My Morning Headache

Saturday Day Shows

I'm notoriously bad about not posting about Saturday. I'm trying to change that this year.

I started the day off early for mutiple reasons. First, it was St. Patrick's Day which means the crowds downtown were going to be terrible. Parking would be a complete hose beast if I didn't get the jump on the frat boys. Also, I wanted to see Winterkids, who I had just barely missed many times over the weekend.

I showed up to the Habana annex around 12:30 and immediately realized that they were running about 30 minutes late. Actually every single venue was running 30 minutes late, all day. I think everyone had a huge hangover from 3 days of free beer and long lines. However, I didn't mind waiting since the venue had an open bar (including mimosas) and free breakfast tacos.

A local band named The Laughing played first. They were alright. The singer sounded a lot like Robert Smith, but the band had a much more energetic sound than The Cure. Not bad for an Austin band that I've never heard of before, but their outfits really freaked me out.

They were all wearing powder blue shirts, white pants, and white vests with tigers on the back. Sorry, but that's not cool, it's just weird. And not in a quirky way. Despite that, I still enjoyed them, which is a good sign.

I went inside to check out Stephanie Dosen while I was waiting for the 'kids. She's stereotypical female singer-songwriter. Nothing wrong with that, but the slow, quiet music was just making me sleepy.

After another mimosa I was ready for Winterkids. I was really shocked to see so many people just walking by this show. Free beer, free food, one of the most exiting new bands from the UK about to go on stage... why were people not here?!?



The Winterkids were good. About what I expected. They were a very hi-hat heave dance rock band.

I was afraid I'd be late for the Land of Talk show. Luckily, they were running thirty minutes late jut like every other venue in town. There was a $3 cover, which was totally shit since legally bands aren't allowed to play shows with a cover during SXSW unless it's an official showcase. SXSW has already taken action to limit day shows this year. If people keep pulling crap like this, it well get much worse. I like SXSW how it is, I don't want some douchebags wanting to charge for their day party ruining everything. BTW, those douchebags were Hot Freaks. It's a collection of awesome blogs that threw an awesome party. But they're still douchebags for charging a cover. At least it was only $3.

Sorry for the rant. I still went in to see Land of Talk and it was awesome.

The show was actually fairly empty. I think it was a combination of early, $3 cover, and the fact that everyone was in line at Stubb's, Emo's, and Red 7.

After Land of Talk, I decided to go to the badge only show at Cedar Street since the line-up looked good and Gus wasn't downtown yet. It was farking crowded since Fado is right next door. Also, the line-up, like I said, was really good (on paper).

The Pipettes were playing when I got there. They're a motown female throw back group from the UK. It's three girls singing in harmony with a choreographed dance. They even wore matching outfits. Well, they were only somewhat matching so they could still keep some hipster cred.

Next up was Mando Diao. I may be all alone here, but I think they're Jet part 2. They really know how to put on a good show though.

They got the crowd moving with their energy. There were enough mics for everyone, but the two lead singers constantly shared the same mic. It was the type of showmanship that yoe rarely see anymore. Kudos to you, Mando Diao. I may not find your music original enough to buy your albums, but you put on a hell of a show.

I was sick of the crowd at Cedar Street so I left to check out UNCUT at the Annex. This was the same party that earlier had an open bar and free tacos. Well, all that was done by the time I made it back there. Oh well. UNCUT was way too loud, but at least they had an original soud, which was a nice change from Mando Diao.

Gus came up with a good plan on getting me into the NY2LON party. I just used Amanda's RSVP since she was sick with a sudden bout of lameness that kept her home all day. There I got some free beer and saw Johnossi.

They're an awesome two-piece from Sweden. I would like to publicly apologize to the drummer for being so rude. I really wanted to know their name so I interrupted him while he was trying to put everything away. I was a little pushy and loud which seemed to annoy him. Oh well. They really did rock.

From there Gus and I headed to Mugshots to waste some time before the Annuals show which was supposed to be next door. I say the word "supposed" because it turns out that the fire marshal shut the show down. What the f?!? The venue was running Wednesday through Friday, but I guess someone found an issue on Saturday and put an end to it all. Back to Mugshots until the evening shocases!

posted by Ruhmann @ 3/18/2007 10:21:00 PM