This marks the final entry in Matt Sander’s memoirs detailing his experiences at this year’s South by Southwest. If you missed any, check out the archives.

After four long days of seemingly non-stop hustling to hear music, Sunday was a welcome relief with the festival all but officially over and only one sure thing on the schedule. Consider this entry the denouement to 2008’s SXSW music festival as I recount a day spent exploring the great city of Austin.

Sunday
The morning was a lazy affair defined by sleeping in and exchanging hugs and goodbyes with our friends who were driving back home to Dallas/Ft. Worth. Upon finally getting in gear, we made our way to Progress Coffee on San Marcos Street just south of the French Legation Museum. During a previous trip to Austin, Progress Coffee had provided some legendary nourishment in the form of jalapeno biscuits. Due to the late nature of our arrival on this Sunday morning, however, said biscuits were long gone. Undaunted, waffles with Nutella and the 5th Street turkey sandwich were ordered. The sandwich was particularly amazing as it was topped with succulent Austin Slowburn Rosemary Habanaro jelly, cream cheese and organic greens.

Next up it was high time to check out some authentic western boots so we stopped in at Heritage Boot on 8th Street after having seen some of their wares at their South by San Jose booth on Thursday. In the cozy shop, we were greeted by two friendly salesmen who were glad to show off the various styles. Trying on a western boot for the first time was an interesting experience - the pointed chihuahua toe, the arch, the heel and the tall shaft all made for a unique feel. And while the feeling was good, the boots were just a little too fancy for my personal taste. The designs were gorgeous, but not quite what I thought I’d be willing to wear on a regular basis.

So with that we made a trip across the lake/river to South Congress and decided to have a look at Allen Boots. Not a boutique shop like Heritage, but probably more specialized and better quality than a place like Shepler’s (which we admittedly did not visit, but was described as the Wal-Mart of western apparel). A pair of Fry engineer boots and another pair of Tony Lamas beckoned yours truly, but not quite enough to trigger a purchase. My festival companion, on the other hand, fell completely in love with a fantastic pair of Old Gringos.

In need of a respite, we strolled down Congress to Guero’s Taco Bar and found a seat at the bar where we ordered margaritas and tacos. I had what may have been a perfect fish taco and my friend was equally enthusiastic over a shrimp taco. Guero’s had been touted by Time Out Chicago as ‘everyone’s favorite margarita joint’ and while the margaritas were fine, I didn’t find them to be particularly special. It should be noted that while nearly everyone we met in Austin was kind and pleasant, the slunt behind the bar at Guero’s was in need of a supreme attitude adjustment.

For that matter, I was in need of a bit of an attitude adjustment myself as I was becoming sleepy and slightly irritable. Before heading back to the motel for a much needed nap, we felt it imperative to stop by Hey Cupcake! (a cupcake stand run out of an old aluminum-sided Airstream trailer) for a couple of red velvet and carrot cake cupcake treats infused on the spot with a shot of fresh whipped cream. They were delicious and I’m a sucker for cream cheese frosting.

Following the quick stop at the motel for cupcake scarfing and twenty minutes of power disco napping, we stopped at the gas station across the street to pick up a twelver of Ziegenbock and drove south to attend Leeann’s Full Moon Barndance which is usually a monthly potluck/hootenanny held in Leeann Atherton’s south Austin backyard. Of course, during big Austin events such as ACL and SXSW, there are additional barndances held.

This may have been the most fun I have ever had in Austin.

The backyard area is canvassed with a hodge-podge array of folding chairs and benches. People bring booze or food to share and there’s a barbeque area where all manner of meat is grilled and served. There’s a stage on the south end with a decent sound system and a sizeable dance area. And best of all, The Felice Brothers’ Winnebago was parked out front.

It’s Over from Kansas City played the last half of their jangly, tuneful set as we started tossing back the Ziegenbocks. They were followed by Tommy Womack playing pleasant acoustic ballads that were mostly easy to ignore. Finally, The Felice Brothers took the stage and over the course of their 45 minute set, stirred the crowd up into a frenzy. Ignoring their quieter ballads, they ripped through the barnburners of their catalog including, “Where’d You Get the Liquor?”, “Whiskey in My Whiskey”, “Cincinnati Queen”, “Frankie’s Gun!”, “Radio Song” and a delightfully ragged rendition of Jimmie Rodgers’ “T for Texas”. A good portion of the barndance faithful crowded the floor to dance and sing along, Simone Felice abandoned his drum kit to dance with Leeann and the booze flowed with vigor and purpose.

Trust me, readers: this band is NOT to be missed when they come to your town. Their records are fine, but barely hint at the verve and haphazard glory of the live shows. I’ve now had the pleasure of seeing The Felicers eight times over the past two and half weeks and they have delivered the goods every time.

It took maybe an hour to gather my wits and after we saw off the Winnebago, it was high time to get one last taste of Texas. We took a drive on the Capitol of Texas Highway through the lush, hilly outer reaches of the Austin area to County Line BBQ (on the lake) for an over-indulgent meat-tastic feast of barbequed chicken, sausage, beef ribs, brisket, pork ribs and turkey. I could have died a happy man that evening.

And so ended my inaugural trip to SXSW. Would I do it again? Without question.

Here’s to the great city of Austin, TX and all the fine people we were fortunate to meet and spend time with over the weekend. You are missed and loved.

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Categories: Concert Reviews
Tags: Matt Sanders, South By Southwest, SXSW: A Memoir