Moby at SXSW 2008 - more photos... photo by Clint Gilders - staff photographer

by jeff barringer
club kingsnake staff
I was neglectful in my SXSW reporting by not posting as often as I should but my 2 hour round trip commute ate more posting time than I thought it would, and I spent all my free time trying to get my memory cards cleaned up. Or sleeping, sometimes. That said, here is the start of a day by day, blow by blow account of my SXSW 08 adventure.

Tuesday - Moby, Moby everywhere, I think I need a shrink. I guess you really never realize how many guys (and I shall note a few girls) look surprisingly like my nemesis Moby. After sitting through most of Moby's interview, listening to him name drop celebrities one after another, and leaving after he discussed his support of the HSUS (more on this later, on one of our other sites), I walked outside, and I swear Moby walked by. Ten minutes later, another Moby, then another, and another. I was surprised at just how many people are either taking fashion clues from him, or just happen to look like him. I mean there must be hundreds of people at SXSW that resembled Moby. Maybe I am just paranoid, but would somebody please tie a bell to him so I can at least know which one is the real Moby?

Billy Bob Thornton and The Box Masters at SXSW 2008 - more photos... photo by Jeff Barringer - staff photographer

I stopped by the Dell Lounge to sit in on a Q & A with Billy Bob Thornton, actor and musician. He was taking questions from the crowd and they were surprisingly reticent to ask anything. After asking 3 or 4 times for a question, I stuck my neck out and asked him if he preferred to be a rock star or a movie star. With a laugh and a big smile he answered that he liked being both but there were definitely differences in the fan base.

Later Clint and I managed to get into his set with his band The Boxmasters over at Antone's, which was a lot of fun. Luckily there was no line and they even managed to sell a few tickets. Billy Bob has a world class band backing him and he had some neat friends in the audience as well. I ran into Paula Nelson and had a chance to say hello, and up in the V.I.P area you could just make out Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Billy stepped on stage to say hello but didn't play.

Speaking of world class bands the SXSW escalators seemed to offer a treasure trove of music celeb's both minor and major. On Tuesday I ran into Micheal Des Barres on one trip up, and then on the reverse trip down I ran into Paul Collins and the Beat. Everywhere as far as you could see, tattooed rail thin musicians dressed in black trundled up and down the escalators as they got all checked in for the start of the music festival.

I called it a night after the Boxmaster set, leaving Clint in front of his hotel. I got to bed about 3:00a.m. after clearing my email, downloading photos and starting some laundry. The music festival will have started when I wake up and get down there.

Technorati Tags: SXSW,Billy Bob Thornton, Moby, Billy Gibbons