SXSW Motorhead Show

I have been fortunate enough to have been able to observe the annual SXSW music (and film) festival grow from it's humble (and affordable) beginnings, into the multi-headed creatureit is, today.  Of course, as you already know, I am one of those grumbling and whining old farts that drones on and on about how swank the good 'ol days were and how everything is so damned expensive and commercialized now.  Don't get me wrong, I really do welcome change.  Change can be good.  Technological evolution and access to tools and people, that weren't previously available, can make life easier (dare I say, "better"?).  Austin is a beautiful, green community.  It has always been the smallest big city in the state.  You could ride your bike from your house, to school to work, swimming hole or, wherever.  EVERYTHING was within walking or, biking range.  Then, the technology explosion flooded the city.  The population doubled.  It is set to double again in next 5-10 years (depending upon the economic outlook).  And while that has extended the population to the city fringes, it has also made downtown (and by downtown, I mean everything from Town Lake (err, "Lady Bird Lake") to38th street) a whole lot more claustrophobic.  But it hasn't been all bad... there are incredibly tasty places to eat and tattoo shops on every corner!  Vegetarian?  No problem.  Vegetarian Ukrainian?  Not a problem.

 

As SXSW grew, the price of admission started to sky rocket.  It used to be that you could spend under $20 bucks and check out a buttload of shows.  The South By So What shows were always a blast and the parties were more underground in nature.  Record company people were the mysterious and unseen folk that might either be at your show or, not.  Now days, each "showcase" is a defined as a corporate sponsored show where already-signed bands play shortened sets.  You get clobbered with paper advertisements and junk.  If it is a free show, you wait to "maybe" get in.  Badges costs hundreds of dollars.  I looked up the website and it was $350 + !!!  Ouch.  Fortunately, of the hundreds of shows and thousands of bands that play for the week, some are free of charge.  There are a few strings... These shows are usually low=promoted and is either first-come-first-serve or, you have to RSVP or, something.

 

Last year, we saw Mastodon at Town Lake.  This year, my buddy D sent me a link for a free show at Stubb's BBQ.  The headliner was Motorhead and the opening bands were High On Fire and Napalm Death.  Now, when I see "Motorhead" and "Free" in the same email (or, anywhere else in  the world), I pay extra special attention.  The catch was (and you just knew that there'd be one) that you had to RSVP before 10AM 24 hours prior, the show was on a Thursday and Napalm Death started at 1PM (Motorhead at 3PM).  Well, no problem-o.  I RSVP'd and then set to ask my boss for Thursday afternoon off.  Problem was, she has been out of the office all week, sick!  So, I emailed her my request and waited...and waited...and waited for her to get back with me with a 'yes' or, 'no' reply.  Finally, 30 minutes before leaving Wednesday afternoon, she emailed me back that it'd be cool for me to have  the time off.  I tried to set up travel arrangements but all of my friends, who were going, were coming from different locations and had different destinations afterwards so, I had to drive myself.

 

Thursday, I skipped out at 11AM and headed home to change, gas-up, and roll.  I made it into downtown Austin at about 12:15 and began a 20 minute search for parking.  Unable to find a spot in any of the $10 parking spots, I called up my friend, D and asked him for suggestions.  He recommended the Capital Visitor Center parking garage on 12th & Trinity.  This was 6 blocks north and 3 blocks west of Stubb's but hell...it is safe (and AVAILABLE) parking so I landed my truck there and made the pilgrimage to Motorhead.

 

When I got there, the line was four people thick and went from the door, down Red River and down 8th street and halfway towards I-35.  It was about 150-200 yards long.  My buddies were about 20-30 people from the end so, I slipped in line with them.  A few more friends joined us over the next 45 minutes and we got to the table.  Remember, this rather lengthy line was only for people who RSVP'd.  If you did not RSVP - you weren't getting in.  Apparently, the RSVP fields at the bottom of the page were for the newsletter.  The show RSVP was underneath the band listing in an almost invisible font.  Fortunately, I am always paranoid and look for links and all of that crap when it comes to shenanigans like this so, I RSVP'd in the right place.  A couple of my friends however, are now getting SPAM'd with newsletters, hahaha.  At first, they weren't going to let them in but, they raised a funk and were allowed in.  Cool.

 

We missed Napalm Death (not really shedding a whole lot of tears) and caught about 3/4 of High On Fire.  They tore it up.  I've seen them a couple of times before but, not outdoors and was concerned that the power might dissipate in such a venue as Stubb's.  It was not a problem.  They had a really good and loud sound and it was pretty high energy (no pun intended).  It was very solid.  Motorhead was of course, Motorhead.  They were freggin' awesome.  Played all the good songs: Killed By Death, Dr. Rock, Ace of Spades and they played a lot of them.  I was totally, expecting only six or, eight songs max but they just kept on playing.  And when it was over, I had time to grab some dinner and meet my wife (and kids) at home when she got home from work...at 5:30PM.

 

So, I guess I should have to eat a little bit of crow, eh?  If it weren't for the big corporate sponsor (Scion), Motorhead wouldn't be playing a BBQ joint in Austin, TX for SXSW and it definitely wouldn't have been for FREE!  Maybe I should start embracing change and stop complaining.  It's worth a try but, I ain't making any promises!