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Downtown Dining & Bites of Austin

The face of Austin’s Downtown dining scene has changed somewhat in the past year. There are several new restaurant options within walking distance of the convention center and nearby hotels serving Interactive guests during the Conference. Here’s a scouting report on the newest eateries and watering holes, as well as a list of neighborhood markets…

by Chronicle Staff

Casual Victim Pile II

Speak SXSW showcase: Sat., March 19, 8pm, Red 7 “It’s been fun to be here, but we’re getting homesick,” confesses Troupe Gammage, calling on break between sessions in New York City. “We’ve had no days off for the last two weeks. And I’m looking forward to spending my birthday at home this year with tales…

by Margaret Moser

Casual Victim Pile II

Warren Hood SXSW showcase: Wed., March 16, 10pm, Victorian Room at the Driskill Although he’s only 28, Warren Hood is in possession of a much older soul. Moreover, as son of late Austin stringsman Champ Hood, he’s been playing out locally – professionally – for more than half his life. One can find the fiddler/songwriter…

by Jim Caligiuri

Casual Victim Pile II

Danny Malone SXSW showcase: Thu., March 17, 12mid, Stephen F’s Bar There’s an uneasy urgency and earnestness to Danny Malone and his music that makes it seem his life depends on the moment. It’s as if his sanity and the entire world were inextricably tied to the story he’s telling and the constant state of…

by Doug Freeman

Food and a Movie

DOWNTOWN: Paramount Theatre, State Theatre, the Hideout Theatre There are lots of dining options near the Congress Avenue venues that offer food for all tastes and price ranges. • For light appetites and tight budgets, you can’t go wrong with Little City (916 Congress), a favorite caffeine shop serving fresh, tasty salads and sandwiches such…

by Claudia Alarcón and Kate Thornberry

Casual Victim Pile II

Literature SXSW showcase: Fri., March 18, 8pm, Easy Tiger Patio Kevin Adickes is the Where’s Waldo? of Austin punk. In addition to fronting on-again, off-again Victorian punks MothFight!, he was spotted during Free Week performing with new electro trio Spells. Somehow he makes more racket on guitar in local quartet Literature. Quadrant completed by Nathaniel…

by Audra Schroeder

TV Eye

The Walking Dead‘s short season makes the case for more quality, less quantity

by Belinda Acosta

Food and a Movie

SOUTH: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar Approaching the Alamo Drafthouse coming up Lamar from the south, you’ll pass a string of acclaimed Austin eateries all the way there. • Just past Oltorf is El Mesón (2038 S. Lamar), housed in an inviting native-stone building that shares a parking lot with the Horseshoe Lounge. El Mesón serves…

by Kate Thornberry and Virginia B. Wood

Casual Victim Pile II

Fresh Millions SXSW showcase: Sat., March 19, 1am, Red 7 Fresh Millions operates under the same basic premise as the mullet: business in the front, party in the back. The local trio (bassist Geoff Earle, guitarist/keyboardist Cody Skinner, and drummer Dan Skarbek) looks like a modern IT department – wired to the gills – but…

by Austin Powell

Food and a Movie

SXSatellite Venues: Regal Cinema Westgate There are a few options within walking distance of the theatre, starting with the ultrapopular Hyde Park Bar & Grill (4521 West Gate Blvd.), a laid-back, no-frills American cafe famous for its french fries, which many consider Austin’s best. For me, the draw is Tony’s Southern Comfort Fried Chicken, served…

by Claudia Alarcón and Virginia B. Wood

Casual Victim Pile II

The League of Extraordinary G’z SXSW showcase: Fri., March 18, 10:30pm, Fuze The world hasn’t really met its first Austin rapper. Locals MCs are well aware. “I’ve considered going different places,” admits Da C.O.D.’s Mr. Greezo, a veteran on the scene. “We have a lot of mentors who have been down this road and tried,…

by Chase Hoffberger

Headlines

� The May City Council election – or more specifically, Randi Shade’s Place 3 re-election contest – is growing increasingly crowded, with the announcement of two high-profile candidates challenging the incumbent: former City Council Member Max Nofziger and Planning Com­mis­sioner Kathie Tovo. Monday, March 14, is the last day to file for a place on…

by Chronicle Staff

Casual Victim Pile II

Eagle Claw SXSW showcase: Wed., March 16, 9pm, the Ale House Late Sunday afternoon, on a bright and busy corner of Cesar Chavez on the Eastside – muscle cars booming by with subwoofer tones lower than their rides – Eagle Claw readies a rehearsal in the front room of bassist Luther Smalls’ rented house. No…

by Raoul Hernandez

SXSW Tuesday Showcases

All showcases subject to change Nerdcore 8pm, Flamingo Cantina Few things are more Trekkie than naming your rap group after a processing chip, so this year’s Nerdcore showcase kicks off with the ThoughtCriminals, hitting the stage with five rappers and an 8-bit Nintendo to keep pace. Same goes for Cincinnati duo Dual Core. Nerdiness extends…

by Chronicle Staff

Phases & Stages

Wire Red Barked Tree (Pink Flag) Now on a third reincarnation, UK art-punk pioneers Wire channel the vitality of their 1970s/1980s canon into something far more hungry and adventurous than simply a resewn Pink Flag. With three of four original members (guitarist Bruce Gilbert bowed out in 2004), Red Barked Tree evolves like a bell…

by Greg Beets

SXSW Tuesday Picks & Sleepers

Puffyshoes 10pm, B.D. Riley’s Tokyo’s Puffyshoes is a constant contradiction: lo-fi J-pop. Guitarist Usagi Hops and drummer Neko Meows bash out bubblegum pop almost exclusively about teenage heartbreak, but with a layer of four-track distortion normally reserved for acts like Times New Viking. “Lazy Seventeen” kicks. – Austin Powell Esben & the Witch 10pm, Spill…

by Chronicle Staff

Phases & Stages

The Ex Catch My Shoe (Carrot Top) Across three decades, Dutch punks the Ex have released 25 consistent albums while staying radical, never breaking up, and trotting the globe in search of inspiration. Arnold de Boer replaced agitator G.W. Sok in 2009, and though his delivery never matches the founder’s artful rasp, on “Cold Weather…

by Audra Schroeder

SXSW Tuesday Interview

Gary Lucas Plays Spanish ‘Dracula’ 10pm, Central Presbyterian Church Most notably as Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band guitarist on latter-day LPs Ice Cream for Crow and Doc at the Radar Station, Gary Lucas cut an instrumental swath, but as a composer and songwriter, his work goes even further. Downtown in one of Austin’s not-so-Gothic houses of…

by Chronicle Staff

Quote of the Week

“If we’re losing teachers of the year now, who’s going to be teaching our kids in five years?” – AISD trustee Annette LoVoi, during the board’s deliberation Monday on job cuts

by Chronicle Staff

Phases & Stages

Dave Allen Color Blind (International Artists/Charly) Houston label landmark International Artists is remembered as much for its litigious accounting as its legendary recordings. The psychedelic haze of the 13th Floor Elevators and Bubble Puppy has historically overshadowed LPs such as Dave Allen’s rare gem of Texas roadhouse blues. A onetime regional pop star that recorded…

by Austin Powell

Golly, Olly

Actor Olly Alexander puts aside the weirdos and psychos for the sweetly romantic The Dish & the Spoon

by Melanie Haupt

Phases & Stages

Buddy Miller The Majestic Silver Strings (New West) Buddy Miller can do no wrong. Just ask Robert Plant, Patty Griffin, and Emmylou Harris. Although this collection of classic country sprinkled with a couple of originals features an extraordinarily talented assemblage of musical collaborators, it never coalesces into anything above average. Besides Miller, the Majestic Silver…

by Jim Caligiuri

SXSW Picks & Sleepers Intro

One day, the Music portion of South by Southwest will rage for an entire week instead of its current four and a fourth days. Last year, per usual, showcases ran Wednesday through Saturday, but here in 2011, for the first time, the Festival has added performances on Tuesday � a soft opening, so to speak.…

by Raoul Hernandez

Phases & Stages

Percy Sledge The Atlantic Recordings (Rhino Handmade) Tough act to follow, “When a Man Loves a Woman.” Atlantic Records’ Jerry Wexler knew its worth immediately: “When I heard it, I called Ahmet [Ertegun] in Europe and told him I’d found a single that was going to pay for our whole summer,” the late label head…

by Raoul Hernandez

Luv Doc Recommends: Mutton Bustin’ at Rodeo Austin

You didn’t spend all that money flying to Texas just to experience the same bullshit blue-state bourgeois brownnosing you were trying to get away from. Even though you knowingly signed up for the largest cultural conclave in the Western Hemisphere – a veritable clusterfuck of desperation, sycophancy, and unbridled egomania – somewhere in some naive…

by The Luv Doc

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