My SXSW Adventure

This is going to be slightly off-topic, but I want to talk about my SXSW weekend.

It started on Thursday around noon, when A & I went to see our friends in Buxton and Robert Ellis play with Old 97's at The Belmont.  It went on for a good 5 hours or so, and everyone was amazing.  Buxton sounded awesome, and you should definitely check them out.  They recently got signed to the New West label and are currently touring with the Old 97s.

 Here is a photo of A and me sitting on the ledge at the Belmont.  

We were pretty darn close to the stage!

 Here is a photo of The Old 97s.  They did an awesome job, 

and of course played one of my favorite songs "Question" (Google it!).  

Then, it was on to Friday.  Around 2 PM, A and I ventured over to the Historic French Legation to check out their Lawn Party.  Artists included John Vanderslice (one of A's favorites) and Sean Lennon, John Lennon's son.  There were many more, but that's all we saw.  There was also plentiful free Izzes since they were sponsoring the event.

John Vanderslice had a great set.  His music is very calm, enjoyable, and 

well-written.  He's a very talented songwriter and producer as well.  

Saturday was a whole lot of craziness.  We started here (pic below), at Halcyon, a very well-known coffee shop in Austin, TX.  It's also a bar, as well as a humidor.  Their slogan is "Caffeine, Nicotine, Alcohol: All the vices under one roof.  I enjoyed a delicious egg/cheddar/ham panini and a latté here.  Yum!! 

After Halcyon, it was on to more sightseeing around Austin.  I considered myself a tourist in my own city.  We spent most of our time walking all around downtown, discovering new things, and getting a ton of SWAG.  One highlight of the weekend was going to the Austin Convention Center.  We picked up lots of swag, I found out about an amazing eyeglasses company called Tortoise & Blonde which I am absolutely ordering my next glasses from.  Then, there was an awesome Keds promo center where we entered a raffle and guess what...A won!  And is giving me the shoes to have for myself :)

The absolute highlight of the entire weekend was going to the PureVolume House.   We saw so many awesome bands, got endless free drinks, and FREE massages!

 Hands down best part: seeing James Vincent McMorrow singing

"If I Had A Boat" which is a favorite of mine.  He also said he'll be

at the Gallway Arts Festival when I'm in Ireland!

Also amazing: seeing Augustana live, a band I've loved since high school.

Unfortunately, they didn't sing my favorite song, but they sounded amazing.

All in all, I did a lot of things, saw a lot of bands, went a lot of places, and saw Austin in a whole new light.  Thank you to this wonderful city for giving me an awesome first SX experience.