farewell austin

Monday March 22 2004

almost thankfully, the weekend is finally over. i don’t think i’ve ever used the word ‘overwhelmed’ so many times to describe how i’m feeling. so much choice and so much sensory stimulation all at once was almost too much to process. but all in all we had a good time and it was good to see so many old friends from all corners of the globe and to make new ones. our showcase at the hard rock cafe wasn’t so great. the sound was possibly the worst we’ve ever had to contend with, and i guess everybody that played that night ticked the ‘pop/rock’ category to describe their sound, but we were the quietest by about 100 miles. but either way, some people came along especially to see us and it’s been a great surprise to meet folk that have quite a few of our releases over here. we got to catch up with thalia zedek and to see her play which was awesome. apparently they have a new album on the way so we are looking forward to that. anyone that hasn’t heard her stuff really should. tonight we hung out with some of the tucker b’s at a jazz club where our host - chris - was playing. i don’t usually find myself in jazz clubs, but it was a nice departure from 6th street where it has just been blaring rock bands for days on end. it’s kinda hard to know whether to recommend sxsw. on one hand we’ve had a really great time and we got to play to some folks that have waited years to see us play. but on the other it felt nearly impossible to make an impact or to be noticed with soooo many bands here, and it was a total bummer that our main gig was in a totally inappropriate venue with terrible sound and a rock line up. that said, we’ll come back if we ever get the chance. tomorrow we start the 1000 mile drive to athens and will play our first ‘real’ show on tuesday night. then it’s pretty much on for the indefinite future. the USA is generally treating us really well. everyone we meet continues to be incredibly friendly and hospitable. and this country feels like a universe unto itself. bands can tour around this country pretty much non stop and once they finish the loop just start again, and people talk about other states almost like other countries. and we haven’t yet met anyone that is proud of their government and what it is up to, which is not really a surprise, but a relief none the less. one really weird thing though is that they don’t have electric kettles. we were looking for one in kmart and the guy said that he thought he knew what we were talking about, but they didn’t sell them there. almost unbelievable considering that every house in australia has one. we’re getting by with a coffee percolator, but if anyone is looking for an export market in the US it seems that they haven’t caught onto this one yet. nor dual flush toilets (i know i already mentioned the toilets here - i don’t want to seem like a freak though). a friend told us that some rich guy that made all his money from oil here is now in the water business as it’s all drying up. if rock’n’roll doesn’t pan out for us i’m gonna be selling dual flush toilets to these americans :) in 3 or 4 gigs time we are going to be in the north of the country where it is apparently still snowing and planes are being delayed to ‘de-ice’ the wheels and all sorts of crazy stuff. texas reminds us a lot of back home in so many ways, including the weather. it’s been pretty much perfect since we arrived. anyway, gotta sleep - killer drive tomorrow. adios. PC