Postcard from SXSW: March 20, part 5
Jeremy Messersmith and Mark Mallman at "I $ Mpls," and The Airborne Toxic Event.
The Airborne Toxic Event
Along with the small army of writers from Decider’s Austin site and the A.V. Club mothership, Minnesota photographer Stacy Schwartz also went down to Austin for the 2009 SXSW festival, and sent back daily reports to Decider Twin Cities on what she saw and heard. Previously: March 18, parts 1, 2, and 3; March 19, parts 1, 2, 3, and 4; March 20, parts 1, 2, 3, and 4.
6:45 p.m.: Matt Perkins and I head to the Vanity Fair/NPR party. It’s relaxed and there’s both free booze and free snacks. Mini burgers, fries, chicken fingers, etc. We run into one of the guys from N.A.S.A. and talk with him a tiny bit. Matt and I sit and breathe for a while, enjoying the Austin air on the patio.
NASA
MNPLS8 p.m.: Off to the "I $ Mpls" party. It’s a long haul, so we cab it over. When we get there, Jeremy Messersmith has just started playing. There are a bunch of Minneapolitans waiting. Andrea Swensson, the music editor for City Pages, Jorge Raasch of the Utne Reader, Krista Vilinskis from Tinderbox Music, Paul Gillis, and (naturally) a large collection of local musicians. It’s nice to see everybody down in the warmth of Texas.
Jeremy Messersmith
Jeremy Messersmith
Jeremy Messersmith
Jeremy Messersmith
Jeremy Messersmith, "Light Rail":
8:45 p.m.: Mark Mallman takes the stage, and plays “True Love,” one of my favorite songs.
Mark Mallman
9:30 p.m.: Me And My Arrow are up next, with members of Bella Koshka, Ice Palace, and the now-defunct Plastic Chord. Nice sound. And lots and lots of band members—it’s a full stage, for sure.
Me And My Arrow
Me And My Arrow
10:30 p.m.: It's a bit of a hike to our next destination, since "I $ Mpls" was at a venue off the main drag, so we do a speed-walk to see The Airborne Toxic Event. We get there just in time and push up to the front. Surprisingly, the venue is an L-shaped bar with a raised stage in the center, where the L bends—so the band’s feet are about four and a half feet off the ground, and there’s a moat of space for the bartenders between the crowd and the musicians. Weird, but it serves as a nice walkway for the band to jam on as well. TATE kills it. The crowd is ravenous for them, singing along to every word, jumping up and down, and screaming the names of the band members.
The Airborne Toxic Event
The Airborne Toxic Event
The Airborne Toxic Event
The Airborne Toxic Event
Next: Devo at Austin Music Hall.
