75,000 music fans may have converged on Zilker Park last weekend for the first weekend instalment of the Austin City Limits festival, but the truth is some of the best shows were taking place in the same place they do all year round: the bars and venues of Austin itself.
Infamous haunts like Beerland, Stubb’s and Red 7 around the Sixth Street/Red River area are just the beginning of Austin’s thriving scene. East of the I-35 there’s another treasure trove of great venues, and The Scoot Inn on East 4th Street and Navasota is an archetypal example of a classic Austin venue.
It was here at SXSW earlier in the year that Tyler, the Creator played the show that later saw him arrested for allegedly inciting a riot, and this weekend it was Tyler’s pal Mac DeMarco’s turn to play an anarchic late night set that captured the spirit of what live music can be in a city that really embraces it.
The Collected Works of Kevin EG Perry 