Austin, TX, March 16-18, 2009

Much to my enjoyment, Spy partnered with Filter Magazine last week at Cedar Street in Austin, Texas during the SXSW Filter party.  The 3-day party was filled with amazing energy, including a Spy gifting suite for the performing artists…artists also received kicks from Onitsuka Tiger and the newest phones from Vtech.  The artists and bands who stopped by were treated to a new pair of Spy shades and many of them took them straight to the stage. 

The Annuals on stage

Filter is known to draw some of the best up and coming artists around and this year they definitely kept their reputation going strong…the crowd was breaking a sweat from noon until the weeeee hours of the morning, and not from the heat, but from rocking the party.

Some of the performing artists included; Idle Warship, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Annuals, Great Northern, Other Lives, Hockey, Zee Avi, White Lies, Razorlight, Late of the Pier, The Whip, Wild Light, Anya Marina, Bat For Lashes, Rye Rye, N.A.S.A., Flosstradamus, Asobi Seksu, Obits, Chairlift, Black Gold.

Late of The Pier before the 15 second brawl

Late of the Pier added an additional performance of attempting to bring down a Cedar Street bouncer, who was pulling the tour manager away from the soundboard, across the crowd, then up the stairs to the VIP area during their gig.  The band was running over their time slot and things got heated as all 80 pounds…ok, maybe 100lbs - or 45 kilos for the Brits - of the lead singer Samuel Dust pounced an extremely large bouncer, a bouncer who was breaking it up with the manager and sound guy.  Dust ended up on his back on the stairs with five fingers nicely wrapped around his throat, but within seconds, he weaseled his way back on stage, grabbing his mic to end the set…and that my friends, is the way a true rockstar ends a show. 

Thank you for entertaining us all Samuel Dust!

And, of course, I’d like to personally thank Filter for a rockin’ time!

See you next year…