We got in Wednesday night 4 a.m. and slept on Laura McDonald's amazing hotel room floor. We woke up early-ish and tried to catch Ft Collins friends Common Anomaly, only to end up missing them by minutes. From there, we went to meet up with the Epliogues at 2003 Hamilton Street, where we found black eyes and bloody lips on the Epilogues, which they gained in lower downtown Denver the week before. Members of the Chain Gang, American Tomahawk and Cobraconda rounded out the motley crue.
From there, we headed down to Sixth Street and caught a set from L.A. friends the Royal Hiest before heading to our gig at the Thirsty Nickel, where we ran into intoxicated friends from Air Dubai and My Body Sings Electric. We played our set to a packed room of friends and fans, ending with an onstage dance party. After that, I can't rightly recall how the night ended.
Friday began with a two mile walk out to the Epilogues spot. And then a prompt walk back to try to catch one of my new favs Broncho, only to find they weren't playing, but Denver band Bad Weather California put on a sweet surf rock set! After that, went and caught the FoCo party and saw Common Anomaly and Snake Rattle Rattle Snake both put on groovy sets in between FoCo bluegrass hippy bands to a good turnout!
Then we headed over to get ready for the Illegal Pete's starving artist showcase, which did uphold Colorado's rise in SXSW "trying to make a name for itself in an indie fashion" with a great turnout, and it really showcased Colorado's diversity and quality and all around genuine passionate songwriting. From Nathaniel Rateliff's touching performance to American Tomahawk's whiskey-guzzling blues to the Epilogues soaring synths and our own punk onstage antics, it was a joyous event. Now I'm rambling... headed over to the reverb party now... Talk to you soon.
- Alan (Andrews)
With this year's South By Southwest going down this week, a grip of Denver acts have made the trek down to Austin to showcase their wares. We've tapped a bunch of them to keep a travelogue and share all their antics and observations from what always ends up being one the most memorable times in music all year. Keep it locked here on Backbeat. We'll be posting their dispatches all week as they come filtering in.
