Stubb's @ Austin, TX - 3/20/09

Once again, George's luck paid off - he won tickets to the Basement show last summer and won an invite to the Bonnaroo BBQ. This time he won the Guitar Hero shindig in Austin. We only had a few days to book our flight, hotel and rental car. Fortunately for us, we found a Southwest flight for only $250 from Norfolk to Austin. Not too bad with only a fews days notice. I was semi-excited to check out the SXSW festival. I've heard and seen things on TV about it, and Austin is suppose to be this great city. We shall see...and oh yah, Austin is where Sandra Bullock lives. I LOVE me some Sandra Bullock! I've been a fan from way back - "Love Potion No. 9", "Demolition Man", "While You Were Sleeping", and even her guest spot in 1989 on the "Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman"...well, maybe not that far back. And with her husband, Jesse James, a friend of James Hetfield, catching a glimpse of her or meeting her might be a possibilty. We shall see...

Walking around the SXSW festival in downtown Austin was pretty cool. It reminded me of Bourbon Street in New Orleans, just without the garbage, filth, bums, and the transvestites. Some of the streets were closed off so you could walk around anywhere. There was a lot of music was coming from just about every bar, restaurant and street corner. There seemed to be a bar every 50 feet. Man, I could like it here! George and I checked out a few of the bands, but we were there to see Metallica. One thing George and I noticed about the SXSW Festival/Austin - there were a bunch of emo-looking guys. I don't really know how to describe what we saw, but this picture does a good job of it:

Eventually Ron and Brad show up, and we all got our special laminate passes for the "secret" show. By this time, it was common knowledge that Metallica was playing in Austin. News of Metallica playing was leaked by an Austin reporter earlier in the week. The show was at a place called Stubb's - a bar/restaurant with a pretty descent sized open-air stage in the back of the building. It was lunch time and we had walked around enough, so we decided to get some lunch at Stubb's so we could scout out the place, and then get in line afterwards.

Give me some of your rum!!!

During lunch, I was sitting next to a window, and I happened to look outside when Ethan Suplee (the fat guy who plays Randy on the tv show, "My Name is Earl") walked by. I'm a fan of the show and have seen him in plenty of Kevin Smith movies (Clerks, Mallrats, etc.), so it was definitely him. I had an urge to go ask for his autograph and get a picture with him, but I was waaaay too hungry to leave my bbq sandwich.

We didn't really know where the line started, but we saw some barricades near the entrance. That looked like a good place to wait. While waiting in line, a reporter from the Austin newspaper, The Statesman, interviewed Ron and I about the show, Metallica, etc.. It didn't show in the print version of the newspaper, but it did show up online. Pretty damn cool! There was a band playing already at Stubb's and there were a TON of people already inside. It seemed to be an invite only party and there were a TON of people drinking alcohol. I wondered how were they going to get all of those drunks out and then let us in.

Also, while waiting in line, we saw Perry Farrell (Jane's Addiction/Porno for Pyros) walk by and into Stubb's. Since he resembles 99% of the men walking in downtown Austin, he walked by virtually unnoticed. I believe Jane's Addiction might have played somewhere in Austin during the SXSW festival, but I could be wrong.

So, by my count, I've seen the fat guy from "My Name is Earl" and Perry Ferrell, but NO Sandra Bullock. Grrrrrrr!!!

Anyways, the doors open, and we easily got our spot on the rail - front row, dead center. Is there a better place to experience a Metallica show? Not for us! The first opening act was a DJ called "Bassnecter". I believe he was from San Francisco. All he did was play A LOT of teeth-rattling bass mixed in with some heavy metal/rock riffs. He seemed really into his music, but I didn't think he was any good. I was easily bored within the first few minutes. How long would we have to endure this guy? George hated him so much, he stood with his back to him the entire time (a la early Metallica fans from the club days in the early '80s). Bassnecter was almost as bad as the Flobots.

The second opening act were the Silversun Pickups. They were okay. Their music was more alternative. They did cover a Sonic Youth song which was pretty cool. Although - and not to sound snobby or anything - but when I go see Metallica, that's the ONLY band I want to see. I don't really care about any of the opening acts. I think Metallica spoiled me back during the Black Album tour when they played for 20+ songs for 3 hours and had no opening act (other than that 25 minute movie they showed which was basically clips from "A Year and a Half in the Life of..." video.)

Before Metallica went on, the 3 winners of a local Guitar Hero contest that they had at a local Best Buy got to play "Fuel" on stage. Before this trip started, I remember telling George that if we had some free time, I wanted to go enter the contest at the Best Buy in Austin. I'm sooooo glad I didn't because I would have gotten crushed. All 3 guys were playing expert/expert+ level. I wouldn't have stood a chance.

Photo from Entertainment Weekly (ew.com)

Moments before Metallica was suppose to go on, I noticed a stunning long-haired brunette with some tattooed biker dude walk behind Lars' drums and quickly disappear backstage. DAMN IT! That was Sandra! Alas, this was the only sighting I had of Sandra...:( I later found out that a friend of mine, Dan, got to watch the show only a few feet away from my Sandra. Dan, you lucky bastard! :)

I was expecting a quick show (like at the Sundance Film Festival show), but they ended up playing for 1.5 hrs. They had a somewhat predictable setlist, but nevertheless, the show was still fucking GREAT! Their sound was tight. My favorite song from Death Magnetic played live has got to be "Broken, Beat and Scarred." That song freaking rocks!!!

Me and Big Mick

Overall, this was another great and unique Metallica show. I enjoy these small, special gigs (Fillmore, Basement, etc.) more than the big arena or stadium tours. I hope Metallica continues to do these special club shows. And as always, I added to my collection of "jejunum" pictures. See below. If you want an explanation of what "jejunum" means, just watch the Will Ferrell movie, "Semi-Pro". Please note that I could only get some thumbnails of some of the pictures.

This picture was taken when the 3 Guitar Hero contest winners were playing "Fuel"
because we had to look up on a projection screen to see the game screen.
Photo from LA Weekly

Photo from Jeff Kravtiz/FilmMagic.com

Photo from Jeff Kravtiz/FilmMagic.com

Photo from Jeff Kravtiz/FilmMagic.com

Photo from Gary Miller/FilmMagic.com