MapJam

Saturday was a lovely warm and sunny day in Austin. The perfect day to bicycle over to East Austin and take in some free gigs at the KUTX sponsored MapJam 2013 -- KUTX is the University of Texas FM radio station. East Austin is the new SoCo in as much as property there is still affordable and would attract a university/student crowd.

There were 9 events scheduled at various spots on the other side of the IH-35 (why is it the IH-35 in Texas and the I-35 in every other state?). We couldn't catch all the acts so had picked out a few. Even then we skipped out on some we really wanted to see -- like Los Pinkys (conjunto) and Residual Kid (pre-teen punk!). There were lots of interesting musical forms to explore.

The photo above is the band Mother Falcon playing at Tillery Park. This was the farthest bike ride -- it took us about 45 minutes to bike home from their gig. The park was pretty tiny and full of fans. I was able to get up close to take a few pictures. As you can tell this ain't no honky tonk band. There are quite a few in the group with an interesting mix of instruments. Here you see a couple on cellos with a fellow behind on accordion. I liked their music a lot. They reminded me a bit of the Montreal band Arcade Fire who have had some popular success. I see from the band's web site that they're trying to raise money to record a second EP that they can tour and promote. Best of luck to them.

The Tillery Park location is a bit of an oddity. It's just a largish narrow city lot fenced off with a few garden center stores. The stage area was set up at one end of the park and lots of folks sat on the ground which was covered in cedar mulch to enjoy the sound. The music was quite good at the front of the stage. Behind those on the ground was the standing room only group and behind them Kate had laid claim to a bench near the single beer vendor and the two johnny-on-the-spot crappers. Far too few of both for a crowd of that size. Kate couldn't catch much of what was happening so we left early in the set.

Earlier in the day we caught Wood & Wire at the Hops & Grain Craft Brewery. They're a very good blue grass group who played from a loading dock at the brewery to a large and appreciative audience. This was a standing room event in the large parking lot. Kate found a place to sit at the edge of the lot on a bit of grass with some shade. By the end of the day it was obvious that we had had too much sun. We both glowed, nobody chundered.

The Brewery sold beer through a ticketing system but as there were only two guys selling tickets and another two serving from the sampling bar you can guess the result. There was a very long line out the door for people buying tickets and then an even longer line of people out the door waiting to get into the sampling room to cash their tickets. As Kate and I had arrived early we did get to sample some very good beers. One was a dark and hoppy IPA, the other was an equally dark beer aged in Chardonnay oak casks. The oak finish was quite pronounced. Unusual but enjoyable. The tickets that remained I gave to some fellows who were staying. We headed off to the Tillery Park event.

The final event we saw was early in the evening. The MapJam events continued all day but we skipped out. We were home for much of the afternoon to let the cats out and to have a of nap to prepare for the evening.  Some friends we met described the nap you take so you can stay up later as a "Rock 'n Roll" nap. At our age we don't stay up late. However, we do get up early.

In any case, the final event was Rosie Flores & the Riveters at the Scoot Inn where we had seen Susan Torres earlier in the month. As this was an after sunset event we drove over and parked nearby. I think I've described the Scoot Inn before. Suffice to say it's a tiny seedy bar in a seedy neighborhood with far too little by way of street lights. The event was outside the bar where there's a stage, concrete pad and a bit of turf with picnic tables. Lots of space that would hold several hundreds of people. We claimed a spot at a picnic table where we met our friends who coined the term "Rock 'n Roll" nap. We talked about places we should see and covered much common ground -- e.g. they recommended the Strange Brew venue which we liked as well. They both lived near us in South Austin.

Rosie Flores is yet another character that Pat had recommended to us. She's our age and seems to be friends with the usual folk we like -- Billy Joe Shaver, etc. She plays a rocking electric guitar in a three piece band. Her music is a blend of rockabilly, country and more. We would have liked to have caught her act.

Unfortunately the concrete pad in front of the stage and between us and the stage quickly filled up with a standing room only crowd. If you were within the first few rows, and able to stand, you would have caught a dynamite act. Worse yet than the obscured view was all the people around us who seem to have come to talk/yell at one another at a volume where they could compete with Rosie. I really wish that those who have no interest in the performer would go elsewhere, or at least go to the back areas farthest from the stage to talk. They spoiled the event for us. We ought to have brought Kate's stool and claimed a space near the stage as we did for the Flatlanders at Antones.

One reason why we and our new friends recommend Strange Brew is the attentive audience. You go there to listen to music not to yell at one another.