Cole from the Black Lips with his Airline Town & Country guitar

Black Lips are out on tour this month (link to tour dates) and I hooked up with them yesterday in Toronto during their sound check. Cole is using an AIRLINE Twin Tone as well as a ’59 Town & Country. Go check them out in your city! If you’ve ever wondered what it is like up front during one of their shows, check out this clip from SXSW:

Black Lips Tour Dates 2011:

• 03-16-18 Austin, TX – SXSW
• 04-06 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
• 04-07 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
• 04-08 Washington, DC – Black Cat
• 04-09 Philadelphia, PA – The Trocadero
• 04-12 New York, NY – Webster Hall
• 04-13 Pawtucket, RI – The Met
• 04-14 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
• 04-15 Montreal, Quebec – Le National
• 04-16 Toronto, Ontario – Phoenix Concert Theater
• 04-17 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
• 04-19 Columbus, OH – Outland Live
• 04-20 Newport, KY – Southgate House
• 04-21 St. Louis, MO – The Firebird
• 04-22 Chicago, IL – Logan Square Auditorium
• 04-23 Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theater
• 04-25 Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room
• 04-26 Kansas City, MO – The Beaumont Club
• 04-27 Dallas, TX – The Loft
• 04-28 Austin, TX – Emo’s
• 04-29 Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s
• 04-30 Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon
• 05-06 Barcelona, Spain – Bikini
• 05-07 Santiago de Compostela, Spain – Sala Capitol
• 05-08 Madrid, Spain – Sala Heineken
• 05-09 Montpelier, France – Rockstore
• 05-11 Strasbourg, France – La Laterie
• 05-12 Hamburg, Germany – Grunspan
• 05-13 Berlin, Germany – Festsaal Kreuzberg
• 05-14 Munich, Germany – Garage Fest
• 05-16 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Trouw Amsterdam
• 05-17 Paris, France – 104
• 05-18 Brussels, Belgium – Les Nuits Botanique
• 05-19 London, England – The Garage
• 05-20 Liverpool, England – Sound City Festival
• 05-21 Cheshire, England – Friends of Mine Festival
• 05-22 Leeds, England – Brudenell Social Club
• 05-24 Glasgow, Scotland – Stereo
• 05-25 Dublin, Ireland – The Button Factory
• 05-26 Cork, Ireland – Cypress Avenue
• 05-27 Galway, Ireland – Roisin Dubh
• 05-31 Zurich, Switzerland – Exil
• 06-01 Vevey, Switzerland – Rocking Chair
• 06-02 Vienna, Austria – Flex
• 06-09 San Diego, CA – The Casbah
• 06-10 Santa Barbara, CA – Velvet Jones
• 06-11-12 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
• 06-14 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
• 06-15 Vancouver, British Columbia – Commodore Ballroom
• 06-16 Seattle, WA – Neumos
• 06-17 Boise, ID – Knitting Factory Concert House
• 06-18 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
• 06-19 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
• 06-21 Tucson, AZ – Plush
• 06-22 Phoenix, AZ – Rhythm Room
• 06-23 Costa Mesa, CA – The Detroit Bar
• 06-24 Los Angeles, CA – The Music Box
• 06-25 Pomona, CA – The Glass House

Black Lips Tour Dates 2011 & SXSW Mosh Pit from MyRareGuitars.com

Mike & Troy at Southpaw Guitars in Houston, TX

Next we made the mistake of planning a peaceful seaside family beach vacation on South Padre Island. You see, my wife was there with her family 35 years ago, so now that our son is 12, she thought it would be cool to revisit that trip. A truly great place to visit, but our timing could not have been worse. Check this out.

So we cut that short and headed up to San Antonio. What a great city, plenty of family things to do there and plenty of great restaurants. Will certainly look forward to going there again. Then I was lucky enough squeeze in a one-afternoon whirlwind stop in AUSTIN, TX for the 2011 SXSW festival. First I had lunch with Lance Keltner who took some EASTWOOD’s for a test drive on YouTube.

Then I dropped my wife Kay and son Troy off at the Austin Duck and dove headfirst into the SXSW crowds, battling my way to the Pitchfork outdoor stage, waiting for Edwyn Collins to appear. One real surprise was catching a set by Toronto based one-man-band Diamond Rings. Great set of energetic pop tunes, quite like Depeche Mode. An hour later the legendary Edwyn Collins cruised through a perfect 30-minute set of new and classic tunes. As always, “Rip It Up” had the crowd dancing away in the hot afternoon sun. Great to see Edwyn again as well as his son William pitching in for one of his new tracks.

Edwyn Collins & his son William at SXSW 2011

A rather LONG walk across 6th to the far side of SXSW and GINGER MAN bar. There was a lineup so I missed the end of Steve Wynn’s set, but got in just in time to see him switch hats and the BASEBALL Project took the stage.

Steve Wynn's 'The Baseball Project' at SXSW 2011

Great tunes, great players and a really great crowd made for a memorable set. A little icing on the cake for me personally was Peter Buck pulling out his EASTWOOD Nashville 12 string for to tracks. Cool.

Peter Buck with his Nashville 12-String guitar from Eastwood Guitars at SXSW 2011

Hard to beat that for a quick afternoon drop-by at SXSW, but it got even better when Mike Watt took the stage!

Texas in March & SXSW 2011 from MyRareGuitars.com

Shortly after 5PM I worked my way up front, minutes later Watt took the stage, looked as the back-line BASS AMP and started laughing as if to say, “How am I going to light up this crowd with that little thing?”. Another minute later, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind. This three piece band (Tom Watson on guitar and Raul Morales on drums) proceeded to kick-ass like no other 3-piece ever has. I not suggesting you go catch the them live – I am DEMANDING you do – do not miss this show. What a trip, and hats off to Mike Watt once again, D. Boon would be proud.

Mike Watt & The Missing Men at the Ginger Man in Austin, TX for SXSW 2011

Mike Watt & The Missing Men at the Ginger Man in Austin, TX for SXSW 2011

Mike Watt & The Missing Men at the Ginger Man in Austin, TX for SXSW 2011

Mike Watt & The Missing Men at the Ginger Man in Austin, TX for SXSW 2011

Mike Watt & The Missingmen at SXSW 2011 from MyRareGuitars.com

Britta Phillips with her Eastwood Hiflyer Bass (Dean & Britta)

In the meantime, SXSW was in full swing last week while I was in Europe at MUSIKMESSE. There were many EASTWOOD sightings at the festival, including this EASTWOOD SIDEJACK DLX in Greenburst taking stage with REM – Here is a link to the REM slideshow from NPR at SXSW.

I’ll post more MUSIKMESSE shots tomorrow night.

Now back to my Sangria. Cheers,
Mike

Britta Phillips & Her Eastwood Hi-Flyer Bass Guitar from MyRareGuitars.com