South by Mollypants: Night one.

We went to the first night of the SXSW music festival last night. This really is an awesome place to go see a band live - we were in a bar smaller than the average Athens bar, but it was such an awesome place to watch music. Last night we saw the Lubbock, Texas showcase - four different bands, most with some sort of twang in their music. They must have a hard time classifying a lot of this music - I think this show was listed as a mix of "alt country", "americana" and just plain old "rock".

We saw the Thriftstore Cowboys first, which was one of my favorites.


Then the Texas Belairs, who kind of had more cajun in them...Dan liked them best:


We finished up the night seeing Colin Gilmore. He was kind of old-fashioned, for lack of a better word. Covered Buddy Holly better than I've ever seen before.



Highlights of the night:
1. Great Venue. Seriously, you could sit on the steps of the deck and watch the band from there under the stars. They allow DOGS in there, for crying out loud. I made good friends with the dog that belongs to the lead singer of the Texas Belairs.
2. Amanda Shires of the Thrift Store Cowboys complimented me on my dress in the bathroom.
3. $10 cover plus 3 beers apiece: $50 for the entire night. Couldn't beat that price in Lynchburg.
4. I wore boots and a dress - awful nice to have your feet not throb the next morning from high heels.
5. Late-night breakfast at Kerbey Lane...biscuits and gravy. YUM.
6. I threw my name on an email list for the last act (I was actually trying to buy a CD from the first, but they had packed up - I didn't want to look like a jerk, so I put my name/email on the list)...I told him I live in Charlotte and sure enough, I got an email from him within 24 hours thanking me for attending and noting that he'd let me know when they come to NC. In a business so full of people who are so high on themselves, it's really nice to see bands actually appreciate people coming to see them.