A lot of local hipsters lace up their Chuck Taylors, put on their vintage t’s, pile into their Volkswagens, and make the hike down to Austin every year for SXSW. Somehow toward the final day of the five-day event, as if led by some antenna tuned to the moldy bouquet of cigs, stale PBR, and Barnett Shale gas, the 817 bohos typically end up at the same place, an address where one or more local artists are performing or have performed.
The 2009 installation of the annual music festival and conference, taking place next weekend, will likely find the fans from the 817 at Dominican Joe Coffee Shop (515 S. Congress Ave.), where several Fort Worth/817-based artists will be performing as part of a three-day-long non-sanctioned showcase called SXDOJO. Organized by Fort Worthian-cum-Austinite Marcus Lawyer, the event will run from Thursday day ’til Saturday night on two stages (one indoor, one out). Kicking everything off at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday will be Bobby Zanzucchi (of the great but defunct Sleepy Atlantis), who’ll be followed later in the evening by three other Fort Worthians: Clint Niosi, KatsüK, and Jordan Franz. On Friday, Niosi, and cohort Kristina Morland will go on after Zanzucchi. On the outdoor stage, The Orbans will share the same stage as Chatterton and Telegraph Canyon, one of several Fort Worth bands that will perform sanctioned showcases. Telegraph’s is on Saturday at Habana Calle Restaurant & Bar. Saturday will find Chatterton frontman Kevin Aldridge, Niosi, and Zanzucchi inside, and Denton’s Deadman, Fort Worth’s Theater Fire and Eaton Lake Tonics outside. Interspersed among the 817 flavor providers will be acts from as far away as Edinburgh (the one in Scotland, not South Texas), Copenhagen, and San Francisco. Visit www.dominicanjoe.com. … Another non-sanctioned showcase, Texas Rockfest, will feature a couple of other Fort Worth artists: Exit 380, the super-young Jesse Vick Band, and Pimpdelic. Visit www.texasrockfest.com. … Magnolia Green, which is slightly larger than a football field, was packed last Friday for Fort Worth South Inc.’s initial 2009 installment of First Friday on the Green. The outdoor concert series, now in its second year, takes place over the course of several months in the spring and summer. Event organizers — the Weekly is a lead sponsor — estimate that about 500 to 600 people came and went throughout an evening that featured performances by Telegraph Canyon’s Chris Johnson and Austin’s White Ghost Shivers. People brought their dogs and kids, laid out blankets, noshed on food being sold by nearby Chadra Mezza & Grill, and BYOB’d from about 6 p.m. ’til 9:30. (A last-minute insurance issue prevented beer from being sold on the premises.) People also were hanging out on the roof of the apartment complex across the street. The price of admission was an item of canned food, and based on the sheer amount of cans piled up around the table set up by the beneficiary, the Tarrant Area Food Bank, a lot of needy people are being fed. Thanks to everyone who came out. The next First Friday is April 3rd. Visit www.fortworthsouth.org. Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
