SPEAK for a year: May

Reason #175 why I love being a journalist: To explain why I did the crazy thing that would under different circumstances classify me as a fangirl of driving over three hours to see an Austin band in Dallas even though I've seen them for the past five months can simply be said like this: "It's for a story."

This month's show for SPEAK required a field trip to Dallas as it was the only show scheduled for the month. I was invited to a house party they were playing at earlier in the month but I scheduled an interview with another band at the same time they were scheduled to perform. Oh well, a trip to Dallas it is.

The drive wasn't too bad as one of my best friends Marlee came along. We chatted during the entire ride over, stopped for lattes and kolaches and sang off the top of our lungs to old school Austin Punk Rock tunes (Air Tight Alibi, Firekills, A Still Second) and other randomness (Vampire Weekend, Audioslave, Riverboat Gamblers, etc.) on the way home. It was fun times all around. I haven't been to Dallas since last year when I was there with the Accent staff for the 2009 TIPA Conference. It was a nice blast from the past to drive by the hotel we stayed at.

Anyway, the guys played at the House of Blues which is a pretty cool little venue (well the room they played in anyway) and the sound wasn't bad at all. I got an amazing spot right in the front so I took a lot of photos. The show overall was like being at another SPEAK show except we were in Dallas. The guys sounded tight as usual. No catastrophes occurs and the stage was large enough for all the high energy they always produce. Good show all around. I think there was a new song thrown in the set list because I didn't recognize it at all and they didn't play "Foreign Love" (which is one of my favorite songs of theirs. Ah well.) I saw a few familiar faces from the Austin crowd at the show but it seemed to be that the majority of the crowd were new listeners as well as seemed to be an older crowd than what they usually draw.

The cover of the night was Bee Gee's "Stayin Alive," but instead of describing how awesome it was, how about I just show you. My camera is in desperate need of a better SD card so I only got 40 seconds of the song but those 40 seconds are totally worth sharing.

SPEAK covering "Stayin Alive" from Sarah Vasquez on Vimeo.

And as for the guys' reactions to seeing me at the show... They were surprised, but not because of they weren't expecting me. After all, they know all about this series. They seemed to be surprised I actually made the trip. Luckily for me, the next show in June is at the Parish in Austin down the street from my house. Phew.