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SXSW

SXSW Wrap Up

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This chocolate covered bacon I just ate is starting to be all acid refluxy.  Looks like it’s time to wrap up the SXSW music experience!  I’m sitting here in the hotel chilling out saving up juice for the long drive back tomorrow.  The bacon treat came courtesy of a specialty candy shop down on South Congress in Austin.  Much like the sweet release of flavor both the chocolate and bacon provides my taste buds, the SXSW Music Showcase provided the sweet release of sounds to my ears.  Here’s my highlights of the whole shebang:

  • Mariachi El Bronx really kicked off the tunes even though I saw them at the Interactive closing party.  The happy bounce I had in the chair came from when I discovered that they were, in fact, The Bronx and they decided to take the Mariachi route from their hard rock road.
  • Sharon Jones and Dap kings stole the NPR opening night showcase.  Look, Spoon’s great and Austin local, but the party music and soul motions Jones and company brought to the stage eclipsed everyone else’s performances.
  • Muse delivered.  I have yet to see them and now I can say that the live show is worth every penny.  They do so much more on stage than just play their songs.  I’m now even more of a fan of Muse than what I was before they hit the stage.
  • Street Sweeper Social Club rocked harder than anyone else out here.  Even more so than F@#$ed Up.  Maybe it was the funk tones or the fact I got to see Tom Morrello work his magic.  It doesn’t matter.  The show was the only one I was at where the crowd actually all jumped up and down.
  • Miike Snow impressed me and the whole crowd.  They fused together clear tones of electronic bleeps and bloops with some distorted guitar jams to create a sound that touched everyone at the Mohawk.  You know what?  Wave Machines did that too.
  • Ray Davies can still kick you in the face with his music.   The Kinks patriarch played about 2/3 of his show as you would expect from an old rock.  He was all acoustic and reminiscent.  Then all of the sudden, The 88 came out and they all brought the house down with some Kinks classics and new tunes.
  • Gordon Gano can play the violin.  I didn’t know he could but he showed off his pluckiness with the wooden instrument with the Ryan Brothers.   He totally dipped into the Violent Femmes well so it was a guaranteed win of a show.

That’s all I can remember off the top of my head.  There were so many high points, it’s hard to remember them all.  Well that and the bacon is starting to hit.  I’m sure in the ebb and flow of recovery this week I’ll figure it out.

Concerts, SXSW

SXSW Day 4: Cold Weather Doesn’t Stop Hot Rock

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The last day of SXSW proved to be much chillier than what I expected down here in Austin, Texas.  Winter wasn’t going out with  a band just yet and on the first day of Spring, a cold northern wind and storm brought things back to winter like conditions.  I speculated before the night time shows that the crowds would thin out.  I was only partially right, which is a testament to all of the  music fans who showed for SXSW.

During the day I hit up some of the SXSW sponsored and witnessed some free flowing music, along with some free flowing drinks.  I recharged at the IFC Crossroads house, hit a local pizza joint, and then headed out for the night shows.  By the time the winds calmed down, the night time air was more than manageable.  I didn’t stay out until 2 am, but we did get another full day of tunes under the belt.  Here’s the good stuff of what I saw:

  • The first stop for the day saw us hit the Soho Lounge for an Mpress Records Showcase.  The Meiko Canon played along and while they didn’t blow my lid off, the mix of folk and rock along with the female vocal marked a good start for concert going.
  • After a quick detour to the day stage at the conference center, we hung out at the Hauge party tent.  Nicad played and picked up the energy even more.  The lead singer push his voice toward Weird Al Yankovic territory while the punk rock rythms flowed through.
  • The Capital Records tent next door kicked off shorthly thereafter and I had a couple of drinks while watching Mackintosh Braun.  My interest didn’t pick up until they played their last song.  The synth and keyboard filled ambient noise washed over a baning drum set.  It’s worth checking them out.
  • I had a thirst for more food and drink so I went to the Aussie BBQ Showcase at Maggie Mae’s.  Andy Clockwise cursed like a sailor and rocked out like a soldier.   What better way to get your blood flowing to keep you warm than a nice hard rock set in the middle of the day?
  • The show off the night was at the Billboard.com Bungalow.  Street Sweeper Social Club brought down the tent with its funk infused rock and covers set.  Little known fact:  Tom Morrello of Rage Against the Machine just happens to be the guitarist.  Oh and it showed too.  That guy is an official guitar god in my eyes.
  • Hoofing it over to the Alehouse, I was expecting some Celtic music from the Mighty Steph.  What I got was a blues/country/irish mix of music that sat perfectly with the run down atmosphere of the joint.  If I ever need to just get drunk alone in a dank bar, I will be sure to play the Mighty Steph when I do so.
  • Finally, the last set of SXSW for me saw it being performed in the most fitting of places: the Driskell Hotel Cafe.  The Wave Machines are a British band from Liverpool and they sound like the evolution of another Liverpool band, the Beatles.  They had an impressive collection of drum machines, synths, and all things electric.  But they also had the standard rock setup of drums, guitar, and piano.  The didn’t go overboard on the instruments, however, picking and choosing the right piece for the right song.  All of it smooth, poppy, and dancy.  A great way to finish SXSW.
Concerts, SXSW

SXSW Day 3: Stuffed On Music

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I’m sitting here in the Clarion Inn at about 3:30 in the morning Saturday and I’m wondering if it can get any better than this.  No, I’m not talking about Old Milwaukee, I’m talking about this Music conference and the events leading up me typing this in my underwear.  Sure, my feet are super sore, they have been after every night, but each day passes and my mind continualy is blown up by what we’re doing down here.  Today’s music consisted of a smorgusboard of variety and some pay off from very well known to virtually unknown artists.  Let’s take a look:

  • First up was the Fangs and they bite pretty well in the Euro synth punk genre.  The lead singer lady is all sultry and punky while the rest of the band rocks it out eurocore.  Oh it’s catch and popppy, but has a slight edge.
  • After a couple of detours, I actaully ran into And So I Watch You From Afar playing again.  Me and my lovely girlfriend stayed and watched these guys play again. Go see them if they are in your town.
  • We heard rumor during the week that a major band would be playing at SXSW this week and we got in line at Stubb’s to check them out.  First of was Metric and what I thought was a Swedish smart rock band ended up being a New York rock and roll with synth Blondie send up.  The lead singer lady again had some great energy on the stage.
  • Next up was Muse.  They were the big rumor and Spin brought these guys here for a great show.  I’ve yet to see them live and now I will if they ever come around Kansas City.  Everyone knows who Muse is, or at least should, but what hit the home run for me was the Ennio Morricone cover of the them to Once Upon A Time in The West that they started out with in the encore and ran into Knights of Cydona.  Truly a site to see.
  • We piled out of there and ran back to the Mohawk to see some tunes.  We watched the Cool Kids rap and it was a great palette cleanser.  Good ole fashioned hip hop with some spliff references.
  • Next up at Mohawk was Miike Snow.  Again I thought this was Swedish smart techno but again I was proved wrong when the went alot harder than I expected.  This guys had the crowd at their fingertips by the time we left for our last show.
  • The last stop of the night pinned the tail on our ecclectic donkey of music.  Dengue Fever is a world music band featuring a Cambodian singer and hails for LA.  If you enjoy some rousing world music, check these guys out.  They had us bouncing around the room.  You know at first I thought the singer was a Bollywood type diva but I guess Cambodian divas sound alot like those.  Good fun at the end.
SXSW

SXSW Day 2: Hardcore Hoofin’

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Man alive today was all over.  I counted and I saw about15 or so different bands.  Some big and some small, with surprises in between.  So, in the interest of keeping things brief and at the suggestion of my lovely girlfriend, I will bullet blast what I thought was the better stuff of SXSW Music Day 2:

  • The first stop of the day saw us hit up the Canadian party and Dehli 2 Dublin.  What you say?  Dublin, Ireland and Dehli, India from Canada?  Yup, this bouncy world mash up made the day start out tasty.  On top of the egg and tortilla gobblety gook.
  • After they hit the stage, The Soft Pack A.D. rocked the joint big time.  Think of the White Stripes except the genders reversed.  Very bluesy and driving.
  • On the way to one stop, the guys from F@#$ed Up put on an inpromptu show in front of Beer Land.  The hefty, shirtless lead singer guy ran through some Nirvana and Sex Pistols covers, mixing in their original stuff.  I was lucky enough to get some hardcore rock fixins as it was hard for me to find some time to fit it in on the trip.
  • The said stop just happened to be Gordon Gano and the Ryan Brothers at Valhalla.  Gordo, if you don’t know, is the lead singer of the Violent Femmes.  He’s got a new group and he’s sporting a violin.  They played some new songs and reimagined some old ones.  We loved the show and were lucky that we saw them in such a small venue.
  • I bounced around for a bit and made a pit stop at the Zone Lounge for some shwag and yet another Zone Energy Bar.  What I didn’t expect was to catch a great singer songwriter by the name of Danny Malone.  With acoustic guitar in hand and harmonica in mouth, Danny evoked emotion out of everyone in attendance and I’m checking this guy out the next he comes around Kansas City.
  • The Everything, Everything show later on was pretty tight.  They switched between keyboards with laptops and guitars.  The sound was a math rock or intelligent music sense but just a bit off.  Complex structures flowed out but made a quick turn here and there to keep you into the groove.
  • I left before Everything, Everything finished to head on to my big show of the night.  When I got to La Zona Rosa, it was much earlier than expected.    Fortunately, The 88 filled the time nicely.  The lead singer/guitarist had a Buddy Holly look with a much higher pitched voice.  The were consistent in they lovely dovey rock and roll.  I would play this in the car on the way to the hill to make out with my girlfriend.
  • Ray Davies took the stage after The 88.  If you don’t know who he is, you need to have hour face rocked.  Davies was the lead singer of the great classic band, The Kinks.  His songwriting was his strength and he brought out a great showcase of that with him and some other guy on acoustic guitar.  Not soon after, however, he brought out The 88 to join him on stage to rock the joint.  The Kinks rocked back in the day and Davies still pushing forward.  Davies and The 88 even wrote a song for the show the night before.  Very, very cool.

Now not all of the acts were as cool, but it’s all good.  There is just so much to consume here it can get overwhelming.  I’m just lucky enough to dip my toes in and catch some of the stream.  My toes are certainly sore from all the walking.

Concerts, SXSW

SXSW Day 1: Music Blast Off!

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Okay Day 1 of SXSW Music saw myself kick into full swing of the tunes here in Austin.  It also helped that it was St. Patrick’s Day.  Naturally, me and my lovely girlfriend started out the Irish way and then ended up in the good ole nonprofit way.  In between shows, we checked some cool local shops.  But the important thing stuff was the shows.  So let’s get to it.

St. Patrick’s Day is a day celebrated by Irish alcoholics across the world.  So what better way to do so than at the British Music Embassy at Latitude 30.  The only band the caught my eye was And So I Watch From Afar.  Those guys did some instrumental rock riffs that rival that of Kyuss.  I also enjoyed a lovely pint of Guiness in celebration.  Great times indeed.

We hit up the shops and then the convention center to get our SXXpress pass for the NPR Music Showcase.  The lineup was huge and we made our way to Stubb’s BBQ about 2 hours before the show.  The line was already long so we were glad to use the new pass types and be first inside the show!  The outdoor venue is a great place to watch bands and also snack down on some great BBQ, even though it’s not as good Kansas City.

The first two bands were alright.  Visqueen opened up with some rock that didn’t put me to sleep.  The Walkmen stepped on stage next and they rocked out in an almost Coldplay type style.  The lead singer hit the high notes well but really didn’t punch it through on the emotional side of things. The next three bands were the ones we really wanted to see.

Broken Bells is a collaboration of Danger Mouse and James Mercer.  They had a tough act to follow but they mellowed things out for the final performance.  The esoteric nature of their songs led to us jamming out but for some reason it didn’t fit perfectly with the line up.  It seems this is more headphone music than concert music.  That said, I’m anxious to sit down and listen to this album when I get back.

Spoon was the last show of the night and the Austin based rocked out pretty well.  We didn’t stay for the whole show and I missed the one song I really wanted to hear from them.  The show was swinging, however.  The crowd head bobbed pretty well even though they played until after 1am.  All in all good stuff from these guys.

The show of the night was Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.  The soul funk from Brooklyn had the crowd moving the whole time on stage.  Sharon Jones held the crowd in her hands and pulled strings of funk for the whole set.  If you ever want to get your funk down, check them out.  You won’t regret it.  And you won’t regret tuning in tomorrow for the next update.  Until then, off to more shows!