Toy Horses at SXSW 2009 by Adam Franklin (salvaged from collected scraps by Tom Williams)
18th of March 2009 - Day 1:
Awoke to discover - after squinted glances at my phone and uncertain rustling of unfamiliar curtains -
that night was still going on outside. Jetlag's got me tightly... still, mustn't grumble
It's the first day of the SXSW 2009 Music Festival and also the day of our [Toy Horses] official SXSW Showcase gig.
A very blue sky bringing a heavy heat cramming into every corner, we crossed the river and onto 6th Street. From time
travellers needing space fuel to tapdancers who hadn't stopped or slept for days, 6th street stands a beautifully
chaotic mess with music crying out from every doorway. We wandered our way through the flyer wielding crowds recieving
as many as we could hand out of our own.
When the sun sank and the room was nearing packed, Toy Horses played a 40 minute set at Latitude 30. Preceded
by the usual last minute panics and shambolic scratching around for a US power lead for a rented piano, we manage to hold
it together enough to reach the end whilst collecting some hearty singalongs along on the way.
Nic Harcourt from KCRW had booked the bands and also compared throughout.
With the gig over and our CD stocks raided, pictures taken and - most bizzare of all for us -
autographs scribbled, we stick around and about till night begins to empty the bars and streets.
19th of March 2009 - Day 2:
Still all of a tangle due to aforementioned timezone alignment woes. Drove aimlessly around Texas awhile in complete
trust that satnav could rescue us. Tacos for breakfast, as seems only right here, before flicking through the Austin
Chronical and finding a picture of me ol'self glaring back!
With the sun battering the city and reddening any straying limb in seconds, we recieved a little text.
That song, 'Last Chance', had just been played on Steve Lamacq's BBC radio show back home and we were also "tipped" by Nic Harcourt
("the most influencial DJ in america", it's been said) in the interview!
Arrive at the festival in good spirits and into a bar with a great little band rattling away in the corner. I think their name
contained the word "Tiger" but can't really be sure. (That seems to be one of the traits of SXSW so far) The rest was spent in
a haze of music and drink and drink till the moon faded in and then out...
20th of March 2009 - Day 3:
Up and wearily into the fray.
See an inexplicable amount of scottish bands. First the Scotland showcase at Latitude 30 and then at La Zona Rosa where Camera Obscura,
The Proclaimers and Glasvegas play. The Proclaimers did a handy little acoustic set that included a terribly ill-advised rendition of 17 by
Kings of Leon and Glasvegas suprised the expectant crowd (& me) by being an ineffable bore. There's no Wales showcase this year which doesn't really
reflect well on the state of play near us - there's really nobody at all at the moment is there(?)...
Three Californian punk bands quickly set up in the middle of the main drag for a fleeting guerilla style gig. Running all their equipment
off car batteries while we watch a group of policemen discretely nominating eachother to be the one to have to go in and spoil it.
Possibly helped by the fact I was wearing a Toy Horses tshirt, people were coming up to me throughout the day saying they liked the
gig/songs/tshirt which awkwardly embarrased and secretly delighted. Was later blessed, in the christian way, while walking along 6th by
a mexican lady who hadn't left Austin city itself for 50 years. Despite stressing I was in fine fettle and quite contentedly godless, she
extravegantly did the whole father son lalala bit that drew a small audience.
On the way home a cupcake van (same concept as an icecream van, including the little tune) pulled up beside us. Tom managed to swap our EP
for 4 cakes which is probably about right :)
21st of March 2009 - Day 4:
After a few hours the mass of sleeping bodies cluttering up the house mumble into life and head back into town.
Dusk drew around us and the city and we ended up 'inside' Stubbs where White Lies and Razorlight were playing.
White Lies have the money behind them and are all over the tele, swathed
head-to-toe in Johnny Cash black. While Tom was catching up with Razorlight's
manager, who'd come over to say hello, I stole away to spare inevitable
drunken slurring.
Back outside we were lured into a baseball pitching competition - the winner
being the person who can throw the fastest. Attracting heckles from the
Americans for our comparatively weak attempts, I come second of 'the brits'
with 53mph nowhere near troubling the girls record.
One last up and down 6th and SXSW 2009 was over.
We down the drive into our still home across the river, the door closed and the
outside was muffled.
*the only thing missing from this diary is everything else that happenned...