From Austin the Greyhound goes east to Houston. As the highway winds into the dark city the lights of skyscrapers reflect the stars from the windows of the morbid bus. Much of my experience in a number of American cities have been limited to the inside of a Greyhound station. They ain't pretty, and when you've seen one, you've seen them all. I do not regret my time with Greyhound though! It was educational. So Houston was one of these cities. Houston in 2 hours. I boarded my new bus, and off we went. Beaumont - Lake Charles - Lafayette - New Orleans. This is Lucinda Williams country.
Morning: I woke up on the bridge over the edge of lake Ponchatrain. It was a pretty breath-taking sight to wake up to. Nothing but water around us. The city loomed up ahead, the infamous stadium came into view, and nearby was the bus station. I walked my way down to Canal St. This proved difficult as the footpaths in New Orleans are seriously cracked, due to the water. This however was the only really explicit sign of damage that I noticed. The Canal Streetcar took me to India House, a quirky hostel in an old villa-style house just beyond the French Quarter. I slept off the rest of the day, awoke in the evening, and wandered downtown. Alligator for dinner. Bourbon St to me was nothing but a tacky assortment of tourist shops and crappy bars. Royal and Decatur Streets are far more scenic.
Wandering down Decatur, I found the House of Blues - one of the reasons for my visit to New Orleans. It so happened that that night the Arctic Monkeys were playing; a band I'm not passionate about, but nonetheless... I was loitering by the window next to the box office booth, checking out the upcoming shows, and was approached by a guy saying "have you got a ticket?" "No" says I vaguely, "Who's playing?" He looked at me quizzically. "Arctic Monkeys, they're a really good band." "Oh.." says I. "Do you want a ticket?" "How much?" "Free, it's yours." "Ah...ok thanks!"
Spontaneity reigned this night. As did Fortune. In the House of Blues I bumped into a friendly Japanese fellow who sat behind me on the Greyhound from that previous night. 22 as well, he was making almost the exact same trip across the States as I! So it was a wonderful night. I loved the gig, gained a newfound appreciation for Manchester neo-post-punk, and made a new friend!
To be continued...
Austin TX - New Orleans LA
Georgia Song
I am currently in Athens, Georgia. This is the hometown of REM, the B-52's and the Drive-By Truckers. Devil Don't Stay (Drive-By Truckers)
ACL part 3: Wilco, Dylan and malnutrition
Sunday began with Yo La Tengo. An amazing band! I didn't expect it, but should've known. My camera battery died, so no photos from this day unfortunately.
Yo La Tengo. To describe them, imagine a bar fight between Crazy Horse and Dinosaur JR, but broken up by The Carpenters. Crazy Horse have the endurance, Dino JR have the volume, and The Carpenters have the sweet melody. Yo La Tengo set me up for a great day. They even dedicated a song to Lucinda Williams. Get their latest album, it's called "I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass".
Ian Ball was another sweet sweet act that day. He has made some very catchy pop songs. Day 3 went very fast, very busy, a lot to see. Following Ian Ball was Midlake, another band of beautiful voices. They're all guys, 3/4s of them have full beards, very serious. After Midlake, Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers. He played on the small stage with a couple of the guys from Centromatic. I hadn't heard of this band before, but they're definitely worth listening to. Hood was cool as expected, playing his own stuff, with some DBT's songs. For one guy with an acoustic guitar, he sure has power. So heavy. I caught the end of Lucinda Williams, as I walked up she (like so many other bands I've seen over here) was doing a spiel about the war.
Now it had been a hot and busy day. The temperature at ACL had averaged at 94 degrees Fahrenheit. That's about 34.4 Celsius. Anway, I'd been chewing on fruit and nuts, and had a cup of the lovely Ziegenbok beer, but I think breakfast had been a cup of Earl Grey and a piece of shortbread. In short I had been neglecting 'proper' food in favour of getting to the shows. So when I stood up to see Wilco and I went blind I knew something was wrong.
Luckily I managed to sit down again without collapsing onto my fellow festival-goers, and sight returned. It was a close call. This I thought, is a lesson. When I tried to stand later, all was well.
Wilco were the best of the day. Nels Cline is incredible! So fast, so tight, they played from most albums. Go to Wilco's site and listen to "Impossible Germany". This is one of my favourite songs ever. They finished with "Outta Mind, Outta sight". "Via Chicago" was beautiful - an acoustic singalong - yet on this occasion it was interrupted (in a most excellent way) by a loud drum solo, while Tweedy kept on singing as normal. It was very funny. Here's a pic of Nels Cline:
I hunted for food, and got a smoothie. I know what your thinking, but this was a very solid smoothie. It fixed me right up. I tried to get close to Dylan, and made it as far as the central sound desk, which I thought would be fine, considering this festival is aided by side stage large screens. But no, for some reason, no close up shots of Dylan's show were displayed. It was Vector Arena all over again! Oh well, they sounded great, doing a similar set to Auckland's. He did "Things Have Changed", but the cherry on top was his encore final song, "I Shall Be Released".
With Austin City Limits over, I wandered home, stopping for some healthy pizza along the way. Monday, I said goodbye to Austin, and Ruby 
and I took the bus to Baton Rouge, Houston, LaFayette, New Orleans.
ACL part 2: Steve Earle and meat pies
Saturday 15 September: Deborah dropped me downtown, with my big straw hat and jandals. I've taken to dressing sensibly, as the heat has no tolerance for certain styles. I still haven't worn my denim jacket over here, except on the train with torturous air-con. Hoping to wear the jacket in New York... Anyway, at the park, first I saw Willy Mason. Best songwriter I've heard for a long time. He's the new Townes Van Zandt. He played a beautiful resonator guitar. After his show I waited for Steve Earle, who was to play at 3.30. I sat in the grass while this awfully cheesy guy called Raul Malo did awfully cheesy song covers. It was a little lonely and depressing. His final one perked me up though - Bright Side of the Road - and he did that one well.
Steve Earle walked on picking the strings, telling us a story about Townes Van Zandt, and his travels with him from Texas to Colorado. Then he launched into a Townes song. Captivating. Played songs from his new album, as well as ones like Copperhead Road. He finished with a great, and freaky, Tom Waits cover. Met Earle afterwards, he told me how he loves to fish lake Taupo. Said he's coming next year.
I think tiredness was setting in. Needed another perk-up. I found it, in a meat pie! There was a food stall for the Austin shop Boomerang's. That was satisfying.
Andrew Bird again was a lot of fun, with bells and whistles and violins. White Stripes had cancelled two days prior, so the last act I saw was Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Funny pop music. I was tired enough to walk past the Arcade Fire, and I went home. Cup of tea and bed.
Austin TX, ACL Fest part 1.
I was picked up from the bus station in Austin by Deborah, who lives in a venerable, beaten green weatherboard house on a quiet leafy street just out of downtown. I stayed with her and Mike and Ruby, who I soon fell in love with. Ruby was wary at first (it must be my reserved nature), but a few biscuits later and we were best of friends. She steals my smelly socks at the end of the day and leaves them outside, but I'm too tired to care. She's a Border Collie puppy. I call her onto the couch and she bellyflops, half-successful, hind legs flailing in space.
I wandered around Austin, the blanket of heat near unbearable. I have come to respect air conditioning. Bought a couple of cds, found Deborah for dinner, I tried the fish n chips, and they were pretty good too. A bit gourmet (not wrapped in newspaper) but still good. I bought a bottle of Oyster Bay Merlot and we went home, had a drink and talked for a while. I think I found the nicest couple in Texas. They're both so quiet and relaxed, quite unlike most Americans I have so far encountered. Mike had recently finished reading a book on cockroaches, because he like the author, so we mused about exo-skeletons and suchlike. His father is British so they drink tea a lot. I felt very much at home.
Next day, Austin City Limits part 1. Took the bus downtown, followed the crowd, found my way to Jesse Malin. He's just awesome. Alone with an acoustic guitar, but powerful nonetheless. He is indeed the 'indie Springsteen', but I'm sure he hates constantly hearing that comparison. Go to his page and listen to Broken Radio, the Boss sings with him. Beautiful song.
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| Austin City Limits |
Pete Yorn followed Malin, a similar kind of artist. He had a pedal steel player! Next, on Rikki's recommendation: Blonde Redhead. They were definitely worth seeing. A New York trio (one Japanese and twin Italians), remaking New Wave electro-rock. I don't know much about New Wave but I liked them. Crowded House I enjoyed far more than when I saw them in Seattle. Liam was still playing, keeping them cool. Otherwise I think they're a bit dorky. Especially the bass player. He reminds me of Paul Shaffer from Letterman's Late Show. Anyway, I enjoyed their set, despite the flashbacks of intermediate school singing assemblies, induced by such songs as "Weather With You". They didn't play "Hole in the River", pity.
5.30pm: LCD Soundsystem. Very fun punkfunk, very upbeat, full band, lots of cowbell. But no "Daft Punk is playing at my house"! I love that song. But "North American Scum" is excellent. Listen to it. Oh well, moving on to Spoon, on Rikki's recommendation. Even though I like Britt Daniel, they didn't really grab my attention. So I sat and waited for Bjork. Managed to get relatively close (enough so I didn't have to squint). She was incredible. Here are some photos of the performance. There were huge costumes, painted faces, french horns, trumpets, violins, amazing electronics - they filmed and displayed the samplers - looked like NASA radars. She encored with Oceania. Then it was over, I followed the crowd out, back to downtown. This took a long time. There must've been hundreds of thousands there.
Standing at the bus stop I listened to a guy next to me telling a girl about his growing up in Whangarei. He had an American accent. I sneaked into the conversation, and they were delighted by the encounter. Turns out he came to USA in his teens. Bus didn't come so we taxied together. Back at the house for supper I had a cup of the nz merlot and a marmite sandwich. Just like home. Ah.
John Wesley Harding was a friend to the poor...
I am currently in New Orleans. Austin City Limits was epic, in a word. I have managed to upload photos but a narrative of the event will require more than the 15 minute limit on the computer in the lobby of India House Hostel.
I forgot to mention, Toni took us to the grave of John Wesley Hardin'. This was the highlight of my time in El Paso. Toni's knowledge of those old outlaws is close to encyclopedic. Buried two plots down from Hardin is Martin M'Rose, the Polish Cowboy. M'Rose was gunned down by the lawman George Scarborough, who is buried in the same cemetery, though we didn't find his grave. Hardin was killed by John Selman, shot in the back of the head three times while he was playing dice in the Acme Saloon. About a year later, Scarborough shot Selman in the street.
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| Texas |
El Paso - Austin
Antonio, or 'Toni is the assistant manager of El Paso's Gardner Hotel (and international Hostel). He spends his days at the front desk, sneaking a beer under the counter, playing Solitaire on the lobby computer and smoking his Mexican cigarettes out the front. He's from Kansas. With a heavy Kansas accent. But one detects Mexican blood. Toni can talk, I presume due to the lack of company in his average day. El Paso is an eerily quiet place, during the week anyway. The Gardner Hotel is utterly Fawltyesque. The elevator did not work (due to an electrical storm that occurred the day before I arrived). A few eccentric characters live there, poking their noses out the door. You see them once and never again. I had a hostel room, that is a 6 bed room, but it was all mine. I was free to scatter the contents of my suitcase around with reckless abandon. Everything in this place was aged and crumbling, from rusty taps to skirting boards to stuck doors. I really did like it. The lobby was a palace of tackiness, from the faux-leather armchairs to the plastic pot-plants. Even the wallpaper was glorious. So Toni finished his shift at 10pm and took us up the nearby mountain (hill) to see the city lights. Us being me and Naomi, an Aussie girl, forced to visit El Paso in order to renew her visa at the Dept. of Homeland Security, which just so happened to be across the border in 3rd World Juarez. The lights were indeed beautiful, and it was interesting to see the lights across the border too. But we were soon driven away by police who had to close the road before 11pm, so back to the hotel. Toni offered to take us for a beer but we found excuses and politely declined.
I had arrived in El Paso at 11.30am, and Toni took us up the mountain at 10pm. Within this time I wandered the streets of town, found the local library (a very tidy and approachable place), and browsed a few clothes shops. I had come looking for local wear/ware, but to my dismay, all the western shirts I came across were made in either China or Bangladesh. I settled for a 3/4 sleeve shirt (made in Dominican Republic). It was $3!
Further downtown are the Mexican stores/stalls. They're all the same, selling cheap sunglasses, sportswear, jewellery. One gets deja-vu walking down the street. I must've passed at least a dozen jewellery stores, in a row. For dinner I went hunting for Mexican food, which I assumed would be more genuine in Mexico. So I crossed the border. Stepping into Juarez was a bit freaky. Every few yards (literally) I was asked for pesos, offered young women, or offered a taxi. It was incredible. I found a small place that made me some greasy tacos, I drank some local soda pop, and got outta there. I'm sure it'd be great going there with Toni, but not alone. So at least I can say I've been to Mexico.
The following day, Toni drove Naomi and I down the highway to Cowtown boots, where surely there'd be the real stuff! But no, most of the boots were made in China. I got lucky though, and found the perfect pair, made in Mexico, not too ostentatious. Now I am happy. Naomi and I visited the minimal Museums of History and Art, both small but insightful and well-designed. Then back to the Gardner where we leaned on the desk and chatted to Toni for a while, before I fled for the Greyhound. It was really a good time.
This particular bus trip was harrowing. My fellow passengers were not bad, though talkative. Still not as bad as the young girl on the bus from LA who had discovered her voice and decided to scream her way intermittently, and startlingly, through Phoenix, Lordsburg etc. But on the bus to Austin sleep would not come. Not for a long time anyway. We stopped at a trucker's stop / petrol station at Fort Stockton, where I responsibly bought an apple and a banana. I could not remember the last time I'd had proper fruit. (Speaking of which today I saw a girl with a t-shirt with a Dave Chappelle quote: "Water, sugar, and of course purple". I lol'd). Yes, proper fruit, it only cost 99c for the pair. But the apple was rotten at the core. I have bitter memories of Fort Stockton. Oh well, I was jolted awake at San Antonio, changed buses, and up to Austin. This is the beautiful part of Texas. More green and hilly, though it is still ridiculously hot. I haven't been so land-locked in all my life.
San Luis Obispo
After Bumbershoot, and a horribly long train ride back from Seattle (I'm never going Amtrak again) I spent a couple more days in Mountain View with Barbara & Brent. Went to Rasputin's Music in San Antonio, bought another pile of records...
Brent took me to In n Out Burger, and I immediately fell in love with the place. There're only three choices on the menu! Far better than Subway. I can't comprehend all their questions about bread and cheese and sauces. In n Out Burger, what paradise. You sit there and watch them stamp the potatoes into chips! Amazing. Now I know what Walter and the Dude were talking about.
The following night I was taken to the Tied House Brewery for dinner, and beer. Apparently it's well-known as a venue where major deals are struck by the Silicon Valley folks. So Barbara & Brent convinced me to try the Full House sampler. Basically 5 8oz glasses of various beers. I started heavy, with stout, and worked my way through to the lager. What a joy that was. On top of that, I had a Chili Burger with fries. I've been so spoilt it hurts.
And that was Friday night. Saturday, we jumped in the Cessna and flew down to San Luis Obispo! It was very hazy due to the fires, but still I saw Stanford and their famous particle accelerator! It's pretty big.
We landed at SLO, and B&B continued on to San Diego. Ryan picked me up, took me into the town, we visited the infamous BooBoo Records, where I found a Bonnie Prince Billy lp, and he found a great double lp of Dylan's greatest hits. We visited the town's main tourist attraction: the bubblegum wall! Following that was a pint of Guinness with Jameson's on the side, beautiful Mexican food for dinner, and an evening surf at Pismo. Truly, this was Heaven. In my last two weeks in USA I haven't found a place I would live, but SLO, I could stay there easily. Check out the photos:
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| San Luis Obispo and onwards |
So now I'm in El paso, Texas. At the public library. It's a quiet town, what I've found so far anyway. And I like it. After SLO I took the Greyhound down to Hollywood, staying at a hostel just off Hollywood Blvd. I had dinner at Mels Drive In. No one on roller skates unfortunately. Hollywood to me seemed a tacky sordid ghost of it's heyday, which I'm guessing would've been the '30s. I went to LA expecting concrete and plastic, that's what I got. I am certain it is a more enjoyable city by car, but I was on foot. Anyway, I saw some interesting stuff - like the Christopher Walken poster I took a photo of. The Greyhound from LA to El Paso was not too bad. About 16 hours overnight, but I got sleep, and saw a lot of New Mexico. Had McDonalds for dinner at Blythe CA, stopped in Phoenix AZ, had McDonalds for breakfast in Lordsburg. Now I'm off to find some cowboy boots. Tomorrow, on to Austin.
Last Monday: The last day of Bumbershoot
A whole week ago! Let's try to remember..
And I've tried to link names to sites, so try clicking on the band names, see if they work.
For the third time, I went down to the Seattle Center for the final day of the festival. Weather still fine. Another breakfast of waffles at the hostel. Allison Moorer was the first great act I saw that day. She played some songs from her recent covers record, including "Where Is My Love" by Cat Power. Towards the end, her husband Steve Earle, came on to do a duet of Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" It was quite amazing, and I think I was the youngest one in the crowd by 20 years. And I knew Moorer's encore word for word too: she came back and sang "Carrickfergus", beautifully.
In the afternoon was a very funny, and very cool New York band called Joan As Policewoman, fronted by Joan, a violinist for Antony & The Johnsons. Her own songs are a bit more joyful than Antony's. She played a grand piano and yet another beautiful guitar.
Fleet Foxes, a Seattle band who resembled Buffalo Springfield in sound and appearance were also a great act. I had to leave that one early to get to Miranda July's short films. They were very interesting; both lovely and disturbing. Just like her writing I guess. Following the films was her performance. She basically talked about her latest project Learning to Love You More, - a series of assignments set on the website. She has managed to instigate the creation of a whole lot of wonderful art that has an originality to it, yet is not sourced from necessarily original ideas. Anyway, the book is amazing. I met her afterwards at the book signing, and she signed Auckland City Library's copy of "No One Belongs Here More Than You".
Y'all,
I'd love to hear from you but realise one cannot comment on this blog unless one is a blogger themself, I think. So, my email is highculturenow@gmail.com. I think it's ok to publish that.
Here are some pictures, sorry to all with slow connections, I think these pictures may be gargantuan in size, but I'm too lazy to find the right program and resize them all. So, here we go:
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| USA |
Bumbershoot Seattle!
They say a bumbershoot is an old-fashioned term for umbrella. i have been in Seattle just over two days, and no rain yet! Haven't seen too many flannel shirts either. Good thing I guess, it's incredibly hot.
Today i had my ears rocked off consecutively by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club & Kings of Leon. It was epic. Completely awe-inspiring. I shall post photos soon. It warmed my heart to see the bass player of KOL sporting a nice bit of pounamu around his neck.
Yesterday was the first day of the festival. Highlights were Magnolia Electric Co. - an immediate new favourite, I recommend you all go get their album right now. Other favourites were Grand Archives - think Wilco with Beach Boys harmonies, and Tiny Vipers - tempted to compare her with Cat Power, or early Bjork, but she is something unique; very, very beautiful sound. Also, The Shins doing Pink Floyd's 'Breathe' was cool. Rosie Thomas had cancelled at the last minute, which was a bummer, but was replaced by a just-as-lovely lass whose name I have forgotten. And The Gourds are perhaps the ugliest band I've ever seen on a stage. But boy they were fun. You'll see what I mean when I post photos. Yesterday started quite nicely actually, with Crowded House, and Liam Finn was on the acoustic! Neil said something about Piha which got a few woops from somewhere in the crowd. I walked away when they started playing 'Don't Dream it's Over'.
Today started with North Twin, another cool rockabilly act, after which I headed down to mainstage for BRMC, who ignited a fiery passion in me for loud loud blues, which I intend to pursue this Summer. Their bass player was like lou barlow - playing full chords - and he had a meeaan pair of Wayfarers on. KOL soon followed, and I was up the front! Strangely enough I soon realised I was one of the few people there with a height of 6', and one of the few males..
The lead chap from Gomez whose name I have temporarily forgotten did an excellent show, including a cover of Supertramp's "Breakfast in America'. I haven't heard much Gomez but this was truly sweet pop music. Andrew Bird followed, and I didn't expect such a show. There were three guys playing, but it sounded like an orchestra. Bird can whistle like no human I've heard to this day. And I've never heard such sounds come from a violin as the beautiful noise he made. They did it all using loop recording pedals, so it was like electro-folk-pop. Anyway, it was so good I skipped Devendra Banhart as I had been fulfilled, and tomorrow I shall go to buy both Andrew Bird's albums.
Tomorrow, Steve Earle, Miranda July, and.... Wu Tang Clan!
Right now I'm just spewing out what I've done, but I do hope to write some more literate reviews on the shows I've seen. We'll see how it goes.
My blogging abilities have been somewhat stifled by the lack of pc computers and the proliferation of macs. Not that they are bad, but simply are foreign territory. So, moving on.. I'm in the Green Tortoise Hostel in Seattle, and the letters are appearing on the screen about three seconds after I type them. This is infuriating.
I'm in Seattle, soon heading off to Bumbershoot festival, where I'll be seeing the Shins, Steve Earle, Kings of Leon.. Check out bumbershoot.org. I liked this place as soon as I got off the train. I don't know if that's because it reminds me of Auckland or I was just thrilled to get away from that stinkin train. A 25hr ride it was! Seeing Oregon was nice though. A lot of Pine trees, a lot of hay fields.
On Wednesday I cycled Golden Gate Bridge, and I'm not even going to try post photos from this computer for fear of getting an ulcer. It was pretty amazing. Two guys in All Blacks shirts were hiring bikes the same time as me. I didn't say anything but I think they spotted my Kathmandu wallet. It was an unspoken bond, an understanding that was all-encompassed in the silent nods we shared as I flew past them going up the hill towards the Bridge. Silly buggers, they were wearing jeans.
On the bridge were a lot of blue signs saying "Crisis Phone" and "There is hope, make the call" - to stop people jumping off I assume. Sad as it was, I found it darkly comical that in the subtext it says "the consequences of jumping off this bridge are fatal and tragic".
Next day I went into San Fran again and did the Palace of Fine Arts (a huge Pantheon-like sculpture) and the Exploratorium. It's like MOTAT x 1000.
The night before, Barbara & Brent took me to Chevy's, a gloriously tacky Mexican restaurant chain. I ordered a Marguerita (?) but didn't have my ID so had to settle for lemonade. Expecting Schweppes, I got cordial. Lemonade has an entirely different meaning here.
Other than that, I've just been walking around looking at stuff, eavesdropping on people, chewing loads of Doublemint Stick Gum.. I better go now or I'll miss Crowded House.