Mark Collier

SXSW 2007 is done, and I did get to enjoy a bit of it here and there. In previous years, my mother in law came to town because she has the week off for spring break, giving Dianna help with the kiddos so I could pass out in ditches and so forth. Unfortunately, The in-laws bought and moved into a new house this week so I had to keep the ditch time to a minimum, which meant mostly going to day parties with the occassional late night on Wednesday & Saturday.

Wednesday
Steve, Michael and I headed to Pure to check out Dennis’s new company Slacker, which certainly made an impression. I’m pulling for these guys because 1) they’re not apple, 2) the satellite tech they are using was invented by folks in Austin 3) good group of people including my friend Steve Cotter who just joined to head up BD & Sales for them. They took over this bar on 6th and had their branding everywhere, which was very cool. Overall, it seems the launch was well received but the proof’s in the shipping product.

Next we hit one of my favorite restaurants (Moonshine), which never disappoints.

This is where it gets a bit hazy, but I recall having a couple of beers with Harris at Sidebar and then heading to the real music destination: Antones.

Antones was supposed to have a “secret” Spoon show at 1am so we went early. We saw:

The Rosebuds: fucking awesome. See them, hear them, buy them.

The Broken West: eh, me no likey
Spoon: Good, but I’m kind of over them. Always good to support an Austin band though

Thursday
Very low-key, but I heard a good band at Speak easy and enjoyed some free Dewars courtesy of some company that didn’t get their money’s worth (because I can’t remember). Same goes for the band. shit. too hung over.

Friday
I checked out the Island Records showcase at Bourbon Rocks, which was sponsored by Yahoo! Music UK. This was great music and I got to meet my colleagues Shannon & Trace. Good times! The venue is really cool too, with the stage in the middle of the room in a sense because the patio was behind the stage. I caught these bands:

Amy Winehouse: absolultely brilliant! The place was packed for her, with a line way out the door.

Another performance of hers on Youtube:

Scott Matthews: Dude with a guitar, eh (not that there’s anything wrong with that)
The Rumble Strips: loved these guys, everyone just worked really hard and gave their all to the performance. Highly recommended. Love the sax! Buy them.

The Fratellis: The band with all the buzz… I’d say they lived up to it, but they weren’t my #1 pick (see below). See Them, Buy Them.

Saturday
We took the girls to the kids show at Auditorium shores. The highlight was definitely the Sippy Cups.

Clearly a group of musicians that found a way to feed their mushroom habit by entertaining kids (and adults) with crazy antics and covers of Pink Floyd. Bravo! Buy Them

Saturday night I took my brother in law to the Vice party, which was definitely not his normal scene (or mine for that matter). It was set in this incredible Elk lodge in Bouldin overlooking the city. Once again, another party with free Dewars but this time it was the only drink avaialble! They eventually busted out the beer though. My friend Jeff predicted there would be some crazy shit before the night was up, and sure enough (in jeff’s words) “some drunk chick fell off” the balcony (as you will) which shut down the party (as they do). In “some drunk chicks” defense, Apparently the railing gave out. Luckily we left before the mayhem set in.
UPDATE: BUY PIECES OF THE BUILDING FROM THIS NUTTER.

To summarize, the music I loved (in order)
1) The Rosebuds
2) Amy Winehouse
3) The Fratellis
4) The Rumble Strips

Special Kiddo category:
1) The Sippy Cups

Mark