By Michael Botsford, Host of The Garage
SAN ANTONIO - Thousands of people and hundreds of bands from across the world have traveled to Texas for the South By Southwest music festival. The Garage took a trip up to Austin to see what’s shaking -- and the fun was overwhelming. It was great, but down here in San Antonio we have our own music festival called “
The Big Spill” where a lot of SxSW bands ‘spillover.’
Click here to watch...Both festivals are all about discovering new music and meeting new people. We sure did!
Austin's
New Disaster was killing the stage at Red Eyed fly. They bring a bit of that old Sunset Strip metal flavor to the Red River district in Austin.
A few blocks down on Sixth Street we met rapper
Yancy Deron from Pasadena hip hop group LNDLiens. He freestyled on the spot.
Then it was time to go back home to San Antonio and check The Big Spill, and the fun did not stop.
Everyone was talking about
Best Coast, a surfy folk band with a sexy front lady. The Korova was completely packed with smiles and dancing. The crew and I even busted a move.
Outside we caught
Lederhosen Lucil from Ottawa, Ontario. Her act is a solo comedic electro cabaret which kept the crowd moving.
With all this action we decided to treat ourselves to some gourmet street cuisine.
Rocker Dogz was serving one of a kind hot dogs. Chef Kris Martinez showed us what goes into the Thai Kickboxer dog -- and words can not describe how delicious they are.
Later on in the week Beta or VHS from Brooklyn, NY had the crowd raving with their trippy dance rock. They are no stranger to Texas and have even played a sold out show at Stubb's BBQ in Austin with the legendary Fatboy Slim.
The fun just keeps rolling. Friday, March 16th Corrosion of Conformity and Valient Thorr are going to metal up the Korova.
Saturday night is, hands down, the biggest night of the year for me, Michael Botsford, your loyal host of The Garage. My band the
Hardluck Heroes are headlining the indoor stage with the bagpipers from the San Antonio Fire Department Pipe and Drum Brigade for St. Patrick's Day. It's the biggest night of the year for the Hardluck boys. You may just see the toughest punk rockers get a tear in their eye when you hear "Amazing Grace" from the pipes with loud guitars and drums.
Some say Austin is the music capital of the world, but San Antonio's Big Spill is definitely giving them a run for their money.
