Las Vegas Weekly

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Spencer Patterson

Wed, Mar 23, 2011 (5:22 p.m.)

A few stats from Caravels’ SXSW trek:

9: total shows the Las Vegas hardcore band played on its nine-day mini-tour

5: gigs staged during three days spent in Austin, Texas

3: SXSW house shows

100: people packed into a garage for the first of those house shows

45: songs performed on tour

1: new song debuted in Austin, titled “Beer Pressure”

2: slices of pizza received by each Caravels member as payment for a performance at Austin’s Mellow Mushroom

22: hours spent driving from San Antonio to El Paso, site of the band’s final show, then straight home to Vegas afterwards

2: vehicles that transported the five-piece band, its gear and two friends

$3.42: average price for a gallon of gas in Texas

many: times Caravels were asked if they knew The Killers or Panic! At the Disco

1: times Caravels were asked if they knew The Cab

In between all that, Mike Roeslein, Dillon Shines, Matt Frantom, Cory Van Cleef and George Foskaris managed to see Deerhunter play in a tent, bump into comedian Aziz Ansari a few times and watch Kevin Duquette—co-head of Caravels’ label Topshelf Records—curl up in a sleeping bag on the street. Despite coming home a couple hundred bucks out of pocket, the quintet plans to return in 2012. “Without a doubt, we’re gonna be there again next year,” Roeslein says. Just don’t look for the band in South by Southwest’s list of invited acts. “We definitely fit more on the unofficial side.”