Austin Co-op Festival

Nice signage!

Last night, Austin co-opers made their way to the East Side to celebrate the virtues of Co-operation at the French Legation. Some non-co-ops were there, and a few start ups -- Black Star Co-op, and the South Austin Coop. I asked them if  whether they would be getting that hyphen when they incorporated, and quite being a coop. I don't think they got my joke. 

My three favorite Austin bands played this event, and Real Ale was on hand to let the imbibers imbibe. The turn out was great, and the energy on the dance grass was was off the hook. There were a good amount of do-nothing-twenty-somethings, a plethora of should-be-doing-something-thirty-somethings, and a fair amount of families.

Tammy and Nate.

Dad, this is called a corset. That's a lot of piercing.

Annie and Lulan. Lulan is very afraid of me...

Mark and Lulan. Too many Soutters here...

Charlize havin' a pint.

Flip n' Soutter

First up was my new favorite Austin band, Clyde and Clem's Whiskey Business. My friend and former co-worker, Phil 'Flip' Patterson, aka Clem, is in this debaucherous band whose repertoire centers around songs about -- you guessed it... -- whiskey. Oh, and cocaine. Lots of cocaine. They have a heavy shtick in this group. Hillbilly extreme. Cut off sleeveless shirts, trucker hats, hee haw'n and dang ole'n. They do a bi-weekly at the Hole the Wall. You go!

"I've been around fuckin' for the Lord."

"That woman poured my whiskey down the drain... that woman dumped out all my cocaine."

"It puts the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again..."

They played spirited versions of Deep Ellum Blues, Fuckin' for the Lord, The Ballad of Ed Gein, and even a great Jesus was Pissed. There weren't as many kids in attendance at first, and they ran with their nasty lyrics, even as the kiddos filed in. Shit. I grew up in that environment, and I turned out fine!

Next came a longtime favorite band of mine, PONG, featuring my friend, and trusted beer buyer, $hane $helton on keys and vocals. These guys had everyone dancing. I may have accidently cut their power when I went for a piss, but hey, no one's pointing fingers here... 

White hot.

Electric.

They played a few new tunes, including Suicide Cat, and Dog, both of which are spacey and groove heavy. They played some of my favorites as well, like Secret Meat, Pong, Super Wrong, and the closer Finally. They seemed be having a really great time, and I would say that this was the best PONG show I have seen in about a year.

"Grab your super eight again, feel my future fate again, it's great again, it's great again..."

$hane is mystified.

To close out the festivities, The White Ghost Shivers brought just enough kitsch, and Vaudeville to get everyone's jazz hands thrusting. These guys are great, and just so much fun to see. Dressed in suits, and with the ever present flapper, these cats will get you all nostalgic, reminiscing your past lives spent in speakeasies and flop houses. Oh, and cocaine. They sing lots of songs about the cocaine. Seemed to be a theme? They didn't call'em the roaring twenties for nothing.

Weston is 7'1", the bassist is 5'1".

"Everybody's got those White Ghost Shivers, everybody's got them now!"

It was a great time all round. I got to spend some time with folks that I hadn't seen out in a while, and get my dance on. I love the jazz hands, they're not just for meetings anymore.