3/18/2005, 2:50 p.m.
As I exit my vehicle upon arriving at El Arroyo for the first leg of the 1st Annual Obner All-Skate, I hear the vaguely familiar strains of a song wafting from the local B-B-Q chain across the street. After a few seconds of intense listening, it quickly becomes apparent that the song I hear is none other than "Twilight Creeps" being played live by Crooked Fingers!!! I then proceed to do my best Frogger impersonation -- dodging mutiple lanes of vehicles traveling at varying rates of speed -- in order to make a visual confirmation of what my ears are telling me. I peer over a fence to find I am no more than 15-20 feet stage right from the band...



Hearing a live performance by the band responsible for my favorite album this year, immediately upon arriving in A-Tex no less, is a very good omen.

3/18/2005, 3:30 p.m.
Chuck D (Colin) pulls into the prime parking spot at El Arroyo in his wife's purple sub-compact, identifiable by its Oregon plates and more pro-environment bumper stickers than could be created from the combined deforestations of British Columbia and Saskatchewan. We down a few drinks, share a few laughs, and exchange several smouldering glances before he leaves to go pick up his wife from an appointment.

3/18/2005, 4:30 p.m.
babe (Trevor) and the newly-crowned Mrs. babe arrive at El Arroyo ready for mucho margaritas. We learn that Mrs. babe now teaches high school at the very same high school from which she graduated several years earlier, and that Trevor used to throw Chris Jackson's stuff outta the gym back in his basketball glory days in the bayou. They're a cute couple, but our man Trevor is openly overachieving. Way to go, bro!...



3/18/2005, 4:55 p.m.
Colin returns with his bride, Laura, at his side. They told us how they met in college at ACU and not-so-fondly reminisced about that school's incredibly stringent anti-alcohol policies. Laura and Trevor also swapped tales of Maine, as both she and Trevor's mother are from the state of frostingspoon.

3/18/2005, 5:35 p.m.
Colin and Laura head home to get their pad ready for the evening's festivities, while the newlyweds head to a 6:00 p.m. solo gig by one of Trevor's ex-Endochiners. At this point, I have spoken to jagged (Shawn) via cell at several points, and he has just now overcome traffic and made it into A-Tex. I tell him to go ahead and meet me over at Casa de Peden, because it doesn't look as if anyone else is going to show up at El Arroyo.

3/18/2005, 6:40 p.m.
After spending the better part of an hour unsuccessfully trying to locate a grocery store within a 75-mile radius of Colin's house, he finally directs me to a nearby Fiesta, which is both staffed and patronized entirely by our neighbors to the south. Needless to say, I blend right in. Despite some initial difficulty figuring out the peso to dollar conversion chart, I am excited to find 12-packs of bottled Miller High Life going for $6.89 US. So ecstatic am I that I splurge and buy two.

3/18/2005, 6:55 p.m.
I arrive at Casa de Peden with my 2-4 and several bags of experimentally-flavored snacks. Several partygoers are already on hand, all of whom are old buddies of Colin and Laura (the lovely lady holding the red cup in the picture below) from ACU...



Colin lets me sample his latest homebrewed concoction, and I am on cloud nuevo.

3/18/2005, somewhere between 7:00-8:00 p.m.
As the evening progresses and my blood alcohol level begins to steadily climb, I start to lose track of time. Shawn shows up...



...followed soon after by a random British guy who looks as if he just may be the Pete Best of Coldplay, and the evening's headline entertainment: Dogme 95 (a.k.a. Nick from Chicago...originally from Dallas).

3/18/2005, 8:00 p.m.
Dogme 95 breaks out the gee-tar and enthralls the masses with an acoustic set...



If he'd have had a British accent, I would SWEAR he was Charlie from TV's Lost plaintiffly wailing about the failure of a DriveShaft reunion to materialize at SXSW. I mean, he is a DEAD RINGER for the desert island version of Dominic Monaghan! And as the evening progresses (and his behavior and stage presence become increasingly unhinged), I start to think he may also have the same use for the lavatory as Charlie. The highlight of his first set (at least for me), was his cover of Melanie's "Brand New Key," on which I was privileged to play goat toes. Yes, you read that right. Goat toes...



3/18/2005, 8:40-11:55 p.m.
After an intermission termed a "smoke break" (and I don't think we're talking tobacco here, folks) by Nick, Dogme 95 returns to the stage for the second part of his show: Full Casio Freak-out!...



The crowd continues to swell, as the collective buzz intensifies. Dogme 95's final act was a laptop-based hip-hop freestyle...



...in which Nick encouraged, no, DEMANDED full audience participation...



It soon morphed into performance art, as Nick began to incorporate Laura's art into his performance. Colin broke out his bass...



...Shawn took over on goat toes, and Nick started flailing around from one corner of the living room to the other...



If Laura seemed uneasy watching Nick use her treasured artistic creations as Gallagheresque props, she became downright tense as Nick repeatedly pounded Colin's cowbell set on the ceiling, triggering a blizzard of spackle onto the partygoers. Me and Shawn decide to pull off the impossible and see if we can get into the 12:30 a.m. Spoon show at La Zona Rosa.

3/19/2005, 12:35 a.m.
Against all odds, we find a free parking space one block over, and manage to get into the line for paying (non-wristbanded) concertgoers without actually having to wait in line. $40 later ($20 each), we enter the club, get a beer at the bar, stake out our spot (centrally located immediately in front of the soundboard), and see the lights go down mere moments later. The timing could not have been any more perfect! WHAT LUCK!!!



This was my very first time seeing my favorite band, so I was obviously going to be pleased, but they really exceeded even my lofty expectations. This was WITHOUT A DOUBT the greatest show I have ever seen! They were fucking awesome!!! I can't remember the exact order of the set list, but I do remember every song they played:

Metal Detektor
Car Radio
Me and the Bean
Lines in the Suit
Fitted Shirt
Anything You Want
Small Stakes
The Way We Get By
Something To Look Forward To
Paper Tiger
Someone Something
Back to the Life
The Beast and Dragon, Adored
The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine
My Mathematical Mind
The Delicate Place
Sister Jack
I Summon You

They finished right at 2:00 a.m., which is when the bar is required by law to close down, so sadly there was no encore. But they played some of my all-time favorites (CAR RADIO!!!). Then, as the club emptied out, I noticed Jim Eno (the drummer) back out on stage mingling with a few folks. I went up and took his picture with my cell phone (my real camera was out in the car), and even got to shake his hand. I told him it was a great show, and he said, "Thanks for coming out tonight." And he genuinely meant it. Those guys are great.



Eat your heart out, Dri!!! (Maybe you'll be sure to come next year...and so will the rest of you who didn't make it this time.) Seriously, the whole thing was an absolute BLAST! I want to express my sincerest and most heartfelt thanks to Colin and Laura for so generously opening their home and their hearts to us! We couldn't have done this without them! And I'd also like to thank Shawn for letting me mooch his hotel room, so I didn't have to try weaving my way back to San Antonio at 3:00 in the morning. You're the best, man!

So, to sum up, Obner @ SXSW was OPENLY QUAL!!!

Awesome, Bob! So glad you had a great time!

It wasn't the same without you, Tania. Please come next year!

I dig Colin. We had cheap beer. I'm home and recuperating. Very tired.

I'm definitely gonna do my best.

Cool! Wish I could've seen Spoon.

I actually attended 2 SXWX related shows just by visiting Waterloo while I was in town on 3/19. When I walked in, Hawthorn Heights were playing. Didn't care for 'em. But much to my pleasant surprise, Doves were up next. So we watched them play for a little. We had to leave before they were finished because we had a wedding in San Marcos to attend.

Moxie, did you make it to my show? Hope I didn't miss the chance to meet you...

Nice time Bobbo,
I'm making every effort to get down next year. My best friend and I went in '02 and it was seriously one of the best vacations I ever had, including a 24-hour period that saw me:
-put nothing in my body that wasn't booze or a chaser of some sort
-drop $200 at Waterloo while slurping down beer they were selling out of a keg in the store
-my buddy and I unwittingly entering a private party @ Hard Rock thrown by Vivid Video (yeah, the porn site) where we were surrounded by B-level porn stars and free booze
-drunkenly high-fiving Bushwick Bill
-seeing The Icarus Line smash open the display case holding Stevie Ray Vaughn's guitar to try to amp it up. They were quickly chased out of the place.
-checked out an abbreviated set by Spoon

So, '06 has got a lot to live up to but I'm sure we can give it a good run. Only 360-something days.

Shit; I have felt no guilt for my my lack of showing be4 now.......Fuck you Bob, you know how to make a brother feel guilty. Put me on the list for 2006.....(even though i woulda been there this year in a second----i'm gar)

Oh yay for fun! Glad you had a good time, Bob!

I'm glad you had a great time, and I wish I could have gone! Maybe next year... a car would be nice, and if I still don't have one, I will just have to do some more thinking!! Too bad I missed it this year.

car pool...

for that matter, hotel pool...

i suppose that now is the time to mention getting to see our own phil jamming with john popper. john FUCKING popper. john fucking "i play 1/128th notes on my mouth harp" popper. and it was openly qual. i liked seeing popper, logic, and liquid soul mixing it up, and i owe phil and ziggy the sound guy so fucking much for giving me and laura their musicians bracelets. I got to walk in scott-free to every venue I wanted the rest of the week, and pretend that i was "with the band," to boot. Got asked what band I was in a few times . . . . "Blackland Prairiedogs."

So - Bob, Shawn, Phil - I, for one, look forward to sxsw 2006. Phil, hopefully next time we'll get to do some cooking, too.

I got a little tipsy reading bout all the drinking you did. I would have been legally dead by 8pm, according to your drinking schedule.

ooh, sounds like fun was had by all.... so sorry I missed it!

Dig it brother. Glad you got some use out of those bracelets. Popper was cool, he even apologized when he accidentally clocked me in the head.

Damn you Bob, thanks for making me feel even worse for not going. Although- I'm glad you had a blast and not to mention you got to see Spoon!

I was thinking last night when I was at a show that my friend's band was playing at... I looked at my friend who flaked in a drunken stupor and said, "you know bitch, we'd be driving back from SXSW right now...." but seriously, next year we are going to make plans to get out there.

Although, I WILL be at CMJ Marathon this year, will make plans for that after Coachella.

I'm drinking right now, still!

SXSW: over according to the calendar, but not Colin's liver.

I gotta start, ahem, "training" for '06 right away.

yes indeed, it was fun to tell people "i'm going to see some friends i haven't met yet" before showing up at "the ditch" (el arroyo) w/FT and Colin.

I wound up a little drunk after Casey's show, and missed the late night. . .and missed Phil while he was in town. . .and missed most of SXSW.

But, FT is right. . .Mrs. Hance is MUCH prettier than I deserve, and I am a lucky, lucky man that she loves me.

Great to see you guys - we gotta get something together before Spring Break '06!!!!!

What else am I supposed to do with 60-odd beers in my fridge? At least I'm alternating water and beer.

<------Still waiting on pics.

By "water," I mean Lone Star, of course.

this sounds like the infamous evening when i saw the pattern, ted leo, and the hives at three separate venues around philadelphia and didn't park further than a block away from any. it was amazing.

Drink. DUH.