Austin Powers, Day Two

….slept on Del and Blair’s couch last night. I thought I heard fireworks sometime in the middle of the night, but no one else said they did. So I may just be delirious. There was a sheet on the sofa, but I still managed to sweat and stick to some of the leather. The sheet shifted. Still, a decent night’s sleep in a very loving household. That’s restorative.

Day two in Austin was another whirlwind. We woke up, and while Rebecca hung out with some old friends, Clint, Shannon, and I went to visit an old friend of Shannon’s – Maria’s, a taqueria in South Austin. I had a breakfast taco (chorizo and eggs – Mexican chorizo), a barbacoa taco, and a marinated steak taco. Pretty awesome, although the place has gotten a bit touristy. Shannon said it was originally just a trailer. Also, the Americana Music Association had taken over the patio, and was hosting some anonymous boogie bands. I like the idea of the AMA, but in my experience it’s just a bunch of old dudes who used to be into rock, and now like roots rock, complaining about how young people don’t find crusty singer-songwriters cool.

We then went over to Shannon’s old house to have a look…then unloaded at Waterloo Cycles, a bike shop owned by our friend Michael Zakes. Sweet guy, and a great store. He had a tent set up outside, and bands were playing in it all day. I unloaded, and Clint and Shannon went downtown to check out Shannon’s friend Scott’s band Silver Scooter. I stayed and went to Antone’s, buying a CD of Chicano soul music and the new (self-released) Randy Weeks for Lisa (my long-suffering wife). I got back in time to see most of a nifty set from Casper and the Cookies. As the next band, the brash and loveable Bearsuit, was playing, my old high school Spanish teacher Chris Sisto strolled up. He, his wife Laura, and I went for a walk and caught up. He’s a good guy, and it’s nice to hear he’s doing well teaching college in Texas.

Having regrouped, we set up in the tent, which was pretty boiling, and bashed through an energetic set. Halfway through, the ukulele konked out – the pickup jack fell out and a wire snapped. I decided to solder it when I got home. After that, a really impressive Mexican indie-pop band called Hello, Seahorse played. They were one of the highlights of this whole tour for me – sweet vocals with great synth textures and hooks. Classic but modern, and a very charismatic group, especially the frontwoman, who at one point launched into an adorable version of “Rapper’s Delight.” The irrepressible Besties followed, albeit an altered lineup with a different drummer (Frank had to work and couldn’t do their EIGHT WEEK tour) and a trumpet player named Joe. They played well, but the set ended badly when a microphone shocked Kelly so bad that she started crying…it was odd.

Here we are in the tent:


We had a great Mexican dinner, then zipped to our last show, which was in a club in East Austin. It was out on the back patio. The night was cool and clear, and with no uke available, we did a set of pretty intense guitar-driven pop. “Flounder” was really cool, and “Florida, Dear” came back with a vengence.

Now I’m in the car, at long last speeding home to Boston…