3OH!3 SXSW tour diary by Kam from Chain Gang of 1974

Jensen

Friday, March 20: I arrived in Austin on the evening of Wednesday, March 18th. I had played SXSW last year so I knew what to expect. But this time around, I am hired to play bass for 3OH!3 -- you know, that small band from Boulder? The band who still aren't super stars in the eyes of a Colorado critic but have a single in the Top 40!? [Editors note: WTF, Kam? Read Backbeat much there, broseph?] Let's just say that there are a lot of perks involved with this...haha.

After running around Austin for a bit, I met up with the dudes in the Photo Atlas and Epilogues. We cruised around for a bit before heading to Spiros to go see one of my favorite band's at the moment, Miniature Tigers. And to top it off, they have Darren from the recently hiatus announcing Phantom Planet playing lead guitar for them. If you're a real friend of mine then you know how obsessed I am with Phantom Planet. It was definitely a treat. After that, we walked next door to meet up with the 3OH!3 crew. After two minutes, I found myself line-dancing with Nat and Sean while everyone watched in either amazement or disgust...haha. I don't really even remember! We hung out for a bit before all leaving to the PureVolume party to go see the Photo Atlas play. In my opinion, it was definitely the funnest party in town. We all got Patrick Shwasted and danced up a storm to the TPA set. And on a side note, I even met a super rad chick (you know who you are if you're reading this...haha).

photo by Jensen (click to enlarge)

After going to bed at 5 a.m. and waking up six hours later (and finally getting to shower after three days), we hopped in a cab and headed straight for 6th street. I walked around and bumped into random friends before heading to the Rhapsody party to see two of my other favorite band's at the moment: Glasvegas and School of Seven Bells. Both band's blew my mind. The vibe was just right to find that proper inspiration one's soul needs to continue chasing after their dream. And the singer of Glasvegas looked like Joe Strummer. It was fucking rad. But I had to leave to go meet up with Adam from Young Coyotes (he's playing drums for 3OH!3 on this tour) to start loading our shit into Stubbs. Both of us were pretty nervous because the assholes they call Nat and Sean just left us with rehearsal songs to practice on our own...haha. But got up on stage, plugged in, and played a super fun show. Andrew Bird and Ben Harper were also on the bill. It was an outside show and just felt good. After we got done with that, we went to some lame ass sports bar where every dude was staring at my "too tight" jeans. Why stare? Jealous? Anyways, we then went back to the PureVolume party because it literally is the funnest spot to be. Gorgeous girls, good tunes, and a lot of old friends. You can probably guess what happened next.

I am now in Dallas to officially kick off the AP tour. The show has been sold out for weeks at the House Of Blues here. I just got done eating Mexican food which has already thrown off my stomach. I'll be in the bathroom for hours! But I will be back in Austin tomorrow. You'll hear from me then!

Throughout the week, we'll be maintaining a tour diary consisting of entries from various Denver bands that have made the trek to Austin for the city's annual South By Southwest festival. Keep checking back for frequent updates.