One of the bands that I was really looking forward to seeing on my trip to Austin was Oh No! Oh My!. Last August, when I went to Lollapalooza, I heard a rumor that Tim Regan (of Snowglobe) was playing the festival with another band so I sent him a message saying something like:

“Hey! I heard you were playing this weekend! Who are you playing with and when? I’d love to check it out - I’m like an official blogger for the festival, yo!”

To which he replied, simply:

“Oh No! Oh My!”

Always a man of few words, I thought he was being a smartass and I never got around to asking him who he was playing with again. I didn’t figure out the miscommunication until I saw him backstage after he had just woken up from a nap and I had already missed the band.

So, when I got a text message from him Thursday afternoon during SXSW saying that the band was playing the Nylon party at 6:30 - I grabbed my friends and we began to walk to the venue from Antones where we had just seen Blonde Redhead (more on that later). Since Tim had simply sent me the address of the space, we really had no idea how far away it was. If you are familiar with downtown Austin, you’ll feel my pain when I tell you that it is many blocks past 7th on the other side of the freeway. And while my friends, Drue and Brandon, pelted me with questions like, “Where the hell are we going?” and “What have you gotten us into Hurley?” for the next hour as we trekked across downtown, we finally arrived after Oh No! Oh My! had finished their set. Nice.

So, here’s a few things we saw along the way:

Some rocking party that I was sure was where we wanted to go, as it was packed…but alas, was totally the wrong place!

The hipster 7/11 - check it out - they sell Beer * Wine * Smokes * Peace

We knew we were on the right track…

Then we knew we made it…

We checked in with Tim and and showed him our super cool flyers for our showcase on Sunday

Then we checked out the other bands that played:

Scanners:

Scanners - Low Life - MP3

The Deadley Syndrome:

The Deadly Syndrome - Eucalyptus - MP3

So, strike two on seeing Oh No! Oh My! but at least Tim was nice enough to borrow the band van and give us a ride back downtown so we could go to the next showcase on our roster. He even ended up calling us and inviting us to see Sparklehorse later at Antone’s that night - I had to decline as I had stayed up the entire ride to Austin the night before and Drue and I really need to crash, but Brandon and Chris went and said it was amazing. Tim played on the last Sparklehorse record, I never asked if he actually played the show, but it wouldn’t surprise me…

Fast forward to Friday when once again I got a text from Tim telling me that the band was playing the Jane Magazine party that afternoon. I was still amped to see them but they were set to overlap with Badly Drawn Boy’s set at The Fader Tent - so we checked him out first and then booked it to Guadalupe and made it just in time to run into Will to be told that their set ahd been pushed back. Nice.

Anyway, it was all good cause Tim came through with the VIP wristbands for his Memphis peeps and while we waited we chilled on the top of the building watching the sunset and drinking free drinks. It was awesome, but I hear I totally missed Sloan…damn.

And then, finally, it was time…

Of course, I’m totally biased - so here’s what someone else said about them:

From the minds of songwriters Greg Barkley and Daniel Hoxmeier comes a catchy post-pop band that loves themselves a tasty melody. Both Greg and Daniel were home schooled through high school and, for lack of anything better to do, learned to play the guitar and any other useful instruments they could get their collective hands on. Teaming up with Joel Calvin (drums), they formed the band (poor) yorik, an experimental rock band, which after 8 months they decided was a much too depressing style of music. The trio spent a month in deep meditation and self reflection (during which Joel found inner peace), and it was decided that they would from then on be called The Jolly Rogers. However, upon discovery of several pop-punk bands from Nebraska and Florida, and a group that frequents renaissance festivals dressed in pirate garb, the band decided it was time for another name change. They chose Oh No! Oh My!, named for a song by The Robot Ate Me.

Oh No! Oh My! - Skip the Foreplay - MP3

More Pictures of the Adventure (All photos by Drue Diehl)

Oh No! Oh My! are currently on tour with Mew:

26 Mar 2007 Mod Club Theatre w/ Mew Toronto, Ontario
27 Mar 2007 St. Andrews Hall w/ Mew Detroit, Michigan
28 Mar 2007 Double Door w/ Mew Chicago, Illinois
29 Mar 2007 Knickerbocker’s w/ Mew Lincoln, Nebraska
31 Mar 2007 Gothic Theatre w/ Mew Englewood, Colorado
2 Apr 2007 Neumos w/ Mew Seattle, Washington
3 Apr 2007 Richard’s On Richards w/ Mew Vancouver, British Columbia
4 Apr 2007 Aladdin Theater w/ Mew Portland, Oregon
6 Apr 2007 The Fillmore w/ Mew San Francisco, California
7 Apr 2007 Henry Fonda Theatre w/ Mew Los Angeles, California
8 Apr 2007 Belly Up w/ Mew San Diego, California

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