Rock-a-Round’s Wild Weekend Power Pop Festival
Austin, TX
8/28/08 – 8/30/08

Goddamn, what a way to celebrate my first visit to Austin, Texas. A wild weekend indeed, full of record buying, rock and roll, power pop, glam, garage and my pal Cody, headlined by the Boys, who haven’t played the United States in some 25-plus years. Not to mention Gentleman Jesse and His Men—I don’t think I can sing their praises too much… these guys are gonna be huge. Point of interest… I didn’t see a Rickenbacker guitar until the second show on the second night. Here’s to hoping there’s another Wild Weekend next year… I’m sure I’m not the only one to think this (Cody being the another), but I definitely would love to see, say, the Real Kids, Romantics, Teenage Head and the Odd Numbers.

I packed as minimally as I could for this trip: one carry-on, one pair of shorts, the shoes on my feet, five plain white tees, five changes of boxers, five pairs of socks and I bought my toothpaste and shaving cream when I landed. I wound up buying so many records I had to ship them home (and wait five days before I got the package.)

Cody and his Austin friends were some of the most generous hosts I’ve ever had. I got a hand drawn map of all the local record stores and some eateries, a car for a day, a tour around the city, many free drinks, man…. Before heading to Thursday’s kick off festivities, I went with Cody, his girlfriend Diana and her coworkers to a local pub for some drinks to celebrate Diana’s move to New York. I don’t know how it happened, but had an eye-level view of some dude’s crotch most of the night. It seemed like the guy knew it, too, as he seemed to always have his hand on his schvantz (I couldn’t avoid it). One time, I caught him rolling up the leg of his (already short) shorts; I looked away but I wonder if he was airing it out or something (it is hot in Tejas, after all).

Thursday, August 28, Beerland: Local DJs kick off the weekend with rock, pop and punk platters. Special guest performance by the Paul Collins Beat. I’d been looking forward to seeing the Beat for a while as I’ve heard nothing but good things about their live show. Unfortunately, Paul Collins’ voice was hoarse but it held up for a 30-minute or so set. Highlight for everyone, obviously, “Hanging on the Telephone”.

Friday, August 29, Beerland: Afternoon show with sets by Grand Champeen (TX), Power Chords, Prima Donna (CA) and the Pleasure Kills (CA). The crowd was a bit slow coming in, mostly out-of-towners as locals were probably at work (or hung over, as the bartender opined). Noted in the crowd: a toddler; Nikki Corvette (who seemed to be hanging out at all the shows). Prima Donna may have been the only band I didn’t like; their name says it all for them. They’re a So Cal glam band featuring retarded haircuts, excessive posturing and masturbatory solos. I wanted to like ‘em but even their sax player (which always scores a band points for me) didn’t do it for me. The Pleasure Kills (from San Francisco, I think) were the highlight. Poppy rock and roll with keys… good stuff. The Power Chords had a pretty good punk/pop mix.

Friday, August 29, Mohawk: Night show with sets by the Paul Collins Beat, Pointed Sticks (Canada), Nikki Corvette, Ugly Beats (TX), Black and Whites and the Electric Shadows. The highlight of this show for me was Nikki Corvette—tremendous energy. She invited all the ladies in the crowd on stage for her last song (and bass player Miss Georgia Peach didn’t look too pleased). I hadn’t heard the Pointed Sticks and was looking forward to them, but for some reason, they had the worst sound of the whole weekend – no low end in the guitar, almost no bass and the vocals were too low. Was I actually at Connections? Was Ted Flatus doing the sound? I got really pissed at this (I guess I was more drunk than I thought) and went to the back of the club and someone knocked off my glasses and stepped on them. I guess that’s what I get for getting angry at a power pop fest. The Electric Shadows invited Handsome John Plain of the Boys to sing and play guitar for their last song.

Saturday, August 30, Beerland: Afternoon show with sets by Poor People (TX), Luxury Sweets, Greatest Hits, Beach Patrol (WI) and Avenue Rose. Luxury Sweets were definitely the highlight for me; the singer looked kind of like Dolls-era David Johansen. I’ve seen Beach Patrol before and they were just as good as I remember. Noted in the crowd: Reverend Norb—can’t mistake that voice (he does write a column called “Power Pop Police” after all).

Saturday, August 30, Mohawk: Night show with sets by the Boys (UK), 20/20, Boss Martians, Tranzmitors (Canada), Cute Lepers (WA), Gentleman Jesse and His Men (GA) and Baby Shakes (NYC). This night was overall the best, but marred when some douche bag broke a bottle over another douche bag’s head as the Boys were tuning up. It was really disturbing to see and kind of ruined the beginning of the Boys’ set. The Boys were tight as hell, though; they seemed to play more songs from their third and fourth albums than I expected; only song I didn’t get to hear was “Cop Cars” but I shouldn’t complain. I had never heard the Boss Martians before and for some reason thought they were a surf band… guess not. The singer of the Boss Martians sure has big muscles. The Tranzmitors were a blast (is that a former Smuggler in the band?) but Gentleman Jesse was my favorite.

I will sum up my trip to Texas thusly:
The Good: So many records.
The Bad: The fight on the second night; getting my glasses broken during the Pointed Sticks; $3.50 for a slice of pizza; I missed the bats at dusk flying from under the bridge over the Colorado.
The Indifferent: I didn’t get to buy all the records I wanted.