Goodnight Austin Texas - wherever you are

Austin is awash with the weird and the wonderful. It's like they dropped a bomb on the city and the only thing that survived are the musicians and the punters. The centre of town is closed to traffic, so people wander from bar to bar with the boom boom of rock bands rumbling out onto the street from all sides. And they rock around the clock. The Belfast contingent hit hard over the two days of showcases here in Texas. Latitude 30, the home venue, was packed on both days as acoustic acts took to the stage on Wednesday and the rock bands hammered it out on Thursday, welcomed to the stage by the Northern Ireland Music Industry Commission. And the overpowering reaction seemed to be one of delight. Lots of people wanted the well-put-together compilation CDs that were given out as souvenirs of the shows, and hopes are high that connections will be made for new opportunities for music from Northern Ireland. You can't help thinking of empty venues all over the world. Every band ever made seems to be here this week. And they're all high on tequila trying to catch the same cabs at 3am. By which time Romero's prophecy comes to mind - when there is no room left in hell, the dead will walk the earth.