Labor day weekend means one of two big parties to decide about which is Southern Decadence or Splash in Austin. Oz in Nola had Hector Fonseca spinning so I am sure that was pretty wild. We decided to go down to Austin for the weekend and enjoy the ever-so-beautiful Lake Travis just outside of town where they have the only nude beach in Texas called Hippie Hollow. It was a hot hot day and took awhile to get down to the water mostly because it barely rains in Austin and they are having a LA-ish type drought. They may need a few tropical depressions to fill that lake back up to normal levels. We had a great time though. The 4th street party barge was there but they leave around 4pm or so which seems early for me. You really have to get there early to enjoy all the Last Splash has to offer we learned from that mistake too many times. If you are not going on a boat and crawling down the mountain of rocks make sure you are not drunk while doing it. We saw lots of people ripping up their precious gay skin. If you have not been to this lake party it is certainly a blast!!
The Splash Days events were not as busy this year and they have been getting worse each year. This year takes the cake as the 2nd worst. The most horrible Saturday night main event was when they moved it one year 10 miles away or so from Downtown where the host hotel is located to highway 2222 and i-35. I don’t think any fuck up could be worse than that. This year they moved it from Austin city music hall where it had been in its peak years which is a big venue and something you have to actually promote for… to a shit hole club off of 6th street. They were charging $50 at the door for a small club called the Palms. If you have not been to 6th street in Austin its located 2 streets down from the gay bars on 4th. Sixth street is where all the straights hang out but on a big UT Football weekend it looks more like Mardi Gras on that street and is nothing but girls so intoxicated they can’t walk or guys puking and police. We went inside this place and could not believe it. No laser lights at a circuit party? Are you fucking kidding me? I walked down here for this shit. Hell no. It wins the worst lighting of the year and almost as bad as this circuit party that looked more like a prom in Galveston one year.
Rain and Castro’s not only had better music but better lighting. The lighting at this Palms club was something I have in my living room. The patio had no seating where we actually sat on the floor and it was totally bare. I will just say it was highly embarrassing as I had friends from San Francisco in town and it not only made Austin look bad but also made circuit parties in Texas look bad.
We did attend the closing party at Republic Live which is always a good venue. While it was fun it was not as busy as years past and you could have saved your money and danced your ass off at Castro’s which had one of the best DJ’s I have heard in some time. Friday night of the weekend we went to a Foam Party at Austin City Music Hall with the Chainsmokers it was some of the best laser lighting and display of effects we have seen.
Finally, one of the biggest things missing besides the lighting from the circuit events of the weekend was DJ Seth Cooper who has done the closing party for three years at least. We skipped that party this year but certainly hope everyone enjoyed themselves and that if they charge $50 at the door for these things they better invest in some lighting or pick a better venue. Otherwise charge $5 and it might be worth it.
While speaking of Austin we have heard that Highland nightclub may be opening before the end of the year and we are really excited about that. It is across from another gay club called V nightclub.
Daybreak boat rental must not like the gays at hippie hollow too much. I had called them a few days before the big weekend and they were eager to rent me a boat. They then asked where I planned on taking it. I said Hippie Hollow and he said “no thanks”. He explained he had done that before and was not happy about it apparently. I doubt it could be any worse than the drunken straight crowd at the party cove.
Leave a Reply