SXSW Day 3: Tightening Up

“I don’t get it. Everyone talks through these shows and then says how great the band was.” - Mary Weiss
Day 3 and the first order of business (after blogging, of course!) was Joe Boyd’s SXSW Q&A at the Convention Center, conducted by Ed Ward. Hearing Joe speak reminded me of a sketch I heard once on Tom Sharpling’s “Best Show on WFMU” about the hippest rock fan ever; a guy who had seen The Velvet Underground, MC5 and The Stooges when he was like 12 years old, and so on....Except with Joe, it’s not a goof. The man is a fount of incredible experiences, and he recounts them with grace. I can’t wait to see him speak again at Joe’s Pub on March 27.

After spending the rest of the afternoon with The Cliks for a couple interviews and a photo shoot, Nick Baily, Alexis Tedford and I joined the Velour folks for dinner at Green Mesquite. Nick has already expounded on the virtues of the 4 meat plate there, so I’ll just add that the fried okra is not to be missed either.

After a blazing set by The Last Town Chorus, Alexis and I joined them, and Mary Weiss for the Amy Winehouse show at La Zona Rosa. Amy has given props to The Shangri-Las in interviews, so I thought it was cool that Mary came out to see her.

Last stop of the evening was the mighty Ponderosa Stomp, where I caught all-too-short sets by deep soul guitar empress Barbara Lynn, and Mister Tighten Up himself, Archie Bell!