So yeah it’s fucking Billy Bragg. Awesome. The guy is a legend. His set was solid, he bitched about the US government and health care and it was all pretty great.  Unfortunately he just mostly stands there so it doesn’t make for the most compelling photographs, especially in the middle of the day when I can’t even make it look interesting by dragging my shutter or something.  So instead, let me tell you a story.

Later that night after I had seen Billy Bragg I got a text from a friend asking me to meet her at some bar way the fuck across Austin.  The girl was a total babe and the Fools Gold party was pretty close so I decided to make my way over. It was called Ghost Room and when I arrived there was a line of about 10 people in front of me waiting to get in. I waited for a few minutes but they were only letting people in when people came out, and no one was coming out. I texted the girl and I didn’t hear back after a few minutes so I walked over to the Fools Gold party. I shot Vega, as I mentioned yesterday, and then I walked back over to Ghost Room. There was no line this time and I walked right in.  I looked for my friend but the place was completely packed so I took a seat by the door and relaxed for a little bit. I texted her and figured I would just wait until whatever band was playing was over.

After I had been sitting for about 10 seconds I realized that Billy Bragg was somehow now on stage. I got up and looked across the room and there he was. And um, there was Wayne Kramer from the MC5.  And then they brought up Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine, and then someone from REM and someone from this band and that band and I suddenly realized I had walked into something amazing. As I was watching from the back of the room I got a text from my friend.  She had left about an hour earlier and her phone had died.  She just got home.  I was so exhausted at this point and I was too far away to take any good photos so I just sat back down and listened. I didn’t stay too much longer, but before I left, and I swear to God I am not making this up, they did a cover of Momma Said Knock You out by LL Cool J.  Seriously. I Tweeted about it and everyone thought I was full of shit. What a crazy thing to walk into. Stuff like that only happens at SXSW.

Anyway, you can read about what I walked in on at Austin 360 if you click here, and then of course you should click over here to check out the photos of Billy Bragg I shot earlier in the day at Mess With Texas.  See you guys tomorrow.

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