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We couldn’t leave the “Live Music Capital of the World” without taking a few videos and sharing them with you. So, here are a few moments from the last weekend of SXSW in Austin. (Read our Austin entry for more details.)

6th Street Mayhem[mp4 2.2MB, 28 sec]

First we have a clip of the general insanity that was 6th Street in downtown Austin. Loud, live music pouring out of every doorway, interviews with the media taking place in the street and music lovers of all walks of life. And that’s only one small section of the street—it went on for blocks.

The city, in its infinite wisdom, closed the street to vehicle traffic so it’s only bicycles and people weaving and staggering. Much safer that way.

From Saturday March 17th (St. Patrick’s Day and, yes, we wore our green) we have a snippet of Brian Keane singing “If I Only had a Brain” from the Wizard of Oz. Hey, any man that can get up on stage and sing that song with confidence is one well-adjusted dude. Besides, he’s quite talented.

If I Only Had a Brain[mp4 6.3MB, 1 min 19 sec]

Brian played at an outdoor venue called Love on the Lawn. Its really the front yard of a cute, old bungalow that’s been turned into a hip clothing and accessory shop. It was a beauty of a day, sunny but not too hot and the free Pomegranate Chambray Charbay Vodka mixed with lemonade made for a perfect afternoon. Yummy!

We tore ourselves away from the Lovefest and headed to SoCo (South Congress) to catch a show by the Asylum Street Spankers. Austin is their hometown but they tour a lot and they’ve been playing gigs in Tucson for at least nine years (which is how I first came across them). Their shows are full of great music, sassy lyrics, silly gags, audience participation, and lots and lots of instruments.

My Favorite Record[mp4 1.9MB, 24 sec]

The stage is packed with everything but the kitchen sink: guitars, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, spoons, cowbell, drums, upright bass, slide guitar, ukulele, washboard, saw, jug, old beer bottle, rubber chicken, stuffed monkey, and all of it gets played! Talk about talented!

Hope you have fun watching the videos, we sure had fun shooting them. If you ever have a chance to catch either of these acts, we’d recommend it.