I Survived SXSW

Yikes.

Austin, Texas is about a million degrees, hot and sticky and during South By South West is packed with people.

Every little tiny place where they could possibly put a stage, they do. It's an interesting combination of half assed bands with huge ego's and mid-level-successful bands with none. One must have an Artists pass to get anywhere cool, but the workhorses who make you look and sound cool get jack. "I'm with the band" gets you everywhere and nowhere, at the same time. It's like the volunteers for SXSW suddenly have this responsibility, they get to play god with musicians.

This whole weekend has been craaaaaaazy. Touring with Trail of Dead, is a tough gig to begin with. Touring with Trail of Dead during South by South West is a gargantuan task. Down time is not really an option, and it's an endless cycle of load gear in, load gear out, find parking, get yelled at by cops and volunteers, run errands for the band, then load the gear out again, load the gear in again. Load the gear out, re-load the empty cases, then find parking, then set up gear. Tear down gear, find the van, park the van as close as possible, un-load the empty cases, fill the empty cases, re-load the van. Then drive to the next venue for the next show.

Last night trail of dead played a venue called emo's, at about 11pm. Load in was at about 6. Then we had to load out after the show, and get to a venue for the Spin Magazine, SXSW after party. At this point, everyone but a few of us were a little tipsy. Some were a little more hammered than tipsy. This made the load out process that much more fun. We ended up at the venue, and unloaded gear. TOD was supposed to go on at 2:30am. They were then pushed to 3am. They actually went on closer to 4am. Leaving plenty of time in the well stocked green room and the open bar party for more drinking.

Needless to say, the show was epic. Standing on drum kits, jumping into the crowd, broken glass, etc etc etc. We ended up loading out and getting home at around 5:30. I was asleep by 6.

SXSW is over, and today is the aftermath of that. I haven't had a drink since Vancouver and it's amazing. It's nice to be able to focus on learning and working in Rock and Roll, than living the Rock and Roll lifestyle.

At this point, i'm sleepy, and smelly and need a coffee and a shower. Probably about 18 more hours of sleep, but without a doubt, I learned SO much, and wouldn't give up this opportunity for the world. I love tour, I love Music, and I love being in the thick of it.

xo