South
by Southwest 2003 - Day 6 - Wednesday,
3/12/03
Here was my plan for the day: See "A
Mighty Wind" at the Paramount at 7pm and then run
over to Room 710 on Red River to catch the SXSW showcase
of Hobble at 9pm followed by USS Friendship at 11pm. This
happened to be one of those days where my plans actually
panned out.
You can tell that millions of out-of-town visitors
are expected in Austin when the "American-Statesman"
runs front-page "ads" hyping our local music and film
business. On the front page of the paper today is a
story about how KGSR and Waterloo Records work hand
in hand to promote (and sell) local and Texas artist.
On the front page of the Business section is a more
legitimately newsworthy article about how the Alamo
Drafthouse Theater is expanding into a franchise operation
with the first out-of-Austin Alamo to appear this summer
in Houston, or to be more specific, Katy. Hmmmm… Must
be the first true day of SXSW. (By the way, Marc Savlov
of the Chronicle broke the Alamo story a week prior).
Earlier in the day I checked my snail mail and
found a letter from Worldfest Houston, the crappiest
film festival on the planet. Why I'm still on their
mailing list after their founder and director Hunter
Todd sent me the most psychotic hate-mail is anyone's
guess. A year after I went to the festival and wrote
about how awful it was, he sent me some of the meanest,
nastiest hate-mail I've ever received. And I get a lot!
Anyway, their festival in April this year has 55
features in it (they'll show anything) and the one being
touted as the centerpiece is a film starring Patrick
Swayze, directed by his wife, called "One Last Dance."
Wow. Sounds like a film lover's dream doesn't it? See,
Worldfest sucks and everyone knows it. Swayze is only
coming to the festival because, well, he lives in Houston
so he doesn't have to travel and, of course, they are
showing his wife's film. The only film on the list of
55 features that I'd ever heard of, and would like to
see, is "The Anarchist's Cookbook." Worldfest likes
to tout that they are a true independent film festival
because they only show films that are not studio releases.
This is, of course, because they have nil respect in
the film world and the major studios stay away in droves.
(Why am I even wasting my time writing about it?)
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Anyway, I went downtown Wednesday evening
around 6pm. I parked up on 10th because I knew
I would end up on 7th and Red River to end the
night, and wanted to park somewhere in-between
The Paramount and 710 Club.
I walked to the Paramount and there were
two long lines for the screening of "A Mighty
Wind" but they were wrapping around the other
side of the block than they were the evening before
for "Phone Booth." The Paramount holds over 1200
people when you include the massive amount of
nosebleed seats in the balcony, so I knew I'd
get in.
Soon after I got in line, I saw Spencer Parsons
and said hello. Spencer is a local filmmaker and
scene-maker and puts on some of the Monday night
screenings at The Hideout. He also did a presentation
of cable access TV shows during Cinematexas and
included clips from Lube TV in it. A bunch of
us from my clique and the show went to the screening
and had a blast. He used lots of clips from John
Christensen's "Manifesto."
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Louis
Black introduces "A Mighty Wind" at the Paramount
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Spencer told me that he had been in NYC for the
Underground Film Festival and had just gotten back into
town. I mentioned our mutual friend Kyle Henry and he
reminded me that his award-winning short "N.ew Y.ork
C.asino" had played there. He also told me he had collected
some more video from the Chicago cable access shows,
which were included in the Cinematexas thing and were
quite bizarre.
One of the shows is a Christian Scientist kids
show that features puppets who sing songs written by
Mary Baker Eddy. He said he had a new clip from that
show where they superimposed UFO's flying in the sky
over the puppets' heads or something. It sounded crazy.
I want Spencer to come on Lube TV and show some of the
clips sometime.
Spencer got in the badge line and I noticed just
how hot and muggy it was, the hottest day we've had
in Austin seemingly since last summer. I turned around
and looked behind me and three people back in line from
me was my friend Jan. We talked for quite a while and
I should have just went back and stood by her and talked
but didn't think about it until it was almost time to
get in. Her friend Quida was also there but in the badges
line. Quida gets in early with her badge and saves Jan
a seat.
Jan and I discussed films for almost 30 minutes
waiting for the line to go in. We talked about "Cinemania"
and "Phone Booth" which we both saw the night before.
Jan didn't hang out for the Schumacher Q&A but left
to get in line for the next screening, and I wondered
why. She said that she doesn't like Q&A's and they embarrass
her. She couldn't explain it. I guess I understand.
For example, I can barely sit and listen to someone
sing and play guitar in an intimate setting where our
eyes might meet. I don't know why. I find it embarrassing
even if the performer doesn't. I also find it difficult
to talk to my friends in bands on the nights they perform.
It's hard to go up to Oriah (the lead singer of Hobble)
and say hi before or after his band plays. It just feels
weird. Before he plays, I don't want to distract him
from his mental preparation for the show and afterwards
he is so worn out and surrounded by admirers, that it
just seems embarrassing to bother him. So, I guess I
kind of know what Jan means even though I don't feel
the same at all about Q&A's. (Although I do hate it
when people ask stupid questions or just tell a filmmaker
how great the film is but don't ask a question. That's
boring and uncomfortable, usually).
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Oriah
rides high as Hobble rocks SXSW
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As the badge line went in, a group was herded
close by and then stopped near me. I saw Kim Garcia
and my friend who works in film print build up
in the group and he told me that the volunteers
were being made to wait to get in. That sucks.
Why would I spend my life volunteering not to
be allowed into the screening I wanted to attend
until all the other badge people got in? What
a shitty way to treat your volunteers.
Eventually they went in and the film pass
holders, like myself, were allowed to file in
as well. Jan pointed out that things must be serious
because Louis Black, the big cheese at SXSW, was
checking passes at the door!
I got inside and had to sit in the front
row. I looked up and they had closed the balcony
and no one was sitting there. Why the fuck would
they do that? How ignorant is that? I guess I
shouldn't bitch because the screening was a one-time-only
showing at SXSW and it was originally scheduled
to play at the Alamo, which only holds about 200
or 300 people, so I was lucky to get in in the
first place.
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As the room filled up, an older couple sat
next to me and were asking the same question about the
balcony being closed. Someone mentioned that maybe they
didn't have enough volunteers to handle the crowd but
I guessed that the distributor probably didn't want
to give away too many free tickets. I've heard of that
happening at AFF.
The volunteers that were there made crazy announcements
to give up seats ("no one else is getting in") and to
be seated so that they could count seats and see how
many were left. It was really a poorly organized and
poorly executed screening.
I saw Harry Knowles and Ravkill and a bunch of
his hangers-on two rows behind me. And when I looked
up at the balcony again, there was a smattering of people
up there. I guess they had to open it to take care of
the overflow.
Louis Black eventually came out on stage and introduced
the film. He made a specific note to tell all film reviewers
not to review the print because it was a rough cut and
told them that the distributor would hold press screenings
prior to the official release in their cities. Luckily,
I'm not officially recognized as press by SXSW, so I
can write a review if I want to - and I want to! So
there… It sometimes rocks to be outside the loop!
The print we saw was a video copy, so apparently
they are still working on the film.
Black also told us that director Christopher Guest
had been in town and wanted to be at the screening but
got called back to LA at the last minute to deal with
an editing crisis. Right…
After the screening, which started late and didn't
end until almost 8:45, I walked to Red River - about
6 blocks - to get to the 710 club for the 9pm performance
of Hobble, my favorite local band. I get to the front
door and they asked me if I have a wristband or badge.
Of course, I did not. They told me that I'd have to
wait for the cashier to get there to pay to get in,
so I tried to be patient. After about 4 or 5 minutes,
I hear Hobble dive into "The Cowboy Song" and panic.
I started yelling at the doorman, asking how long I'm
going to have to wait to pay the club money. I believe
my exact words were. "How long am I going to have to
stand here so that I can give you money to hear my favorite
band play?" I was starting to get irate when a girl
with a backpack came out, took my $8 and let me in the
club.
I was really pissed off that I had to be an asshole
to get in and that made me fume (you always fume after
you flame, you know). I was having a really hard time
getting into Hobble and I could tell Hobble was having
a really hard time getting into a groove for the show.
I imagine the pressure on bands to perform well at SXSW
showcases is enormous.
| I was
standing there holding my SXSW bag (actually an
old AFF bag filled with the Austin Chronicle, pens
and paper, my film pass, my camera, my cell phone,
my medications and vitamins, and some change for
parking meters). And it made me feel like the guy
in "Cinemania." This guy packs a bag to go to film
screenings and includes a change of clothes and
books and PB&J sandwiches and a thousand other things.
It's hard to rock holding a tote bag and I was still
mad. Hobble was trying really hard but I began to
wonder if I should buy a beer to help loosen up.
I got really scared that I only liked Hobble because
when I heard them play I'd almost always been pretty
drunk. I was also mad and thinking why should I
buy beer from a club that I had to fight and argue
to get into? |
USS Friendship
rocks Room 710
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As Hobble's set wore on and they loosened
up, I did too and by the end of the 40 minutes of music
I was rocking my ass off - sober as a judge! The band
ended with three of my favorite songs, "8-Track Tape,"
"Suicidal Blunder" and "Backwards DJ" and Oriah was
pumping up the crowd like crazy. He took off his shirt,
sang from atop the bar and rode bassist Tom Ballantine's
shoulders back to the stage to finish out the set. It
was a phenomenal rock show and one that is exactly the
kind of amazing performance you expect when you see
Hobble live.
I took some great pictures of Hobble's set that
turned out awesome. There were a ton of photographers
there, most of them with really nice, expensive equipment,
so I was a little intimidated at first to whip out my
cheapie digital Polaroid but eventually I did and got
some really great shots off.
Oriah's girlfriend Holly came over during the set
and said hi. We tried to talk for a bit but it was too
loud during the set. Afterwards, as the bands loaded
in and out for the next set, she told me she was going
to Louisiana the next day for Queens of the Stone Age
and Turbo Negro show. A friend of hers had tickets but
needed a driver, so she was going to be chauffeur and
get into the show. Lucky girl!
The next band up was Sniffy, a band which Hobble's
drummer Gene also plays in. (He and Tom also play in
Ringer, a band that sounds exactly like Elvis Costello).
Sniffy are okay but not my favorites. They have a cute
female bassist (who sings occasionally as well). But
their lead singer and guitarist (he plays a flying V)
is scruffy looking and doesn't really try to put on
much of a show. Half-way through their set it was obvious
they were having an off night and he started joking
about how they'd blown their big chance at a deal at
SXSW and so forth. It was kind of funny. Their last
song was their best, a song the girl sings where it
sounds like she is saying "echo" or "Let Go" I asked
her about it later and she is actually saying "Neko"
which is a Japanese word for either "black" or "cat;"
I can't remember. The title of the song is the Japanese
words for "Black Cat" and that's what she says, something
like "Teno Neko" or something like that - I thought
she might be saying "Total Echo, echo, echo, echo…"
That's kinda what it sounds like.
Holly had a cool new Hobble pin that Oriah had
made and I admired it so much, she gave it to me! I
talked to Oriah and her and decided to invite Oriah
to the Kissinger show at the 107.7 The End party I had
won tickets to the next day, since Holly would be conveniently
out of town. He said yes and we called it a date.
The next band was USS Friendship which is fronted
by Russell, the former lead vocalist for Fuckemos. UF
have a video on AMN ("Austin Music Network") called
"Rollergirl" that was directed by Bob Ray. Bob's been
working on a documentary about roller derby girls here
in Austin over the past few months and I presume the
song is a video for that project.
The UF set was simply awesome as well and I enjoyed
every minute of it. I got some good pix of the band
(I didn't take any of Sniffy because my camera's batteries
were low and I wanted to make sure and get pix of UF).
Russell delighted the crowd not only with his singing
but also a bag chockfull of CD's by the band. He opened
it up and let everyone come up and get one. That rocked!
You bet I snagged one!
The Spiders and Pong were going to play the last
two sets after midnight but I was about bushed! I had
worked during the day and had been up since 7:45 in
the morning. I told Oriah I'd call him the next day,
kissed Holly goodbye and headed home.
Lodger 2003@SXSW2003
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