Jeff_I's Blog

When I told people I was planning on standing on a bridge and watching 80,000 bats fly away at once I got two reactions:

1) That's disgusting.

2) That's awesome.

Naturally, the people who gave the first answer were among the more rational people in my life, and the people who answered the second way are my idiot friends/travel mates/myself.

So, guess what I did last night?

We gathered at about 7:15p.m along the Congress Avenue bridge (nicknamed "The Bat Bridge") and waited. And waited. And waited. By 8:15 we were getting restless, as were the countless amounts of people also waiting (actually, it wasn't countless. Probably about 100. Entirely countable.)

Then, the bats started coming in a frenzy. Swooping like crazy up and around the bridge. It was actually a bit more freaky than awesome, but definitely a worthwhile experience. I'd say it's a once in a lifetime event but you can't really predict mass bat related events.

Following that we headed to Antone's for the Sound And The Jury Contest Battle of the Bands presented by Dell. The contest was to determine the winner of a 600 band contest, the prize being a slot on the ACL Fest stage on Friday.

What a great event. Admittedly, I was only able to make it for 2 of the 5 bands vying for the gig (remember that whole staying up for 24+ hours?). Antone's is a really cool converted warehouse (located in the Warehouse district, natch) and it was packed!

The first band 'Blue Flashing Light' was the only non Texan outfit on the bill (from Athens, GA). They were high energy, but ultimately disappointing. They reminded me of a Korg organ on a pogo stick, and the melodic moments were few and far between. The line of the night came from my buddy Dave C who noted the band had their own 'Mel' from Flight Of The Conchords. Eventually, watching her enthused flailing became more fun than watching the band.

The next band was GREAT. They have an absolutely horrendous name, but man did they rock, and I'm told that 'Homer Hiccolm & The Rocketboys' won the whole contest last night. I will definitely be checking them out tomorrow morning.

For more on all of the Sound And The Jury finalists click here and be sure and listen to 'Hearbeat' by HH& The Rocketboys.

With that, I'm off to finish off our Grail-esque quest to find a Sonic (The Knights Of The Embassy Suites managed to walk about 6 miles today without finding one), then checking out Pattersoon Hood and Kara Grainger, and visiting our friends at PASTE Magazine.

More on that soon. And one note: I have a ton of awesome pictures, but uploading is becoming an issue. Stay tuned. I promise epicness