Saturday passed in a daze; being void of internet access, miles away from downtown, and having lost my voice shouting chants and slogans with Times New Viking, I wasn't exactly scrambling to get everything in like I did the three days prior. Sleeping late, enjoying the sunshine, and walking Austin's pedestrian-friendly streets, is equally important. Plus I had to take out a small loan to pay for cabs at this point.
That said, a late-afternoon triple threat of Ghostface Killah, Rakim (both backed by full bands) and a brief but lively (and smoky) infomercial from Redman (I think his record drops...ummm....March 27th, had to be there), displayed SXSW's magical element of chance/surprise.
Strangely (and sadly), in three days, I didn't get to see much comedy from the current indie-renaissance (Micheal Showalter, Tim and Eric, Zack G.) that was everywhere, save a tiny bit of Saturday night's Human Giant showcase. I'm sure for some, this whole week has felt like living in a half-hour of absurd, McSweeney's-referencing, stand-up.
Saturday night was also the best representation of what Columbus has to offer. Columbus Discount Records took over the surreal Light Bar on South Congress. Upon a roof-top stage complete with waterfall and neon, Terribly Empty Pockets showed why, even when the odd-man out, they possess a quality both deep and endearing, pop go jangle and pop go sad.
But of course, instead of turning the atmosphere into 'nother night in the Boo Boo, I headed to Rusted Shut, who don't get around to Ohio much. Even with technical difficulties, the 20 year old trio from Houston grasped onto the week's aforementioned revolution of mayhem with a level of volume that made it impossible to distinguish one song from the next or your skull from your Flipper damaged mind.
The best tip of the week though belongs to Mr. Roland Woodbe (go figure?) and his urging to see Los Llamarada, a barely legal group from Monterrey, Mexico that seemed to just discover rock and roll last week. Better yet, they didn't even discover rock or punk, or post-punk or post-rock, or simple noise for that matter, they recently invented it. Teenagers the world round, wash your hands, unite, and give up peacefully.
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