Day number two of by South By Southwest conveniently beganat the Carrera Cafe, an invite-only, air-conditioned oasis of swag bags, freered velvet cake, chicken-fried salad (this IS Texas, after all), spa-massagestations, and (best of all for people like myself who were operating on only afew hours of sleep) Monster energy drinks and Cafe Bustelo espressos.
It's no wonderthis was THE place many artists chose to conduct their SXSW interviews. So whenBritish hipsters Late Of The Pier suggested we meet here, I didn't protest too much.
I wouldn't haveprotested, honestly, if they'd askedto meet up outside a random taco truck on 6th Street. This indie-electronic combohas been one of the bands I'm mostexcited about at SXSW 2009, and honestly one of the bands I'm most excited about in 2009 overall. Their giglast night at La Zona Rosa was amazing (despitewhat they said--really, guys, you'retoo hard on yourselves!) and with several more LOTP showcases and privateparty performances set up this SXSW week, I plan to catch them again very soon.Right after I finish getting that massage, of course...
Anyway, here's aclip of me and three-fourths of LOTP enjoying some [product placement alert!] free Izze drinks and Fiji water alongwith a little pre-massage chat at the Carrera. It was a dirty job, but hey, someone had do it, and that someone might as well've been me: