This weekend we found ourselves fortunate to be invited to AIM fest aka the Austin instrumental music fest. A one day long musical showcase at the Empire control room with 2 stages and 20 acts. In its third year it has grown from a mere less than 100 in attendance to over 500. The ticket price was $25 and let me tell you, you got your money’s worth.

I didn’t really know what to expect from the music but was blown away by what I heard. From a bit of classical to jazz to heavy metal and some fantastic 8bit music I was not disappointed. My only regret was having to run errands and getting there late. My personal favorite band of the night had to be Bitforce. A power-trio with superhuman abilities that fights the evil of the universe with their tasty nerdcore groove as self-described on their facebook but I agree.

I hope that this fest continues to grow each year, it’s definitely underrated and underappreciated. This is the type of festival that makes Austin such a cool place to keep living in. We at Ballin most certainly cannot wait till next year.

by Melissa Hoffman

eu·pho·ri·a

noun

a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness.

“the euphoria of success will fuel your desire to continue training”

synonyms: elation, happiness, joy, delight, glee

I’m sure there are countless things that come to mind when reading the definition above; playing with puppies, devouring an entire bowl of Funfetti cake batter, and the first sip of that free margarita to name a few. For over 50,000 music lovers it means Euphoria Music Festival.

Euphoria is a four day camping music festival taking place April 6^th-9^th on the beautiful 55 acre grounds of Carson Creek Ranch in Austin.  While the primary genre is electronic music this festival offers a little something for everyone by bringing in hip hop, indie, and jam band artists for your listening pleasure. The 2017 lineup is stacked as always and includes Alesso, Chromeo, Pretty Lights Live, Wiz Khalifa, Young Thug, Zeds Dead, The Disco Biscuits, The Floozies, Knife Party, and many many more.

If you aren’t sold on the music alone, Euphoria is really focusing on enhancing the all-around experience for its attendees this year. They will be partnering with Art Outside to introduce the Art Outside Village which will organize various activities such as art installations, unique workshops, and yoga. What makes these additions even more awesome is that they are opening them up to anyone who has something nifty to contribute. If you have an artistic contribution that you would like to share with your fellow festival-goers you can apply here. Life tip- don’t hesitate, just DO IT!

For those of you that lack in the creative department but want to get involved don’t fret! The Fest is bringing back its work exchange volunteer program and is currently looking for passionate folks just like you. In exchange for only 15 hours of your time (broken up into three five-hour shifts) you will receive a GA 3-day pass and a camping pass. That is of course in addition to meeting wonderful people and creating memories that will last a lifetime. Talk about ballin’ on a budget! If this sounds right up your alley you can head to this link to get your app in.

If you are sold on the festival but aren’t too keen on fully immersing yourself in the camping lifestyle, I suggest that you strongly reconsider. To each their own but in my festival experience there is nothing like waking up on the festival grounds with your adopted community and embracing that “this is life now” mentality. Euphoria offers numerous camping options so you are sure to find the perfect fit. There have also been some serious improvements made this year based on feedback from past campers. For example; additional space per campsite, option for early check-in on Wednesday, and a shuttle service to get your gear to your site. That last one is a game changer people. If you haven’t attended in the past, let’s just say it took impeccable stacking skills and balance to cart all of your shi*t up and down hills before you finally reached the camp grounds. The people struggled- Euphoria listened.

Now that was a lot to take in but I hope that it got you as excited as I am for the sixth annual Euphoria Festival! Tickets are still on sale so I suggest you rally some troops, create some bitchin play lists to get pumped up, and get ready to get down and dirty on the banks of the Colorado River.

Full line-up Here

Tickets available Here

Started in 2015, Day For Night is a visually immersive art and music festival that explores light, space, and sound.  Day For Night will take place at the historic Barbara Jordan Post Office (401 Franklin Street), designed by the same architects as the Houston Astrodome, will be the setting for this year’s hyper-sensorial festival. 

The 2016 Day For Night music line-up includes Aphex Twin, Ariel Pink, Banks, Blood Orange, Butthole Surfers, Little Dragon, Jesus and Mary Chain, Squarepusher, Thundercat, Oneohtrix Point Never, and Mykki Blanco, and SOPHIE.

But what we are most excited to see is the visual artist that are being brought in who are going to transform this space into a magical wonderland of sight and sound. Day For Night is excited to announce fifteen site-specific commissions and new media installations for the second edition of the festival. The 2016 Day For Night visual artists are AV&C + Houze, Children of the Light, Alex Czetwertynski, Björk, Damien Echols, Ezra Miller, Golan Levin, Michael Fullman, NONOTAK, Robert Seidel, Shoplifter, TUNDRA, United Visual Artists (UVA), and Various Projects.

Curated by Day For Night co-founder Alex Czetwertynski, the Day For Night exhibition program is a unique platform for artists to push the boundaries of their practice and create new sensory experiences for festival goers. Similar to the music line-up, which includes headliners Aphex Twins and the more underground Ariel Pink and Mykki Blanco, Day For Night presents an international group of emerging and established artists.

“Our intention is to bring together talents that fearlessly cross over multiple fields and blur the lines between media. From our more established artists, such as UVA and Bjork digital, who are both presenting works never seen before in the US, to our youngest artist, the twenty-year-old Ezra Miller, we want our audience to experience art at a scale that is almost impossible to see elsewhere, and in a grouping that would be hard to pull off in more traditional environments,” says Czetwertynski.

We cannot wait for what we feel will be the redeeming quality of the year 2016. After everything this year has thrown at us, a winter festival with this amazing lineup is just what we need. Stay tuned as we will be covering this experience from Friday night till Sunday. We’ll have tons of photos and some special one on one interviews with few of our favorite artists.

Full line-up here.

Tickets available here.

(images courtesy of Day for Night)

As a long time ska punk fan and a fan of Colorado, I made my way to the mile-high city to rage and riot! At Riot Fest that is!

Riot Fest, originating in Chicago, is a punk rock based festival that has since expanded to a second location in the mile-high city.

Now, just because it is considered a Punk Rock Festival doesn’t mean that it is limited to just the genre; it tends to include a smattering of Ska, Indie Rock (Modest Mouse in 2015 and Death Cab for Cutie in 2016 respectively… WTF?!), Metal, etc. There is definitely something for everyone and anyone… that happens to also like Punk music. The major selling point for 2016? The MISFITS reunion!

Friday kicked off the weekend right! The weather was beautifully sunny, but not too warm (by Texas standards at least). It remained this way all weekend long. Let me say that after years of Warped Tours on asphalt and black top in the Texas heat during my youth; this was amazing. The only time you felt like finding some shade was when you had just had enough sun and never because of getting overheated.

After running into Doug Benson (we love you Doug!) outside the Festival we made our way into the grounds. We scouted the Merch Booth followed by the concession stands, which lead to the first and only real disappointment of the weekend… in a place with craft beer that regularly wins awards like Denver we were limited to Dos Equis and other equally dissatisfying libations. (Get your shit together Riot Fest!) The food choices were solid though.

Friday was filled with a number of bands I had been looking forward to seeing again (or for the first time). The Descendants showed that they still had some rage left! The Aquabats, which is always a fun and family friendly show, instructed the next generation of little rioters on how to properly circle pit by pulling them up on stage! Start them young! (I can think of plenty of older fans that have a hard time grasping the idea. It’s like they are the kid that always tried to fit the square through the circular hole. Idiots.) Fitz and the Tantrums properly lived up to their pun inspired name. NOFX was rad as fuck. Deftones rocked! Janes Addiction (performing Ritual De Lo Habitual) killed it as the closer!

Saturday may have had the least exciting line-up of the weekend for me personally. The Hold Steady (performing Boys & Girls in America) was a damn fine show! Sleater Kinney reminded us (like we needed one) that ladies can perform as good if not better than any group of guys. Ween closed the day out as only they could have.

Sunday was the day I think most everyone was psyched for. This day was really centered around the dueling stages of the Roots Stage and Riot Stage. Notably really starting off with Chevy Metal, a cover band with one sweet name and a sound to back it up. Unfortunately for them they had to compete with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes at the game of covers songs. Let me tell you, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes won hands down! Next up was a superb performance by Pepper! Think that sounds amazing? Bad Religion rocked the shit out of the audience next! Where do you go from there you may ask? The gypsy punk inspired music of Gogol Bordello! When everyone was exhausted from dancing their asses off The Original Misfits made us all remember why we were there in the first place in all of their horror punk rock glory! My Satan it was beautiful!

Thank you Riot Fest for satiating the punk rock void in my life. Until next year!!!

 

 

by Julie Darner

You know you have the best boss when they give you free wristbands for a music festival. It wasn’t even just SOME of my coworkers that got them; it was ALL of us. (That’s seven of us in all) I only got a Saturday pass, but two of my coworkers got 3-day media passes. SUPER JEALOUS, but I’ll chill.

So I ended up seeing a little of DJ Mustard, LL Cool J and his DJ ZTrip, SchoolboyQ, and then Kendrick Lamar. Def should have tried to see more, but crowds and lines and waiting were all factors that got in the way.

DJ Mustard mostly just mixed popular radio songs together for the crowd and yelled at us sometimes. Not upset that I chose him over other artists, but we left early due to a lack of interest. Haha. Also, we were not getting enough of a second-hand high to want to stay in that crowd. Oh, DISCLAIMER! I am too short for music festivals, so there may be a lot of complaining in the future of this post. Particularly, DJ Mustard had started about half an hour before my coworker and I got into the crowd, so there was a strong buildup and little space to squeeze in. That’s really the worst thing about ACL. They invite all these people to go, throw some stages onto Zilker and let the people fend for themselves. Short people never get to see what’s going on on stage. It’s a fact of the festival. It’s part of the whole experience!!!!! Bonding with other shorties is actually something that happened for me with other girls at Kendrick. At least you’re comforted in knowing you aren’t the only one.

LL Cool J was pretty great. I’m not gonna lie, I had to laugh at some parts of his performance. I had no idea he’s been around since 1985!!!! I felt like a baby. He still wears beanies while he performs, which is insane to do in Texas even though it was only like 85 yesterday (GREAT WEATHER). His shirt reminded me of those Affliction shirts all the boys wore in 2008. And he kept telling us what to do!! “Everybody say YEAAAH! Say HELLLL YEAH!!! Now SCREAM!” Excuse me. It’s fun the first 30 times, but it just gets a little repetitive after that. But I did have fun watching him! His dj was so good! Amazing! Cam and I were at an understanding that he may even be better than DJ Mustard. He was mixing right in front of us! And he was this older looking, clean cut white guy! I very much appreciated his work. I knew zero songs, but it’s the performance you go for, yes?!

So my two coworkers and I stayed at the Samsung stage to get a good spot for SchoolboyQ. We were right next to the catwalk that was blocked off from the crowd. Some people are really crazy, because they actually jumped that barrier. Mind you, it’s at least four feet tall, so you have to lift all your body weight on the narrow railing, launch yourself another four feet to the other side, and then land on a bunch of people? Not worth it to me. One guy completely ate it on the ground of the catwalk, but got right up and climbed his busted face over the other side! Pretty impressive. Another guy didn’t have such luck. Security was getting fed up later on, so when another guy took the plunge, three of the workers went after him and tried to pull him back over. I don’t know how they weren’t successful, but they didn’t escort him out. The vandal got over the barrier somehow. I guess he had good friends that didn’t let him go.

Another funny thing that happened when we were waiting for SchoolboyQ was that my coworkers and I met some actual school boys! They were across the barrier from us. They looked insanely young, and they were. Three out of the four had braces, they had baby faces that you know were virginal and were dressed like frat boys. That’s all the high-schoolers now, right? Well we got to talking to them, and being almost a decade older than them inspired us to ask them about pop culture like Hey Arnold, Doug, Lambchop, Even Stevens, CatDog. The best of the late 90s and early 2000s! I’ll have to say, the one that hurt the most was them not knowing who Lizzie McGuire was. No Gordo?! No Paulo?! Such a sad life! They were all boys, but all the boys I knew watched it, too! It’s amazing how age gaps separate culture so easily. I’m not saying everything I grew up with was monumental for all ages and should have been absorbed at some point of time, but it shows you how history and human customs change and can be forgotten. DEEP.

dirtyjewelz.

 

by Traci Mondragon, photos by Dominic Mondragon

 

 

This Texas gal has never been to Kentucky, the land of chicken and horses, but I’ll definitely be back if it means attending the chill, artsy, fast-growing music festival known as Forecastle. Baller ATX headed to Louisville, KY last weekend to see what this fest has to offer, and how it compares to all that we know and love about festivals in Austin, TX.

We arrived Friday, and were instantly surprised by the ample street parking very near the festival grounds – the sprawling and beautiful Waterfront Park – as well as the practically non-existent lines at the entrance. Despite the quick entry process, the festival was filled with attendees. Whether up front and center for a great band, laying on a blanket in the lush grass, or sitting in one of the many shady spots across the park, festival-goers were plenty. This is one of the most well attended festivals I’ve been to, yet there was ample space to get to and from all the stages, and short lines to grab a bite or a beer.

Speaking of food and drinks… there were many local eateries with booths at Forecastle, and we attempted to sample as much as we could! From the spicy (affordable!) creole mac and cheese at the Roti Rolls truck, to the burger and fries from the cool dudes Black Rock Grill… we felt the love in everything we tried. Drinks were, as you might guess, festival-priced, but when we made the trek over to Kentucky Landing, the local shop, restaurant, and beer area… we found several delicious brews from local breweries – and at just $2 for a 4 oz. sample! The West Sixth IPA from West Sixth Brewing and the Crank Shaft IPA from Braxton Brewing were among my favorites.

Now on to the music…the reason we were there at all!

Forecastle opens later on Friday, so we got there around 4pm, just in time to catch a taste of the sweet vocal sounds of Liz Vice…

…but that’s when the storm came. Literally.

The festival was quickly and briefly evacuated due to lightning in the area. Big thanks to all the volunteers, staff, and security who smoothly got everyone to safety while we waited for the storm to pass. Around 6:45pm, everyone was allowed back into the park, and all scheduled bands were pushed back so that no one missed seeing and hearing their favorites!

So, we resumed our music watching experience with the vibrant, energetic Grouplove, who really put on an amazing show. We then walked over to the other side of the park to catch the second half of Austin’s own Wild Child. They never disappoint, and drew quite a large Kentucky crowd! After catching a little of Baauer, Moon Taxi, and Bully… we made it over to see another Austin original (and favorite) Ghostland Observatory. Thomas and Aaron did what they do best and created the incredible, heart-pumping stage, light, and musical experience we all know. On our way to the festival’s main stage, we caught a glimpse and sound of Glass Animals, and ended the night with the headliner… The Avett Brothers. Alternating between low-tempo songs of love and loss and upbeat, uplifting tunes, The Avett Brothers played to the huge crowd, and made us all remember why we love music festivals. The harmony they inspire and the spirit of togetherness they foster.

 

Saturday, we began with some rockin’ tunes by Future Thieves at the WFPK Port Stage, which is where we tried some of that great mac and cheese from the Roti Rolls truck! Then, we got to see one of my personal highlights of the fest – BANNERS… that Brit has an incredible voice, and his catchy, anthemic pop-rock is so infectious. Luckily they were playing the Ocean Stage, which is literally under the freeway that runs over the middle of the park. Plenty of shade. Then we moseyed over to hear the soft, beautiful sounds of Sarah Jarosz, listening under the trees at the Boom Stage, and continued our laid-back afternoon with Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. We took a little respite there for a while (it may have not been 100 degrees like in Austin, but it was HOT, y’all), then continued our evening with Local Native and a bit of Sylvan Esso. We shook it to Alabama Shakes before calling it an early night.

 

We definitely had a bit of a lazy Sunday, so we didn’t get to the fest until about 3:00, but that was just in time to rock out to Heartless Bastards! We grabbed a spot under those trees from Saturday, and caught Austin’s own White Denim, who had a great crowd for a sunny, sweltering afternoon time slot. Then, it was time for probably our most anticipated band of the fest… Death Cab!!! The crowd was excellent; the temperature had finally gone down a bit by their 7:00 start time; they sounded amazing. They played the hits, they played a few new tunes, and they stole my heart…as always. I’m pretty sure I cried a little during “I’ll Follow You Into the Dark” because I’m a big cry baby.

We had a 7:40am flight from the Cincinnati airport (1.5 hours from Louisville) the next morning, so we let our Forecastle experience end on a high note with Death Cab…and called it quits before 9pm. Hey, we’re in our mid-thirties. We need sleep… and apparently, we DO stop sometimes…

All in all, Forecastle and Louisville were incredibly hospitable, fun, and definitely worth the trek from Austin. So next time you’re looking outside to venture outside of your ATX bubble for a chill music fest, strongly consider Forecastle. You won’t be sorry.

Cheers!

SxSurvival Tips – How to Have the Best, Safest SXSW Ever!

by Traci Marie Mondragon

 

SXSW is a marathon, not a sprint. Let that be your mantra from March 11-20. Your body, your friends, and your spirit will thank you. If you take nothing else away from this post, let it be that. Slow your roll. Stop and enjoy the week. Pace yourself!

Living, breathing, and going to the bathroom.

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If you’ve heeded my other advice throughout this series, then you are well-equipped with a plan for loads of parties with free food, drinks, and amazing live music. You want to make the most of all this planning you’ve worked hard at! This means staying WELL throughout the week. This means:

• Load up on Emergen-C
• Wear sunscreen
• Drink WATER (one after every 1-2 boozey beverages)
• If a party has fruits/veggies available as part of their free snacks, eat them!
• Take frequent breaks

A break could be as simple as sitting under a tree at one of those free parties, or going inside the convention center to cool off in the A/C (if it’s hot).

Speaking of the Convention Center… there are a TON of free, clean, well stocked bathrooms inside! Most hotel lobbies also have lovely bathrooms, and because so many people are going in and out of all these downtown hotels, no one will stop you from using their facilities.

Pack the essentials.

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• Photo ID (everyone ID’s during SX)
• Cell phone
• Phone charger, extra battery, and/or wireless/battery-powered charger
• Cash (preferably small bills for tipping)
• Credit/Debit card
• Refillable water bottle (there are water coolers all throughout the convention center also)
• Maps, schedules
• Light snacks
• Emergen-C
• Sunscreen
• (because I’m a super girlie girl) powder, lip gloss, eyeliner  *optional

A cross-body bag or backpack can store all these items, as well as any swag you might collect throughout the day. Oh, and if you DO have a badge… DON’T be an idiot and keep your credit cards/photo ID inside the plastic badge sleeve. Taking that thing in and out of that is a great way to lose your badge, lose your ID/cards, or make it more difficult to scan your badge at official venues.

Getting downtown, parking, getting home safe!

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If you’re driving yourself

Give yourself about 2 hours to drive downtown, find parking, and get to where you’re going on time. No, this isn’t an exaggeration. Parking will be a nightmare, as will traffic in and around downtown.

A good tip for where to park, in regards to your plans for the day… park near where you plan to end your night. You’ll be so incredibly tired by 2am, especially if you’ve been out since before noon. It’s better to have a long trek at the start of your day, than at the end.

Many of the street meters will be wrapped up and only allow special permits to park by them, so don’t rely on where you “know” there is street parking. Garages may cost up to 5x as much as usual. So budget for parking, or be prepared to park much farther from downtown than expected.

Take Public Transporation!

If you just read the above, I might have scared you off from driving yourself. And while Austin isn’t exactly the most public transpo-friendly city, we’ve still got some great options.

Capital Metro runs later than usual during SXSW, and this map will help guide you to your destination with ease! Key tip if you live central/west: Highland Mall is pretty much shut down, and has a huge parking lot right across the street from a Metro Rail stop! The Metro Rail that also stops RIGHT in front of the Convention Center!

If you partied way too hard, use ride-sharing. GET HOME SAFE.

Above all else… make sure you get home safe. The ride sharing options in Austin are pretty solid. Here are some discount codes to help ease the cost:

Get $15 off your first Uber ride. Redeem here.

Download Lyft for rides in minutes. Use this invite code for $50 in free ride credit!

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Again, safety is key. And remember… SXSW is a marathon, not a sprint.