The best show I’ve ever seen was at SXSW in 2014. It was in this tiny little hot dog — yes hot dog — restaurant somewhere in Austin that I can’t name and probably couldn’t find again. My friends Alex Braden and Nathan Mitchell REALLY wanted to see this band — I think it was the only band they were hardset on seeing while we were there — and so we got there early enough to get some space right next to the stage. I hadn’t ever heard of this band until we were driving away from VA. The place was packed. The stage was maybe 4 feet high. One of the band members was late. He cruised in on his skateboard, and didn’t even have enough room on the stage for his gear, so he set up his effects board on the floor *next* to the stage.
I was excited. I remember there was such a buzz in the crowd, which was maybe 200 people. I had the perfect vantage point, literally standing next to the guitarist set up on the floor. I could see right down the stage, and I had my camera ready.
The band started to play, and…it blew my f***ing mind. It was loud, it was fast, there were 4 guitars, there were so many shredtacular solos. The guitarist on my end (a dude named Evan) and the guitarist next to him (a dude named Emmett) kept switching spots and messing with each others effects pedals. They loved it. I loved it. The crowd loved it. The pinnacle was one of the guys getting up on a large speaker and stage diving into the crowd. The cord got ripped from the guitar, but it managed to get back to it’s home in the input jack, and he shredded on. I left the…
