You probably already have plans for the big festival this weekend. Maybe you have some friends coming into town who are going to crash at your place. Maybe they’ll keep you up all night playing loud music and partying, and in the morning you’ll wake up to find pizza rinds, backwash beers, and soggy roach tips strewn about your living room. That’s what guests are for, right? That and strange hair in the shower drain? Empty, oddly scented miniature shampoo bottles in the soap dish? Maybe an unannounced, sulky companion who doesn’t talk, make eye contact, bathe, or change clothes? Loosen up. Show some adaptability. Festivals and out-of-town guests don’t happen every day – although here in Austin they seem to roll in at a frightening clip. This weekend’s festival however, promises at least to be a relaxing affair. With all the crowds and commotion happening over at Zilker, the East End Soulfest should be a relative walk in the park. Sure, you might have to miss Wilco or Modest Mouse, or Sheryl Crow or Cake, but if you massage your schedule a little you might get to have your Cake and East End too. Friday night’s big East End/ACL matchups are Lavelle White vs. Patti Griffin and W.C. Clark vs. Toots and the Maytals. Saturday it’s Funk Sway vs. the Pixies or Elias Haslanger vs. Trey Anastasio. Either day is too close to call, but rest assured, either way you go, it’s a festival.
This article appears in September 17 • 2004.
