Oh The Modest Mouse
Twice in the same weekend!

Driving to Austin

The humidity alone was enough to kill young children, pets, and the elderly. From our free spot outside the gate, we could see Modest Mouse on stage, their blurry tiny little bodies bouncing up and down and the faint sounds of their melody reaching our ears long after it had been played. Large drips of sweat started to poor from my shoulders and my mouth was stuffed with cotton.

They left the stage and we headed back to our car. The walk would be a long one, but the whole way, I kept thinking to myself how this was the best weekend ever.

It started with a plan for Friday. We would leave as soon as we could after school heading for Austin to see Modest Mouse at Stubbs BBQ. Doors opened at 8 P.M. and three bands were playing, Modest Mouse being the last band. We wanted to be there at 8, and see the entire show from start to finish. We got sidetracked by some poster with pins.

Plus Crissy was sick and couldn’t go with us. We left on that sad note around 4:00 P.M. Four hours later we made it Austin, just in time for the show. We parked underneath the highway and walked around the corner to Stubb’s. We waited in line and when we made it inside, we all took our pre show piss.

Then Explosions in the Sky played and rocked our worlds. They are an instrumental guitar band, and with amazing climaxes spiking up from the slowest smoothest points gave us all goose bumps. By the end of their show we were stoked to the max, and the amazing spectacle on stage made us very impressionable for Modest Mouse.

Modest Mouse took the stage and for the next few hours, even thought we were packed in like sardines, we danced, jumped, screamed and had complete orgasmic tremors running through our bodies with the start of each song.

They opened with Paper Thin Walls off of their album Moon and Antarctica. It was followed (not specifically this order) by Ocean Breaths Salty, Lounge, Bury Me With It, The View, Float On, Blame it on the Tetons, The Good Times Are Killing Me, Third Planet, Cowboy Dan, Black Cadaliacs, Satin Coffin, Bukascis, Wild Pack of Family Dogs, and Doin’ The Cockroach.

They had a great stage presence, and poured out music through many different instruments they had set up on stage. Violins, standing basses, and banjos all played a role in their set list. It was an amazing experience, and on my list of favorite concerts, ranks 2nd only to Radiohead.

After the show we were all drained. The show zapped out of us all the energy we possessed, both physically and emotionally, and we decided that the best thing to do was to head back to our friends place for a night of relaxation and reflection on one of the greatest nights ever.

It didn’t work out that way. The thing about Austin is that it is a party city. Everyone goes to parties’ everyday, so we had to go see what all the fuss was about. We followed our friend over to this group of houses close to the university. Once we found the neighborhood we were greeted by a mass of people.

The roads in this neighborhood were half dirt and half paved, and massive groups of people, each person holding a couple beers crowded the street. Every house we looked into we saw a keg, people dancing, DJs and disco lights. Frat houses were packed with people, and the one house we were supposed to go too blended in with the madness. After driving around for an hour, we gave up, and decided to call our other friends in the area to meet up with them.

We gathered at Jack in the Box and talked for a while. Then we headed back home to relax and sleep.

The next day we woke up and went to ACL. The walk from our parking spot to the front gate was a long one, and the heat had started to get to us by the time we made it. Modest Mouse took the stage and we could see them over the fence. Since we didn’t have tickets, we stood there and listened. We danced around and watched all the con artists working hard to get wrist bands.

After the Modest Mouse we decided not to wait for The Pixies. It was just too hot for use to wait through Dashboard Confessionals, and so we left.

The rest of the trip was spent driving around Austin, finding the places nobody visits when they are in Austin. We went to some guy’s house at 2 in the morning. We partied and listen to the local drama gossip. Our friend broke up with her boyfriend, and we all gave her the “You rock, fuck the asshole guy,” motivational lingo.

Then we left, three hours of driving till home. And then we slept for a day.

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