[sxsw video] We're in it for the lulz

For twenty minutes on Thursday night, my friend Akhil and I rounded the perimeter of the Scoot Inn looking for a way in. It was 1:30 a.m., the venue was at capacity and Talib Kweli was performing inside. We had just seen Beach Fossils fans almost tear down an outdoor stage tent at Shangri-La, we were drunk and we really wanted to see some hip-hop.

The venue is lined by ten-foot fences strung with barbed wire and our one attempt to hop the fence, just behind where the venue has established a mini-ramp for a skate competition this weekend, resulted in a blocked entrance. We found a hole where several planks were missing, which was blocked by an iron board from the other side. Akhil went for it, I was slightly hesitant. I guess maybe my instincts for trouble have decayed since adolescence. But then I saw Akhil disappear, heard Jean Grae join a verse with Talib and slipped in myself. Like beers in a backpack, I don’t think I’ll ever get too old for sneaking into venues and hopping fences.

I don’t remember if I liked the Talib show, I think I was mostly in it for the adventure. Beach Fossils, on the other hand, only get better with age. I first saw them at SX last year and have since followed up each time they’ve visited Boston. They finally added a full drum-kit (the floor-tom/hi-hat combo was kitschy and cool in the beginning, but the charm wore away quickly) which gave their jangly surf-rock tunes an otherwise lacking punk-rock momentum and they have honed their harmonized guitar-lines to a slacker-rock science. I said it last year and I’ll say it again, Beach Fossils are going to be around for a while.

It’s my sixth day in Austin this week and I’ve averaged twelve beers a day and four hours of sleep a night. More to come in the coming days, lots to recap.