i was at hole in the wall on a friday night a couple months back and it was completely dead. thought it was a perfect example of people lamenting the loss of old austin while simultaneously not frequenting old austin establishments.
went to hi sign's new location on friday night. not sure where the money came from but it's fancy...and there were more people there than I ever saw at the old location.
went to the most overpriced record store i've ever seen in nola a couple weeks ago, peaches records. started browsing through the new releases and didn't find anything under $60. figured i would check out the used section...best of the doobie brothers $50, wtf? talked to some folks working at other record stores around town and the consensus seems to be that it's a drug front because ain't nobody payin those prices.
was there last week and had a fanstastic meal at a place i hadn't seen mentioned here, shaya. the fried chicken hummus was incredible. also really enoyed the $5 happy hour old fashioneds at barrel proof.
ty segall saturday night at mohawk. he started out acoustic and the music from cheer up charlies next door was pretty much drowning him out, so that sucked. sound was much better once he brought the full band out and went electric. there were some solid moments but overall it wasn't the best ty segall show i've seen...probably didn't help that i only knew about 3 songs out of the whole set.
Saw helmet during sxsw on 6th street in an empty lot in the early 00's. Don't remember exactly where it was but I remember people climbing up a chain link fence and jumping off into the pit.
that place has been there for a few months...i've never seen anyone in there. went in there once and they gave us free samples of basically everything they had. baklava was by far the best thing.
saw jimmy buffett at the moody arena on saturday night. arena is nice...plenty of bars and bathrooms, rows were wide enough to walk by someone without them standing up. sound is still shit...plenty loud but muddy as fuck. concert was fun, lots of old drunk people having a good time. was surprised he had about 12 people on stage. voice still sounds fine.
also $12.50 for a bud light and $14 for a budweiser...apparently budweiser is premium. wtf.
billy howerdel, best known as songwriter and guitarist for a perfect circle, released a solo album today. it's very 80's depeche mode/cure sounding synthwave type stuff. pretty good.
steely dan at acl live last night. donald fagan's voice is pretty weak and he's letting the backup singers prop him up a lot...otherwise the band is tight as hell and they sounded fantastic. setlist isn't all that different from the last time i saw them but i'll take it.
Finally crossed Devils River off the list. Spent 3 nights in the state natural area last weekend. Finnegan Springs is an incredibly beautiful area...up to 25,00 gallons per minute at its peak (although it was only at 10,000 gpm when we were there). There's about a 200 yard stretch of crystal clear and cold ankle deep water flowing over limestone with water bubbling out of the ground about every 10 yards. The roads in the park are pretty rough, wouldn't attempt it without high clearance. The second night we were out there we heard a mountain lion screaming on the ridge above our campsite, scariest thing I've ever heard while camping...straight up demon noises.
Stopped at City Market in Luling on the way to Palmetto State Park...made for a good picnic. Still my favorite ribs anywhere, sausage was excellent and brisket was good but a step below the other meats. 30 minute line at 1:00, mostly locals. No longer cash only.
just spent a week in arkansas. was planning on a buffalo river trip but we got heavy storms and the river was too high, made for good waterfalls though. had never spent any time there, was quite beautiful...but my god the ticks were terrible. all of the campgrounds we stayed at were virtually empty. we did shady lake>white rock mtn>long pool>steel creek>devil's den state park. devil's den is basically the garner state park of arkansas. bunch of ccc buildings/trails and a shitload of campsites by the river. stll need to get back for a river float.