Part Two-Dan Auerbach and The Fast Five Killed SXSW (Bill's Place)

"You, Aaron, are what it's all about. You're real. Your room is real. Your friends are real. Real, man, real. You know? Real. You're more important than all the silly machinery. Silly machinery. And you know it! In eleven years its going to be 1984, man. Think about that!"

That was a quote taken from the movie Almost Famous. A band member finds himself at a house party and he diggs on the "realness" of the situation.

Dan Auerbach said something familiar, while in a familiar situation, as he began to speak about his road manager (sound guy?).

I'll paraphrase what he said:
Dan-He has been with us all throughout this tour and he has done pretty well....until last night. You see, there were these playboy bunnies.

*the men in the crowd cheer*

Dan- I don't like playboy bunnies. I like REAL women!

*the women in the crowd cheer"

Dan- And I like Playing to REAL people at REAL parties like this one!!

*Crowd goes wild....somebody shouts "I am a golden god!" Dan strikes up another tune.

Kick ass.


Here is Rene Villanueva, the Lead singer/Bass player for Hacienda. He totally hit Reyna in the head with his Bass. I don't mean that figuratively.

He did apologize. Nice guy.

Renee in the crowd:


Dan in the crowd:


This guy is so excited that Dan is right next to him that he may or may not have peed himself. You be the judge.


Did I tell you about the piñatas?

Oh yes. They had 6 of them- one to represent each band member. At some point, the dude next to me was wearing a piñata head on his head like a hat. It was bizarre. I ended up with piñata crepe paper in my hair and on my lip. A girl in the audience pointed it out to me as I was leaving. I wish somebody would have told me before I spoke with Dan Auerbach, Dante Schwebel and Rene Villanueva.
Nice.

(EDIT: The piñatas were tossed into the crowd and subsequently demolished...crepe paper was floating in the air. That is how the paper ended up on my lip. I did not make out with the guy next to me.)

One more post on the show after this. There is a good pic coming up!

Dan Auerbach and The Fast Five Killed SXSW (Bill's Place)

I thought about calling this blog, Dan Auerbach Ruined SXSW 2009 but I thought you might get the wrong Idea. I'll explain that title later. For now, let's get this started.


I was sitting on the railing of the deck when Reyna spotted Dan Auerbach. Juan practically pushed me off the railing and told me "get up there, girl!" I held my camera high and made my way to the front like I was official...and it worked. They had taped off a small section in front of the stage so that the band could unload all of their gear:

I was checking out the various amps and things when I felt a hand at my waist followed by a polite voice saying, "excuse me." I moved aside to let the person pass and quickly noticed that it was Dan. Crazy. The band moved everything on to the small stage and then the tape was removed allowing the crowd to scoot up as close to the band as possible.


I was in the front row, right in front of Dan and Rene Villanueva of Hacienda. Listen, I was so close to Dan Auerbach that I think I may have gotten pregnant with his rock-n-roll, red bearded, guitar grinding love child.

Right before they began to play, Dan announced that he and the band were far too drunk to be performing but that they would do so anyway. He said it was not your typical SXSW showcase and boy was he right about that. Here he is making the announcement:


And then, they began to kick ass:



Let me ask you a question. Can you smell the pungent aroma of tequila seeping through your computer screens? Dan Auerbach and the Fast Five were tossing that stuff back like it was free. I thought for sure the smell would seep into the mega pixels.


For several members of the audience, the tequila was free. See, Dan believes in sharing. He would open a new bottle, take a few swigs, and then hand it to an audience member with orders to "pass it around."
Dale drank from every bottle.

Oh, and would you like to know who was playing the bongos and the "sexy maracas?"

None other than Patrick Hallahan from My Morning Jacket. He tried to give me one of those maracas so that I could shake it like there was no tomorrow but the dude behind me snagged it. He specifically said, "It's for her" and pointed to me. It's cool. I had my hips to shake.


It was impossible to stand still during the show. You had to dance, especially when they played songs like I Want Some More and Street Walkin'. Dan would stand with his legs wide and roll his shoulders forward, one at a time. It was infectious. Once he started doing that, you had to move (if you weren't already).

So there I am- happily taking pictures, dancing, smiling, and occasionally shouting. The next thing I know, Dan steps forward and grabs my dress strap and gives it a little tug.

Holy shit.

I just looked at him and stood there.

He quickly realized that he had the wrong strap. He was going for my camera strap so that he could take it off of me and use it to take a picture of the audience.

He gave my camera strap a little pull and I gave that sucker up without a second thought. He took three photos. Two of the audience and one of me.

Yeah, it's too bad the flash was not turned on:


The audience went crazy when he took their picture. When he gave my camera back to me, people started shaking me and patting me on my back. I looked over at Reyna and I am positive that my eyes were as big as saucers.

I can't possibly fit everything into one post. Come back soon to read the second installment.

The music starts

Right around 8:00, the first band took the stage. It was not Dan Auerbach...big surprise. Instead, it was this duo:


I never got the name of their band. I apologize. They had a nice groove/blues sound that helped the one of the two beers I allowed myself go down nice and easy. I was the designated driver, after all.

Up next we had The Flying Eyes from Baltimore, MD


These guys were a real treat. They describe their sound as "Psychedelic Whiskey Blues" and I could not agree more. The lead singer has a pinch of Jim Morrison in his voice but with more dirt, grit, and boom. They were my second favorite band of the night. Also, they gave good picture:


And, they had this crazy mannequin head-fringed shaker-noise maker doo-dad that they allowed the audience members to play.


And, after their set the drummer came up to talk to me. He noticed I had taken pictures and wanted me to send them to him. His name is Elias and he became my concert buddy later that evening.

I didn't recognize him with his shirt on.

Also playing that night were The Vandells from Brooklyn, NY.


Their sound is harder to explain. It's a bit nostalgic, crunchy, melodic, psychedelic surfer and full of echo. Good stuff.





Ah yes, and then there was Ocha La
Rocha from Atlanta, GA:
.

I love a band that uses a leslie


I also love their name. Ocha La Rocha is psychedelic-country with a hint of southern rock. Very nice.

Can't forget Lower Heaven from Silverlake, CA

Sadly, I only got one descent shot of this band. I had to use the bathroom some time! Sheesh!
In addition to the guitar, the lead singer plays the damn autoharp! It adds to their hauntingly dark sound.

Did I forget anybody? The unnamed band, The Flying Eyes, The Vandelles, Ocha La Rocha, and Lower Heaven.

Oh Crap, I almost forgot The Golden Animals from somewhere in the deserts of California!

These two produce a blues drenched, acid trip swing sound that will make you tap your feet and check to see if you somehow got a contact high from the dude tokin' away next to you.


Somebody in the crowd remarked that he really liked The Golden Animals and that they were like the White Stripes. Ok, the similarities between them and the White Stripes end with the obviousness of the girl drummer and the fact that they are a two piece band. Other than that, they sound completely different.

The next post will be the big one. I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Bill's Place (Dan Auerbach SXSW 2009)

Bill’s Place


Saturday’s SXSW festivities had been planned around seeing Dan Auerbach who, as you should know, is one half of the Black Keys. He has a new solo record out (Keep it Hid...pick it up, it's a real treat) and has been touring with Hacienda from San Antonio. He played with Hacienda on Wed at the Parish…a show Dale and I Unfortunately had to miss. Rachel, Juan, and Reyna went to that show and said it was great. I was not surprised.
**Dan Auerbach also produced and was a guest musician on Hacienda's debut album, Loud Is The Night.)

Both Juan and I saw on Dan’s (I will now refer to him by his first name only because I feel like I can) myspace page that he would be playing an after party at Bill’s place on Cesar Chavez. We knew we had to be there. Plus, I ran into Dante of Hacienda and he told me the same thing about the after party. Wooooah nelly!

Flash forward to Saturday around 6:30. We knew that the music started at Bill’s place at 8:00 and thought that we had to get out there early to ensure that we saw Dan. Reyna called info to get the number for Bill’s place. We wanted to be sure Dan was playing before we went way out to East Cesar Chavez. Information did not have the number. I could not find it on google. We drove up and down Cesar Chavez and could not find the bar, Bill’s place. We asked some people at a used appliance “store” and they did not know where it was. We asked a cab driver and he said he had been driving these Austin Streets for many years and had never seen “Bill’s Place.”


Finally, Dale spots a driveway to the address we had for Bill’s place. There was a sign that said “Project Imagination.” We drove in and there was this dude in a yellow cap and a dirty white shirt that he had written “Shut the Fuck Up” on with a magic marker. Nobody else was there. I have to admit, the scene was a little daunting. I told Dale to back the car up for fear that I would be raped and murdered if we stayed. Too late, Juan and Reyna pulled in behind us blocking our escape route. (Honestly, Dale would not have vacated the place without further inspection.)

Dale chatted with Mr. Yellow cap and found out that we were at the right place. Mr. Yellow cap had no idea who Dan was, but knew there was going to be bands playing at the property. We told him that the "venue" was not listed on the SXSW schedule and he said something along the lines of, "yeah, It's all Adam's thing. If you know Adam then you are in the know." We did not know Adam but we acted like we did.

Bill’s place was literally Bill’s place. Some old dude named Bill lives there. We parked our cars and crossed the treacherous Cesar Chavez. Juan and Reyna nearly got hit by a car. We ended up befriending the people that almost killed them. We also met more occupants of the property. I believe we met Bill himself, a nice older fella who talked to us for a bit before we explored the property. Little did we know what we were getting into.

How ‘bout some pictures of Bill’s place?

The Stage. That is the first bands gear. Small, no? Many bands played that night. All of them were good. Some were great.


Here is a perspective shot so that you can get a better idea of the size of the stage. Also, I think Reyna and I look pretty cute.


Ok, so there was this little shack at the back of the property. Turns out, the groundskeepe,Mr. Yellow Cap (he turned out to be the nicest guy), and his lady friend live there.


That is the main house. There was a deck, the stage, a bar, and a bathroom.

Juan, Reyna and Lee enjoying the beautiful scenery. When we were sitting on the deck, we looked up and saw a plethera of monarch butterflies just fluttering around the trees.


Another deck shot


Lee checking out the river. The eyes don't lie, my friend.


Chillin' at the shack.


Up close


Juan is taking it all in. I can't begin to tell you what an experience it was.


Juan


Ah, here we have Mr. Yellow Cap, his lady friend, and the two hippies that are the sole members of the band The Golden Animals -from California.


Juan, Dale, and Adam. Adam turned out to be the promoter of the showcase.


Enjoying the fire that Dale and Mr. Yellow Cap made.


Would you look at that? Tirzah and Josh joined us...though they could not stay late into the night (early morning, really).

Whew! I'm spent. I'll bring you part II and possibly III after I catch some sleep.