Austin is rowdy, y’all.

Hoards of hipsters and freaks mob 6th Street and all adjoining arteries. 20 closed off blocks of street bands, kissing booths, food carts and side shows set the scene for the tens of thousands. I’m shocked at the amount of quality you get on the street alone, from the food to the french horned Amish lookin’ crazies, everyone is good at something. I feel like Anthony Bourdain with these street carts right now.

Street drummer dude.

I took off for the yesterday early afternoon to my delicious daily coffee stop Pheobe’s Mud, one of the more civilized activities of my day. My first stop was a speed walk to see my good friend DJ Equal play drums with Samuel at the Hypem showcase.  I didn’t have much time and had to rush to meet the band and pick up some clothes courtesy of the Levi’s Fader Fort. Hell yeah.

We hung around the fort for a bit, caught some of Neon Indian and made our way out in to the world. I headed to finally meet @_VNL to roll over to the dF showcase where Crystal Method and Hudson Mohawke performed for 50 people. I couldn’t believe it, Austin rules.

Dom of LuckyMe at the dF showcase

After a day at the Levi’s Fader Fort and the Virgin Mobile house, I met up with Dom and Hudson Mohawke and it was off to the Burlesque showcase for Cubic Zirconia. We speed walked through the streets of thousands laughing our asses off until we finally made it to Silhouette on Congress St.

Cubic Zirconia smashing it at the Burlesque of North America loft party

The room was packed, and JUMPING. Literally, the floors were wobbling. The party and the show were the livest thing we’ve seen so far. Tiombe stood on top of a dresser in the studio or loft space, which we later found out was a shady karaoke den. The host Mike 2600 had picked a winner for venues, definitely one of the most unique shows yet. They killed it, people on top of the drums and keys, dancers flailing in the back, friends lining the walls and through the crowd. We saw faces from the shows on the tour here that have been spreading the word like wild fire. It seems like Cubic Zirconia is really making a buzz down here in Austin, and I just can’t stop thinking there’s no other band I’d want to be with.

Mike 2600 and Nick Hook

After the show we headed to the Green Owl ranch 15 minutes out of town and sat around a bonfire. Grandchildren performed in the barn, a 7 or 9 piece band of greatness performed behind a projected screen, so you couldn’t really see how many there were. You could however, see them standing to switch instruments and all sing in harmony during the electrifying psych pop set. When Ease Da Man tried to throw some dude in a pool, it was time to head home.

Today, Cubic Zirconia hits a DJ set early at the Broken Teeth showcase with L-Vis 1990 and Kingdom back at Silhouette and later on, a live set for the music blog Blind I For The Kids with the group I’m looking forward to seeing, Sonnymoon, and many many more at Soho Lounge.

Check out the Karmaloop video from Day 1 at Beauty Bar.

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