The 2008 SXSW Thread

[coop41]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Blir[/i]
<br>This might be the most monster line-up I've yet seen:

"The Onion, The A.V. Club, etc. take over Emo's on the 13th with music from Tapes 'N Tapes, Tokyo Police Club, Shout Out Louds, and The Stills."

And I might be saved...The Mohawk ends their Saturday afternoon showcase with British Sea Power at 5pm. [:p]
[/quote]

Sweet

[Frau_Blucher]

We'll have to keep an eye out for The National as a late add. According to The Gothamist...

http://gothamist.com/2008/02/21/matt_berninger.php

[coop41]

Dude, two words..... Bo Bice!!!!!

[schwenko]

Has it started yet?[8D]

[coop41]

[quote][i]Originally posted by schwenko[/i]
<br>Has it started yet?[8D]
[/quote]

Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![:D]

[coop41]

Saw that 80's group The Judy's will be performing for the first time in 13 years at SXSW

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by coop41[/i]
<br>Saw that 80's group The Judy's will be performing for the first time in 13 years at SXSW
[/quote]
They better not be appearing across from Bo Bice.

[Frau_Blucher]

Day One quick report:

Already some tough choices to make. We had to pass up Dragonette and other Canadian bands to catch Shout Out Louds and Liam Finn (yup, one of the Finn kids). Both excellent. Should Out Louds impressed greatly. These guys are new wave. Just damned upbeat and enthusiastic guitar and keyboard outfit. Liam can rock - I'm gonna try to dig up more of his stuff.

The evening started with a disappointment - one of GINORMEST crowds I've ever seen for a fantastic UK indie line-up:

Simian Mobile Disco
These New Puritans
Lightspeed Champion
Sons & Daughters
The Kills

Too huge to get in unfortunately, so we had to ditch our hipster indie groove and get our rock freak out to the following:

The Exit
Game Rebellion
Earl Greyhound
Noisettes

The Exit were sorta Afro-Punk while Rebellion's rap-rock combo was surprisingly entertaining. Earl Greyhound impressed the most though. A fantastic power trio with a sexy as all-hell bassist/singer Kamara Thomas. Think Zeppelin meet T Rex meet Yaphet Koto. We actually forgot Noisettes were on next and let our REM curiosity get the better of us and tried to sprint into that show. Not a chance. As consolation, we went and caught The Lemonheads to end the evening. That crowd was the best so far. It was practically a love-in for Lemonheads. They tore it up and didn't give a rat's ass that their vocals and guitars might have been less than in-tune.

Not a bad first day. I'd have to say Shout Out Louds was the personal favorite with Earl Greyhound the most entertaining for me. Pics to follow later. Off to catch today's opening day show with...tadah!...British Sea Power and some UK buddies.

[coop41]

<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=LiamFinn.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/LiamFinn.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Liam Finn


<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=SOL.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/SOL.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=ShoutOutLouds.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/ShoutOutLouds.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Shout Out Louds were near perfection

<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=100_0220.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/100_0220.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Lead Singer of Shout Out Louds and as he was telling me I needed a Barcelona jersey instead of Manchester United.


Liam Finn was cool, Earl Greyhound rocked, As Blir mentioned Lemonheads were very good and the crowd really dug them. Game Rebellion were like a hard rap/old-school Chili Peppers blend.
Shout Out Louds were fantastic, hopefully we get to see them again today.
Blir's dragging me to BSP for the day show and we have tons to choose from after that.

[Frau_Blucher]

Rasta-rap-rock dude kinda personifies Game Rebellion:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/94137853/original.jpg">

The grooviness of Earl Greyhound:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/94137876/original.jpg">

The very hot Kamara:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/94137912/original.jpg">

The very cool Lemonheads:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/94137932/original.jpg">

[coop41]

Day Two was epic for the most part:
started with British Sea Power - they made me a fan! Phenomenal!
<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=BSP.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/BSP.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Next went over to Emo's to catch a nice showcase, The Constantines (Impressive singer)
<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=Constantines.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/Constantines.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

then great sets by The Stills and Shout Out Louds followed by Tokyo Police Club, a young band who had everyone singing along:
<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=TPC.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/TPC.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

After a break it was supposedly the next big thing The Whigs, not much more than a bar band in my opinion. Yo La Tengo followed and were just ok.

Across town to see Make Model, from Glasgow, and they were impressive. I'll be checking them out further.
<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=MakeModel.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/MakeModel.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

The highlight was seeing Carbon/Silicon, Mick Jones and Tony James outfit. Outstanding, they appeared to be having quite a bit of fun and were rock solid.
<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=CarbonSilicon.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/CarbonSilicon.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=Mickjones.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/Mickjones.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by coop41[/i]
<br>Day Two was epic for the most part:
started with British Sea Power - they made me a fan! Phenomenal![/quote]
Yes! I had a feeling we had a convert when Coop asked the lads to autograph his penis.

Definitely an epic day. I think SXSW has reached a tipping point where the daytime showcases are now better than the night ones. Kinda makes sense if you think about SXSW organizers trying to fit in 1700 bands into the official showcases while the sponsors are free to set up their own shows in the day. I couldn't believe the unreal lineup we headed over to at Emo's:

The Constantines (yes, great voice)
Shout Out Louds
The Stills
Tokyo Police Club
Tapes n Tapes (who just simply ran out of energy for - had to eat some time)

The PM action had what we thought would be a promising Whigs show - nope! Bullshit bar band that didn't belong in the Austin Music Hall venue. Yo La Tengo was boring as well. Maybe it was the venue. Regardless, we bailed on My Morning Jacket to go check out Make Model, Carbon/Silicon, and Wombats. Did quite make the Wombats - legs finally gave out at about 1am.

But back to the daytime...it was odd seeing BSP practically at the crack of dawn for us, 12:30pm! They looked like they just rolled outta bed as well after their Letterman visit:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/94172712.jpg">

Their lovely new addition Abi was a pleasure:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/94172711.jpg">

Shout Out Louds really impressed again. I can't say enough how joyous their music is. Really made me feel like a kid again:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/94172716.jpg">

I've been a Stills fan for awhile, but didn't know how well they rocked live:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/94172717.jpg">

Tokyo Police Club are very promising. Just really young kids. If they can develop a good song repertorie, they've got the charisma to be big with the kids:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/94172719.jpg"> <img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/94172720.jpg">

Make Model...another keyboard and guitar band. I don't know if there is one I don't like:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/94172714.jpg">

Did I mention that this was the hottest, more packed venue?!

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/94172715.jpg">

Huge treat seeing Jones and James (GenX) as Carbon/Silicon. I thought they both were stylin'...well, Jones maybe just a little over-the-hill. But both were all smiles the whole time and looked to be having a great time:

<img src="http://www.pbase.com/myirwin/image/94172713.jpg">

Day 3 coming up with more BSP and Shout Out Louds, a make-up with the Wombats, but most importantly, X!

[tileboy]

Awesome pics and reviews, keep 'em coming.

[coop41]

Tacos at 2 am last night:
Blir

<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=Blirtaco.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/Blirtaco.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


Me
<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=Cooptaco.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/Cooptaco.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>



First gig of the day, Born Ruffians were young but impressive

<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=BornRuffians.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/BornRuffians.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


Shout Out Louds for the third time didn't disappoint

<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=SOL1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/SOL1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=SOL2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/SOL2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=SOL3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/SOL3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Blir and I staking claim to our spots before BSP
<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=Blircoop.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/Blircoop.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Then British Sea Power again, fashion trend-setters that they are (but they were outstanding once again)

<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=BSP1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/BSP1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=BSP2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/BSP2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=BSP3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/BSP3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


break time now, going to see X and hopefully Helio Sequence and Thurston Moore if possible

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by coop41[/i]
<br>Tacos at 2 am last night:
Blir

<a href="http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/?action=view¤t=Blirtaco.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/pjsaturno/Blirtaco.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
[/quote]
Trust me, the weight just melts off as you down a half-dozen tacos al pastor.