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Tony heads to Austin during South by Southwest, an international music fest
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00:00For a short period each year, a mid-sized Texas city, its strangely un-Texan capital, becomes something else.
00:21A hipster apocalypse.
00:22There's nothing to do, but surrender.
00:37I'm Anthony Bourdain.
00:40I write, I travel, I eat, and I'm hungry for more.
00:46The yearly South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas brings together a perfect storm of representatives of the People's Republic of Laptopistan and indie music fans from all over the world.
01:12Yeah, bro!
01:14Make fun of hipsters all you like. God knows I do.
01:18Somebody pointed out recently, only hipsters make fun of hipsters.
01:21But I think I'm off the hook there, because there's definitely an age limit for possible hipsterdom.
01:25I'm like, so far removed from anything that could possibly be called a hipster, or even remotely associated with the word hip.
01:33I mean, come on! I'm much more like a mean old dude.
01:36But deep down, let's face it, you could do worse than to find yourself in Austin.
01:41Huh? What's that?
01:42Even during South by Southwest.
01:44Even if you're a hopelessly old and out of it, cranky old fart like me.
01:48Like music? Like food?
01:50It's the best trailer food you've ever had in your life. Seriously.
01:54Interested in social media? The internets? Care to see stadium bands in pint-sized venues?
02:00You guys having fun yet?
02:02This is where to be.
02:03Whoo!
02:06For six days in March, crowds descend to see more than 2,000 bands play 90-plus venues for...
02:12I don't know, you do the math, but a hell of a lot of performance.
02:15You can tour a lot?
02:17We just got back from a three-week tour.
02:19We have 12 shows this week, so that kind of got us in the mode.
02:22Yeah. Oh, wow.
02:24Yeah.
02:25One of the bands working South by Southwest this year...
02:27Hey, thank you all so much for Ume with them, Austin, Texas.
02:30...is Ume, a hard rockin' Austin trio known for jamming a whole lot of rock into a little room.
02:35I'm together, I need, I need sing to, to be here with you, with you one more room.
02:47Good place to make music?
02:50Hell yeah.
02:51There's a lot of bands, but it's not like a competitive environment, I mean, it's a real, it's a community.
02:55In my experience, rock and roll bands get a decent meal all too rarely.
02:59So in a totally non-creepy way, I'm feeding as many of them as I can.
03:06It's the kind of guy I am, supporting the arts.
03:08Usually if I'm offstage, people don't even think I'm in the band.
03:11They don't even let me do the club.
03:13We played two nights ago and a sound guy goes,
03:15Little Blonde with the Big Marshall.
03:17Turn down, Sugar Cheeks.
03:20That's a get guitar in teeth kind of a situation.
03:23Alright guys, first one is the pan roasted meat salad, served with fried pistachio and a little herb to go cheese.
03:40Live music's always at the forefront here, but when it comes to food, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in Austin making more headlines than Bryce Gilmore and his restaurant, Barley Swine.
03:57Bryce is a local boy who made his bones cooking in some great restaurants all over the country, but returned to his hometown in hopes of doing something extraordinary.
04:05Yeah.
04:06There we go.
04:07Alright.
04:08Go for it guys.
04:09Small, meticulously prepared plates, meant to be shared.
04:16Pretty.
04:17Yeah.
04:18These pistachios?
04:19Yeah, yeah.
04:20Sounds good.
04:21A chilled soup of asparagus and spinach, with Parmesan beer fritters, and pickled oyster mushrooms.
04:28I love it.
04:30That's exciting.
04:31Soft scrambled eggs and grilled broccoli, with goat feta and pine nuts.
04:38Oh, it's real, real good.
04:40Gold shrimp with the fried heads.
04:41Great.
04:43That is very cool.
04:44Shrimp with fried heads.
04:50Served over Greek garlic rice, with a frogly aioli.
04:58I'm going in.
04:59Mercy.
05:00Oh, that's good.
05:01They're not f***ing around here at all.
05:03No, no, no.
05:04Foie gras, grilled and served with cauliflower and macerated strawberries.
05:08That's good.
05:09It's delicious.
05:10The sublime goat neck and shoulder thing, with carrots and grilled artichoke.
05:14Wow.
05:15It's real good.
05:16Chicken fried egg, with grilled sweet breaks.
05:18It's a chicken fried chicken egg.
05:19This is really nice.
05:20Nice.
05:21What do you guys eat on the road on a good day, and what do you eat on the road on a really bad day?
05:26There's times, especially because I'm southern, I've got a very southern palate.
05:29Right.
05:30There's times when it's like, Cracker Barrel's a treat when you're on the road.
05:34It's like, I can get me some llama beans with ham.
05:36Right.
05:37Some turnip greens with some spicy vinegar sauce.
05:40That's really good.
05:41You guys are way too sophisticated for me, because I'm going to the Colonel or Popeyes, and I'm getting that-
05:46Oh, gosh.
05:47I'm getting that- I'm getting that f***ed up macaroni and cheese.
05:49That's terrible.
05:50Yeah.
05:51That's disgusting.
05:52This is our version of Texas barbecue.
05:54Beautiful.
05:56Risk it, eh?
05:58This time with a coffee rub.
06:01Served over pureed barbecue beets, potatoes, pickles, radish, and celery root slaw.
06:08And I've got one more.
06:11This one is awesome.
06:12It's our grilled chicken breast with an egg yolk puree, a dill froth, grilled chicken testicles,
06:17and hush puppies made with smoked chicken leg.
06:19Cool.
06:21Are there chicken balls on this?
06:22There are indeed.
06:23Where are the balls?
06:25These right here.
06:26Guess, chickens do have balls.
06:29Ooh, slippery.
06:31I assume they confused me with Zimmern when they put these on my itinerary, but I'm glad
06:36they did.
06:37It was good.
06:38Here's what I never understood.
06:39How are the testicles bigger than the chicken itself?
06:41Yeah, seriously.
06:42He got the big ball of chicken.
06:44Reverse Stallone syndrome.
06:45Yeah, seriously.
06:46He's doing it.
06:47That's big.
06:48I mean, the chicken-
06:49That's a big-ass chicken ball.
06:50Chickens have big balls.
06:51That ball could fertilize.
06:53Oh, wow.
06:54It's kind of rubbery.
06:55Yeah.
06:56And by the way, this is one of his number one dishes.
06:57Is it?
06:58Yeah.
06:59All right.
07:00To that.
07:01Cheers.
07:06South by Southwest is a spectacle in its own right.
07:12But there's another reason to come to Austin.
07:17Reason enough to slit your best friend's throat, steal a car, drive cross-country, then
07:22wait on line outside a dreary-looking shed for upwards of two hours.
07:27Come on.
07:28Franklin Barbecue.
07:29Got here at 8.30 in the morning because I was told this is the best barbecue in town.
07:32There's a line around the corner.
07:34When there's a line for food, I'm going to stand on it.
07:36The sale is out pretty quickly.
07:37It opens at 11.
07:38It's going by 12.00 o'clock.
07:39Supposed to be the best in the country, so I'm ready for it.
07:43Sausage?
07:44You got it.
07:45Aaron Franklin is the obsessed and obsessive, legendarily perfectionist master-
07:50Like a little lean or a little fatty?
07:51Of slow smoked meat.
07:52Lean.
07:53You got it.
07:54Aaron is actually cutting the meat at the front of the line, which for a place with this
07:57much business, that's kind of crazy.
07:59Talk about like hyper-quality control.
08:01So like a 15-minute wait for y'all.
08:03Hour 35.
08:04What Aaron Franklin is doing at the head of this line is truly worth waiting for.
08:08The holy trinity of Texas barbecue.
08:10Brisket, ribs, and sausage.
08:11Brisket, ribs, and sausage.
08:13Daniel Vaughn is an expert on Texas barbecue.
08:16He wanders the state on an endless quest for his website, Full Custom Gospel Barbecue.
08:21How many days a month are you eating barbecue now?
08:23Probably in the past two months.
08:24It's been four weeks total.
08:26Every day?
08:27Yeah, every day.
08:28Chronicling and evaluating the highs and lows of smoked meat in all its permutations.
08:33You're dying tomorrow.
08:34Where is your last bite of barbecue coming from?
08:36Uh, Central Texas.
08:37Central Texas.
08:38Yeah.
08:39The highest concentration of great barbecue is in Central Texas without a doubt.
08:42Now, this comes as news to me.
08:44As I previously settled on North Carolina Whole Hog and Kansas City is my preferred final
08:49battleground of barbecue arts.
08:51But Daniel makes the case for Texas.
08:53He says that Franklin Barbecue is the best of the best.
08:57It's one of the few places that I can tell people it's really worth standing in line.
09:00Are you aware of any other barbecue establishments with this kind of commitment from its fans?
09:04No.
09:05There isn't another restaurant that garners this sort of line.
09:08The tail end right here.
09:09It's a three hour week.
09:10Why?
09:11What does he do right here?
09:12First of all, he's got an all wood fired smoker.
09:14No electric, no gas.
09:15Uses all oak, which is the real Central Texas style.
09:18Okay.
09:19And then if you don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to tend the fire, that's
09:22really what makes good barbecue.
09:23Pain and sacrifice is an important part of the barbecue tradition.
09:25Exactly.
09:26Yeah.
09:27I don't know.
09:28There seems to be a mythical component more so than any other sector of dining or eating
09:32that I could think of.
09:33There's got to be a good story to go with the barbecue.
09:35Part of the mysticism about it is a place like this that just uses salt and pepper.
09:50It's like, yeah, take a brisket, take some salt and pepper and oak smoke.
09:54Like those are all my secrets.
09:55Who's cooking is of premium importance.
09:57Yes.
09:58It's smoking for how long?
10:13Like 18 hours?
10:14Yeah.
10:15Smoking for 18 hours.
10:16How many days a week is this open?
10:17It's open six days a week.
10:18I mean, it's six days a week of 16 hour days.
10:20Wow.
10:21Good morning.
10:22Good morning.
10:23How you doing today?
10:24The line's moving.
10:25Oh, yeah.
10:26It's moving.
10:27I used to score dope on a line just like this.
10:42I'm getting pretty excited.
10:43As we're getting close, I'm getting pretty excited about this, honestly.
10:48Wow.
10:49Whoo.
10:50Holy crap.
10:51Damn, that is good looking brisket.
10:54It does not sound like anybody else's brisket hitting the board.
10:58And it sort of quivers and...
10:59It doesn't spring back.
11:00No.
11:01It just, like, just sort of...
11:02It settles.
11:03Yeah.
11:04It just relaxes.
11:05Oh, it's relaxing, right?
11:06Yeah.
11:07Holy crap.
11:08What do we want?
11:09I want those end ribs for sure.
11:10All right.
11:11And then...
11:12Let's get about a half pound of lean, half pound of fatty.
11:16And then we'll do a couple of links to sausage.
11:18Yeah.
11:19That'll work.
11:20Look at that.
11:21That's pretty.
11:22The smoke ring, black crust, translucent fat.
11:27Cheers.
11:28Mmm.
11:29Wow.
11:30Holy crap, right?
11:31Wow.
11:32It's unbelievable.
11:33There's more people out there at the end of the line.
11:35I've never had barbecue this moist.
11:36It's super natural.
11:37Yeah.
11:38How is it possible?
11:39Just having that knowledge to know how to keep a consistent heat.
11:40Because you go too high on a brisket, it's gonna squeeze up like a sponge, let out all
11:53its water.
11:54Once you let that collagen and the fat break down within the meat at a low enough temperature,
11:57it's gonna sit within there.
11:58Sort of self-pasting.
11:59Yeah.
12:00Salt, pepper, and oat.
12:01Yeah.
12:02Period.
12:03The right temperature for the right amount of time.
12:05No thermometer, no timer figuring out when it's done.
12:07You lift it up and that's how you know.
12:10Let's talk barbecue terminology.
12:12What's the cookie?
12:13Right here at this end, you've got this like blackened edge here.
12:17So you've got like fat, meat, and salt all working together.
12:21That's the cookie?
12:22That's a sugar cookie.
12:23What other terms?
12:24So you've got the smoke ring, that nice red.
12:26Right.
12:27It's a chemical reaction that happens at the right temperature and moisture level of the
12:30meat.
12:31Right.
12:32So with the ring there, you know it is sat at a low enough temperature for the ring to
12:35actually form.
12:36Now this is the bark, the outer crust?
12:38Yeah, the bark or the crust.
12:39Nice crusty end of the rib there.
12:43The sausage, you want a nice pot casing on it.
12:46You know, you really want it to pop when you bite into it.
12:48This one has a little bit of gaminess to it.
12:50It adds some beef hearts into the mix.
12:54Wow.
12:55Juicy without being over fatty.
12:57You know, the turkey and the sausage are both great, but they pale in comparison to the
13:01indefinable awesomeness of the beef.
13:04The fatty end is so insanely moist and delicious.
13:07Far and away the best that I've ever had.
13:11It is a religious experience of barbecue.
13:13It really is, isn't it?
13:19I think we've learned something today.
13:21Only Texans and Jews understand brisket.
13:23Yeah.
13:24No reservation.
13:25Suburban Austin.
13:26The gentle sounds of distant lawnmowers.
13:27The droning of far away sprinklers.
13:28Birds cheating.
13:29Derek Miller and Alexis Krause and the duo behind the band, Slaybelts.
13:36And when they play Austin, instead of braving the madness downtown, they rent a house in the
13:42birds.
13:43The birds.
13:44Where did you go?
13:45Where did you go?
13:46Where did you go?
13:47Where did you go?
13:48Where did you go?
13:49Where did you go?
13:50Where did you go?
13:51Where did you go?
13:52Where did you go?
13:53Where did you go?
13:55rent a house in the Burbs.
14:14Why? Because they surround themselves with an incredibly nice group of friends who do
14:19amazing things, like cook really great food.
14:22What's going on here? I'm supposed to live on pizza and convenience store sandwiches.
14:26And guitarists who are also like tattoo artists.
14:29This guy's been tattooing for a decade. Do you want a tattoo today?
14:33Today? Are you in?
14:35I'm in, sure.
14:38That means if you visit the Sleigh Bells, you're likely to get a really great meal.
14:42Like, how gorgeous is that?
14:45Get drunk as s***. I need a drink really badly.
14:48Do you want an avocado margarita?
14:49Yes, yes I do.
14:50I'm going to make you up.
14:52And get a nice tattoo administered under professional and hygienic conditions.
14:55What do you want to get?
14:56A little song with the rays emanating it.
14:59Okay.
15:00Take a shine to your hand.
15:01Keep it back.
15:02It is a shame that you're done.
15:06You were born to use.
15:07I don't need to measure anything.
15:17Just going to eyeball it.
15:18You don't need to measure anything, just can eyeball it.
15:21By eyeballing, I mean a lot of tequila.
15:24Limeade, some avocados.
15:27Once I'd get tattoos as decoration,
15:29then when I reach that age where really a person
15:31really shouldn't be doing that anymore,
15:33it's going to be a regular feature on this show.
15:36Well, I figured, look, my body at this point is like a car.
15:40There are so many dents in it by now that one more won't matter.
15:43So why the f*** not?
15:48You get a nice, sloppy avocado margarita.
15:56That's great.
15:58Thank you, sir.
16:02Doesn't sound like a good idea, but it is, isn't it?
16:05That's what I'm saying. You guys met at a restaurant, right?
16:07Well, yeah, I was waiting tables at a Brazilian restaurant.
16:11Churrasco ria? Like you weren't slicing the meat on a stick type of a thing.
16:14Well, her mom is like super talkative.
16:16She was with her mom, so.
16:17We had a bet. My mom thought he was Brazilian.
16:19I mean, clearly.
16:21Yeah, she was like, no, I think he's Brazilian.
16:23She was like, are you from Brazil?
16:25He's like, no, I'm from Florida.
16:26Yeah, she was like, what are they doing in New York?
16:28And I was like, I'm looking for a singer.
16:29And she was like, I sing?
16:32And here we are.
16:33And you see where we're doing a whole pig?
16:35Yeah.
16:35Looking good on that tenderloin.
16:37Perfect.
16:38Crawdads, too.
16:39Yeah.
16:39I was bigger in your head, boo.
16:46All right, let's do this.
16:47Ryan Premack is the band's production manager.
16:50And he does not f*** around with the craft services.
16:54And he tours with you?
16:55Yeah, yeah.
16:56So you travel with somebody who can cook?
16:58Yeah.
16:58That's sort of unheard of.
17:00Should we transition to Derek's drink of choice?
17:02Yeah, what's that?
17:03Will you shotgun a Bud Lightman with me?
17:05Shotgunning beer?
17:07All right, sure, I guess.
17:08I have heard of this practice somewhere.
17:10I mean, you've shotguned beers before.
17:12No, I think it's been about 30 years.
17:14Jam a key in, and then once you lift it, you have to pop this.
17:19L'chaim.
17:20Good.
17:28And then you have to crush it.
17:30Go, Alex.
17:35All right, guys.
17:45Welcome to high school.
17:47Time to eat?
17:48Time to eat.
17:51That's some crispy stuff.
17:52Yeah.
17:53How long has he been cooking?
17:54Me and Brett got together about 1.30 yesterday morning,
17:57and we've been up since.
17:59And this is the end result.
18:02The door's too close to the smoker.
18:04Look at that.
18:07Oh, my God.
18:09That's going to work.
18:10I mean, Anthony, how many pigs like this have you had?
18:11Pigs cower when they see me.
18:14Word has gotten around.
18:17So feel free to grab a pinch wherever you'd like.
18:20Oh, my gosh.
18:22Oh, man.
18:23Perfect.
18:23Whew.
18:24It's hot.
18:25Oh, it's hot.
18:27Mm, amazing.
18:28I feel, I admit, like somebody's perverted Uncle Ernie hanging out with these kids.
18:33All of them old enough to be my kid, and who knows, given the vagaries of time and dimly
18:36remembered open-seating concerts, anything's possible.
18:39Who wants to eat crawfish?
18:40I do.
18:41Look at this equipment you've got going here.
18:44Let's dump this boil.
18:45But I'll say this.
18:48I always thought that rock and roll bands, particularly once they start to get a lot of attention,
18:53were supposed to be a**hole.
18:54Whoa, look at this.
18:56Who eats like this?
18:57I don't.
18:58Yeah, I can't believe what I'm looking at.
19:00I don't know whether it's Austin or the fact that we just picked the right bands, but these
19:04guys are really nice.
19:06High five.
19:07Bam.
19:08Seriously, though, how does it work with the crawfish, with the heads?
19:12Okay, carefully.
19:13Okay.
19:13Twist, and then squeeze and suck.
19:18Squeeze and suck.
19:21I squeeze and suck.
19:23Yeah.
19:27Yo.
19:27I'm squeezing, it's like, wow, it's good.
19:35It's hot.
19:35It's got some cake.
19:36You know, it's spicy.
19:37Oh, my God.
19:38Are my cheeks about the same colors?
19:40It's pretty f***ing bad.
19:41Look at this, mama.
19:42Is it comparable?
19:43I can't eat hot food.
19:44I don't know what it is.
19:45It's Irish.
19:46Whether I'm Irish, adopted into a Jewish-Lithuanian family, hot food just does not add up to me
19:51being hot.
19:51It's all of those things.
19:53Can we make a toast really quickly to Ryan?
19:56You've done a wonderful thing here today.
19:57Cheers, my friend.
19:59Woo!
20:03Good day.
20:05No reservation.
20:11Yet another day of South by craziness.
20:13Hello.
20:14Why are you talking to me?
20:14And I head out to the center of town for a little relief.
20:17Something reliably happy-making.
20:19No parking lot outside of a laundromat.
20:22I should have brought my clothes.
20:24A parking lot.
20:25A food truck.
20:27A little place called Taco Rico.
20:29No madness.
20:30No hipsters.
20:31We're kind of out of town.
20:32Yet this is generally acknowledged as the finest purveyor of tacos in the Austin area.
20:39Hello.
20:39Hello.
20:40Hi.
20:40Wow.
20:41Could I have velota?
20:43Enchiladas con velota?
20:43Yes.
20:44And also barbaco.
20:52Wow.
20:53It's delicious.
20:54It's like the head and the tail.
20:55It's got all of that good stuff in there.
20:57Fatty, spiki.
20:59It's just awesome.
21:00Round two.
21:01Enchiladas con velota.
21:03Nice.
21:05Wow.
21:05Look at that.
21:06They do velota here.
21:08Sometimes translated as quail, but actually morning dove.
21:12Either way, you get the point.
21:13Delicious little bird, deep fried till crispy, and served with traditional garnishes over a tortilla.
21:20Oh, Lord.
21:20That's good.
21:22Mmm.
21:23Why can't I have this on my corner?
21:26I recommend that you come here, go to the laundromat, sit in the parking lot, get the little bird.
21:30Lots of it.
21:33So, what next?
21:39Thanks for coming out, everybody.
21:41Nice to get to play in one last show with Emo.
21:45You've got to love hometown Austin band, The Sword.
21:49Keepers of the true rock and roll thing.
21:54Songs about interplanetary legends and s***.
21:57Totally irony-free embrace of what could only be called rock.
22:03You tell me, you tell me, I'll hold the road to your face.
22:10As in twilight, back on this night, the fire that's about me today.
22:16Clearly, you guys have love and respect for a lot of the music that I grew up listening to, for sure.
22:24I'm wondering what you grew up listening to that made a huge impact on you.
22:28Van Halen, Ozzy.
22:30Ben Zeppelin.
22:31Ben Zeppelin.
22:31Ben Zeppelin.
22:32Genesis.
22:33Hall & Oates.
22:34Hall & Oates.
22:35Hall & Oates.
22:36I didn't hear any Hall & Oates in any of you, but...
22:42I remember seeing, like, Green Day videos when I was, like, 12, 13, being like, I can do that.
22:47That was, like, the blessing and the curse of Nirvana.
22:51Yeah.
22:51Of, like, you know, you look at Kurt Cobain and you're like, well, I can do that.
22:54Anyone can play guitar like that.
22:55Like that.
22:56But can you write songs like that?
22:57You know, that's the question.
22:58How come we're here?
22:59This place?
23:00Is this your...
23:01This is my favorite neighborhood spot for years and years.
23:03It's, like, my tears.
23:04We do some beering up at the Drafthouse, where they've got, like, 50 different brews of varying
23:08wonderfulness.
23:09Sure to please even the most demanding and annoying of beer walks.
23:13There's a huge patio outside.
23:14A lot of people tailgate outside and just kind of hang out in the parking lot.
23:17Oh, you can drink outside?
23:18As long as you stay within the fence.
23:20Good crowd of locals.
23:21The perfect spot for a band in need.
23:24Who did you tour with?
23:25Metallica?
23:26You did tour with Metallica, yeah.
23:27Yeah, yeah.
23:28Long time.
23:29Yeah.
23:30That was fun.
23:31That was a really good one.
23:32Yeah, it was good.
23:33It took us everywhere.
23:34Internationally, where's the best audiences for the music you play?
23:36Australia?
23:37Australia.
23:38Australia is pretty tight.
23:39Australia, Japan, and...
23:40France.
23:41Really?
23:42Yeah.
23:43I like Japan a lot because they don't perceive heavy metal the same way that other, like,
23:47Western audiences do.
23:48You look at the front row of a Metallica concert in Tokyo, it's not a bunch of, like, fists
23:53in the air and scowls and, like, battle cries and devil faces.
23:56It's, like, all just smiles and, like, you know, big grins.
23:59Yeah, yeah.
24:00And, like, that's really cool to see.
24:01And your food of choice, generally?
24:03I mean, band fuel?
24:04Tacos.
24:05Tacos.
24:06Tacos.
24:07Yeah.
24:08Fish tacos, to be precise, at sword favorite, quality seafood market.
24:13I used to drive by this place when I was a little boy and smell the fish.
24:19Right.
24:20Like, I always thought this place stinks so much.
24:22And now?
24:23And now I come here all the time.
24:25Good gulf oysters on the half shell.
24:32Oh, yeah.
24:33Oh, yeah.
24:34Oh, yeah.
24:35Those good looking oysters.
24:36A sure hand with all manners of friolated arts.
24:40Fried catfish.
24:45A $2 big-ass fish taco.
24:56And I'll be slathering it with this sauce.
24:58This is your sauce.
24:59Yes, sword sauce.
25:00This sword.
25:01And, of course, like any self-respecting metal band, they have their own hot sauce.
25:05Getting close on this.
25:07Tears of fire.
25:08So hot that it's banned from most galaxies.
25:11And most galaxies.
25:13Most, most galaxies.
25:14It's been like this legendary item for a long time.
25:17We couldn't sell it for a while because of the FDA.
25:19FDA.
25:20But we got it approved now, so.
25:21Yep.
25:22Right.
25:23Now it's approved.
25:24Now it's approved.
25:25Cheers.
25:30You're not kidding, man.
25:31I'm about to a fire.
25:32The extra plan.
25:33Oh, yeah.
25:34Oh, yeah.
25:35Oh, yeah.
25:36Oh, yeah.
25:37Tears of fire tonight, burning ring of fire tomorrow morning.
25:41Whew.
25:42You had your sauce limit, man.
25:43That's some crack pie.
25:44Crack pie.
25:45That's the traditional Texas dessert.
25:46Crack pie.
25:47That's actually crack on top of it.
25:50Crack pie?
25:51Yes.
25:52I like anything with crack in it.
25:53Get it.
25:54Whew.
25:55It's like a pecan pie almost.
25:56Yeah, that's a good pie.
25:57All right, gentlemen, to that.
25:59Yes, sir.
26:00No reservation.
26:01Alejandro Escovedo is a legend, a true legend.
26:06He's recorded with, like, everybody since forever.
26:07To say that you've changed genres over time would be a huge understatement.
26:13Folk rock, country, punk, everything.
26:14His first real regular gig was with the West Coast punk band The Nuns.
26:15The punk rock thing was to buy a van and then play wherever there was electricity.
26:16So I did that for many, many years.
26:17300, 350 shows a year.
26:19It went solo.
26:20350 shows a year.
26:21Marching up the streets People hung up the street people hung up the
26:25all the time in the world Nude.
26:26It's amazing.
26:27This person who's a girl and the band revered the band.
26:28Eleanor Escovedo is a legend, a true legend.
26:29He's recorded with, like, everybody, sits forever.
26:30To say that you changed genres over time would be a huge understatement.
26:31Folk rock, country, punk, everything.
26:32His first real regular gig was with the West Coast punk band The Nuns.
26:36The punk rock thing was to buy a van and then play wherever there was electricity.
26:41So I did that for many, many years.
26:42300, 350 shows a year.
26:44It went solo.
26:45In 50 shows a year.
26:46a year. But he's also played with Rank and File, True Believers, The Sensitive Boys,
26:55Sally was a cop, but now she's a soldier. All the way to sharing the stage with Bruce Springsteen.
27:03This is the first place I ever ate out in Austin. Really? Yeah, yeah. This is El Azteca,
27:08an East Austin classic for more than a quarter century, serving genuine Tejano cuisine.
27:13The decorations are interesting, to say the least, and yet perfectly placed next to boiling
27:22pots of spiced beef that could easily pass for volcanic craters, ready to accept virgin
27:27sacrifices, no doubt. Thank you. Beautiful. Oh, yeah. This is good, Molly. Chicken wrapped
27:35in corn tortillas and drowned in dark brown mole sauce, served, of course, with rice and
27:41beans. How's your food, man? Oh, it's awesome. Cabrito, the meat from young milk-fed goats,
27:48fried up and served with rice and salsa fresca. You come from a family of musicians, is that
27:53right? My first introduction of bands really was through my father, because he was a mariachi.
27:57And then my brothers had bands, but it was all kind of jazzy stuff that I really wasn't
28:01into. We fell in love with the Yardbirds, Captain Beefheart, and the Stooges. You know,
28:05the first Stooges album. Well, actually, it was Funhouse that sort of defined, you know,
28:09you couldn't be friends with your old friends anymore if you walked around with Funhouse
28:12anymore. You were an outcast. Yeah, I lost a lot of friendships over Albers.
28:17Really? So you can make a decent living here making good music.
28:21Yeah, that's why there's so many musicians here. They called it the Velvet Rut for a while,
28:25this time. The Velvet Rut. The Velvet Rut.
28:28Yeah, because no one wanted to leave. Why go on tour? We got Barton Springs in the summer,
28:32the girls are beautiful, food's great, the beer's cold. So there was this aspect about Austin
28:37that they felt that everyone was kind of lazy. People just like thinking, you know, hang out.
28:52These guys are known collectively as the Whiskey Shivers. I think I suffered from that.
28:58Oh, these crazy kids. And this is a pretty typical Austin scene.
29:06Jay Mueller BBQ is the other guy. So the big difference between here and Franklin,
29:11here it's rough and tumble, down and dirty, lots of black pepper, huge beef ribs,
29:15huge chunks of pork steak rather than pulled pork. Oh, that sounds interesting. Yeah.
29:19Of the two Austin BBQ legends, John Mueller has been at it longer,
29:23and there are plenty of people who think he's actually the best of the best.
29:27It's a beast of a pit over there. Yeah. And you can see just how much he's running around,
29:33grabbing something fresh off the pit, bringing it back here to get it sliced. Right.
29:37Aaron Franklin and John Mueller are in many ways bound together. Aaron worked with John early
29:43before eventually starting his own thing. John Mueller built an Austin legend, went away,
29:48and came back. Things went bad. He sort of drifted off, left town, bring that interim period,
29:55Franklin opened up. Yeah. Now he has returned. Yes.
29:58I heard you won't get far in the peanut butter jar. And when you say bye, baby, go.
30:04How's it going, John? Got some beef ribs? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, sir.
30:10So he ran away. We have that effect on people, sir. Uh-huh. Yeah.
30:16We're going to get some beef ribs, some shoulder, and some sausage.
30:20Well, that's a beautiful thing. Meat with handles is always a good thing, too.
30:23Oh, look at that. That's a good thing there, huh? That is pretty.
30:27Mm-hmm. We did right. We have ordered with Zen-like skill.
30:31I can tell already. You'll be riding high and rolling free.
30:38It's pretty damn impressive, I got to tell you.
30:41I'm going to use this as a plate. Yeah.
30:47Magnificent. That's a short rib done right.
30:49Oh, yeah, if you don't like black pepper, this is not the place to come.
30:54I love black pepper.
30:56I'll say this. His stuff is great. Really great.
30:59Pork shoulder, true Texas style. Smoky, peppery.
31:02People murder this all the time.
31:03This is something that really could have been chewy and dry.
31:06Yeah. His sides are terrific.
31:08Wow, that's real good.
31:10The baked squash, kind of like a gluten-free mac and cheese almost.
31:13The place itself, as you can see, is really fun.
31:16But his beef short ribs?
31:18Here, there's a good fatty, crusty piece there for you.
31:20Oh, damn.
31:21He owns that territory.
31:23F***ing rib. It's amazing.
31:25Best barbecue beef rib I've had far away.
31:27Yeah.
31:28Don't even try and tell me anybody does that s*** better, because look at this.
31:32I mean, when you can dive in and just pull it apart like that.
31:35Mm.
31:36And yes, it's at least as good as it looks.
31:38Better.
31:39Fatty, tasty goodness.
31:41Dare I say delicate.
31:42Indeed.
31:42Argue about who's got the best brisket or pork ribs all you like.
31:46This beef rib is king.
31:49Absolutely freaking awesome.
31:51And oh yeah, the sausage.
31:53The sausage.
31:54Beef pork mixture.
31:55Good snap to the casing.
31:56I mean, man, the sausage is on today.
32:02Oh, wow.
32:03Mm-hmm.
32:05Now, would this be considered in any way typical Texas barbecue sauce?
32:08I mean, there's like onions in it and stuff.
32:09Yeah, this one is certainly out of the ordinary.
32:11I like this little sauce.
32:12I really do.
32:13And I do not like sauce.
32:14To be so generous with the onions really brings out a sweetness.
32:17And to be more of a thin, liquidy sauce.
32:19It's soup-like.
32:20Yeah.
32:20It's like a pepper pot soup.
32:23I think it's great that you have two people with an unspoken rivalry kind of.
32:27Mm-hmm.
32:27But they clearly both have things that they are uniquely wonderful after.
32:31Yeah.
32:31It's amazing to have this kind of quality so close to each other.
32:35All one place.
32:35Yeah.
32:37So get your dumb ass to Austin.
32:39Yeah.
32:40All right.
32:40Oh, no.
32:44There's no patience.
32:51Woo!
32:53Fast!
33:01Wow.
33:03This is Lala's, a place where it's Christmas all year round.
33:07And if you know anything about me, you know I love the holidays.
33:14How long has it been like this?
33:151972.
33:16So it's been Christmas every day since 1972.
33:19Oh, totally.
33:19And every month they have a Christmas party.
33:22Whoa.
33:22You got to tell me, what's the Christmas party like?
33:24Is there a Santa?
33:25There's definitely a Santa.
33:26A belligerent, drunk Santa is kind of what you want to see when you're having Christmas in March.
33:31I'm surprised I'm not more traumatized by the lights, actually, considering I hate Santa.
33:35So without further delay, Neon Indian.
33:41Alan Palomo, another young Austinite, is the front man and creator of Neon Indian.
33:46In addition to making wonderful sounds, he knows where to get a drink in this town.
33:50Can I get a Bloody Maria?
33:51Do you want it spicy or not spicy?
33:53Uh, very spicy.
33:55You know what?
33:55I'll have one of those, too.
33:56And very spicy?
33:57Yeah.
33:58Hell yeah.
33:58Cheers.
33:58People here, they've got a schedule of one thing after the other, after the other, after
34:03the other.
34:04They're just constantly going, going, going for a week.
34:07I have buddies that are playing five shows on Saturday alone.
34:11And I did that gauntlet one time where, you know, I think we played maybe about 12 shows.
34:15And by the end of it, you're just like completely just destroyed.
34:19So what was the record that, you know, you heard and said, okay, I'm going to make music?
34:23Like my favorite things were always, uh, like rock bands that weren't electronic groups,
34:27but they went for that one weird, like, electronic song where you listen to it and it's like,
34:31what the hell is going on in this song?
34:34Like he clearly is out of his mind on LSD or something's going on.
34:38And he just found this little, like, modular synth and a sequencer, you know, in his studio
34:41and just like, all right, fire it up.
34:43Let's see what happens.
34:44We're going to go to La Mexicana Bakery, which I have only been to, like, three or four in the morning
35:07with Austin's Doner Buddies because it's open all night.
35:10We don't really have brunch in Mexico.
35:12We have merienda, which is like the kind of thing that you would do Sunday evening.
35:15A bite before dinner.
35:16Yeah, exactly.
35:17Exactly.
35:17If we're going to have a proper merienda, then...
35:47We probably want to do a couple of pastries first and then jump into some actual, like,
35:51dinner-type meals.
35:52The piñas is pretty amazing.
35:54That's kind of like an old grandmother Mexican standby.
35:57The conchas are really good.
35:58Let's go for some alarming colors.
35:59It's got one yellow, one pink.
36:01But what are we drinking with that?
36:02I myself would go with a jarritos mandarina.
36:05Perfect.
36:06They call this a piña, which, you know, means pineapple.
36:14Not quite pineapple, but definitely delicious.
36:17Oh, that's good.
36:18That's pure sugar.
36:21Oh, wow.
36:22Oh, God.
36:23Oh, my teeth are running right out of my head.
36:25That is like...
36:26I'm going to go in a diabetic shock here.
36:28We might have to hit the tacos pretty soon.
36:30I'm going to go with a classic bistec a la mexicana, which is just, you know, it's chopped
36:35steak, but they include pico de gallo, chopped tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos.
36:41I'm going to have chuletas.
36:42There you go.
36:43Oh, yeah.
36:43There we go.
36:44For me, chuletas.
36:45Put simply, pork chops.
36:48Good.
36:48Done.
36:49South by South West always developed this, like, mythology, at least in my mind, of,
36:53like, the single weekend where you get to see just this amazing amalgamation of stuff.
36:57Oh, nice.
36:58Wow.
36:59Gracias.
37:00You've got some bluegrass band, and then some experimental synth drone band, and then
37:04you've got juggalos, and you've got a hardcore band, and, I mean, you've just got this insane
37:08soup of sounds, you know?
37:10That could lead to some pretty interesting mixes.
37:13Yeah, and some pretty terrible collaborations.
37:15Yeah, right?
37:17What would be the worst collaboration ever, other than Metallica and Lou Reed?
37:20Oh, dude.
37:21I was about to say, I think that already happened.
37:23Yeah, that was the worst ever.
37:25And, like, I like Metallica, and I like Lou Reed.
37:28So, you know, one less one equals, like, negative 30.
37:31How did that happen?
37:32I like beer, and I like ice cream, but I don't...
37:34Right.
37:36Right.
37:37You're right.
37:37South by Southwest is over.
37:51But the Golden Boys go on.
37:58Local band, local crowd, rinse, tune, repeat.
38:03That's the story all year round.
38:05South by or not.
38:06Yeah, that's good.
38:09That's loud, man.
38:10Way to go.
38:10Oh, my God.
38:15Woo!
38:17Woo!
38:22Whispering down a shallow hole,
38:23Can't fool you, don't you?
38:27Walking through this life, it seems like my head in the clouds and my heart for dreams.
38:33Show me up when I'm crying,
38:35The big boys were the most important band to me when I was a kid.
39:02We'd have a boombox, one cassette tape. We would play that tape over and over.
39:08And we would skate. It was a beautiful time. You could skate all day.
39:13And then when everybody got into high school, everybody became hippies instantly.
39:17They're like, dude, the door is Jim Morrison, whatever. You get abandoned musically.
39:23You guys have been here before. You've eaten it this way.
39:26Yeah, it's like a hangover spot.
39:28It's the best place to launch a bender from, in my opinion.
39:34What's the go-to dish here?
39:37It's the chili.
39:39Texas Chili Parlor, one of their favorites. Makes sense, I guess.
39:44Hell yeah. Loaded up.
39:46This one's a little chunky today.
39:48This is not just a music culture, but meaning there are a lot of musicians here, which is true.
39:52There are a lot of people who go out and see music here on a regular basis.
39:55That's what people do when they go out. It's not like, oh, we're just going to go out to a bar and get drunk.
39:59You can get health insurance.
40:00Yeah, you can get free health insurance.
40:02You can get free health insurance.
40:03By being a musician.
40:04There's musician insurance here.
40:06Get your teeth cleaned, get glasses, get your bones checked.
40:09There's also SIMS, like substance abuse problems or like mental problems.
40:12Play in rehab.
40:13It's free.
40:14They'll put you in rehab.
40:15None of the guys are taking advantage of that.
40:19I'm shocked.
40:20This is Texas, and you're talking socialism.
40:22Socialism.
40:23Isn't Rick Perry the governor here?
40:25And he's allowing this socialist hot men to occur right under his nose?
40:29It's social programs. It's not socialism.
40:32Same thing according to, you know, some of the big thinkers out here.
40:35Rick Perry.
40:36Cheers, Anthony.
40:39Cheers.
40:40The t-shirt says, keep Austin weird.
40:43And for sure, Austin doesn't seem at first glance to look like the Texas of movies with the imagination.
40:49But then, people blather on about the real America all the time, don't they?
40:54And what does that look like?
40:55You know what?
40:56It looks like this.
40:57This is the real America.
41:06You have seen anything yet.
41:17It will be.
41:18Cheers.
41:19Cheers.
41:20Cheers.
41:21Cheers.
41:22Cheers.
41:23Cheers.
41:24Cheers Cheers.
41:26Cheers.
41:27Cheers.
41:28позвол supervise us.
41:29APPLE цветunders we're joining us.
41:31Cheers.
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