2 posts tagged “the stills”

So my RSVPs to free shows paid off. Every venue we tried to get in yesterday let us in with no problems, and we saw a handful of bands, had enough free drinks to make me dehydrated this morning, and purchased 2 of the greatest meals ever, at the beginning and end of the night.

We started at Casino El Camino on 6th at about 4:30 where we ordered drinks and had fabulous burgers and chili cheese fries outside on the patio. Obviously, my nutritional rules went on hiatus yesterday. I mean, come on, free drinks and not just the cheap stuff...screw it, might as well go all the way. It was a beautiful summer day yesterday too, over 90 degrees with a breeze here and there...I was tooling around in shorts, a polo, and my sneaks and feeling mighty fine.

Then we went over the Fader Fort stage, grabbed our wristbands, and settled ourselves with drinks in time to catch The Stills, who were quite good and were great fun to watch--their faces twisting with musical angst, rocker hair tossed from side to side. I love getting to watch bands in these smaller settings where you can be right up near the stage without being jostled by bodies. Folks were just standing around these tall tables or gathered in groups, but it wasn't even crowded enough that you had to touch.

After that we walked back under I-35 to the eastside of town to relax a bit and for me to change clothes. (A decision that included a pair of heels that I later ditched for a pair of too-big chanclas, hence, the blister on my right foot this morning.) We walked back toward Town Lake/Lady Bird Lake, grabbed some more freebies and watched Amigos Invicibles give a long, non-stop show, one song leading into the other as the mark of musicians who've been doing this for quite a while and have their shite down.

Ditching the heels for the chanclas, we walked first to the Pure Volume Ranch at Fuego bar, a name too ridiculous not to mention. While the drinks were strong, the music wasn't quite my style, plus...there was another girl wearing my same dress and we kept finding ourselves standing near eachother. It just looked silly.

So off we went again, this time cutting through the mania of 6th street over to 7th and Trinity to Orchid, home of L.A.'s Viper Room Austin event. After a bit of a wait and an appropriate amount of 'tude from the door man, he found my name and graciously handed us a VIP badge that we could use again later. The band we caught there was Helmet. Yes, as in 40-plus-year-old rockers Helmet. The crowd was full of real fans, and though I'm not exactly a metal enthusiast, I grew up in El Paso, so I can appreciate the experience of a mostly well-behaved but super jazzed older metal crowd. The energy in the room was really high and infectious, but a couple of songs almost tipped the man-boys in the audience into a mosh-pit like frenzy, so we decided to call it a night after a few songs and save ourselves the bruising.

The return walk down 6th took as right past The Best Wurst, a 6th street staple I've never actually tried. Another line, short this time, $8 and two tasty bratwursts with all the fixings later, we made it back to the eastside. Tummy full and hurrying to stave off sleep, I gratefully changed back into sneaks and made the drive home.

I got to bed around 3 and was up again at 9, handling animals, etc. and planning my day which includes a drive to San Antonio to spend a few hours with my grandmother. (More on that later.) I want to back in time to beat the crowds again and stake out the right spots downtown. I have wristbands and passes to use again tonight, but the choices really are about doubled today with big name acts like 2 Live Crew (not sure if I'm interested beyond their historical significance--plus, I've already seen them), Talib Kwali, Ice Cube, and of course my co-worker's band, Paul Banks and the Carousels, who I did not get to see yesterday after all because I couldn't leave work early enough.

What to do, what to do...first things first, hydrate!