Magnolia Electric; Austin and SxSW; Return to Houston
3/17
The MCB department has an annual St. Patrick's day party. Stephanie tried to lure me there with promises if a cute girl in a Modest Mouse shirt, but all she really needed to mention was the keg of Harp that was there, which I partook of.
I skipped out of work early and stopped by home for a while before getting a call from Will mentioning that Ryan Donowho (Ryan Dono... who?) who played the ill-fated Johnny on the OC was up at Woodrow's, drinking. Though I'm sure there are tons of celebrities in Houston on a daily basis, I don't run into them. And though he's no Peter Gallagher, Adam Brody, or Rachel Bilson (the only ones that really matter), I figure what the hell, so I went up to Woodrow's to get a glimpse. Maybe if the place wasn't crowded and he hadn't been with a big group of friends, I would have struck up a conversation, but it was overrun.
Hardly worth going up there for, probably, but Will needed a ride anyway, so, after retrieving him, Cindy, and Jeff from their various dwellings (or bars), we headed up to Rudyard's a bit early for the Magnolia Electric Co. show. We ordered some of Rudyard's great bar food for dinner and then paid the cover to go up stairs, grab a good table up front, and play some pool.
A few beers into the evening, the man himself, Mr. Manolia, Jason Molina came out, and the band played a kick ass set. There were some nice new arrangements of the slower songs from their current What Comes After the Blues (an uptempo "Hammer Down"), a couple of songs I wasn't familiar with (could have been new or could have been part of the huge Songs: Ohia back catalog), and some stuff ("Don't This Look Like the Dark") from the limited edition live album Trials & Errors. There may not have been anything from their six-eigths of perfection self-titled debut (if it was, it was drastically reworked). Overall, though, great. Molina's assembled an extremely talented band, and if they keep the set excessively short, at least it's of high quality. It'd be nice if they took the time to stretch their limbs a little more.
The banter was sparse as well, but Molina did talk about the glittery pink unicorn shirt he had on, the fulfillment of his plan to wear something as outlandish and likely to get him beat up as possible.
The venue was really quite perfect for seeing the band—sit down, great sound, a bit rustic—and the crowd was respectful. The show over, I checked out the merch and grabbed a couple of Songs: Ohia albums I didn't have. They once again had no t-shirts with them, so I'm still very thankful that Thom picked one up for me last year.
I introduced myself to Jason, who's just a stand up guy, extremely pleasant, and a great storyteller (ask for the one about when he got slipped a roofie and robbed).
3/18
Cindy had previously put a bug in my ear about going to Austin with her for the tail end of South by Southwest; I had been resistent for my usual homebody reasons, Rebecca being out of town, my uncertainty about being able to get into any worthwhile shows, and unanswered questions as to whether Cindy and I were carpooling or spending the weekend together.
Plus, she was planning on leaving in the morning and I don't do well with anything that requires me to get up before the crack of noon on weekends.
In the end, though, I could tell that she really wanted me to go, and owing to some other drama from the previous night (probably something to do with the fact that I was out with the guys instead of her on Thursday), I decided that I could handle placating her.
We got a late start but eventually were on the road to Austin in the 3 (rather than her rapidly-aging Mazda MX-3). It was a nice time of the year for the drive up 71, what with the wildflowers and all. We got into town and braved the crowded SoCo neighborhood to Guero's. It wasn't as crowded as one might expect given that Austin was in the throes of South By; the wait wasn't bad and gave us the opportunity to have a round of drinks. I got the queso flameado with beef fajita meat, and it was as good as I've had; my first Guero's experience was positive.
We made some brief attempts at catching up with wristband holders Dan & Kristin, but instead opted to swing by Rebecca's place (she had left me a key) and rest up before meeting Cindy's friend Sara for dinner at a cute little middle eastern market/deli. I wasn't overly impressed (compared to the glory of Niko Niko's), but it had enough charm to get by.
We opted to head downtown and see what we could see. We discovered that Magnolia was headlining across the street from Emo's under a tent, backed by Okkervil River and somebody else of some note (I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness?). We looked into getting in, randomly ran into LS Lauren and Chris, came to the realization that there's no way we would get in, and scouted around. We realized that there was an absolutely kick ass view from the alley behind the stage. We made a note of that and went off in search of beer.
Cindy chose Lovejoy's, which turned out to be a good choice. The interior was appropriately dank and divey (a bit Rudyard's, but with some of the dive-yness from Scruff's), they had their own "Here's to the crazy ones" style mission statement painted on the wall by the bathroom, and they had their own microbrew. I'm not Thom, so I don't have extensive notes on the three varieties I tried, but they were all unique takes on their respective styles and I found I enjoyed them all.
Cindy and I were about to take off to return to the show, when, walking to the bathroom, I spied a blonde girl out of the corner of my eye. She looked a lot like Kristin. On second glance, she was Kristin. So we hung out a little longer (and happend to try some of Lovejoy's homemade snack mix, which I plan on ordering next time I'm there).
We eventually made it back to the alley in time to catch about 3/4 of Okkervil River's show. I'd seen them 2.25 times before, and I must say that they benefit greatly from playing shows in their home town. Will Sheff is always an emotive singer, but his vocal performance was as intense ane beautiful as I've ever seen it. It was a great experience.
The view from the Alley was good; it was slightly obstructed, and mostly a rear perspective, but probably much closer than we would have been on the other side of the fence. While we were out there, we saw Jason Molina and talked to him a minute. He was again wearing the pink glittery shirt. He remembered us. We chatted a bit about Okkervil River. I was hoping he'd be super cool and get us into the show backstage, but I guess that was overly optimistic of me.
Magnolia played their set, and it was good, but identical to the previous night's, and couldn't compete with the more intimate venue. Courtney and crew came by briefly to say hi. During Magnolia's last song, the sky opened up. There was a small tent set up nearby, so Cindy and I went and stood under it, and discovered that it was the roadie tent. There was some brief banter about how we would have to help them carry equipment, and I mentioned my apptitude for dropping amps, and they told me I'd fit right in.
3/19
We got a late start on our journey home. We took a detour by Zach's Austin record store, quickly found the small indie ghetto, and picked up a few used CDs. He had a nice little place that was quite full for 2:00 on a Sunday afternoon.
We stopped by Jimmy John's for a sandwich to go. I don't know that Cindy appreciated it fully, but I was in heaven.
Ted Leo and his Pharmacists were supposed to play in Houston that night, but cancelled. Incidentally, Molly, Katie, and Cindy were all intending to go to that show, so maybe it's better that it didn't happen.
The MCB department has an annual St. Patrick's day party. Stephanie tried to lure me there with promises if a cute girl in a Modest Mouse shirt, but all she really needed to mention was the keg of Harp that was there, which I partook of.
I skipped out of work early and stopped by home for a while before getting a call from Will mentioning that Ryan Donowho (Ryan Dono... who?) who played the ill-fated Johnny on the OC was up at Woodrow's, drinking. Though I'm sure there are tons of celebrities in Houston on a daily basis, I don't run into them. And though he's no Peter Gallagher, Adam Brody, or Rachel Bilson (the only ones that really matter), I figure what the hell, so I went up to Woodrow's to get a glimpse. Maybe if the place wasn't crowded and he hadn't been with a big group of friends, I would have struck up a conversation, but it was overrun.
Hardly worth going up there for, probably, but Will needed a ride anyway, so, after retrieving him, Cindy, and Jeff from their various dwellings (or bars), we headed up to Rudyard's a bit early for the Magnolia Electric Co. show. We ordered some of Rudyard's great bar food for dinner and then paid the cover to go up stairs, grab a good table up front, and play some pool.
A few beers into the evening, the man himself, Mr. Manolia, Jason Molina came out, and the band played a kick ass set. There were some nice new arrangements of the slower songs from their current What Comes After the Blues (an uptempo "Hammer Down"), a couple of songs I wasn't familiar with (could have been new or could have been part of the huge Songs: Ohia back catalog), and some stuff ("Don't This Look Like the Dark") from the limited edition live album Trials & Errors. There may not have been anything from their six-eigths of perfection self-titled debut (if it was, it was drastically reworked). Overall, though, great. Molina's assembled an extremely talented band, and if they keep the set excessively short, at least it's of high quality. It'd be nice if they took the time to stretch their limbs a little more.
The banter was sparse as well, but Molina did talk about the glittery pink unicorn shirt he had on, the fulfillment of his plan to wear something as outlandish and likely to get him beat up as possible.
The venue was really quite perfect for seeing the band—sit down, great sound, a bit rustic—and the crowd was respectful. The show over, I checked out the merch and grabbed a couple of Songs: Ohia albums I didn't have. They once again had no t-shirts with them, so I'm still very thankful that Thom picked one up for me last year.
I introduced myself to Jason, who's just a stand up guy, extremely pleasant, and a great storyteller (ask for the one about when he got slipped a roofie and robbed).
3/18
Cindy had previously put a bug in my ear about going to Austin with her for the tail end of South by Southwest; I had been resistent for my usual homebody reasons, Rebecca being out of town, my uncertainty about being able to get into any worthwhile shows, and unanswered questions as to whether Cindy and I were carpooling or spending the weekend together.
Plus, she was planning on leaving in the morning and I don't do well with anything that requires me to get up before the crack of noon on weekends.
In the end, though, I could tell that she really wanted me to go, and owing to some other drama from the previous night (probably something to do with the fact that I was out with the guys instead of her on Thursday), I decided that I could handle placating her.
We got a late start but eventually were on the road to Austin in the 3 (rather than her rapidly-aging Mazda MX-3). It was a nice time of the year for the drive up 71, what with the wildflowers and all. We got into town and braved the crowded SoCo neighborhood to Guero's. It wasn't as crowded as one might expect given that Austin was in the throes of South By; the wait wasn't bad and gave us the opportunity to have a round of drinks. I got the queso flameado with beef fajita meat, and it was as good as I've had; my first Guero's experience was positive.
We made some brief attempts at catching up with wristband holders Dan & Kristin, but instead opted to swing by Rebecca's place (she had left me a key) and rest up before meeting Cindy's friend Sara for dinner at a cute little middle eastern market/deli. I wasn't overly impressed (compared to the glory of Niko Niko's), but it had enough charm to get by.
We opted to head downtown and see what we could see. We discovered that Magnolia was headlining across the street from Emo's under a tent, backed by Okkervil River and somebody else of some note (I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness?). We looked into getting in, randomly ran into LS Lauren and Chris, came to the realization that there's no way we would get in, and scouted around. We realized that there was an absolutely kick ass view from the alley behind the stage. We made a note of that and went off in search of beer.
Cindy chose Lovejoy's, which turned out to be a good choice. The interior was appropriately dank and divey (a bit Rudyard's, but with some of the dive-yness from Scruff's), they had their own "Here's to the crazy ones" style mission statement painted on the wall by the bathroom, and they had their own microbrew. I'm not Thom, so I don't have extensive notes on the three varieties I tried, but they were all unique takes on their respective styles and I found I enjoyed them all.
Cindy and I were about to take off to return to the show, when, walking to the bathroom, I spied a blonde girl out of the corner of my eye. She looked a lot like Kristin. On second glance, she was Kristin. So we hung out a little longer (and happend to try some of Lovejoy's homemade snack mix, which I plan on ordering next time I'm there).
We eventually made it back to the alley in time to catch about 3/4 of Okkervil River's show. I'd seen them 2.25 times before, and I must say that they benefit greatly from playing shows in their home town. Will Sheff is always an emotive singer, but his vocal performance was as intense ane beautiful as I've ever seen it. It was a great experience.
The view from the Alley was good; it was slightly obstructed, and mostly a rear perspective, but probably much closer than we would have been on the other side of the fence. While we were out there, we saw Jason Molina and talked to him a minute. He was again wearing the pink glittery shirt. He remembered us. We chatted a bit about Okkervil River. I was hoping he'd be super cool and get us into the show backstage, but I guess that was overly optimistic of me.
Magnolia played their set, and it was good, but identical to the previous night's, and couldn't compete with the more intimate venue. Courtney and crew came by briefly to say hi. During Magnolia's last song, the sky opened up. There was a small tent set up nearby, so Cindy and I went and stood under it, and discovered that it was the roadie tent. There was some brief banter about how we would have to help them carry equipment, and I mentioned my apptitude for dropping amps, and they told me I'd fit right in.
3/19
We got a late start on our journey home. We took a detour by Zach's Austin record store, quickly found the small indie ghetto, and picked up a few used CDs. He had a nice little place that was quite full for 2:00 on a Sunday afternoon.
We stopped by Jimmy John's for a sandwich to go. I don't know that Cindy appreciated it fully, but I was in heaven.
Ted Leo and his Pharmacists were supposed to play in Houston that night, but cancelled. Incidentally, Molly, Katie, and Cindy were all intending to go to that show, so maybe it's better that it didn't happen.
posted by L. Maxwell Ward at 9:16 PM
