SXSW Brit Invasion, St. Patrick Must Be Turning in His Grave!
June Caldwell
March 21, 2006
The South by Southwest Music Convention in Austin, Texas, celebrated it's 20th year anniversary on March 15-19, 2006. With 1500 bands at shows and parties in every bar, arena, club and garage in Austin, it was a cornucopia for the ears. St. Patrick must be turning in his grave, as the Brit Invasion was more prevalent than ever this year. My hubby Rodger and I journaled a few days in case we woke up and thought it was just a wild leprechaun induced dream!
We came home from the airport astonished it was over so quickly, with no sleep on Sunday after having an incredible week at SXSW (South by Southwest). Paul Tollette, the producer of the Coachella Music Festival said in his documentary “Coachella is the kind of festival where everyone will have a completely different experience”. Well, multiply that by a zillion trillion and you have a taste of what SXSW is like! It is Disneyland for music lovers, a spiritual experience, the World Olympics for music!...er, if the world Olympics was 90% white people, ok that one doesn’t work…anyway… Not only are artists of color grossly under-represented, also conspicuously missing is for the most part any country western music (which is what put Austin on the map) except on the radio. On the other hand, Brit music clearly ruled. It was so great to finally meet Paul Artrocker (British music promoter extraordinaire), Stacy from the Buffalo Bar in the UK where so many artists got their start, and Dylan from the Chalets right off the bat on the first day sauntering into The Parish early before the much-anticipated SXSW Artrocker Showcase.
WED, 15 MARCH 2006
First thing we see Eddie Argos and Jasper Future from Art Brut on the street near The Parish! The party is definitely on! Nobody knows where Paul is. We go into The Parish and chat with Matt the owner, who gives us the grand tour. Feeling the excitement as the whole street is setting up for the upcoming mayhem. This is definitely my favorite part. You just get hints of what is coming up. You feel the anticipation of the bands from all over the world. Every one you see in town is carrying a guitar, in a band, or press a world gone mad where everyone is in the music industry, or just plain is crazy about music. Matt shows us the 2 floors of The Parish and the one tiny green room that will be the dressing room for the 12 odd bands on two floor here courtesy of Artrocker.
Matt is a kicked back dude with a sparkle in his eye and full of pride in The Parish. He told us he’s been world-traveling for the last 17 years in 71 countries with absentee managers for The Parish but had to come back for this show and do it himself. This is an exciting growing time for Austin he says, and he doesn’t want to miss a minute of it. The line grew and grew for the Artrocker show on both floors at The Parish.
WE MAKE FIRES AT THE PARISH ARTROCKER SHOW (pre-show sound check and 8:30 pm)
During the sound check there was a video being shot which made these glam girls look like rock stars. A girl headed rock band that Sleater Kinney wishes they could be, in The Runaways vein. Hard rock 70’s style makes you want to go out and party and get drunk and throw up behind a Chevy and brag about it all week!
ENVELOPES AT THE PARISH ARTROCKER SHOW (upstairs 8pm)
The night starts out with The Envelopes, yet another band that Artrocker has introduced to the US long before anyone else. The five of them weave & blend bright melodies mixed in with nonsense talk lyrics and catchy vocal harmonies. Kind of a Talking Heads on ska mix mash up sound; ya had to be there. Even with so many shows for listeners to choose from, The Parish started filling up during this first band.
CHALETS AT THE PARISH ARTROCKER SHOW (upstairs 9 pm)
Nothing quite prepared me for The Chalets even though I have read about them in Artrocker all year! The girl lead singers were mesmerizing. They have a refreshing sense of humor. Silly fun with sparkling harmonies.
YOUNG KNIVES AT THE PARISH ARTROCKER SHOW (upstairs 9:30 pm)
Contrary to the Rumour Mill, The Young Knives did not miss their gig at The Parish because they were in jail. They just started a bit late, but were seen milling around The Parish earlier. A good number of fans sang along while the lads thrashed and crashed through an energetic set from their new album “Here Comes the Rumour Mill”. Sorry, I’ve no idea which songs they played, somehow in all the excitement here in Austin, and the prospect of seeing 1100 bands in five days I forgot to take notes. They were an instant hit with this crowd with their tasty guitars, powerhouse drumming & lively banter between songs.
PILOTDRIFT AT THE DIRTY DOG (10:30 pm)
Why such perverse pride in being the only one in the room who seems to get a band? This is the second time we’ve seen Pilotdrift live and both times had that feeling. Psychedelic Pink Floyd meets XTC on acid with a wacky sense of humor. This show their live set lived up to the promise of their cd. ‘Rings of Symbols’ was nothing short of a spiritual experience, they visibly were much more into it than at their Hollywood show opening for Supergrass, where they seemed kind of tense. This was a set that made me understand why I love live music, if anyone else gets it fine, if not,their loss.
FLAMING LIPS AT FOX AND HOUND TENT PARTY (11:30 pm)
Ran up just in time for the ‘secret’ Flaming Lips show at the Fox and Hound tent outside. We shove our way to the front somehow to the photo area and find ourselves backstage. The stage manager saw us assuming we belonged there and brusquely advised us we better get right next to the stage immediately or we would be in the way. An amazing Flaming Lips set ensued complete with a couple getting engaged onstage, furry animal costumes, balloons everywhere, and us all singing along fervently.
THE PLIMSOLES AT EXODUS(midnight)
We race down the block to the Exodus to fight and shove to the front to position ourselves for the Go! Team set at 1 am. The packed beyond room to breathe house was all there to see the Plimsouls, LA’s 80’s legends. We caught the last few songs of their signature rockin’ mixture of country punk blues, folk and jangly pop tunes. It was well worth our effort to push our way to the upper balcony for just a glimpse of the band. They were genuinely rocking the house, and nobody was ready to go home just yet.
THE GO! TEAM AT EXODUS (1 am)
There is no good reason that I don’t like The Go! Team. Let’s face it, they are young energetic and politically correct. An oriental woman guitarist, a mesmerizing black woman lead singer, and 3 guys all full of joy, creativity and fun all rolled into one. Everyone I know and respect likes The Go! Team! Maybe it’s the shows I happen to see. The sound check for The Go! Team took a good half hour, the longest of any artists at SXSW. I had pushed and shoved my way to the front of the packed Exodus, one of the many small bars filled way past any fire Marshall approved capacity. All of us there sweating and bug eyed determined to protect our position in front of the stage. I eyed the wall of speakers suspiciously pointed at my position in the front to the right of the stage. When the band finally came on the wall of sound was roaring thunder without any delineation of melody, notes, etc. We could see the guitarists playing notes, and moving their fingers, just couldn’t hear anything other than a deafening roar of white noise. The lead singer cheerleader was so full of happiness, chipper energy that we could not help but sing along with the music we couldn’t really make out. Finally I had to escape, panicking that my eardrums would literally explode despite the makeshift earplugs I shoved in from torn cocktail napkins, my real earplugs long dropped, stepped on and lost earlier that night. Maybe it was just standing right by a pile of speakers oversized for the venue, but once again I gratefully escaped sure deafness, still not getting why The Go! Team is so popular. Maybe next time...
THURSDAY, 16 MARCH 2006
ELEFANT AT CEDAR ST CAFÉ COURTYARD (5pm)
This was one of the bands that blew me away at Coachella last year. They haven’t progressed much since then (not saying I have), but it was refreshing none the less sitting in a outside patio. However something about their New York loft sound and lyrics made everybody feel like smoking so we could barely see our way to the exit.
INVASION ART AT AUSTIN CONVENTION CENTER (6pm)
We were walking by the Austin Convention Center and saw a group of people and a bunch of balloons. Had to find out what it’s about. It was a performance art thing where about 100 of us (yes we joined in!) let off balloons in the air with cardboard paratroopers attached to the bottom. To be followed up on www.invasionart.com.
ELLE GARDEN AT BRUSH SQUARE PARK – OFFICIAL JAPAN PARTY (7 pm)
Had to squeeze in at least one of the Japanese punk bands. Elle Garden was a power trio of old school spiky punk with such genuine gratitude at being there it was worth it just to share in their frenetic glory.
PERSEPHONIES BEES AT 18TH FLOOR OF CAPITOL PLACE (8pm)
Capitol Place, unlike most of the venues was not a Texas hole in the wall bar. It was an elegant top floor of a posh hotel with a breathtaking view of the Austin skyline, all a-glitter at night. This was the KCRW showcase, one of the most respected radio stations nationwide. That being said, Persephone’s Bees was pretty forgettable. It was hard to figure out who they were. The guitarist and drummer seemed to want to be a rock band, but Persephonie seemed to be a lounge singer who barely knew them.
FRIDAY, 17 MARCH - ST PATRICKS DAY!!!
LOUISIANA BRASS CORP ON 6TH STREET
St. Patrick’s Day on 6th St at SXSW. After living through that you won’t want to spend it anywhere else! By this time the streets that have had traffic cut off all week are full of partiers! Singing dancing yelling. Neon signs everywhere, blazing sound out of every bar. At this point, don’t even try to figure out what you are listening to, just go where your ears take you, down a drink and move on to the next bar. As we were stumbling from one to the next, we hear some brass horns on a corner in the middle of the street and saw a crowd gather. There was a small group of people just standing on the corner with two trombones, a tuba, drum, two trumpets playing Dixieland jazz like their hearts would burst. A couple of people held up Louisiana signs and we all sang along at the top of our lungs, and for a while all of us were at the Mardi Gras in New Orleans at least in our minds.
END OF FASHIION AT BRUSH SQUARE PARK – OFFICIAL AUSSIE BBQ (5:30pm)
Caught some of the Australian BBQ. Had good friendly vibes. End of Fashion’s single ‘Oh Yeah’ got sing alongs. An anthem that sticks in your head. Hard sweet guitar licks with harmonious singing. Made you want to party on the beach in Perth where they come from. They have some of the 70s sensibility that music must have harmonies and chords. They were full of energy, great way to rev us up for the rest of the night.
ART BRUT (Pitchfork Tent) VS. MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE AT EMOS BAR (5pm)
Across the street from each other in a cool mash-up from the middle of the street: My Chemical Romance could not possibly be more opposite of Art Brut. The ultimate punk rock mosh band from New York, perhaps the most popular of that genre in the US emo-meets-testosterone playing at a little dive in Austin across the street from the Pitchfork Tent party with Art Brut, royalty of the Brit invasion guaranteed crowd frenzy raiser. Which to go to?… couldn’t decide until we discovered if we stand right in the middle of the street Art Brut’s pub harmonies and soul mixed with My Chemical Romance’s blaring hard rock guitars into something transcendent from a weird dream. One of those SXSW moments you remember forever to the surreal factor. We just nodded at each other, like “yeah, we were there for that!”
ROSANNE CASH, KINKY FRIEDMAN FOR GOVERNER AND FIREWORKS AT TOWN LAKE STAGE (8pm)
We sampled a taste of Texas politics just before Rosanne Cash and her band took the stage at the Town Lake picnic, a grand outdoor stage in a huge park. Kinky Friedman, Jewish cowboy, singer/songwriter, author, animal rescue activist advised the crowd that he is officially running for Governor of Texas. With slogans like “How hard can it be?”, and “Why in hell not?” he quickly earned my vote. He reminded us all that Martin Luther King is not just a Boulevard & that JFK is not just an airport. Who could go wrong claiming “…musicians will do a better job of running the country that politicians ever will! We won’t get much done in the morning, but we’ll work late!!”
Maybe because we had just seen ‘Walk the Line’ the biography of Johnny Cash that his daughter actually hates, seeing Rosanne Cash was one of the biggest thrills of SXSW. Maybe because it was at a big ol’ free picnic party at the Town Lake Stage Park….full of real Texans instead of relocated LA press, hardly any SXSW badges, just regular folks. Booths like a Spam booth (yes the meat product, not the computer stuff), plenty of beer. She laid down tracks from her new album ‘Black Cadillac’. Her rich deep voice and serious Western musicians, had me weeping at all the right times like the country western pros they are. To top it off was a good old fashioned fire work show! Then back to the clubs for more mayhem…
THE SUBWAYS AT STUBBS BBQ (10pm)
All Subways should just stay underground. Why have The Subways been chosen to be the media darlings of the US? OK, I must have been caught up in it, had to at least see what all the fuss was about, because I sure didn’t get it from the album. Had to admit it was one impressive crowd. They came on the stage with spunk and know more or less how to play their instruments. I enjoyed the excitement and the fun until they played their hit single ‘Rock and Roll Queen’. Since it is played about once an hour on the major stations in the US the crowd swaying and singing along was a bit too much. At that point we got kicked off the VIP court (VIP court at Stubbs? A corner bar in Austin..please!) anyway so a great time to move on.
ALLISTER AT EMO’S ANNEX TENT PARTY (11pm)
Allister from Chicago sounded like a Green Day tribute band but at least were better than the Subways. They are one of those punk bands I’ve been hearing about for years. Their clean Warped tour type punk sound was so refreshing, mosh music after all that is considered trendy this year. They just laid down their riffs like the last ten years haven’t changed anything and at that moment I felt like hell, what improvements came of the last decade anyway? Then it was time to move on to the next band.
SXSW – DON’T WORRY ABOUT WHAT YOU MISSED, YOU'RE LUCKY TO HAVE ANY HEARING LEFT
We heard over and over from folks we met the same story: “…we’ll just organize our time better next year! So much went on that we missed!” There is so much going on simultaneously you can’t possibly see it all. Most of the hottest bands are at 12 am or 1 am. It’s not about what you are trying to see and missed. No, SXSW is about what you do manage to catch, and the numerous flashes that wash over you of utter ecstasy based solely on music overload excess! The band you hear a few notes of streaming out of a bar and go into and groove on for a few moments never knowing their name at all before you are pulled somewhere else. It’s about how much you do manage to fit in with how little sleep you manage to need before the sorrowful time that comes all too soon when you have to check out of your hotel and stumble to the airport, ears ringing and no doubt another notch of permanent damage logged into them to go home. That’s what SXSW is about and I reckon as I listen to the country western music on the radio that sounds perfect here - with what little is left of my hearing - that is what life is about too!
We came home from the airport astonished it was over so quickly, with no sleep on Sunday after having an incredible week at SXSW (South by Southwest). Paul Tollette, the producer of the Coachella Music Festival said in his documentary “Coachella is the kind of festival where everyone will have a completely different experience”. Well, multiply that by a zillion trillion and you have a taste of what SXSW is like! It is Disneyland for music lovers, a spiritual experience, the World Olympics for music!...er, if the world Olympics was 90% white people, ok that one doesn’t work…anyway… Not only are artists of color grossly under-represented, also conspicuously missing is for the most part any country western music (which is what put Austin on the map) except on the radio. On the other hand, Brit music clearly ruled. It was so great to finally meet Paul Artrocker (British music promoter extraordinaire), Stacy from the Buffalo Bar in the UK where so many artists got their start, and Dylan from the Chalets right off the bat on the first day sauntering into The Parish early before the much-anticipated SXSW Artrocker Showcase.
WED, 15 MARCH 2006
First thing we see Eddie Argos and Jasper Future from Art Brut on the street near The Parish! The party is definitely on! Nobody knows where Paul is. We go into The Parish and chat with Matt the owner, who gives us the grand tour. Feeling the excitement as the whole street is setting up for the upcoming mayhem. This is definitely my favorite part. You just get hints of what is coming up. You feel the anticipation of the bands from all over the world. Every one you see in town is carrying a guitar, in a band, or press a world gone mad where everyone is in the music industry, or just plain is crazy about music. Matt shows us the 2 floors of The Parish and the one tiny green room that will be the dressing room for the 12 odd bands on two floor here courtesy of Artrocker.
Matt is a kicked back dude with a sparkle in his eye and full of pride in The Parish. He told us he’s been world-traveling for the last 17 years in 71 countries with absentee managers for The Parish but had to come back for this show and do it himself. This is an exciting growing time for Austin he says, and he doesn’t want to miss a minute of it. The line grew and grew for the Artrocker show on both floors at The Parish.
WE MAKE FIRES AT THE PARISH ARTROCKER SHOW (pre-show sound check and 8:30 pm)
During the sound check there was a video being shot which made these glam girls look like rock stars. A girl headed rock band that Sleater Kinney wishes they could be, in The Runaways vein. Hard rock 70’s style makes you want to go out and party and get drunk and throw up behind a Chevy and brag about it all week!
ENVELOPES AT THE PARISH ARTROCKER SHOW (upstairs 8pm)
The night starts out with The Envelopes, yet another band that Artrocker has introduced to the US long before anyone else. The five of them weave & blend bright melodies mixed in with nonsense talk lyrics and catchy vocal harmonies. Kind of a Talking Heads on ska mix mash up sound; ya had to be there. Even with so many shows for listeners to choose from, The Parish started filling up during this first band.
CHALETS AT THE PARISH ARTROCKER SHOW (upstairs 9 pm)
Nothing quite prepared me for The Chalets even though I have read about them in Artrocker all year! The girl lead singers were mesmerizing. They have a refreshing sense of humor. Silly fun with sparkling harmonies.
YOUNG KNIVES AT THE PARISH ARTROCKER SHOW (upstairs 9:30 pm)
Contrary to the Rumour Mill, The Young Knives did not miss their gig at The Parish because they were in jail. They just started a bit late, but were seen milling around The Parish earlier. A good number of fans sang along while the lads thrashed and crashed through an energetic set from their new album “Here Comes the Rumour Mill”. Sorry, I’ve no idea which songs they played, somehow in all the excitement here in Austin, and the prospect of seeing 1100 bands in five days I forgot to take notes. They were an instant hit with this crowd with their tasty guitars, powerhouse drumming & lively banter between songs.
PILOTDRIFT AT THE DIRTY DOG (10:30 pm)
Why such perverse pride in being the only one in the room who seems to get a band? This is the second time we’ve seen Pilotdrift live and both times had that feeling. Psychedelic Pink Floyd meets XTC on acid with a wacky sense of humor. This show their live set lived up to the promise of their cd. ‘Rings of Symbols’ was nothing short of a spiritual experience, they visibly were much more into it than at their Hollywood show opening for Supergrass, where they seemed kind of tense. This was a set that made me understand why I love live music, if anyone else gets it fine, if not,their loss.
FLAMING LIPS AT FOX AND HOUND TENT PARTY (11:30 pm)
Ran up just in time for the ‘secret’ Flaming Lips show at the Fox and Hound tent outside. We shove our way to the front somehow to the photo area and find ourselves backstage. The stage manager saw us assuming we belonged there and brusquely advised us we better get right next to the stage immediately or we would be in the way. An amazing Flaming Lips set ensued complete with a couple getting engaged onstage, furry animal costumes, balloons everywhere, and us all singing along fervently.
THE PLIMSOLES AT EXODUS(midnight)
We race down the block to the Exodus to fight and shove to the front to position ourselves for the Go! Team set at 1 am. The packed beyond room to breathe house was all there to see the Plimsouls, LA’s 80’s legends. We caught the last few songs of their signature rockin’ mixture of country punk blues, folk and jangly pop tunes. It was well worth our effort to push our way to the upper balcony for just a glimpse of the band. They were genuinely rocking the house, and nobody was ready to go home just yet.
THE GO! TEAM AT EXODUS (1 am)
There is no good reason that I don’t like The Go! Team. Let’s face it, they are young energetic and politically correct. An oriental woman guitarist, a mesmerizing black woman lead singer, and 3 guys all full of joy, creativity and fun all rolled into one. Everyone I know and respect likes The Go! Team! Maybe it’s the shows I happen to see. The sound check for The Go! Team took a good half hour, the longest of any artists at SXSW. I had pushed and shoved my way to the front of the packed Exodus, one of the many small bars filled way past any fire Marshall approved capacity. All of us there sweating and bug eyed determined to protect our position in front of the stage. I eyed the wall of speakers suspiciously pointed at my position in the front to the right of the stage. When the band finally came on the wall of sound was roaring thunder without any delineation of melody, notes, etc. We could see the guitarists playing notes, and moving their fingers, just couldn’t hear anything other than a deafening roar of white noise. The lead singer cheerleader was so full of happiness, chipper energy that we could not help but sing along with the music we couldn’t really make out. Finally I had to escape, panicking that my eardrums would literally explode despite the makeshift earplugs I shoved in from torn cocktail napkins, my real earplugs long dropped, stepped on and lost earlier that night. Maybe it was just standing right by a pile of speakers oversized for the venue, but once again I gratefully escaped sure deafness, still not getting why The Go! Team is so popular. Maybe next time...
THURSDAY, 16 MARCH 2006
ELEFANT AT CEDAR ST CAFÉ COURTYARD (5pm)
This was one of the bands that blew me away at Coachella last year. They haven’t progressed much since then (not saying I have), but it was refreshing none the less sitting in a outside patio. However something about their New York loft sound and lyrics made everybody feel like smoking so we could barely see our way to the exit.
INVASION ART AT AUSTIN CONVENTION CENTER (6pm)
We were walking by the Austin Convention Center and saw a group of people and a bunch of balloons. Had to find out what it’s about. It was a performance art thing where about 100 of us (yes we joined in!) let off balloons in the air with cardboard paratroopers attached to the bottom. To be followed up on www.invasionart.com.
ELLE GARDEN AT BRUSH SQUARE PARK – OFFICIAL JAPAN PARTY (7 pm)
Had to squeeze in at least one of the Japanese punk bands. Elle Garden was a power trio of old school spiky punk with such genuine gratitude at being there it was worth it just to share in their frenetic glory.
PERSEPHONIES BEES AT 18TH FLOOR OF CAPITOL PLACE (8pm)
Capitol Place, unlike most of the venues was not a Texas hole in the wall bar. It was an elegant top floor of a posh hotel with a breathtaking view of the Austin skyline, all a-glitter at night. This was the KCRW showcase, one of the most respected radio stations nationwide. That being said, Persephone’s Bees was pretty forgettable. It was hard to figure out who they were. The guitarist and drummer seemed to want to be a rock band, but Persephonie seemed to be a lounge singer who barely knew them.
FRIDAY, 17 MARCH - ST PATRICKS DAY!!!
LOUISIANA BRASS CORP ON 6TH STREET
St. Patrick’s Day on 6th St at SXSW. After living through that you won’t want to spend it anywhere else! By this time the streets that have had traffic cut off all week are full of partiers! Singing dancing yelling. Neon signs everywhere, blazing sound out of every bar. At this point, don’t even try to figure out what you are listening to, just go where your ears take you, down a drink and move on to the next bar. As we were stumbling from one to the next, we hear some brass horns on a corner in the middle of the street and saw a crowd gather. There was a small group of people just standing on the corner with two trombones, a tuba, drum, two trumpets playing Dixieland jazz like their hearts would burst. A couple of people held up Louisiana signs and we all sang along at the top of our lungs, and for a while all of us were at the Mardi Gras in New Orleans at least in our minds.
END OF FASHIION AT BRUSH SQUARE PARK – OFFICIAL AUSSIE BBQ (5:30pm)
Caught some of the Australian BBQ. Had good friendly vibes. End of Fashion’s single ‘Oh Yeah’ got sing alongs. An anthem that sticks in your head. Hard sweet guitar licks with harmonious singing. Made you want to party on the beach in Perth where they come from. They have some of the 70s sensibility that music must have harmonies and chords. They were full of energy, great way to rev us up for the rest of the night.
ART BRUT (Pitchfork Tent) VS. MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE AT EMOS BAR (5pm)
Across the street from each other in a cool mash-up from the middle of the street: My Chemical Romance could not possibly be more opposite of Art Brut. The ultimate punk rock mosh band from New York, perhaps the most popular of that genre in the US emo-meets-testosterone playing at a little dive in Austin across the street from the Pitchfork Tent party with Art Brut, royalty of the Brit invasion guaranteed crowd frenzy raiser. Which to go to?… couldn’t decide until we discovered if we stand right in the middle of the street Art Brut’s pub harmonies and soul mixed with My Chemical Romance’s blaring hard rock guitars into something transcendent from a weird dream. One of those SXSW moments you remember forever to the surreal factor. We just nodded at each other, like “yeah, we were there for that!”
ROSANNE CASH, KINKY FRIEDMAN FOR GOVERNER AND FIREWORKS AT TOWN LAKE STAGE (8pm)
We sampled a taste of Texas politics just before Rosanne Cash and her band took the stage at the Town Lake picnic, a grand outdoor stage in a huge park. Kinky Friedman, Jewish cowboy, singer/songwriter, author, animal rescue activist advised the crowd that he is officially running for Governor of Texas. With slogans like “How hard can it be?”, and “Why in hell not?” he quickly earned my vote. He reminded us all that Martin Luther King is not just a Boulevard & that JFK is not just an airport. Who could go wrong claiming “…musicians will do a better job of running the country that politicians ever will! We won’t get much done in the morning, but we’ll work late!!”
Maybe because we had just seen ‘Walk the Line’ the biography of Johnny Cash that his daughter actually hates, seeing Rosanne Cash was one of the biggest thrills of SXSW. Maybe because it was at a big ol’ free picnic party at the Town Lake Stage Park….full of real Texans instead of relocated LA press, hardly any SXSW badges, just regular folks. Booths like a Spam booth (yes the meat product, not the computer stuff), plenty of beer. She laid down tracks from her new album ‘Black Cadillac’. Her rich deep voice and serious Western musicians, had me weeping at all the right times like the country western pros they are. To top it off was a good old fashioned fire work show! Then back to the clubs for more mayhem…
THE SUBWAYS AT STUBBS BBQ (10pm)
All Subways should just stay underground. Why have The Subways been chosen to be the media darlings of the US? OK, I must have been caught up in it, had to at least see what all the fuss was about, because I sure didn’t get it from the album. Had to admit it was one impressive crowd. They came on the stage with spunk and know more or less how to play their instruments. I enjoyed the excitement and the fun until they played their hit single ‘Rock and Roll Queen’. Since it is played about once an hour on the major stations in the US the crowd swaying and singing along was a bit too much. At that point we got kicked off the VIP court (VIP court at Stubbs? A corner bar in Austin..please!) anyway so a great time to move on.
ALLISTER AT EMO’S ANNEX TENT PARTY (11pm)
Allister from Chicago sounded like a Green Day tribute band but at least were better than the Subways. They are one of those punk bands I’ve been hearing about for years. Their clean Warped tour type punk sound was so refreshing, mosh music after all that is considered trendy this year. They just laid down their riffs like the last ten years haven’t changed anything and at that moment I felt like hell, what improvements came of the last decade anyway? Then it was time to move on to the next band.
SXSW – DON’T WORRY ABOUT WHAT YOU MISSED, YOU'RE LUCKY TO HAVE ANY HEARING LEFT
We heard over and over from folks we met the same story: “…we’ll just organize our time better next year! So much went on that we missed!” There is so much going on simultaneously you can’t possibly see it all. Most of the hottest bands are at 12 am or 1 am. It’s not about what you are trying to see and missed. No, SXSW is about what you do manage to catch, and the numerous flashes that wash over you of utter ecstasy based solely on music overload excess! The band you hear a few notes of streaming out of a bar and go into and groove on for a few moments never knowing their name at all before you are pulled somewhere else. It’s about how much you do manage to fit in with how little sleep you manage to need before the sorrowful time that comes all too soon when you have to check out of your hotel and stumble to the airport, ears ringing and no doubt another notch of permanent damage logged into them to go home. That’s what SXSW is about and I reckon as I listen to the country western music on the radio that sounds perfect here - with what little is left of my hearing - that is what life is about too!
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