Over 2 days and 2 stages, 24 bands and artists performed over a dozen hours of music within the friendly confines of Jovita's, a Mexican restaurant in south Austin. A wide swath of sounds were represented: Blistering rock, sweet twang, sweltering soul and heartfelt folk.
The highlights are too numerous to detail in full, but a few are worth mentioning. On Thursday, John Doe dug deep into his bag of songs--which included a version of X's "Burning House of Love"--during a performance that kept the audience at joyful attention. Brown Bird, a folk duo manning at least a half dozen instruments, hammered and bowed their way through a fierce collection of epic tales and ominous scenes, making dozens of new fans in the process.
On Saturday, Chuck Prophet's sardonic banter and frayed hooks delighted a room packed wall to wall and floor to ceiling. Later on, the ever dependable JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound nailed their performance and then were almost late for their next gig across town when JC refused to leave during Nikka Costa's set. His bandmates had to drag out from in front of the stage, where he was grooving to Costa's pop and soul master class harder than anyone.
It was all so delightful that we can't wait to do it again. Thankfully, June is just around the corner.
All photos by Chris Bay, Nate Burrell and Steve Ley.
