Day One - SXSW

I got up at 3:00 am this morning (actually, yesterday morning) to finish packing and head off to BWI to catch a flight to Houston and then to Austin, TX for SXSW. Trip to the airport went well. Security, even at that hour, was a little backed up and I have to say they were not so thorough in their screenings. Get on the plane on time and everyone is ready to go. The pilot, however, announces that we have to wait because they forgot to put fuel in the plane. Since I have a very short layover, 45 minutes, in Houston, I'm a little concerned about this delay. Thirty minutes pass before we take off and get on our way to Houston. Somehow, we still manage to land in Houston 15 minutes before we were supposed to arrive. My connecting flight is on the other side of the airport so I make my trek over to that gate where we should already have been boarding. It is another 15 minutes before we begin boarding what will be a very full flight. Lots of guitars and other musical equipment are carried on board the plane and it is obvious, we are heading to SXSW.

The pilot for the Austin flight announces that we are going to have a very bumpy ride and that we are to keep our seatbelts on and that the flight crew will not be serving drinks due to the expected turbulence. The flight to Houston had been bumpy near the end. However, we have a very smooth flight and no turbulence at all.

I meet Colleen at the hotel and we head off to AustinGal's parking garage where she has thoughtfully provided a parking space for us. She gave us maps and showed us around the general area. We head off to the Convention Center to register thinking it will be quick and we can head back to the hotel and get ready for Pete's keynote address. Over an hour later, we finally get our badges and can head back to the hotel. Took us longer than expected because traffic was heavy and we unfortunately got off at the wrong exit and circled around for awhile. We arrived back at the Hilton at 6:00 p.m. with the keynote to start at 6:30. We had feared crowds that would prevent us from seeing Pete's talk, but we were able to get seats in the 8th row. The Ballroom filled up by 6:30 so Pete had a full house.

As Sully posted, Pete talked about the differences in the band's interactions based on the different personalities; his realization one day when he heard the Who's music on the local radio station that he was not an artist anymore, but rather was a something he couldn't describe, (a celebrity, a persona, a performer, ...); his early vision of The Method and his long wait for it to be realized; his new joy at performing live at small venues like the Attic shows - to have the freedom to play as he wants, not how others want him to play. It was a wonderful exchange between Pete and his "interviewer".

We hadn't really planned on it, but Colleen and I then went to the Music Awards. We were so happy later that we did, because there were some awesome performers at the Awards, including Pete who did a surprise appearance with Ian McLagan and the Bump Band. I say surprise, but there were lots of rumors flying around the room that Pete was going to play with Ian. When we saw Alan setting up his guitar on stage, we knew the rumors were true. They obviously enjoyed themselves during their performance and as Pete described in his Keynote, they were in the Zone.

After the awards ceremony/show, Colleen and I went to see Joe Purdy. He and his band, particularly Brian Wright (guitar/singer) and Albert (keyboards) were also in the Zone. Joe appears somewhat laidback and more quiet in the Attic shows. With his band, he is all over the stage and very alive. I had bought his album after seeing him at the Attic show, but this was a new Joe Purdy that we experienced. He and Brian had a tremendous amount of fun in their set and played off each other's energy.

After Joe's band, we saw Ari Hest who has a small band, but tonight played by himself. I have never heard him before but I was very impressed. He would make a great Attic performer! He has a new album coming out in May and is from NYC. I would recommend all of you checking him out.

It is after 1:00 am and the music is still going on at SXSW, but we decided to come home and post quickly before crashing. More to come over the next few days.

One thing I do want to mention is that Susan (AustinGal) told us that the Grid that Pete talks about is not only between Pete/Rachel and their fans, but the Grid connects the fans to each other. I have met a lot of great people through the Attic and she's right. We are all connected to each other, even though we may not have met each other in person.