SXSW Festival in Austin - Who's Going?

[Frau_Blucher]

It looks like I've found a business excuse to be in Austin from March 15th -17th. I'm checking out The Plimsouls on the 15th and Morrissey and Goldfrapp on the 16th - these two are playing the same venue on the same night! Freaking awesome!!!

Anyone else around these parts???

[Frau_Blucher]

Some other notables line-ups I'm noticing below. OMG, this is epic!

Wednesday March 15th:
At Exodus: Plimsouls and World Party
At Stubbs: Mogwai, Belle & Sebastien, and The New Pornographers

Thursday March 16th:
At Autsin Music Hall: Zutons, Morrissey, Goldfrapp (Blir will be a trembling mass of plasma)
At Elysium: Translator and The Alarm (holy F'ing shit!)
At Stubbs: Noisettes, Gomez, and The Dresden Dolls
At Town Lake Stage: Echo & the Bunnymen (the horror of having to miss some of these!)

Friday March 17th:
At The Blender Bar: The Brakes and Editors (just kill me now!!!)
At Cedar St Courtyard: Billy Bragg
At Kharma Lounge: Ladytron (OMFG)
At Stubbs: The Subways, Metric, and Snow Patrol

Saturday March 18th:
At Elysium: Christopher O'Riley (does a killer classical take on Radiohead)
At Zona Rosa: The Stills
At Stubbs: The Pretenders (what's left of them)

Pretty unreal and surreal lineup. This should rightly be the NWO summit meeting, but I realize it's short notice. [:p][:p][:p]

[coop41]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Blir[/i]
<br>Some other notables line-ups I'm noticing below. OMG, this is epic!

Wednesday March 15th:
At Exodus: Plimsouls and World Party


Thursday March 16th:
At Autsin Music Hall: Zutons, Morrissey, Goldfrapp (Blir will be a trembling mass of plasma)
At Elysium: Translator and The Alarm (holy F'ing shit!)




Pretty unreal and surreal lineup. [:p][:p][:p]
[/quote]


Wow!!!! I'm heading to the Bahamas that weekend or else....Thursday is going to be a tough decision for you!!!!! I wonder what kind of line-ups the Alarm and Translator will have! Man, you are a lucky dog!![:p]

[Frau_Blucher]

Some more adds: Stan Ridgeway, The Motels, The Charletans with a big Manchester indie entourage of bands. I still would love to see a reunion of Austin's own D-Day, but I don't even know if they're alive much less playing anymore.

[wallofboingo]

Jihad Jerry and the Evildoers (Gerald V. Casale of Devo's side project) will be playing on March 17th, so be on the lookout for that show.

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by wallofboingo[/i]
<br>Jihad Jerry and the Evildoers (Gerald V. Casale of Devo's side project) will be playing on March 17th, so be on the lookout for that show.
[/quote]
Oh Jeez, shame on me for not noticing one of Jason's bands! There's just so damned many.

[harleytexas]

I heard that Ladytron are doing just a dj set and not performing. I was going to get tickets, but forgot to look online for the date and now they're all gone.

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by harleytexas[/i]
<br>I heard that Ladytron are doing just a dj set and not performing. I was going to get tickets, but forgot to look online for the date and now they're all gone.
[/quote]
The services still have tickets and for cheaper than the huge conference pass. You'll find some sub-$300 singles if you google "sxsw tickets".

And thanks re Ladytron. I was worried about that actually. It makes the choice between the Editors and Metric just a hair easier for that Friday.

[Frau_Blucher]

A tremendous Day 1 of great rootsy guitar music for me in Austin. I was prepared to go nuts for the Plimsouls, which I did, but I wasn't prepared for 5 great shows of mind-expanding music and vertuoso musicians at the Exodus Club - one of nearly 50 participating venues down here.

The night started with my drive up I-35 to a soundtrack of the Plimsouls. WOW, I was all alone but don't know if I'd felt a geeked out rush of anticipation like this since the 80s. I realized there must be powerful other memories and neural pathways linked to this band that I saw 23 years ago. As "Now", "Zero Hour", "Oldest Story" etc played off my Pod, I was tapping and singing along in complete exhuberation! I was only dreading the 5 hour wait to see them on stage as I saved my spot on the floor and waded through hours of somewhat unknown music.

But that fear quickly dissolved as [b]Richard Julian[/b], Colin Herring, Amos Lee and World Party all put on great sets. The first two, a solo singer-songwriter and an alt country act, were tight, melodic and engaging. [b]Collin Herring's[/b] lead singer had some serious young Springsteenesque charisma and their arsenal of Telecasters, stand-up base, slide guitars etc rocked the house pretty good!

[b]Amos Lee[/b] was the big eye-opener of the night. I'd heard of him but never realized what presence and voice he had. I'm buying some of his shit! This mix of Marvin Gaye and Bob Dylan played solo most of the night with on and off accompaniment by other single musicians. His voice has great range, character and sincerity. He left the whole place swaying to his sweet sound. I'd highly recommend checking out his music.

No one knew what to expect of [b]World Party[/b] - few in the audience had seen them and none could guess what combo of his produced slick sound he'd lay on us. The latter definitley didn't happen. He, one of his veteran guitar guys, and a new young Irish fideler put on a largely acoustic show of guitars, mandolin and violin. And it was great! I didn't realize Karl Wallinger had suffered an aneurism and taken abut a 5 year break from his music. He was energized, in high spirits, and very funny with tons of quips. He really seemed to be relishing his time back on stage, and boy could he still hit those highs...very soulful at times. The answer to his outro of "Is it Too Late" would be a resounding "NO" based on the rocking club. And he said these aren't one-off shows but to expect new material later too. Cool!

Then of course came [b]The Plimsouls[/b]. By that time I had worked my way up to stagefront, no less than 2 feet from both Peter Case and Dave Pahoa. Dave looked great, Peter showed some mileage, they had a good new drummer, and Eddie Munoz donned the most unchanged and perfect rock-n-roller persona of all of them - aquamarine sneakers, purple jeans, black top, flowered metallic blue telecaster and a floppy mop. He was actually the highlight for me - despite looking like a slightly less-skinny Roney on the Roq, he rocked! They all rocked though. They screamed through a furiously fast set that had most of their greats. I was pogoing and singing along like mad as were other veterans around me - it seemed the beards got grayer as the night got longer. And the kicker - I was able to grab their set list and speak to Peter, Eddie and Dave on the sidewalk outside aftewards. They were very gracious with their time, allowing a lot of us to recall our concert experiences, all nearly 25 years ago. I even got the playlist autographed - a photo to follow of course. [:p][:p][:p]

I can't really begin to describe what a great night of rock-n-roll this was. The SXSW folks recommended opening your mind and sampling as much as possible - they were really right in that regard. We'll see what tomorrow brings with Morrissey and Goldfrap plus "special guest"...if I can get through my all-day meetings. [:0]

[Frau_Blucher]

Day 2 - to decribe it in brief: "Goddess, Goddess, God, and Goddess. I will explain...

[b]The Zutons[/b]: Huh? "Goddess" and "Zutons"? Well who knew their saxophonist was the most beautiful animal that God put down on this great Earth! I think every male there was completely smitten by Abi Harding. These lads made a terrible mistake allowing her to take center stage - who could watch these fine musicians when this striking person in virginal white semi see-thru minidress is blowing ungodly sounds through her fat sax?! Okay, I finally forced myself to take in these guys...and these Liverpudlians were good! They had a great rock-n-roll persona and played an extremely tight set with very catchy tunes. Lead guitarist was extremely skilled. The album never stuck with me but I guess I just didn't give it a chance - I will now rather than trade it in to the next used bin. I'll likely play the piss out of it - highly recommended for pure guitar rock fans
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/57378219/original.jpg">

[b]Corinne Bailey Rae[/b]: Um, did I just say "the most beautiful animal that God put down on this great Earth"??? It's now a tie. This singer-songwriter with her acoustic guitar partner blew the audience away. They/we sat in complete silence as she sung the sweetest melodies I've heard in awhile, but we all erupted in applause each time she stopped playing. Yet another eye-opening act at SXSW! I'm buying ALL her stuff man. She was extremely expressive, upbeat and engaging throughout the set and people did not want her to leave. Woe to the mere mortal who falls for Corinne and her Siren’s voice.
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/57378222/original.jpg">

[b]Richard Hawley[/b]: Okay, neither god nor godess but a pretty damned good singer with a very tight band. They called it Alt Country but it was almost more Soft Alt Country Big Band. Hawley is a cross between Russell Crowe and Harry Connick Jr – masculine, charismatic and a hell of a crooner. His voice was like butter and the pro-Moz crowd kept looking at eachother and mouthing “Wow”. Not what I expected in this lineup, but once again, a very eye-opening and pleasant surprise. If there’s one thing I’m taking from this week, it’s not to have any blinders on to all the great music that must be out there. PS. Feeling retarded that it took me 3 days to realize that Richard was Pulp's touring guitarist - there's some Pulp in him and he's got an even better voice than Jarvis Cocker.

[b]Morrissey[/b]: He is The God. Sure some people look at him as almost a caricature of himself and there are some pretty silly fans. What they really really don’t seem to get is that he’s the most ironic, self-parodying, and wry performer out there today. Well, except for maybe William Shatner, but his Space Oddity cover can’t complete with the Moz. Since the “special guest” didn’t show up - it was rumored to be either Ray Davies (meh) or Flaming Lips (cool), but neither could get their act together in time – both Moz and Goldfrapp were able to play full showcase sets rather than festival ones - awesome! And boy did Moz belt them out. I got to watch the festivities from directly center stage, 5 people in, in front of a packed 3000 seat venue – amazing vantage point! He had the audience both in stitches and in delirium with his fabulous showmanship. His 4 shirt changes should tell you how much energy he put into this show. I was ecstatic that he threw in Smiths classics like How Soon is Now, Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me, and Girlfriend in a Coma with his quip "And I regret to inform you that she did NOT pull through." [:D] He also previewed three new songs that gave me a lot of hope for this upcoming album...keep your ears peeled.

[b]Goldfrapp[/b]: Goddess #3 of the night. Not as nubile as her predecessors but worlds superior in presence, performance and all-out, over-the-top, glam sex appeal. By this time, I had worked myself right behind the front row of people, directly under her mic. Man I was mesmerized the whole show. Again as in her Nokia Theatre appearance, the subterranean synths and percussions blew peoples’ minds, as did her voice of course. But I’m not sure that I didn’t miss some of the overall effect of the band being so close to her. I rarely looked to the keytarist, the jamming keyboardist, the excellent bassist or the pounding drummer...I just swayed and pogo’d right there in front of her, completely lost to the fact that I was probably the only straight, old, balding father of 3 at the front of the crowd highly skewed toward women and young gay men. I didn’t really even take note of that until a wisp of a Brazilian dude named Javier joked about it - we had a great laugh at that. It was basically a back-to-the-disco days groove-in where everybody was just happy and dancing. But I have to say I was a tad disappointed that Alison didn’t include any soft or trippy numbers like Black Cherry or Lovely Head. She loved us hard but didn’t love us tender - I like both. [:I] Didn't she remember Donna Summer's "Last Dance"? Oh well, it was just a party basically. I wouldn't have missed it for the world

All in all, a great night - I left completely satisfied and grinning. And a great week so far.10 shows in 2 days. I need new feet!

[MikeP]

Damn Blir, I'm jealous!! One of my good college friends who lives in Austin is going to give me a full report as well. Looking forward to more...

[sarah]

Any upcoming English bands you were impressed with? (I'm not considering Mazza, Goldfrapp, Pretenders to be "upcoming"; there are already there!)

sarah

[coop41]

Wow, sounds like you had a blast!![8D] I'm so jealous!

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/htik.png" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket"></a>

[Frau_Blucher]

Day 3 - remarkably, my best night of the festival and perhaps not coincidentally, the most spontaneous. That's even while missing Editors and surprise encores by Zutons and Ian McCullogh. Even the 3 goddesses of the previous night were supplanted by 3 even godlier goddesses, if you can believe that.

[b]Clap Your Hands Say Yeah[/b] - This is bizarre. I ran into Robért, a Montreal acquaintance, on the streets of Austin. I'm ecstatic because he knows his shit and talked about Brooklyn's Clap Your Hands at one point. Just minutes later, he jumps up and down saying "That's fucking THEM over there!" We can hear them playing some label's promo tent show. It's packed but we scramble up a nealry vertical cliffside next to it to catch them from directly above. I didn't know any of their songs, but they were very engaging and rocking - I gotta go dig up some of their stuff!

[b]Brakes[/b] - I had to convince Robért to miss a surprise Zutons set and check out Brakes instead. He was startled they hadn't appeared on his radar. And how was I lukewarm to their album at first? They freaking ROCK! And not just because Eamon late of British Sea Power leads them. Their sound? Think 70s roots rock jam band meets the current revival of alt britpop. They neither sound like Joy Division nor look like Interpol, aren't an incarnation of Gang of Four nor a revival of shoegaze (despite their excellent "Sometimes Always" cover). They are refreshingly original. Oh, and they ROCK! Oh, and are a ton of fun. Oh, and we simply walked in and caught their act from stagefront. At one point they dedicated a song "to these girls down here in the front row" to which I raised my hands and shouted "what about me?!" "And THAT guy too!"...big laughs from the crowd. [^] You should check them out - there's a reason they were Rough Trade's #1 album 2005.

[b]White Rose Movement[/b] - It was now Robért's turn to convince me to miss Editors. I obliged since there was great buzz surrounding the lineup of WRM, the Subways, Metric and Snow Patrol, I was feeling adventurous, and I figured I could see them or any Franz Ferdinand/Interpol du jour plenty of other times. We walked out of Blender Bar and into Stubbs and simply strolled right near the front of the stage - it seems the places didn't get packed until the 3rd set or so when they got reeeeally packed. And yet again, I was not disappointed. WRM have a great vibe about them. Finn Vine is a striking, tall and angular presence on vocals. I dare not say whose persona he oozes (see below). Nor dare I say whose close-to-the-pickups style bass Owen Dyke plays. Nor dare I say that their keyboardist Taxxi is an even lovelier version of a certain "G.G." Nor dare I infer anything more than coincidence that their name is derived from a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose">WW2 german group</a> who suffered greatly at the hands of the Nazi's. Forget all that...they played a great brand of pop rock with a seasoned charisma that I'm quite surprised at for such a young band. They've got attitiude and style - very cool. I am buying their recent February release.
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/57457699.jpg">

[b]The Subways[/b] - I had read about them a couple of months ago and wasn't intrigued by yet another alt rock band from England. Who can keep up with them all?! Well to hell with all that! The Subways stormed onto stage with power and presence. God I freaking love a good power trio! So pure and elemental! I can't believe such a young band can put on such a great performance. The lead Billy Lunn just smoked everyone else I'd seen this week for pure energy and attitude. His meaty guitar and launches off the top of the PA stacks were downright frightening. The rapturous Charlotte Cooper just flew around the stage the whole show, ripping into her bass and whipping her head up and down and around and around in a violent whirl. I have to see the Subways again. If you see them come around and like a good guitar act, don't miss 'em.
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/57457716.jpg"> <img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/57457694.jpg"

[b]Metric[/b] - Okay, how after seeing Charlotte Cooper could Robért deny that she was god's ultimate refinement of the Rock and Roll Goddess?! "Too young, give her 10 years" he says "and she'll be the destroyer of men; for now, just wait for Metric and Emily" - those nutty Frenchies, they must know that their wine and women need proper culturing. And thusly, Emily Haines came on stage to rock my world. She is to Charlotte and Taxxi as Goldfrapp was to Abi and Corinne the day before - the total seasoned package. She is far more attractive in person than in photos. I also had no idea that she and Metric rocked so hard in concert. Their albums are all very fine but don't hint at the energy and sex appeal they display live. Emily can take command of the stage but also jammed hard on her synths. Jeez, there's just been so much new wave-inspired alt pop/rock here this week, unreal. And need I say it?...you gotta check 'em out!
<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/57457700.jpg">

[b]The Silent League[/b] and [b]Electric Soft Parade[/b] - We ended up not having the patience or energy to wait until the 1am Snow Patrol gig. We wandered to a quieter place where we could sit and rest my barking dogs. We drifted into Nuno's and to, tadah, Electric Soft Parade! I've been wanting to hear these guys and there they simply were, in yet another Austin bar. The Silent League were a very tight and respectable NYC alt pop band, but the highlight during their show was having Eamon from BSP/Brakes walk into the house. Of course - a couple of the Brakes are from ESP. I spoke with him for a bit, thanking him for a great set earlier and a great album, plus for his fantastic contributions to my previous BSP concerts. Turns out ESP came up after 1am anyway, but at least we got to stretch, walk and sit. They put on a set that really showed how talented these musicians were. I'll have to catch them again since by this time, I'm just about at my physical limits and can't think of anything but getting off my feet and into a bed.

[Frau_Blucher]

My final scorecard of personally most enjoyable shows and acts I'd go out of my way to see again goes like this:

1) The Plimsouls - for sheer anticipation and memories
2) Morrissey - for sheer entertainment excellence
3) Metric - for sheer mesmerizing presence
4) Brakes - for purity and originality I haven't heard in awhile
5) The Subways - for their energy and general ass kicking
6) Goldfrapp - for being a badass glam goddess (but not where I'd expected to rank her!)
7) Zutons - for being true rock & rollers
Amos Lee - for amazing soul

And to answer Sarah's question, the English up and comers I saw and enjoyed were:

Brakes - Brighton
The Subways - Garden City
Zutons - Liverpool
White Rose Movement - outside of London
Electric Soft Parade - Brighton
Richard Hawley - Shefield
Corinne Bailey Rae - Leeds

Newer Brit acts that I think were at least pretty good but couldn't catch:

Actic Monkeys - Sheffield
Editors - Birmingham
The Go! Team - Brighton
The Rakes - London
Art Brut - London
Noisettes - London
Gomez - Southport
Ladytron (just DJ) - Liverpool
Rumble Strips - London

There had to be 200 UK bands there out of the 1300+ total. There were over 50 Canadian ones that their government even funded big flyers for all over town.