SXSW Field Report: The Boxing Lesson 03/21/09

Since I couldn't go to SXSW this year I invited a handful of bands to submit "field reports" of their SXSW experience. Here's our fourth report from The Boxing Lesson, written by drummer Kevin Sparks. (Read parts One, Two, and Three.)

The Boxing Lesson press photo.

"We had a lot of fun Friday night, so we were all pretty tired when we arrived at our noon show at Bill's Place in some enchanted dreamland forest or whatever. There was no one there. Make that tired and pissed. Just an abandoned shack and a small PA with some drums. Paul said there was an old man harassing him about playing rock music, but I'm inclined to believe that it was just a g-g-ghost or Mr. Miller trying to scare everyone away so he could have the drums to himself. I never saw that old man myself. All of this was in a wooded area with a smoldering fire (aka sacrificial altar) nearby. Needless to say, things were getting creepy, so we ditched ol' Bill's. At least our cars started.

"We headed downtown to catch the Zenith Fuzzbomb show, and somehow found a parking spot and free BBQ. It's still early in the day, so we weren't completely barraged with the awful wailing of 500 bands on 6th Street playing simultaneously. I love SXSW and understand that it's mostly a music festival. I just wish that all the bars would realize that they don't have to keep all their doors and windows wide open while Cannibal Corpse is playing at Coyote Ugly, and some sensitive acoustic drab is competing for volume at the place next door, while some guy keeps yelling about "One dollar shots!" and 100 people aggressively offer me free CD's like I'm David Geffen.

"It was nice that we didn't have to deal with it for a short while.

"I didn't want to run my card for a $20 minimum at the bar, so I hit up the world's most expensive ATM instead. Those of you who live in Austin or made it to SXSW probably know which one I'm talking about. The jackass ATM in front of Room 710. Yeah, the one with the million dollar service fee. I hate that machine. After throwing $5 in the garbage, Fuzzbomb brought the rock, and the day is getting better now. I'm still scheming to find a way to get Brian's guitar amp to become mine again. He and I have a long history together.

"I hoped to squeeze Dead Confederate into my currently hectic schedule, and managed to catch about 3 songs, and the guitarist I only know as Two Buck Chuck wearing a sweet shirt with puppies on it. The first time I met this guy was in Arizona, wearing a unicorn shirt. When Jaylinn asked what the deal was with him and animal shirts, he simply replied, "I like animals". That guy's so cool.

"My friend Phil (Mr. Lewis and the Funeral 5) and I were now on our way to what we thought would be the main event of the day: Frodus reunion show at the Radio Room. I never had the chance to see these guys in the 90's, so I was super pumped. We didn't have to wait long for them to go on, and it was just as awesome as I thought it would be. They closed the show with a cover of Devo's "Explosions", and Jonathan Ford of Unwed Sailor appeared on the stage and seemed to inspire nothing but pure havoc in the band, as I was hit in the head with a folding chair, and Phil absorbed a mic stand to the jaw. No one was hurt, and we had a great time.

"We had already seen quite a bit of action by 5pm, so we headed to a restaurant that I shall not name to rest. And we would have rested, had our friends in Izzy the Eskimo not been there. Instead, we drank margaritas, smoked too many cigarettes, while Steve harassed our poor waitress for about two or three hours, and Nigel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLreTpnUWX8&feature=related) had worked his way into a table of five or six girls.

"Somewhere in all that, I think we missed a show we were supposed to play..... We took our shenanigans over to Side Bar and did more of the same. Mike and I discussed Ringo's dark secret, which shall remain a secret. Later on, Nigel called Lemmy to set up a game of Ms. Pac-Man between the two of us, but he didn't answer. Yes, that Lemmy. Shortly after this, everyone mysteriously disappeared and I took Ryan over to Red 7 for my second round of Frodus.

"Upon arriving there, we discover that the show is running behind schedule. That's cool. We just didn't know that it was almost 2 hours behind schedule. I'm ready to rock, so I grab a couple beers and drink away. I met and talked to Jonathan Ford. We had some Makers and talked about his current band, and eventually Frodus hit the stage. The show was so loud, I had to make the most of it. I rocked like it was the end of the world, and they closed with "Explosions" again. This time, however, Jonathan pulled me up on stage to sing the song with them. AAAMMMMYYYYYGOOOODDDDTHISISSSAWESOME!! After a chorus, I jumped back down and started punching the stage monitors because this was way too cool. Well, Jonathan pulled me back up and told me that I deserved to be up there with them, or something like that. Holy shit!

"We finished the song, and I told everybody how awesome they were, and went about finding my way home. This is what SXSW is all about. However, I'm not looking forward to tomorrow's show."

Frodus:

--Kevin Sparks, The Boxing Lesson