As expected, I woke up late on the first day of sxsw. I got a text msg from Amanda asking when I was going to be downtown, but as I couldn't even remember where I was (common problem for me in the morning) I didn't have a good handle on the situation. I knew I had to pick up Kat's car, so I was sure it would be a while.
I finally met up with Amanda and Mike at Casino el Camino and had a hotdog, since there was no way I was waiting over an hour for a burger, no matter how good it was. I hogged down a footlong hotdog and we headed over to Emo's just in time to catch the last song by some band I didn't put in my notes.
After our brief stay at Emo's we went to Red Eye Fly in hopes of getting in on some free beer action. No luck, but the jukebox was good. Pela was playing outside, so this marks the third time I've "seen" them and every time has been in the same situation, they played while I was drinking in another other room. Some day I'll catch them and be upset with myself for missing it the first three times. At some point Brian msg'ed and tried to meet us, but the door had started checking for RSVPs and he was denied entry. The whole RSVP thing sucks, I ran into it a million times at CMJ and it sucks to see that sxsw is going the same way now too.
Eventually the Octopus Project started and we went outside to watch. Any time Red Eye Fly is at capacity it sucks to watch shows there; you can't see anything and there is no room. I still liked at least hearing them. I can't believe how many times I passed on watching them when I lived in Austin.
After the Octopus Project, we went to Room 710 to see the Woggles. They have a Galaga machine at Room 710, so I bummed a quarter and played a round. That was the best part of the show. I'm not a fan, though they were entertaining for the first five minutes.
Now we hit the lull between day shows and night showcases. With nothing to do, we hit Mugshots for the first of many visits. I love that place.
After getting a number of drinks in me, we headed to Hoak's for a slice before hitting our first night show - the Comas at beauty bar. They were pretty boring though when they brought the rock I thought it was acceptable. Amanda and Mike left early to get in to Blond Redhead, Brian and I stayed a little longer then left to catch Best Fwends inside. Best Fwends were just, themselves. My best decription of watching their show would be like watching a youtube video while it happened. They crack me up.
Unfortunately though, watching their show completely fucked my chances of seeing Blond Redhead because the line was atrociously long. I eventually gave up when Beruit started. Brian, Amanda and Mike left the show, though they were already in and came with me back to Mugshots for a round of shots and some drinks.
From there, Amanda and Mike went home (another unfortunate theme for the weekend) and Brian and I went to Mowhawk to catch Rob Crow, othwise known as the singer from Pinback. The Twighlight Sad was playing before them and their singer was doing his best Jim Morrison impression, never facing the stage. The rest of the band was equally unlively and I wanted to go to sleep.
Rob Crow finally started and I was glad we got to catch it. Some guy in front of us kept requesting Pinback songs throughout the entire set, which I found humerous. Rob Crow is great.
It was 1am by the time Rob Crow was finished and with no other plans I decided to part ways with Brian and catch up with Thomas, who I hadn't yet seen, though I was staying at his house all week. He was stage managing at Red7 so I stopped in to hang out. There was some kind of Australian record label showcase going on and the last band playing was pretty good (the band was The Mint Chicks - bad name, decent show). Thomas said that all of the bands were pretty good so I'm going to have to check them out. You know, during all that free time that I have. Right.
I was booked on the last Continental flight to Austin the night before the music festival started. Pulling my usual "get to the airport late then mad rush to get on the plane", I poorly judged how ridiculous the line was going to be at the ticket counter and ended up having to carry-on my bag, which was full of liquids over 3oz. I tossed everything, except for the super-expensive hair product* that I was unwilling to part with. That I stuck in my back pocket as I walked through security. Genius. $30 saved. A good note for all you terrorists out there, keep your liquids on your person.
When I finally got on my overbooked flight, I immediately realized that every band was on my flight. At least all of the ones from New York and even some of the European bands. This would have been fine, but they all carried-on their guitars, which meant I had to check my bag anyway. Once we were about to take off, the pilot warned us that we were going to be ridiculously delayed, but somehow the kicked it into turbo once we got in the air and we arrived to Austin early.
Jason was kind enough to pick me up at midnight and in typical fashion we killed a couple pitchers at the Hideout before calling it a night at barclose. It's just like me to drink heavily the night before a binge drinking week.
How do you like the throwback in the post title to one of the better groups I saw this weekend? OK, I'm lame. I would like to publicly apologize for that. But unfortunately, I don't have time. So, on with the summary of my Saturday night!
Gus and I originally went to see Asobi Seksu at a day show at Chuggin' Monkey, but they were running over an hour late so we decided to look elsewhere for our entertainment. I had My Latest Novel on my list, so we went to Buffalo Billiards to check them out.
I have to say I was impressed. They were very vocal heavy and their strong Glasgow accents seemed very topical, being St. Patrick's Day and all. Does that make any sense? A few of their songs were building anthems, reminding me of Asobi Seksu and The Frames.
After that I headed to Emo's to see if there was any chance in hell of me catching The Meat Puppets. Strangely enough, the badge line was really short and I practically walked right in. While waiting for them I actually heard "look how empty it is in here" which was exactly what I was thinking! I got this weird feeling that they were keeping everyone out of the show in order to save some room for more badges that might show up late.
This was one of the most "legendary" feeling shows I've ever seen. I saw the singer for Apples in Stereo there as well as the drummer for Sloan. The Meat Puppets were awesome, but totally over the hill. I hope they don't try to put on a big tour, because I don't see them being able to make it.
From there I went to see the Octopus Project with Blck Moth Super Rainbow. Elysium was completely packed. The show started really late, but once they played, it was crazy awesome!
This show well exceeded my expectation. It also reminded me that I need to see way more Octopus Project shows. At this point, I thought that this may be the best show I've seen at SXSW. But I still hadn't seen the Girl Talk showcase.
After the OP and BMSR rocked my sweaty socks off, I was off to see Tokyo Police Club.
This band is great. I was talking to someone in line right before the show and we both agreed, they're young, tons of potential, and if they gain some experience and apply it properly, they could be stadium worthy rock. Hopefully they don't get too cocky. There's a lot of hype around them right now. If they let it get to their head, a lot of potential could get wasted.
After that was the greatest SXSW show I've ever seen. Girl Talk kicked my ass and I loved every second of it. But I've already talked about that. Therefore, I'm done talking about Saturday.
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!
I wasn't sure who to see at 8. I had only one band on my schedule and I wasn't particularly excited to see them. I decided to flip through the schedule and noticed "Hot Rod Circuit". Apparently Andy Jackson from HRC was playing a solo set at Red Eyed Fly.
It was a pretty good show. It really reminded my of Dashboard confessional before he got really popular and started to suck. I think he was just playing HRC material. I'll have to check out their latest albums.
From there I headed to see Georgie James at Bourbon Rocks. Andy Jackson finished early and it looked like Bourbon Rocks had some audio troubles and were running behind. It gave me a chance to see Lonelady. The lead singer had a great crooning voice, but there just wasn't anything else about them that stood out. If they had a less formulaic sound, they might be good.
Georgie James was about as good as I expected. The chemistry between Laura and John is just amazing. I can't wait for their full length. As you can see from the picture above, the club was using the same lights that they use for their normal dance club evenings. It was really funny to see the bright swinging lights and strobes during a simple, groovy set like that.
Since the set started late, it also ended late. I booked it over to Club DeVille to see Via Audio. There was a good crowd there that seemed really excited to see them.
The singer was really short. It was kinda funny because at first I thought she was sitting down. Then I noticed she wasn't. And I laughed at someone's physical shortcomings. It was great.
The band was really rock-a-billy-esque. After a couple songs, I realized that I wasn't really grooving to it. Why did I want to see this band anyway? I texted Gus and he told me to meet him at Red 7 immediately.
Gus couldn't wait to tell me about the band he just saw. Monotonix from Tel Aviv apparently put on a great show. According to Gus, the singer went completely nuts and started throwing shit from the bar all over the place. I'll leave it to him to describe the whole thing, but it sounded awesome.
We then walked to Latitude 30 to catch The Saturday Knights. On stage at the time we got there was a rasta hip hop artist called Beyond. Didn't see enough of him to be a critic, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it.
While waiting, Gus offered to buy me a beer. We went to the beer tub girl and Gus asked her about the open beers that she had. She explained that it's just bottles she opened by mistake. I told her I'd take one to help her out and she gave Gus a good deal on the beer. The thing is, I'll bet she was just saving them for a really drunk guy to walk up and not notice the beer was already open. I didn't mind it though. Gus couldn't believe I drank it. I guess I just don't like the thought of beer possibly going to waste.
I would like to take a moment to thank Gus for taking me to see The Saturday Knights. They were way cooler than I ever expected.
They reminded me of the Aerosmith/Run D.M.C. version of "Walk This Way", except it was an entire set like that, not just one song. I left after twenty minutes so I could make sure I got in for the Sloan show. Gus told me I missed the best part of the set, but I didn't regret it. I wanted to make sure I saw Sloan.
When I finally got into The Dirty Dog (which was packed and still sucks as a music venue), You Am I was still playing. Again, I didn't really pay enough attention to critique their music, but that's a terrible band name. Besides, The Saturday Knights were so cool that everything would have sucked by comparison. Well, everyone except a band I'm excited to see, like Sloan. Living near Canada I heard a lot of Sloan on the radio. I didn't really get into them until recently. Fortunately they just put out a new album (that is awesome) and are touring again.
Sloan was acually way better than I expected. There's just one problem, they have a lot of material. Enough to easily fill up a three hour set. Forty minutes is just not enough time. So as good as they were, it was still disappointing in a way.
At the end of the night, I saw The Mooney Suzuki at Ritz. What a disapointment. First off, I have decided that Ritz has a lot of potential, but in reality it totally sucks. They charged me $7 for a beer which is total bullshit. Also, if this place applied themselves, it could be one of the best music venues in Austin. Unfortunately, we have to settle for places without any character like The Parish. Come on Ritz owners! Take out the bar in back then put in a tall stage and a balcony. It would be awesome! You could even let Hoek's sell pizza inside during shows to add to the awesomeness. Oh yeah, you also need to STOP CHARGING ME NEW YORK PRICES FOR BEER!!! Assholes.
Oh yeah, about The Mooney Suzuki being disappointing. They sounded like a bad version of the Black Crows. Sorry, that's not gonna fly here. You may have a lot of fans, but I'm not gonna be one of them.
I got out of the shower at 11:25 to see a text message from Gus telling me that everyone is eating at Freebird's. After eating that delicious standing-around-watching-live-music-fuel of a burrito, we were off. Amanda and Mike headed to the ACL studios to see The Stooges while Gus and I headed downtown. We went to Emo's so we could catch Fujiya & Miyagi and Girl Talk who were both playing later in the afternoon.
We walked in to see Marnie Stern playing. It was one of the strangest things I have ever seen. She was playing backing tracks off an iPod attached to her belt while screaming into a mic and playing guitar. She used the two handed hammer on method to play every single song. It was like watching an automobile accent. We couldn't look away, no matter how annoying it got.
Next, we headed outside to see The Ponys. God they sucked. They were way too loud, which didn't help. It's just that they were really generic, loud rock.
By this time, it was so crowded that they weren't letting people move from outside stage to the inside stage. I decided that I better get in line if I'm going to have a chance to see Fujiya & Miyagi. In the middle of the Beach House set, I finally made it in. The band was OK, but really slow and boring. The crowd loved it though, and I realized that the room was crowded because of Beach House, not Fujiya & Miyagi.
Everyone left after Beach House and the room was suddenly empty. I texted Gus to let him know he should come in. By the time he showed up it was packed again. Apparently there was a huge line to get in from the outside stage. Why the hell did they put Fujiya & Miyagi on the outside stage? Don't they have a hugely popular album out now? Whatever.
The set they played was almost exactly the same as the set they played at the KEXP show. I actually think KEXP was a better show. But that doesn't mean that this wasn't worth the money, being free and all.
We were completely worn out and decided to sit in the stands by the outside stage. Menomena was on. I wasn't paying that much attention, but they sounded really good. I'll have to check them out for real sometime. Also, these are the awesomest bartenders anywhere. Just look at that facial hair! Only at Emo's.
The dude with the hat even gave me a free beer. May I just point out that Emo's is the best venue in Austin. Great bands, cheap beer, perfect location (hell, it's the cornerstone of the Red River hipster/punk clubs), and a great punk rock ambiance. Wait, did I say Austin? This may be the best venue in the world.
Up next, Girl Talk. I already mentioned his showcase in an earlier post. This day show was good, but no where near as awesome as the showcase. By the way, if you have the means, see this man perform.
Gus and Amanda wanted to go to see the Beirut KEXP show, so we left. We went to grab some grub first. I had my first Bestworst. I have no idea why I've never had one of these before. It was awesome. While I still prefer Hoek's pizza, bestworst is awesome. It must have a big reputation too since I saw Ace of Cakes himself, Duff Goldman, in line to grab a brat. I should have gotten a picture with him, but for some reason I was too embarrassed.
On the way to grab the bestworst, I actually noticed a sign for Maritime playing a free show at Pure. I decided to go there instead of Beirut. I never regretted that decision.
As you can see, it was only Davie and Erik playing. There was no drum set, there was no bass, just two guys with two guitars. I felt privileged to experience a show like this. How often do you get to stumble upon an acoustic set from one of your favorite bands? Pretty fucking sweet, right?
The first show I headed to was Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. While waiting for the show I noticed that they were projecting an advertisement on the cover for the stage at Stubb's. On closer inspection, it actually allowed people to send text messages to a number and the messages would be displayed on the screen. I'm sure that they had screeners making sure all obscenities were deleted before being displayed. That obviously doesn't always work though.
The Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. singer was actually suffering from bronchitis. He still put on a good show. It was very low energy music though, so I was happy to leave to find something new.
I met up with Gus, Amanda, and Mike. They all wanted to wait at Flamingo for 120 Days, who were supposed to play in about an hour. I had nothing else to do, so I stuck around. That's where we saw one of the worst bands at SXSW, Lozen. I really don't want to talk about them. Just posting this picture brings back horrible memories.
We quickly got out of there, running into some Jesus freaks on the way. I love how they all want to tell me I'm going to hell even though they know nothing about me. I probably am going to hell, but it's the principle!
We left the show with so much haste that I dropped my notebook on the way out. I was really bummed since I had so many notes in there about all the awesomeness I've seen so far. When we got back to Flamingo, Amanda actually found the notebook for me on the bar. Thanks again Amanda!
After that (and a few shots at Mugshots, official venue of the Gus SXSW Drunking Party) I went off on my own to catch Foreign Islands at The Beauty Bar patio. I tried going in the back entrance and they told me to go around the front. I don't know who made the decision to not use the back entrance, but they are completely retarded. The front was easy to get into, but it was filled with folks trying to get into the patio. It was a total hipster cluster-fuck. No, I didn't get any pictures. But believe me, it was terrible hats, large sunglasses, and spikey hair all pushing around with a "I'm too cool for lines so I'm just gonna crowd the door" attitude. Luckily I had enough patience to make it through, and since the whole line-up was running late, I didn't miss a single tune.
Foreign Islands was hipster rock at it's best. Faux English accents and all. The thick framed glasses wearing singer seemed to be king hipster. He used a vocal effect for the whole set that sounded like an old tinny radio. Actually, it just sounded like his vocal amp was busted, but listening to their MP3, I know it was no accident. He even dropped the mic and went off stage during guitar solos as if to say "I'm acting like I'm not important now and you should be looking at the guitarist, but I really just want to make a scene so you remain completely focussed on me." Still, they were awesome.
Next up was MuteMath playing at The Dirty Dog. This venue seemed to be packed all weekend. Which is unfortunate because it sucks as a music venue. On a side note, when will The Side Bar and Mugshots become SXSW venues? Then they can stop using shite venues like The Dirty Dog.
Right before the show started, the drummer came out and duct taped his headphones onto his head. When they started, I finally understood the necessity of the tape. The man swung his head around violently while playing one of the most energetic sets I've ever seen from a drummer. Basically, he was just like Animal from The Muppet Show, madly panting after every song. I'm not at all being sarcastic. Eventually, all their songs sounded the same and I left, but not because they weren't entertaining, because they were.
I then headed to Buffalo Billiards to see Aqueduct. This was the first band that I was really excited to see. While waiting for the show to start I ran into Erik from Say Hi to Your Mom. Kent is a huge fan, so I told Erik that Kent says "hi". Erik claimed that he remembered Kent, but that could have been total BS, who knows. Aqueduct came on and played a decent set. Met, but didn't beat, expectations. They started off the set with a cover of the theme song to Walker, Texas Ranger. Funny, but not as awesome as their Journey cover at SXSW '05.
Once the show was over, I met with Gus to go see Okkervil River at Mohawk. They immediately reminded me of Spoon and that just killed the whole experience. Living in Austin, I hear way too many people praising Spoon. I just want to scream "They're not that good! FUCK! They're not even from Austin anymore. Stop being such a homer!" Anyway, I decided to follow Gus inside to see Evangelicals instead.
They had a smoke machine and fake flowers all over the stage. It looked pretty cheesy and the smoke was annoying. Also, the guitarist has a really creepy looking mustache. He reminded me of Deputy Dewey from Scream.
I know I still have to tell you all about Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday. But before I go to bed tonight, I just want to share with you the experience of one show I saw today. It was actually the last show I saw at SXSW '07. The 1am showcase for Girl Talk at Elysium. Girl Talk is a hip-hop mash-up artist from Pittsburgh that seems to do a good job appealing to the alt/hipster hiding in all the people that attend events like SXSW. I actually didn't know about this guy until Gus told me that I had to see him. I saw him on Friday at a day show at Emo's. He did an awesome job getting the crowd excited at that show. I still didn't expect what happened at his showcase today.
Elysium was packed. The crowd was ready to let loose. Four days of music, beer, lines, more music, more lines, free beer, and not enough vocal in the monitor all helped create a crowd of worn out, yet ready to let loose, live music fans. The show was running late, so Girl Talk felt the anticipation. He talked to the crowd while setting up his equipment (i.e. laptop and saran wrap).
His quips with the crows only added to the anticipation. I was near the front of the crowd, which began to sway with nervous energy. Chants of 'Girl Talk' could be heard in various locations throughout the club. "Just give me 3 minutes," he said. It seemed like an eternity.
As he started to play his incredible mixture of hip-hop and alternative music, the crowd exhaled and let out all the remaining energy they had. It was as if every one was saving just a tiny bit of energy for this show, and it was all being let out at once.
About ten minutes into the show people started jumping up on stage. It didn't take long for the bouncers to realize that this was actually a good thing.
We all danced our farking arses off!!! I remember turning around in the middle of the show and noticing that there were actually people in the club not dancing. What the hell was wrong with you people! Over half the club was dancing, and no one was actually doing it well. Why were you too embarrassed to join the fun?!?
I have to say that not only was this show the most fun thing I saw at SXSW '07, it was likely the best way to end a SXSW festival that I will ever experience. For everyone that was at that show with me (especially Gus) thanks for creating an amazing experience, and see you all in '08!
I'm tired as dog farts so I'm gonna try to make this quick. I'll probably add photos later. I'm also uploading videos to youtube right now.
I got downtown around 2:15 and parking=bitch. Walking down sixth street I realized that it was more crowded than a cat orgy downtown. Gus told me to meet him at Emo's for Land of Talk, and I obliged.
Wow. What a great show. The singer's voice is fantastic. During the show, she mentioned "You know how some people can pick up a chair and know how much it weighs? What's that called? Bullshit?"
After that we went to a show that we thought was Little Ones. There was free BBQ and beer, which was awesome, but we quickly realized that we were at the wrong show. We stayed for awhile anyway because... you know... free beer.
After that was Tokyo Police Club at Emo's. Now I know why so many people are hyping them. They were awesome.
They looked about twelve years old, and probably were, but were still great. They reminded me a lot of The Strokes.
I had to leave the show early to catch Fujiya and Miyagi at ACL studios.
We then all got some grub at Kirbey Lane before heading back to the ACL studio for Apples in Stereo.
Fun, poppy, rock. I really enjoyed it. However, their singer is a total spaz. During the interview portion of the show, he talked faster than the characters on Gilmore Girls.
Did someone say something about "more vocal in the monitor"?!? That's right, it's that time of the year. Terrible PAs mixed with picky vocalists always seems to be the formula for SXSW. The first showcase I saw at SXSW, The Comas, included two singers complaining about the lack of their vocals in their monitor. Good times. After that, Gus and I went to check out Best Fwends. Gus really inspired me with this quote: "They're like a live youtube video!". Well, I posted it here. That's right, we saw it live, you can see it on youtube. Also, check out the pic (they actually had three "fwends" holding up that backdrop). After that, we headed to Emo's because Gus wanted to check out Beirut and Blond Redhead. LINES! EVERYWHERE! Gus was not getting in. Unfortunately, it took Amanda and I a while to realize this. The lines were so bad that when I left, the bouncer grabbed me to warn me that the line was too long and I wouldn't be getting back in (despite my badge). I still continued so that I could grab Gus and go to Mugshots. The best bar downtown did a great job at replenishing my energy. Eventually we all left the bar. Amanda was tired and went home, but Gus and I went to Stubb's.
Holy fuck.
And I'm not talking about that band.
Around 11pm, there was a line for Stubb's that went to the end of the block, and it was all badges. I've never seen that. And this was on a Wednesday. About 20% of the badge holders aren't even n town yet!
When I reminded Gus that Rob Crow was playing at Mohawk, we headed there immediately.
The guitarist looked completely stoned, the basist played the whole set whith his eyes closed, the keyboardist looked like he didn't give a shit, and some drunk idiot kept requesting Pinback songs, but the show was still great. I really expected a lot from Rob, and I think he delivered. It's rare that I hype a show for myself and it delivers (like this one did). Congrats Rob, welcome to solo-ville!
After that, I went to see MxPx by myself. It was fun hearing some of the songs that I grew up on. I also learned that Spiro's needs to learn how to handle pop/punk bands if they want to continue to be a part of SXSW. A lot of young fans got unfairly booted from the venue for their moshing antics. While I don't know exactly what these youngsters did to deserve this manhadling by the Spiro's bouncers, to me it seemed like some folks may have been treated unfairly. But to be honest, I still had a good time... with zero direct run-ins with bouncers.
I went to the Pete Townshend keynote today to try and justify the purchase of my badge. I even took notes so I could tell you all about what he said! OK, let's go...
When I walked in, I noticed a flier on the seats. It was about The Method. Apparently, Pete is promoting a new software product that will write music for you. "The Method ... offers subscribers the opportunity to create their own unique musical composition by 'sitting' for the Method software composer, just as you would sit for a painter making your painter." To me, this sounds like science fiction bullshit that some chiropractor came up with. However, since Pete is sponsoring it, I want to give them all my money to compose a song that is the essence of Ruhmann.
Pete had a lot of interesting things to say. Like, the death of John Entwistle helped the band find a new chemistry that led to the creation of their new album. Like, the fuel of The Who's music came from angst brought on by the fact that the parents of the baby boomers refused to share with them the experiences they learned through two world wars. Like, the industr is changing, we must embrace the web (duh), and why the hell isn't music content on the web always live? Pete even suggested that next year's SXSW should be broadcast all over the world, using the web. While this would be difficult and expensive, it's the best idea I've heard in a long time.
I got a late start. I wanted to see Ghostlans Observatory at the ACL Studio but I didn't make it downtown in time. By the time I got downtown, I tried to meet up with Gus but failed. He made it into the Little Radio part and Red Eyed Fly, but they were checking for RSVPs by the time I made it there. Things worked out OK though since I really wanted to check out the Austinist/Gothamist/Gorilla vs. Bear party anyway. First show I saw was Stars of Track and Field. They were good, but what's up with the neckerchiefs? If you don't have something on your neck to hide, like a stoma, wearing a neckerchief just means you're lacking any fashion sense what-so-ever.
Next up was Apes and Androids. Let me start by saying "fucking sweet".
Yes, that's make-up+dresses+cool puppets+falsetto+glam=entertainment. About this time, I realized what makes day shows so special. Many day shows are invite only, and all of them are crowded (probably because they're free). For these reasons, you don't often leave a day show once you're in. Therefore, you see bands that you didn't initially intend to see. Many of these bands are awesome, like Apes and Androids. This is why I heart the 'south by'.
After that was Hourly Radio. Every guy wore black and refused to smile. Very different from the previous band. I was happy to just sit back and sip my PBR while waiting for Architects in Helsinki. One word to describe them, 'old'. I gave up on them quickly. Good thing since Loney, Dear was playing inside. This was probably the best band I saw all day.
I really don't know what to say about this band. They're awesome. Unfortunately, the picture above doesn't include the other singer in the band. She's behind the speaker on the left. The chemistry between her, the lead singer (in the middle), and the rest of the band is just incredible. Please, check them out.
After that, I left Mohawk and met Gus, et.al., at Room 710. The Woggles were playing. I've never heard of this band, but I learned that they are very old and like to dress like smurfs. That is all.
I drove downtown to pick up my badge today. I figured that the line wouldn't be too bad since most people won't be coming into town until this evening. Unfortunately, the computers they were using to register people kept freezing. Once they worked through their technical problems, things started moving quick enough. It took me about an hour but I now have my badge! The police didn't even notice my expired meter. :-)
I downloaded and listened to the whole SXSW music torrent. It was over 3 GB with more than 700 songs. I actually skipped all the stuff that sounded too country or hippity-hoppity for my tastes. It's amazing how bad some of thesebands actually are. Some are even prettyfunny. I thought that I should share a few jems that I found:
Girl Talk - easily my most anticipated show. I am a sucker for remix/sample artists, and this guy is the best I've heard in a long time. I'm sold the moment he mixes Hum with M.I.A., I'm sold. Fujiya & Miyagi - I've really been digging their album.
Most of the others I have seen before The Saturday Knights - Their show is a sure thing. Go to the KEXP blog and download their single. Unless you think it's bad to listen to other kinds of music. Land of Talk - female singer/lead guitar player rocks out with a Les Paul SG. It's crazy, I hate AC/DC, but I love the SG. I must warn you though, they are Canadian. Tokyo Police Club - these guys look like all the hipsters I hate, but they bring the rock like there's no tomorrow. They are also Canadian. +/- - these guys have the best name because it accurately describes how I feel about them. They can go from awesome to terrible, sometimes even in the same song. Eternally frustrating, but I can't say they didn't warn me. I love half of their latest album; guess what I think of the other half. 120 days - I'm still trying to figure out if these guys are too douchebagish to really enjoy live. i'll give them one more shot, but if they cry about their ridiculously complicated setup not working, they will be dead to me - even though their sound reminds me of the lamda lamda lamda's carnival performance in Revenge of the Nerds. Junior Senior - "Move Your Feet" still makes me smile.
Shows that will be too crowded to go to, but i'd like to see them anyway Lily Allen - she's playing at stubbs, so I could probably get in, but stubbs is one of my least favorite venues during sxsw. Amon Tobin - he's playing Elysium, which is always too crowded for non-badge holders.
