Monday, March 21, 2011

Austin: Greenhouse & The Continental






I'll start right off and say, yes, I managed to see Alejandro Escovedo and his band (and sometimes orchestra) three times in three days this trip to Austin. And he and his band certainly gave no reason for my fandom to waver, not letting up in energy once amid their round of shows. And the third show (that I saw), Sunday's traditional close-out of SX at The Continental Club (which has got to be the best club in town) was a complete party of post-punk rock 'n roll, complete with guest appearances by Lucinda Williams (they dueted on the song "Pyramid of Tears") and Charlie Sexton. Wow.
And it had already been a full and extremely satisfying day of music, spent watching a bunch of hard-working and excellent troubadors including AJ Roach, John Elliot and Carrie Elkin at the GreenHouse House Concert. This was listening to songs at its best, in a living room with a bunch of friendly people who were all ears. Elliot's music made me cry, his songs are that good and true. I was happy to meet and hear Elkin, who's got a full, strong voice and a big open heart, as I've been coming across her glowing album reviews in the press for the past few weeks. She even finished off the afternoon by singing the national anthem. Not content to leave it at that, the concert was followed by a sweet party of more song sharing in a warm, Austin front yard. By midnight, cellos and fiddles were arriving as well...but I knew what was going down at The Continental Club...we left and arrived at South Congress to procure tickets just as Alejandro was setting up.

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