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SXSW DAY 3: Wild
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SXSW DAY 3: Wild
Wild Flag, 6 p.m. @ Urban Outfitters
Pure rock ’n’ roll joy. Carrie Brownstein on guitar and vocals. Mary Timony on guitar and vocals. Janet Weiss on drums. Rebecca Cole on keys. Loud, exuberant, dazzling music. Got myself one of these weird express passes to catch them again at the end the night.
The Benson Interruption, 8 p.m. @ Ether’s Follies
After a little while pounding the searing, crowded asphalt of Sixth Street, ducking into the A.C. for some seated comedy sounds pretty damn good. You might know Doug Benson as a comedian or a professional marijuana smoker or from his various podcasts and podcast appearances, or the TV version of The Benson Interruption, which recently had a short run on Comedy Central. The premise is this: Comedians come out and tell stories, or try to, while Benson sits nearby and sorta heckles or breaks in with his own little riffs and stories. The highlight was either Tig Notaro or surprise closer Aziz Ansari. They got interrupted the least, btw, but that mighta been about Benson’s respect for them, not a comment on how fast they keep things moving.
In the audience I was seated next to Austin comic Chris Cubas but some well-meaning dude came up to him and was like “Hey! Reggie Watts!” Cubas (who is demographically similar to Watts — black, big, kinda wild afro and beard — but come on, look before you speak, people) laughed and mock-sighed. “No. I’ve been getting that all fucking week. It’s his fault. He didn’t used to look like me until he got fat. I was fat first.” Fricking hilarious.
Comedy Showcase, 9:30 p.m. @ Ether’s Air-Conditioned Awesome
Nothing in the guidebook could lure me back out into the fray. Perhaps Wild Flag ruined me for all other music. Anyway this case was a mostly mix: Tig Notaro (who’s got just the best Taylor Dayne stories), Jena Friedman (disarmingly funny), Brody Stevens (disarmingly over-the-top), plus a bunch of comics and, of course, closer Eugene Mirman who, as always, was great.
Wye Oak, 11:45 p.m. @ The Parish
I’m tired and I’m tired of telling people not to sleep on Wye Oak. They are a folky/rocky duo from Baltimore and on record they can get kind big and pretty but live they are small, and loud and ineffingtense. Jenn Wasner is just an excellent guitarist and somehow this band never sounds like a duo.
Wild Flag, 12:45 a.m. @ The Lance Parish
Hell yes, I’m seeing them again. I’m on vacation. As wonderful as the tented afternoon show was, this was even better. Transcendent. SXSW has no shortage of technically skilled bands, or loud bands, or bands full of energy, but Wild Flag is all of that, all the time. They’ve got to be the greatest band in the world that hasn’t recorded an album yet. Things ended with guitarists loping and flailing and everybody on the dancefloor sweating like you do when music is moving you right.
Last shuttle of the night: dead quiet except for the ringing in my ears.
New Favorite Street Food: Thick, fried chicken tender, wrapped in a waffled and garnished with syrup.
Vegetables: None anywhere in town, unless you count the lettuce on my burger at the place with the turtles in the fishtank in the dining area.
Cabs: Austin needs more of them.
Sunblock: Found some at an REI, but the damage is done. Total Zoidberg arms.
SXSW staff: Friendly, and cool about free-range photographers.
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