Riverboat Gamblers

Tonight I'm watching the Riverboat Gamblers perform at Emo's for the last time. Aww. The downtown location doesn't officially close until Dec. 30, but knowing me, I'm probably not going out again until Free Week.

And it also makes me sad because this is the last show I'll see with my BFF Marlee for awhile. She moved to Colorado a few months ago, so I gotta cherish these moments whenever she's in town. I have yet to find someone who appreciates music just like I do, and she just had to leave Austin for job opportunities. You mean I can't stay in wonderful Austin and struggle as writer while working in retail for the rest of my life? Oh, adult responsibilities.

But tonight we will have fun, because after all it is the Riverboat Gamblers and that band never lets me down. Unfortunately, the bassist Rob will not be in attendance because of sad family news. However, the original bassist/founding member Patrick Lillard will fill in instead.

Anywho, I've seen a lot of shows at Emo's. I loved the intimate setting the inside stage provides. I won free tickets from Spin Magazine to see The Constantines. It was crazy packed so I sat on the bleachers in the back of the venue (anybody else miss those?). The crowd knew it was time for business when the band raised their instruments when they started playing the first note. The entire set was intense. It's still one of the most memorable shows to this day.

I saw The Bronx and Mariachi El Bronx for the first time on that stage too. I remember when Von Iva didn't finish their set because the singer couldn't finish her vocal duties. But that was also the same night as the Spiro's shooting so because of that, the show ended early. I went home early and that saved me from a bad situation. So hey, at least there's that.

Man, who else? I can't even begin to list all the bands I've seen or interviewed there. A lot of local bands held their CD releases there or opened for a bigger headliner. I remember squeezing inside to check out the free shows during SXSW. I remember freezing my ass off at the outside stage during previous Free Weeks. Oh yeah, I saw Glassjaw, Thrice, Tyler Hilton and Zykos on that outside stage. All for different shows, of course.

I'm sad Emo's downtown is closing, but at least we still have Emo's East (although, I haven't been there yet). I am curious to see how the closure will affect the Free Week and SXSW crowds though. Emo's East does have shows scheduled during Free Week, but I gotta plan to stay there the whole time if I attend any of their shows. I don't know about y'all, but I like to bounce around throughout the night. I've discovered some great bands that way. In the meantime, I plan to have fun at my last time at Emo's tonight.

If you know what I look like, then you're probably wondering why a skinny delicate girl such as myself was spending a Friday night in the cramped Beerland filled with sweaty punk rockers?

Easy. One band, two words. Riverboat Gamblers.

Now I've seen Riverboat Gamblers before at various music festivals but that Friday's performance on May 28 was special and a must see event for any RBG fan. Why you ask? Because they performed one of their earlier albums "Something to Crow About" in its entirely.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now I want you to use that gift that Mr. Rogers so verily gave you called imagination and I want you to think back. I want you to forget what going's on right now. Forget that all our shores are filled with oil. I want you to think back to the year 2003 when you only knew one guy who had a cell phone and text messages wasn't there and there's a young scrappy band from Denton, TX..."

-vocalist Mike Wiebe

Drenched in sweat, the band and the fans relived 2003 all over again. Of course, no Riverboat Gamblers show is complete without Wiebe invariably jumping into the crowd. I think he secretly does it to make sure the fans are still paying attention. I wouldn't want one of his boney elbows hitting my head. Luckily for me, I was secured on top of an amp witnessing all the action.

After the quick 30 minute album was performed, the fans still wanted more. So the guys, not letting them down, gave them a two song encore from the more recent recordings.

Click on the photos above to see more from the Beerland set.

Here are some more posts/articles/whatever to read that have grabbed my attention.

My masculinity led a vigorous life that included frequent discussions of hot swimsuit models, defending the honor of my friends and having their back in fights, semifrequent uses of the words bro and bitch, some heavy weightlifting when softness occurred, and the occasional fist pump.
Shameful Obituaries of 2010: My Masculinity

This year's Coachella felt like that cousin had lost control of their problem and was completely off the rails the entire time you were together.
An Open Letter To Coachella

Stuff Journalists Like is one of my new favorite blogs. We've been reading this religiously in the newsroom. I linked to their April Fool's post about PR reps. Pure gold.
One of the things journalists like best about PR reps is when one tells a journalist how to do his or her job. For any PR folks out there that want to build a better relationship with their local journalist, recommend to a journalist how to write a story, who to talk to and especially what to leave out of a story.
#123 PR reps

A new website has been formed called Red River Noise as a response to Austin's poor quality music coverage. I could write a rant about this, but I think my editors Ian and Ajay got it covered. However, I'm completely honored to be a part of the writing team.
Our "alternative" newspaper mostly covers music that people under 40 don't care about, while the alternative radio station won't stop playing the same five Pearl Jam songs its been playing since 1992. And our blog scene is mostly concerned with nightlife and see-and-be-seen parties.
Red River Noise is here.

You all talk about the same parties or shows, but I get some are worth talking about. That and the lack of effort or quality of your work tell me that you blog to escape your crappy day time life so you can get into the cool kid parties or shows for free at night. You're not fooling anyone, especially not me.
The State of Austin Music Media Brings "Red River Noise"

This isn't an article but a really awesome interview you need to watch.
A lot of punk rock fans and stuff are really narrow-minded and really, it's like everything has to be in a certain... there's a lot of rules. For a type of music that was created to break rules and to not follow boundaries, it's like the most rules specific and like rigid structure of what you're supposed to can and can't do.

Since this is an Austin-based publication, there really isn't much to be said about Austin punk rock band, Riverboat Gamblers.

But what needs to be said about this interview is this: I was exhausted. Lead singer Mike Wiebe was exhausted. How this interview made any sort of sense is a mystery to me but we did manage to talk about some band business.

I was nervous about this interview because this band has done a lot of press in the past so I didn't know what to expect and I also didn't want to come off with the same generic band questions. But I'm really glad with how this interview came out. Yay.

SXSW 2010 Interview with Riverboat Gamblers from Sarah Vasquez on Vimeo.

Originally posted at Accent.

My recap for Fun Fun Fun Fest is up at Accent. My Life and Arts Editor, David Rodriguez, recapped the Saturday bands and I recapped the Sunday bands. I'll post my Saturday recap as soon as I'm done but for now, you just get to read about my Sunday.

Sunday was a mud-filled day (minus the ACL Dillo Dirt) while it rained most of the festival. Fans still gathered at the four stages with raincoats and umbrellas to get their money's worth. Unfortunately, for this writer, most of my time was spent hanging out and interviewing bands in the media tent during the rain, as I did not want to get my expensive (for a college student's budget) equipment to get water damaged.

Click here to read the rest at Accent. Also in the post is David's Saturday recap and multimedia from David, Hanlly and myself.

And for those that missed it, here is my slideshow from the Festival.

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2009 from Sarah Vasquez on Vimeo.

I believe this is the last interview I shot photos for Double Stereo during Fun Fun Fun Fest. This was with the Riverboat Gamblers.

I felt kinda bad for lead singer, Mike Wiebe, because the lighting was not his friend that day. It was overcast and rainy and no matter what setting I put my camera on, the lighting just clung to him and reflected off his face. I had Ajay stand in his way so it would block the light a little bit and it helped. Anyway, here is the 2 part interview with the Riverboat Gamblers that feature my photography.

Austin-based bands, Riverboat Gamblers, Lomita and Kissinger, will have music videos showcased at this year's SXSW Film Festival.

Lomita's video for "Broken Boy," off of their album, Downtown Mystic, uses the different sequences of the song to reflect the nature of the couple who are the main focus of the video.

"I had an idea for every song on the album," said Director Jose Jones. "I liked 'Broken Boy' because I had seen the progression of it at their live show. I saw it go from very early, rough and quiet, to this intense, polished, brilliant piece of music."

Click here to read the rest at Accent.

Lomita "Broken Boy"

Kissinger "Sydney Stone"

Riverboat Gamblers "Don't Bury Me...I'm Not Dead Yet"