my friend Peter Gaston from SPIN in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel (THE hotel to stay at in austin, if you ask me), and tagged along with him to the SPIN/MySpace tent where there was supposed to be a very unrock’n'roll book club organized by Emily Zemler. When we got there, we were greeted by Colin from Circa Survive and then someone named Aaron who gave me a little video camera that i’m still trying to figure out even though it’s supposed to be really easy.

At nearly 2am, after a beer and a couple of games of Guitar Hero 3, and some LOST discussion (have you seen this trailer?: )
I decided to call it a night so I could get up nice and early for my NOON DJ gig. Yes, NOON. That’s why I was in town. I think Noon is the earliest I’ve ever had to DJ, let along awake in the past few months. I left Peter discovering that I missed the REM show at Stubbs the night before and some band called the Whip that might be my new favorite band of the week.

Check out this video that Peter got of them:

I got to the Beauty Bar at a quarter to 12 on Friday, bleary eyed from traveling, and hardly able to walk let along keep a beat. I figured the best way to get into the mood of late night djing in the daytime would be by having a little drinkypoo. Vodka soda it was! This is a good time to point out that I lost my phone charger sometime between the cab in NYC and the airplane in Austin… so i had no phone. No way of reaching anyone, telling time, or going to see shows I had planned to see because I had no way of checking the schedule I had. I also had no money because according to my bank account, I was dipping into my overdraft protection, so with about $75 on hand, I had no money to buy a new charger. KIND OF SUCKS.

But I’ve got some pretty awesome friends who stopped by to say hi as I DJed. Jason Pettigrew from Alternative Press came to give me a hug and to discuss britpop. Last year, he was the Horrors number 1 fan, so who would it be this year was still yet to be determined. My friend Alex from Eyeball Records dropped in to keep me company as well. One of his bands would be playing at 4:30, and I love them. They’re called Kiss Kiss, from NJ, and they’re kind of like Panic! at the Disco, but with more Queen influence. A lot of over the topness that I love. Finally, my friend Dan Suh came by to meet me and I finished my set and went to the SPIN party with him.

Each year the SPIN party is THE party to go to. One of the years I worked there, I was the guest DJ at the event (oh, i think that started at Noon as well), and the Killers played the opening slot. This year was not much different in the hype-band-getting… They got Vampire Weekend, the Switches, the Ravonettes, and most surprisingly X!

When I arrived at the SPIN party the Ravonettes were on stage playing, perfectly, and it was obvious that the sudden 94 degree weather was having it’s way with party attendees. People were literally squeezing into the odd shaped shade that was casting into the audience. What would’ve normally seemed like a nicely attended party was condensed into a teeny tiny area of sweaty hipsters waiting for Vampire Weekend to suck their blood.

After consuming a couple pints of water, I decided I couldn’t handle the heat anymore and decided to follow Dan to some eastpack party that was apparently serving free lunch. Being broke and starving, I was really happy.

We got there and the place wasn’t as packed as you might think considering the free food AND booze. My friend Ali was interviewing some bands for a TV program and I sat at the bar with Dan, drinking margaritas and eating FREE food. Apparently, we had *just* missed Moby.

After eating I went back to the hotel to check email to see if anyone had tried to reach me via that method while my phone was in the dark. My friend Joanna suggested I meet her in the lobby of the Hilton at 5, which was in 20 minutes. I said sure, and the next thing I know, I’m awake while sitting up with a raging headache, and it’s about 6:30. Apparently, I passed out while writing an email to my brother, letting him know I was OK.

The headache was fierce and unrelenting. I got water and some asprin and waited for it to subside. Dehydration had taken it’s toll on my body. I put my head/body down to sleep it off and wait for ANYONE to write me back . I emailed about 5 people and sat there looking at the screen hitting refresh. I was stuck with either missing an email from someone i could meet up with, or going out to the wilderness of SXSW trying to find someone on the street. Having no badge, I couldn’t even get into a showcase, and not having my schedule with me, I had no idea what parties I had RSVPed for.

Finally, around 11pm, I thew caution to the wind and walked on the streets of Austin, sadly and desperately looking for someone I knew. It was total mayhem. I think Spring Break started that day and so the college kids were out in full force. There’s a Pure nightclub in austin now. Gross. It was packed. Grosser.

I was near tears when I suddenly found my former-co-worker Seth Faber. I hugged him like he was the last man on earth and probably had tears in my eyes at the time. “Help. I’m all alone. Where is everyone?”

Seth was standing outside of Buffalo Bill’s, a bar I had once seen Franz Ferdinand and Sons & Daughters play. It was one of the best shows i’d ever seen in my life. I wish they were playing again.

I left Seth and decided to look for the PureVolume party. I didnt RSVP for that, but I know the people who run it, so I figured I’d see them out by the line. I ran into my friend, DJ TKOmri. He was not wearing a suit, like he normally does. As we were talking in line, my friend who works for PV grabbed us and took us inside the venue, the smell of alcohol was killing me.

We grabbed drinks and headed to the back where I met a girl named Nicky who had just seen HANSON at the Dim Mak party. She said that there were only about 30 people there and she couldnt believe her luck since Hanson is one of her favorite bands ever. I knew with those words that she was definitely friends with this girl named Jess Katz that I knew from Nightmare of You. She was. Duh. At around 1ish, my friend Omri told me he was heading to some bridge to see Black Flag play.

Eventually I found myself in the VIP area. I kept on thinking I heard my name being called and thought that full on dehydrated paranoia had settled in. However, I wasn’t paranoid…. I was right. I turned around to find someone from the band Figo, a NYC band, that knew me from a show I threw for them. We talked briefly, and noticing the distress on my face, offered to pack a bowl of weed for me to smoke. I told him that I would probably puke if I smoked, but thanked him, only to hear my name called out again and again and again. I didn’t smoke weed and was freaking the fuck out. Looking up, down, left, right, I tried to find the source of the name calling. I finally got beckoned over to a couch where my buddy Crystal Lauderdale was sitting. She had organized the Heist party during CMJ that my boyfriend DJed, and wanted to say hi and introduce me to the Skullcandy dudes who made these amazing headphones that I love. After saying hi and exchanging info, I started to head out of the VIP room, only to run into another friend who, again, seeing the distress in my face, offered to smoke me up. I declined again. I don’t get it, there’s like never any weed in austin, usually.

As I left the party, the Hush Sound were playing in the front room. I tried to get good video, but I’m a midget and the singer was seated at her keyboard. I walked outside only to find someone performing hiphop to an outdoor crowed out of the window of a bar. That was probably the most amusing show I had seen in all of austin.

I walked by the SPIN tent to see if a late night party had actually occurred as Emily promised there might be. But the tent was black, and judging by the exhausting day that Peter must’ve had with the SPIN party, I assumed he was too tired to throw a ho-down.

So i decided to be the only ho-down he’d see that night, and went back to his hotel room (which he let me crash in). His assistant was snoring away on his bed, and Peter was still gone. Greasy and disgusting, I jumped into the shower. Peter came back while I was drying off and together we watched videos that he had taken for SPIN.com. One of the best ones was from a band called Explorers Club. They sounded like the Beach Boys, and as peter had pointed out, they were the type of band whose CD you could get for your parents and you’d both enjoy.

Here’s a video of the Explorers Club doing “Johnny B. Goode,” again from Peter at SPIN.com:

And something he wanted me to include because, he’s right, it’s also awesome:
Tilly and the Wall “Beat Control”

I crashed at around 4, after reading a bunch of LOST message boards and made my way to the airport a few hours later.

I HATE DOING SXSW IN 35 HOURS AND WITHOUT A CELL PHONE OR BADGE!

Tags: 2008, innerpartysystem, no cell phone, stop dehydration, SXSW, the explorers club, the whip

This entry was posted on Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 11:14 am and is filed under Live Shows, Party, SXSW. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.