Other bands: Say Anything, mewithoutYou, and Piebald
I discovered a system of viaducts and tunnels underneath Austin that I'd never noticed before, so I did what I always do'd when my ass ached from a long van ride and my brain ached from stale company. I went walking.
The tunnels weren't like some labyrinthine Gaston Leroux wet dream nor were they like the lost Cincinnati subway system, derelict and decadently rotting, but it did have an air of secrecy and lostness, and I felt like I had stumbled upon something forgotten even if it was a place where every train kid west of the Mississippi came to huff aerosol during SXSW.
I walked and walked and walked underneath the beer-soaked party town of Austin, squatting down under low archways, hugging the abutments at the spots where the water was high. I found a spot on a rock next to a bridge and sat and existed.
People overhead went to weekend grilled dinners and to drink booze in sports-themed bars, gilded in jewelry and expensive leather digs. Their cars and voices floated overhead like a television in the next room. Every now and then another grifter would saunter by in my underworld.
In the tunnel, I was neither happy nor sad. Neither hot nor cold. Neither rich nor poor. I just was.
We played on the big stage at Emo's, graduating finally from the tiny triangular one inside. We were still the first of four bands, which meant our backline was the first of four layers of amplifiers and bass rigs, thereby likely giving us even less room than if we had played on the small stage anyway.
There were probably 400-500 people at the show. Most of them there to see mewithoutYou and Say Anything. Piebald's draw was similar to ours except that they had been around much longer. They seemed like indie rock godfathers when I saw them on tour six years prior.
It was still daylight when we performed and I stood on the arms of more kids in front who chose to cross them and remain motionless. I still hadn't looked back after having discovered the thrill of pushing buttons. Even when the kid looked back at me like I was the biggest piece of shit he'd ever met, I pressed his arm harder.
We drove back to Eric's aunt's house outside town for another night of decent food and hot showers.
