SxSW came and went, and while I didn't get to see and do as much as my roommate, I made the best of it with what little time I did have for the event.
First was the kickoff weekend where Sunday night, Marshall, Cheryal, and I went to a film party sponsored in part by Reversal Films and NOLCHA. It was at Speakeasy, so without an alcohol sponsor, the drinks were a bit on the pricey side. Suffice to say I did not drink enough to get drunk. This was our opportunity to schmooze, pass out business cards, and try to make contacts. However, out hosts were too busy with their own partying and schmoozing to help us out and and I was in the middle of one of my rare social "shutdowns" where everyone seems unfriendly and I don't want to associate with anyone. But Marshall pulled through and handed out a few cards and talked to a few important people, but nothing on par with the SxSW fantasy of every band where that one famous figure in the crowd is waiting to snatch you up and get you signed to a contract. Regardless of all of this it was a helluva party and the live music was great. First was an Indie Rock band called Belaire. They sounded kinda like Of Montreal and Dressy Bessy to me, and I really enjoyed them. But the main attraction was a Hip Hop group from LA called "People Under The Stairs." They were old school hip hop to the max, rapping about partying, getting everyone to put their hands in the air, and all the other crowd jiving. They put on such an energetic show that even though most people didn't even know who they were, everyone participated and got a lot out of the experience.
The next bit of fun to be had was a free late night show at Emo's on Tuesday that featured The Last Vegas, Portugal. The Man, and White Denim. I don't remember that Vegas band being very good, but we did make fun of his tight white pants.
Portugal. The Man, however, were spectacular. I've been a fan of the Church Mouth album ever since Mark introduced me to them, but to see them live is a new experience. With the lights, dense instrumentation and such a high level of energy, it was one of the better shows I've seen in quite a while. They played a couple from Church Mouth, a new song, some Waiter You Vultures, and during one song they even did a bit of "Helter Skelter!" I knew they would be playing more at SxSW, so I couldn't wait to see more.
White Denim was a sharp contrast. Their visuals were non-existent and their sound was sparse, but they made up for that with energy and intensity. There show was pretty good and dance-able. If I can dance to it, then it's got something going on.
I can't remember what happened Wednesday night...no wait, it's coming back to me! I went to the Longbranch Inn on East 11th Street and saw Easy Action and Dickey Moist (or something juvenile like that) with Emilie and Jeff. This was definitely not my sort of scene, nor Emilie, but it was something to do. Plus the one of the guys in Dickey Moist is Mark Olliveri, the guy from Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, and Mondo Generator. Yikes it was terrible. One of the ones that stood out in its awfulness had a chorus that went something like, "real American hero...half-ass Bobby DeNiro." Really guys? This is your anti-war song? Their awful sound and cliche lyrics made the opening band sound awesome in comparison. But we had plenty of drinks and fun anyway, so it was okay.
Everyone's Buddy
Spoon in their blurry glorySpoon was...ok. When one combines a group of people near me who would not shut the fuck up the entire time (Honestly, who goes to a show just to TALK?!) and the fact that they're already not a really active band in concert it doesn't make for the greatest time. But we had fun anyway. Afterwards there was some hemming and hawing about what to do next, but we ended up going back to Jeff's to just relax and listen to some music. Cheryal parted ways at this point to rest, and even though I should have, I did not, and instead went downtown with Emilie and Jeff and wandered the streets, eventually having very sore feat. All the wandering was due to the fact that we had intended to go to the Children's Museum party, but it was PACKED...like a capacity packed. They were only letting people in if someone left, which was not a very speedy process. Everyone was having too much fun playing around all sorts of shapes and sizes of toys all while under the influence of free drinks. Lucky people. We didn't have much luck finding an alternative, and instead just cooled our heels in Lovejoy with a winding down beer, and then headed home to get a little bit of sleep before my half work day and afternoon of shows!
The morning crawled by with menial tasks, my mind all the while on my escape. Even if it was just a half day, it felt glorious to be able to escape when everyone else was there. I dashed out of the place and off to my federal fingerprinting appointment. I guess to make sure I wasn't a criminal. Second one of those things in the past 3 months! But it took no time and I was flying towards downtown, parking on the east side and sprinting to Brush Square Park for the Aussie BBQ!
This was going to be my chance to the Vines. Yes, the "Get Free" guys. I have always liked them a great deal and really regretted the fact that he melted down before I was ever able to see them in concert. And even though it was only a 30 minute set, they rocked it full throttle and it was a damn fine show! They played a couple from the first two albums: "Get Free," "Highly Evolved," "Outtathaway!" and "Ride." The underated, underheard third album even got shown some love and they even managed to squeeze in a cover of "Miss Jackson" and some new songs!
It was an outstanding and kinetic set with me right up front, thrashing around and singing along.
After their set I proceeded to help myself to the free hotdogs and alcohol, filling my empty stomach and getting to that "feeling good" sensation early on in the day. So far my SxSW weekend was off to a great start, but this was no time to rest on my laurels! It was time to make it to another show!
A hop, skip, and a jump later I was down at Headhunters, watching Portugal. The Man perform an acoustic set, which they were obviously nervous as hell about. But I think they pulled it off nicely, and the songs they chose translated real well. I was hoping they would have included "My Mind" because I think it would have been absolutely sublime, but no dice. If wishes were horses...
Stripped down but incredible
Winter hats...don't they know it's Texas?
The guy on the left is the awesome one who recognized me laterWhen faced with the situation of meeting musicians that I respect, I am always faced with a problem. I want to talk to them, get a picture, and let them know how much their music means to me, but at the same time I don't want to be another drooling fanboy. I'm sure most bands have enough of that. So I opted to not take a picture with them and instead waiting till they were outside having a smoke, and bummed a smoke off the keyboardist and proceeded to talk to them for a while. I talked to him and another of the members for a while, about Austin, Seattle, how they have already recorded the majority of their follow-up to Church Mouth and it was produced by the other band member I was talking to, and about SxSW in general. The lead singer walked by and I got to exchange a few sentences with him about how much I enjoyed the band, and I how I wanted to buy the vinyl to support them. I had read his rant on their website and the merits of vinyl and how they totally approve of downloading. He was quiet, but very sincere guy.
Off to another show. I was getting to Club Deville early so I could be sure to catch Jens Lekman, and ended up getting to see most of Peter Moren's (of Peter, Bjorn, & John) set, which was quite good. He sounded a bit like Lennon at times, and had some great little ditties. But the true draw for me and most of the crowd was Jens. He really knew how to play the crowd, making little jokes, telling stories, encouraging crowd participation, and playing really fun songs. Everything about his performance was sheer brilliance. I was texting people telling them, "I love this man." Not in any romatic way, but just so enraptured by his lovable stage presence.
Performing "Black Cab" with his bongos playerAt the end of his set I met up with Cheryal, who happened to have a free beer wristband for me (because she's awesome), and I took full advantage of that, getting to the point of feeling "quite good." After this we were supposed to meet up with LeAnne and Mark and go to Red Eyed Fly for an Autolux gig, but the line was way out the door, so we passed on that, and decided to head back south, so we could get some food and recoup in hopes of making a second surge on the downtown scene later that night. We got some Chinese food and after that headed to LeAnne's to rest for a bit. The idea of rest was a bit too tempting and I passed out for a while. I awoke to everyone telling me we were leaving and heading back out.
We first had the intention of seeing a show with Rogue Wave and Nada Surf, but that had an incredibly long and slow line as well, so we opted out of that, deciding instead to wander for a bit, try to find something less crowded to see. Because, and ONLY because it was one of the few uncrowded places, we went to the Co-Op Bar. Lame place, but the drinks were cheap, and they were playing Rage Against The Machine and Tool, so it was ok. But when some band started playing music that was somewhere between Sublime and the "Cops" theme, it was time to go.
So off into the night we traveled once more. We decided to give up on finding something worthwhile in the music department, and decided to go to the Longbranch Inn, where we met up with Mando to listen to whatever random bands were there, and to just drink and hang out. By the time of arrival I was flagging, so a quick trip to the corner store and a Red Bull later, I was ready for more drinks and action. It was quite of fun night of ridiculous conversation, but that tends to happen when Mando is involved.
What happened next was one of those, "holy shit, it really IS a small world!" moments. The band that was playing when we walked in looked familiar. Certainly I had seen these hard rocking chicks before...and sure enough, by the end of the night I had gained the courage to ask, and lo and behold they were the very same girls that had been rocking a basement party in Ballard at Adrian's house! We talked Seattle and their band a bit, and it was great! It was quite exciting to see someone playing a SxSW gig that I had watched at a houseparty basement. It was such a cool moment. Around 1 or 2 I was feeling the toll of such a long day, and headed home to get some rest before the circus began again.
With a good night's sleep and a shower under my belt I headed back into the fray with Emilie and Jeff, having lunch at the tad pricey but very delicious Blue Dhalia Cafe and then seeing Ben's band Ramifications at Headhunter's. It was basically the same people that always go to their shows, but I was happy they got a gig at SxSW. They're a really good band, and deserved to get more gigs and recognition. After that was done I bolted down to Mohawk's to try to catch A Place To Bury Strangers, whom I had nearly seen for many days but was finally going to witness. It was a great performance, but I must say, they are an atmospheric kind of music. They kind you see indoors, in a dark smokey club where you would let the feedback and icy delivery of the vocals wash over you in a sea of euphoric macabre, if such a thing even exists or is possible. But I could appreciate the musicianship anyway in the middle of a bright hot day. Leaving impressed (Jeff liked 'em too!) and Emilie very nonplussed, we headed over to the French Ligation, where many people were to play, including She & Him and Okkerville River.
I had never been to this place, but it turns out to be a completely gorgeous garden area in east Austin! There was a huge green lawn with many people casually lounging around, and people under a mid-sized canopy enjoying the bands. It seemed like an idyllic spot--but there was one problem: it was too crowded! This place was designed for many less people. The tent area was overcrowded, the beer line was astronomical and the port-o-potty line almost as long! As cool of a spot as it was, I had no desire to stay. I wanted to seek less crowded pastures, so I called up LeAnne and Cheryal and I agreed to meet up with her and head to the Do512.com party on South Lamar.
This place eventually became the most fun of any party I went to during all of SxSW. First off it was in this tucked away area with these garage-looking buildings which were apparently inhabited by artists, some of which were having an open house for people to look at the art and enjoy free drinks. The art inside was awesome and everyone found something they wanted to take home if they were in slightly higher tax bracket. ;-) The party was also co-sponsored by Sweet Leaf Tea and 42 Degrees vodka, so the vodka tea drinks were flowing, as well as the beer (but I passed on beer). Free drinks out the wazoo! Okay, I'm over it now. Then we proceeded to see some amazing performances. First up was Wild Orchid Children, a side project of some of the members of Portugal. The Man. It was a wacking screaming sort of experiment band, but HIGHLY enjoyable. If they had an album, I'd love to hear it.
Mustaches 'a plenty with Orchid Wild Children
Rollicking Neon Adventures
Claps and tambourinesAfter they played the keyboardist walked by and recognized me! Just a brief, "hey! (shake hands here) enjoying the show? Take it easy!" Small but awesome gesture. By this time I was starving, and onsite for the party (but not free, sadly) was Torchy's "Damn Good" Tacos. Jimminy Cricket did they live up to the name! I got both a beef fajita taco but also a chipotle verde pork taco, which was incredible! We ravinously gobbled these down while watching the Von Bondies, who put on a solid, rocking performance.
Somewhere around this point Emilie and Jeff reunited with Cheryal and I, and with almost suspicious timing so did the Red Bull! So now I was downing Red Bull & Vodka, which made me feel loose but crazy, which is exactly how I need to be for Man Man!
Where the neon madmen climbI've seen these guys twice before and they've never disappointed. It's always such an energetic hullabaloo. I've often described the vibe to other people as, "Where The Wild Things Are - The Band." They certainly lived up to this for a third time, pulling out old favorites and playing plenty of new songs, which sounded fantastic and flowed excellently with older material. My only minor quibble would be that the instrumentation seemed more sparse. I don't know if there were members missing our their "kitchen sink" approach has been altered, but it seemed more focused, and less zany. Still and incendiary performance that I danced my ass off during, but just noticeably different. I honestly can't wait to hear their new album, Rabbit Habits, which comes out April 8.
Hurly/Burly and good rambunctious funOnce the last bits of rattle and hum left the stage, I left with everyone else, except I think I was a sweatier mess than most. Cheryal and I headed over to Jeff's for some grilling and chilling until we headed off to a secret Octopus Project show. Emilie made her delicious cream cheese-stuffed, bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers. So delicious! We all piled into the car and went a few blocks down the street to check out this secret show, but it turned it we were too late, it already happened. It was just in someone's backyard, and everyone except the band and their close friends had cleared out, making our arrival a bit awkward, but we had a drink from their keg, chatted with the band and expressed our dismay at missing the show and departed, and which time everyone went home to sleep.
The next day, and this past week for that matter I have spent recovering from a zany stint of drinking, dancing, and partying. Just been trying to take it easy and start work on a new project with mi hermano.
Fear not, there are plenty of great shows ahead, so at the very least, watch this space for reviews of more Spring concert madness!
