SXSW Pleasure and Pain
Usually, the worst sort of body pain that you should get from SXSW is sore feet from walking around catching as many shows as possible. I managed to add a few extra items to my list of injuries, making me wonder if the festival shouldn’t keep a nurse or doctor on staff or at least some warning signs for visitors.
1) Blacklicious & Mr. Lif at Town Lake Stages, Thursday, March 16th
Great show. Even my girlfriend who’s not a rap fan was impressed. Nice venue, as well- huge outdoor grassy field. Unfortunately, near the front area around the stage is a small ledge leading to a lower level of the field where you think you could jump down easy. But it’s deceptive, as I found out. Leaping down, I landed the wrong way on my ankle, twisting it around my leg. The limb swelled up like a balloon. Common sense would have stopped me from running around to see shows that evening or at least taking a break during Friday’s day shows but I couldn’t help myself. That probably led to…
2) Brother Ali & Atmosphere at Emo’s, Friday, March 17th
Another great show and more proof that rap is getting a better presence at this fest (Beastie Boys, Ghostface, Immortal Technique) than in the past. At the back of Emo’s is some bleacher seating and I thought I’d squeeze my way into it to get a good view. Big mistake. I took three steps up and suddenly, lost my footing, probably related to the fact that one of my ankles was still swollen and sore. Before I knew it, I was falling backwards and splattering on the concrete ground in a puddle of stale beer and dirt. Even before I got my bearings, random arms came to my assistance and hoisted me on my feet. Miraculously, I didn’t get a concussion or back injury (though it was a little sore). After giving a thumb’s-up to the aghast spectators around me, I got reactions ranging from “My god, are you going to be alright??” to “Man, that was SO cool!”
3) Kid 606 at Velvet Spade Patio, Friday, March 17th
Pushing my luck even more on the same evening: the nice people at SXSW gave me a fancy Nokia camera phone to do a video blog of my adventures at the festival. I’d seen the Kid at a day show a year or two ago doing his ambient thing but suspected that he’d go to his darker side for a night show. Sure enough, he had a drummer on stage and his turntable/drum machine set up at the front of the crowd. He was indeed in rave mode that night. He grabbed a girl’s beer and splashed it in my face. I was annoyed mostly ’cause I tasted a Bud and not a draft. Then the Kid runs around the table and starts moshing into all of us in the front row. I was more worried that he’d bust the fancy camera phone they gave me and I’d have to pay for it. All of a sudden, a bouncer appears, grabs me by the shoulders and yells in my face “NO MOSHING!” I didn’t have time or vocal volume to explain that I wasn’t the culprit. He did get the idea later when the Kid emerged from the table again to mosh into this pleasant fellow. Yet again.
