Road Reports

Around 20 San Diego bands performed as part of the annual South By Southwest festival in and around Austin, Texas.

Writer band members gigged their way to SXSW in a Honda Element equipped with a trailer, an electric water kettle, and a hundred packs of Cup O’ Noodles. “Last night, we played in Las Vegas at the Double Down Saloon,” blogged guitarist Jayme Ralph on MySpace. “Interesting, to say the least; the city and the people seem a bit surreal.”

The next night in Albuquerque, “Someone in Writer inadvertently dry humped a cactus,” according to guitarist David Hastings MacAdam. “No booze, no bands after midnight in Albuquerque on Sundays. This, ironically, in a state that has no motorcycle helmet law.”

In Las Cruces, “We pulled up to New Mexico State’s radio station, KRUX, and did a guerrilla in-studio performance/interview,” says MacAdam. “Today’s drive was only 45 minutes to El Paso, and we didn’t even have to stop for an Andy [Ralph] pee break, a new record, which usually is prompted by a lot of screaming and clamping.”

Drew Andrews and Spectral Cities shared their own road-to-SXSW stories. “I dig Albuquerque,” posts Andrews at sddialedin.com, “full of weird seedy bars, young kids littering the main drag all night, trolling for adventures. Last time I was there, the nightlife turned into an actual gunfight mini riot, cops securing the streets. But, hey, it’s still the Wild West, right?...

“Last night was Diego-tastic in Flagstaff, AZ: Long Live Logos, Crash Encore, Transfer, and us. We played [and] stayed at the Hotel Monte Vista. The after-party was a wild mix. I vaguely remember a noise complaint around 4 a.m. and a hotel manager yelling at me, thinking I was the tour manager. I offered him a beer and quickly stumbled away to my room. That’s how we do.”