Sometimes the only answer's Austin...

I had a quick trip to Austin this past weekend. When I found out I wouldn't be leaving the office early Friday, I had second thoughts. However, I just really didn't want to stay in town. I arrived at Waterloo Records in time to catch a bit of the GW showcase. We then had a late night bite to eat at Magnolia. Ideally, I would have gone to see Dan Auerbach...realistically, I was not going to head out at 2 in the morning alone to catch the show. I listened to the cd on the way home. Now, I really wish I had gone...

Saturday, I woke early. Something I know would not have happened if I'd gone to the show the night before. We watched a little NCAA action and then headed out to try to see Slaid Cleaves. Well, we got as close as next door. That was fine with me, because we ended up at Freddie's for a late lunch and frozen margaritas. Then, we made our way to Waterloo Park. Lucero was scheduled for the 6:00 slot. I think we had perfect timing. The parking, weather and music were all perfect. I was hoping to leave Austin without a sunburn...FAIL! I applied sunscreen before we headed out, it was very late in the day, we stayed in the shade, and I still have a slight sunburn. It's not even summer yet! I spotted this guy in the crowd while watching Lucero. I have no idea why, but his shirt made me smile. I don't even know what it means:


We really didn't have a plan for the rest of the night. All I knew was that I would be seeing Bob Schneider at some point. LOL We had dinner at Shady Grove. I may or may not have almost started a fire at the table. Suzy and Amber dropped us off at The Ranch to catch some of Brandon Rhyder's set. We spent the first twenty minutes or so watching the last minutes of the Duke/Texas game. I was the happiest person in that bar! The W.Kentucky game was nuts, too. We left the main bar for the music. We should have stayed out in the bar for another 20 minutes. The band onstage was ridiculous. BRhyder took the stage and we got to hear four or five songs before heading down to Threadgill's for Bob.

The show was fantastic. I was just happy to be there, honestly. There were twin fiddles, a banjo, steel guitar, accordion and guitars on stage. It was a great way to wrap up the weekend. The dancing, the sing-a-longs...a Bob show always makes me happy. A smart person would have made plans for after the show. We were not so smart and ended up walking back up Congress to 7th to meet up with Suzy and Amber. Then, we walked back down to 5th. LOL...communication is key. I missed tons of shows that I'm sure were fantastic. However, I was more than happy with the shows I got to see. I surprised myself by waking early Sunday and hit the road. If I would have lingered around another hour or so, I don't think I would have survived the trip home.