In a nutshell...a Texas sized nutshell of course!
Monday 3/14
I had a very nice dinner with my friend and former boss lady, Kyla Fairchild, at South Congress Cafe. I had a lovely salad and a super yummy butternut squash soup. Stayed up 'til Midnight even!
Tuesday 3/15
Spent most of the afternoon with my #1 hair-doer, Nikki Farkas! Fresh cut and color before heading off to meet up with my birthday girl friend Janice Williams. We went to Ray Benson's 60th Birthday Bash at GSD&M. I saw a few of my out-of-towners and some local pals as well. The highlight of this event (besides the amazing free food and Miles of Chocolate samples) was clearly- Foster and Lloyd! It was so awesome to hear those harmonies again! Asleep at the Wheel did a few songs as well, but then I had to leave- I had dinner plans with Amber, Dawn and Mike.
Our reservation at Perla's was at 8:30pm and who do I make eye contact with as I walk up to the restaurant? Just Nick Rhodes. As in DURAN DURAN! A white van had just poured him out and guess who was right behind him? Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor...if John Taylor had been there, I might've fainted right there in the street! Somehow, I managed to keep my cool and make my way into the restaurant. My party hadn't arrived yet, so I swiftly requested that we be seated outside on the patio...as that's where the 3 of the Fab Five were seated. We ended up at the table right next to them- and I didn't even tip out the hostess for that spot! I sipped Prosecco and enjoyed a lovely salad whilst enduring the disgusting sights and smells of items from of the ocean that were surrounding me. (Oh, the things I will do to be near Duran Duran!) At some point, they engaged us, (hard to resist the pretty ladies I guess) and eventually, we ended up getting a photo taken with them by the waiter. Nick Rhodes did not make the photo. Whoops. Amber ended up with a guest list spot for the show the following night. Two things of note: I've loved Duran Duran since I was 12 years old. That is nearly 30 years. And, they're show at Stubb's is the ONLY reason I bought a $165 wristband for SxSW this year. This was a magical night for me! And I was out way late-easing into my old rock 'n' roll schedule!
Wednesday 3/16
I made my way downtown and to Lustre Pearl for the San Diego Music Foundation Party. Gotta pay homage to my hometown. Larry and Spevak saved me some Wahoo tacos-yes! It was my only sighting of Kevin Hellman all week too! I saw a young pop band that I really liked- Saint Motel. After that, I headed over to the Convention Center and checked out the Flatstock show. I resisted temptation and did not purchase anything. There was some really cool stuff on display though! I made my way over to Stubb's about 6pm to get in line for Duran Duran. They were to go on at 12:30am. Yes, I got there 6 and half hours early! As soon as they let us in, I went immediately to the front and found my new home. I met a nice lady named Valerie who was a massage therapist and a nice real estate sales guy named Chad. We protected each others space when restroom or food/water runs became necessary. We sat thru several bands that were just okay...Yuck, was not yuck at all. Kinda mellow, obviously influenced by Jesus and Mary Chain, but pretty good. James Blake was on next, the crowd really loved this guy, not my bag, but his songs were alright. The Smith Westerns were up next. Young and their name does not match them. They were full of energy and pretty good. Rafael Saadiq was up next and just schooled the place! I wish he could've played another hour! Finally, my heroes took the stage and opened up the show with A View To A Kill. Other highlights included The Chauffer, Hungry Like The Wolf, Notorius and Girls on Film. There were a lot of new songs too-and they sound great. I'm looking forward to the new record which incidentally, dropped today. I'll grab it tomorrow after work.
Thursday March 17th
After sleeping in a bit, I made my way downtown and tried to park. What a joke! Usually, I can valet at the Belmont for the New West Party, but they were not out there that afternoon-dammit! I went fairly early as not to miss much (food/drinks/music/schmoozing), but after driving around for awhile in vain, I ended up paying $15 to park at Congress/2nd and hoofing it over there. I caught Robert Ellis, but I missed Ponderosa's set. I ended up going inside with all the basketball bracket folks to grab a bite to eat and check out the Aztec's action. Finally, a bit after 5pm, I ventured outside and up to the stage for the Old 97's. They were as amazing as ever! Poor Rhett tore up his hand and was bleeding through a few songs until someone got him a band-aid and a new guitar. They played some new songs, some favorites and were as awesome as ever. Old 97s are my happy place. I snatched the set-list and headed home a happy gal- destined to stay home and not go back downtown again. HA!
I get home, take my contacts out, put my jammies on and start screwing around on Facebook. The little red message signal shows up...I check it. Dammit...(I mean that in the best possible way) my friend wants to know if I'm going to the PRIVATE C3 Party tonight- you know, the one that DURAN DURAN are playing? So, guess who put her contacts back in, street clothes back on and headed downtown-and paid yet another $15 to park? Yep, you guessed it-ME! Lisa and I were escorted almost immediately to the VIP area where we enjoyed free vodka and good conversation. Duran Duran were to go on at 1:30am, and there was a killer DJ on beforehand-whose name escapes me at the moment....hmm. (I'll update when I recall his name!) The set was great- we got some stuff that we didn't get at Stubb's including Rio (sorry Dawn!), The Reflex and Planet Earth! I think the bop-bop-bop-bops are what finally killed my voice! Celeb sightings include Cee Lo and Dennis Quaid. I went home and didn't try to monkey with any Duran Duran business after hours.
Friday March 18th
I don't even remember what happened on Friday day-I think I slept in late and took it easy. I kept pretty quiet about it and tried to distract myself with Sx, but today was the 10th anniversary of losing my Mom. I was kinda weepy and sad all day. I was going to stay home, ha, stop laughing, and there were so many choices that I was about to give up and choose zero-when Mandy called and said "Lucinda left tickets" I put on the rock 'n' roll gear again and made my way downtown and paid $20 to valet. Once inside the new home of ACL, I couldn't find Mandy anywhere so I investigated the new building floor by floor. The stairs there are KILLER. Great views. Scott Newton's photography spread upstairs is fantastic and includes some of my faves: Wilco, Elvis, Alej, Cheap Trick. I sat down in the balcony during Hayes Carll's set. I walked around during Dan Tyminski. I made my way to the VIP/Dressing room level with my pretty pink wristband and perched myself against the railing above the floor for Ryan Bingham. Lovely. He is so very lovely. Finally met up with Mandy! Lucinda was up next and she was great. Her band was on fire and everyone was in a good mood. You know it's going to be a good night when the opener is Buttercup and the next song is Drunken Angel. My friend Ed Bailey turned out to be sitting a few seats over from me, so it was nice to see him for a moment after the show. Too tired to mingle, so I had to go to the W to retrieve my chariot. Wow, the people who frequent Trace are real jerks! They didn't seem to be out-of-towners either-just young jack-i. (plural of jackass) The valet guys were very sweet and working their asses off, so despite the fact that I paid $20 to park, I tipped $10. (Which may or may not have made up for the money these ass-clowns did not tip them that evening. So embarrassed for my town sometimes.)
Saturday March 19th
I woke up to read a post on Facebook that my friend Andrew McKeag (playing with Kasey Anderson) was filling in a slot at Maria's right then- dammit! I got really fairly quickly and headed down there, but missed them. I was able to say hi to Andrew as he was heading out to their next shows. Finally saw Mario and others. Rocked out to the Tom Gillam Band and then I met up with my friend Blake. We headed over to Justine's to see the Jim Jones Revue. Upon arrival, we saw some terrible singer-songwriter, and then the Extra Action Marching Band played. Yikes. Highlight: Jim Jones Revue! They totally rocked it and called Nick Curran up to the stage too! Awesome! On the way back to Maria's, we talked Sue into meeting us over there. I grabbed some tacos' and a table and our table was a stopping area for various folks. Good times. I don't even know what bands were going on while we were there, but eventually, I wound up outside when it was time for Alejandro to play. I delivered a birthday hug to David Pulkingham and also to my friend John who was a prince to find me a chair in the middle of the room! Supermoon- super night! After the show, I was DONE...for reals. I went over to pick up Sue and Blake and deliver them downtown. They insisted that I drop them on the southside of the river, so I did. And then, I went home. It was great to see the kitties, eat some food and rest.
Sunday March 20th
Monday March 21 was a really bad day for me. I learned that two friends passed away. One somewhat expected, he was 97 afterall! and the other, totally unexpected! RIP Pinetop Perkins and Dave Allard. I loved you both very much! After holding back tears all weekend (10th anv of my Mom dying was Friday) it all hit me like a ton of bricks. I did my work and by the time I was finished, there was no way I could make it to the Continental to see James Intveld. My apologies Jimmy, Sunny and Dianne. I just couldn't pull it together, just one more time.
Tuesday March 22 was the last day of my vacation. I treated myself to lunch and tried to buy some clothes that fit my current frame size. Spent the evening stifling anxiety attacks as I prepare to get back into my cage tomorrow. It's now midnight and I have to be awake in 5 and 1/2 hours. For the last 6 days, my average bedtime has been between 3-6 am. Tomorrow will be ROUGH. Wish me luck.
That's all the news that's fit to print.
