Saturday Day Parties at SXSW

Crystal Antlers appearing at Mess with Texas

Lucero appearing at Mess with Texas

Lucero Appearing at Mess with Texas

Aaron Espinoza of Earlimart Appearing at Home Slice Pizza

Viva Voce Appearing at Hot Freaks

Saturday was another slow start. Instead of heading to see bands, we headed straight to Rudy's for a little BBQ. Rudy's is a bit controversial with barbecue snobs since it's a chain and doesn't have the soul and sweat of some down home joints. But screw that, they've got great prices and some tender meat. We had 1/2 lb of delicious brisket, 1/2 lb of pork ribs, 1/2 link of sausage, beans (not good), potato salad, Dr. Pepper and a Welch's Grape Soda for $20. The rub was a little salty, but that's my only complaint. I've been to almost all the places in LA and nothing compares.

After Rudy's we cruised over to the Hot Freaks party at Mohawk. I missed Roadside Graves (again) and we got there in time to watch Viva Voce sound check for about 40 minutes. Kind of agonizing. We grew restless and hoped back in the car to hit up the Ship party at Home Slice on South Congress. When we got there The Rosebuds were playing. If you want to know where the hip young families in Austin hang out during SXSW, it's Home Slice. Breeders everywhere. The Rosebuds were pleasant. Next up was Aaron Espinoza from Earlimart. He had some cool looping and sample gadgets working but we've seen him a million times (and there was no shade) so we headed back to Red River for the Mess with Texas party. 

There was a pretty massive line for the Mess with Texas. By the time we got in we were parched.  A Miller tallboy was $6 - the most expensive beer of the weekend. We walked over the main stage and sat on the grass while Lucero soundchecked. I appreciate Lucero's live show, but I'm not a huge fan. We watched five or six songs and walked over to the small stage to see Crystal Antlers. They sounded pretty good (last year they were a last minute addition to the big stage) but we were getting hungry for some Tex-Mex. 

Many of the best Mexican restaurants in Austin are "Interior" Mexican, which isn't the same thing as Tex-Mex (although the line gets blurred at some place). After a couple of false starts, we settled on Chuy's. Chuy's is super cheesy but I've always loved their Deluxe Enchiladas. After Chuy's we opted to head to the Tavern to watch some college basketball. Silver Lake or Los Feliz could really use a new sports bar (Ye Rustic isn't enough). 

While drinking a Dos Equis at the Tavern I finally decided to look at a SXSW schedule. Stay tuned for what I chose for Saturday night.....

Photo Credit: Sylvia