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Monday, March 10, 2008
SXSW history, pt. 2: the middle years
1997
Number of acts: 788
Keynote speaker:Carl Perkins
Buzz, buzz, buzz: Atari Teenage Riot, 24-7 Spyz, Whiskeytown, Archers of Loaf, Jimmy Eat World, Ron Sexsmith, Ben Lee, Gomez, Less Than Jake
A sign of the times; the most noteworthy panel, hosted by Jon Pareles of The New York Times, is ‘What’s Behind the Drastic Slump In Record Sales?’ Or, more to the point: Where Are All the Big Label Parties This Year?
Wayne Coyne of Flaming Lips keeps things interesting with his Parking Lot Symphony, in which 30 cars parked in a garage at Seventh and Brazos streets play 30 cassette tapes simultaneously with the car doors open. More than 2,000 fans show up.
This is also the year Tony Bennett plays the Austin Music Hall, to about half a house because everyone figures it would be a mob scene.
SXSW organizers stubbornly refuse to let their fest compete with the Austin Music Awards, but because most clubs have been jumping the gun, Wednesday is finally added as the official starting night of SXSW.
1998
Number of acts: 1,043
Keynote speaker: Nick Lowe
Buzz, buzz, buzz: Imperial Teen, the Donnas, Dust Brothers, Get Up Kids, Rufus Wainwright, Queens of the Stone Age, Olivia Tremor Control, Plastilina Mosh, Damnations
For some reason, SXSW organizers hate bands flown in by outside entities to play private parties. When they hear that Philadelphia-based Internet retailer CDnow is paying Sonic Youth big money to play a party in a 300-capacity club, they work hard to persuade CDnow to move their party to 1,500-capacity La Zona Rosa and make the Sonic Youth set follow the bash as an official SXSW showcase. Wristband-wearers and fans willing to pay cover are ecstatic at the chance to see the Youth, but few get in, as those attending the party just stick around.
Austin band Breedlove doesn’t get signed, they get served, with a summons for breach of contract charges by manager Jan Mirkin as they step off the stage at Steamboat.
1999
Number of acts: 829
Keynote speaker: Lucinda Williams
Buzz, buzz, buzz: Trail of Dead, Lo-Fidelity Allstars, Built To Spill, Patty Griffin, Cibo Matto, the Hives
The magic is so quickly followed by mayhem. The night after Tom Waits plays the Paramount Theatre, one of the all-time highlights of SXSW, his friend and sometime-promoter Don Hyde is savagely beaten by bouncers at La Zona Rosa. The bouncers were trying to clear out the crowd after Alejandro Escovedo’s set, but when Hyde wants to go backstage to get his bag, there is some jostling, and push soon turns to punch, then to kicks in the side. Hyde suffers five broken ribs, a broken collarbone and a separated shoulder. Waits vows to never play Texas again and has stayed true to his word.
A major Thursday night thunderstorm forces cancellation of all outdoor events that night, including a Willie Nelson concert at Stubb’s. Emo’s is flooded with knee-high water, but most of it drains by showtime.
2000
Number of acts: 1,314
Keynote speaker: Steve Earle
Buzz, buzz, buzz: At the Drive In, Black Eyed Peas, Modest Mouse, Elliot Smith, Marah, Blackalicious, Jennyanykind, Backyard Babies, Morphine, Cibo Matto, Bright Eyes, Tenacious D
Friction sparks between SXSW and Revolver magazine after Revolver flies in Guided By Voices, not an official festival act, to play a private party. Revolver charges SXSW with threatening to call in the fire marshals (a charge denied), but the jam-packed party goes off without a stumble. Good food, too.
Neil Young, in town to hawk his new concert film ‘Silver and Gold’ locks himself out of his suite at the Driskill and conducts a news conference, with a handful of critics, in the hallway.
Los Super Seven is born at a party at Las Manitas when members of Los Lobos jam with Raul Malo and Austin’s Joe Ely, Ruben Ramos and Rick Trevino.
A grouchy soundman cuts the magic at Momo’s, just as Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads joins Bernie Worrell onstage for an encore of music from ‘Remain In Light.’ A cooler dude would’ve let the show go past 2 a.m.
2001
Number of acts: 1,159
Keynote speaker: Ray Davies
Buzz, buzz, buzz: White Stripes, the Strokes, Death Cab For Cutie, Aterciopelados, Kasey Chambers, Bellrays, Coldplay, My Morning Jacket, Mogwai, the Shins, New Pornographers
During that small window in which he’s a star, Pete Yorn pulls a star trip, refusing to leave the La Zona Rosa stage after his allotted time. Even after the houselights go up, Yorn continues to play and eventually does leave the stage, ‘not by our own choice.’ The following act, North Mississippi Allstars, finally starts at 2 a.m.
Revolver magazine tries to stick it to the man (SXSW) again, flying in the Cult for a private party, but when staffers show up to register, they discover that their badges have been revoked. ‘The roadrunner would be nothing without the coyote,’ Revolver’s Brad Tolinski says, relishing the controversy.
Ike Turner plays to a crowd lousy with musicians and a few protesters who’d seen ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It.’ By the end of the incredible set, the crowd chants, ‘We like Ike!’
2002
Number of acts: 1,011
Keynote speaker: Robbie Robertson
Buzz, buzz, buzz: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Los Lonely Boys, Clinic, Mastodon, Norah Jones, Eels, Drive-By Truckers, Polyphonic Spree, KaitO, Tift Merritt, Mooney Suzuki
The worst SXSW booking of all time puts Norah Jones, who has the No. 1 album in the country, in the upstairs banquet room of the Clay Pit Indian restaurant. Forget, for a moment, that it’s a little rude to put the daughter of Ravi Shankar in an Indian restaurant, but what is the woman about to win six Grammys doing playing any restaurant?
Courtney Love draws the biggest crowd ever for a non-keynote, and her rambling, self-indulgent, ‘one on none’ interview doesn’t disappoint rubberneckers. Love complains of a tequila hangover, but they don’t serve tequila in the men’s room of the Hole In the Wall, where she had locked herself with a couple of unsavory locals for an hour the night before.
Los Angeles rockers the Icarus Line make national news when the singer smashes a display case at the Hard Rock Cafe and tries to play a guitar that once belonged to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Bouncers chase the singer four blocks before he gets away.
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Lou Reed does Lou Reed
SXSW keynote speaker Lou Reed will be playing a tribute to himself Thursday at 5:45 p.m. at the Levi’s/ Fader Fort. Other acts doing a song or two are My Morning Jacket, Moby, Yo La Tengo, Joseph Arthur and Dr. Dog.
It’s a private party and the Fader Fort is known for annually having the surliest bouncers at SXSW. In other words, “But I’m Mo Tucker’s acupuncturist” ain’t gonna cut it. But if you want to stand outside, it’s on Fourth Street, near the Convention Center.
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Spin party winner!
It was a very tough choice, but the pair of passes to see X, Vampire Weekend, Raveonettes and more at Stubb’s Friday goes to Emily Thompson Payne. Here’s the winning entry:
I packed my patent leather,
my pleated skirts, and khaki pants,
and went to grad school at Columbia
seeking indie prep acceptance.
But my timing was too early.
Vampire Weekend were still adolescents.
They’re my long-lost indie prep soul mates.
Those other fans don’t stand a chance.
Back home here in Austin
Drag rats mock my appearance.
They drown out my heart’s Afro Pop beat
with judgmental silence.
My kwassa kwassa would shake Stubbs’ walls
to see the Spin party performance.
If only you’ll tell me you agree
those other fans don’t stand a chance.
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History of SXSW: First ten years
From Huey to Louie: 22 years with the monster of mid-March
1987
Number of acts: 172
Keynote speaker: Record producer Huey P. Meaux
Buzz, buzz, buzz: Dash Rip Rock, Reivers, True Believers, Buck Pets, Wagoneers, the Rev. Horton Heat
- SXSW organizers can’t get the computers working at registration, so even though the turnout is moderate, waits are as long as two hours. That’s something that the first year has in common with this one. That and Patrice Pike.
1988
Number of acts: 415
Keynote speaker: Spin Editor Bob Guccione Jr.
Buzz, buzz, buzz: Poi Dog Pondering, Fleshtones, Material Issue, Gunbunnies, Jayhawks, Hundredth Monkey
The convention is booked into the spanking new Waller Creek Hotel, but when the hotel goes bankrupt before opening and stalls on construction of a promised ballroom, organizers are forced to scramble. The Crest, which is now the Radisson, turns out to be an ill-fitting concession. The noise from each panel bleeds into the next room and the hotel staff freaks out when a late-night party in the ballroom, featuring Joe Ely, attracts a few thousand drunk and wired party people. Most of the potted plants end up horizontal and the bathrooms are trashed.
Also, first tangible sign of a backlash comes from art rock band Ed Hall, who print ‘SXSW SUX’ T-shirts. Ed Hall applies and is accepted the next year.
1989
Number of acts: 345
Keynote speaker: Music critic Robert Christgau, with an ‘invocation’ from Mojo Nixon
Buzz, buzz, buzz: Chickasaw Mudd Puppies, Lucinda Williams, Gin Blossoms, Wednesday Week, Pato Banton, Bluerunners
- SXSW is still fairly unknown outside indie rock circles, when Flock of Seagulls starts the trend of former platinum artists trying to revive their careers at the festival. Thing is, the band doesn’t know it. They have no idea that they’re supposed to play a 40-minute showcase on a bill with four other bands for almost no money. Wanting nothing to do with SXSW, the band and their surly British roadies run off the SXSW volunteers and throw the rest of the bands off the bill.
1990
Number of acts: 424
Keynote speaker: Singer Rosanne Cash, with opening remarks by Gov. Ann Richards Buzz, buzz, buzz: Flat Duo Jets, Trip Shakespeare, Three On a Hill, Twang Twang Shock-a-Boom, Kennedy Rose, Sister Double Happiness, Vulgar Boatmen
- The usually dull rock critic panel is dubbed ‘The Chris & Claudia Show’ after Billboard’s Chris Morris and Claudia Perry of the Houston Post (passing around a flask) rip the industry good — to uproarious laughter. The outspoken Morris is the breakout star of the fest, and he returns the love with a column touting SXSW as a blast (even owning up to striking out in the bottom of the ninth of the softball championship game with the bases loaded).
1991
Number of acts: 499
Keynote speaker: Kinky Friedman, with invocation by Exene Cervenka
Buzz, buzz, buzz: Barenaked Ladies, Treat Her Right, Drivin’ N Cryin’, Dixie Chicks, Phranc, Love Tractor
- SXSW takes place the week of spring break, when all the students head to South Padre Island and points beyond, every year except this one, which means Sixth Street is swarming with frat boys and the women who can stand them. Alarmed by the crowds, the fire marshals crack down, ridiculously, often making fans exit a half-full club to comply with outdated load card figures. Wristband wearers are livid — another SXSW tradition begins! But a pair of club owners are even madder. The owner of Abratto’s, a Fifth Street disco meat market, who is given an opening night bill of Houston hard-core bands, cancels the rest of his showcases and the shuttled acts, including the Dixie Chicks, play their showcases in quickly converted conference rooms in the host hotel. Then, when the owner of Mexico Carribe announces that the fire marshal will order the show stopped if people don’t voluntarily leave — and nobody does — he pulls out a pistol and fires a shot into the ceiling. To make this the all-time worst year of SXSW, arsonists ignite a stack of Austin Chronicle newspapers outside the SXSW offices, causing extensive smoke and water damage.
1992
Number of acts: 398
Keynote speaker: Michelle Shocked
Buzz, buzz, buzz: Beat Farmers, Holmes Brothers, Junior Brown, Cracker, Blood Oranges, Poster Children, Southern Culture On the Skids, Bruce Hampton & the Aquarius Rescue Unit
Poor Michelle Shocked. Her pathologically unfocused speech on the history of minstrelsy is supposed to be 20 minutes, but when co-keynoter Willie Nelson gets hung up on the border and cancels, organizers tell Shocked to go as long as she likes. Big mistake.
SXSW books Helmet and L7, then red-hot, into a 500-capacity dance club, and when more than 2,000 kids show up, it’s pandemonium. Some fans storm the door, others climb the walls and break windows to try to get in. People are even jumping on the roof from neighboring buildings. 911 is called and exactly two cops show up, which tempers the anarchy only slightly.
1993
Number of acts: 468
Keynote speaker: None, but Gov. Ann Richards gave opening remarks
Buzz, buzz, buzz: Pete Droge, Jill Sobule, Freedy Johnston, Green Day, Robyn Hitchcock, Blue Rodeo, Lisa Loeb, Three Mile Pilot, Tripping Daisy
International news is happening with the Branch Davidian standoff up the road in Waco, and some freelance journalists in town do double duty.
‘If you lived in my neighborhood, you’d be selling your (body) for me!’ Bushwick Bill, the dwarf (a label he embraces) in the Geto Boys, starts a shouting match with a handful of people in the audience of the hip-hop panel. One guy comes up to the dais and flips off Bushwick, who calls him a slur directed at gay people. Suddenly, everyone is screaming and a couple of guys have to be restrained from charging the 3 1/2-foot rapper. Afterward, Bushwick tells the panelist coordinator that he had a good time.
In another bizarre panel, an unknown singer calling himself Marilyn Manson sits on a panel about his namesake Charlie.
1994
Number of acts: 482
Keynote speaker: Johnny Cash
Buzz, buzz, buzz: Beck, Veruca Salt, Presidents of the United States of America, Ben Harper, Mary Cutrufello, Letters To Cleo, Morphine, That Dog, Follow For Now
Cash plays an incredible solo acoustic set at Emo’s, where the stool he sat on later hangs over the bar. Worst booking was putting Lucinda Williams in La Zona Rosa, which is only a fifth as big as it was to become. Co-director Roland Swenson is surrounded by angry fans who couldn’t get in.
After Entertainment Weekly becomes a sponsor, Billboard refuses to recognize SXSW as an industry event. The industry bible will continue to ignore the conference for nearly a decade.
1995
Number of acts: 567
Keynote speaker: Bob Mould
Buzz, buzz, buzz: Elastica, Wilco, Bush, Todd Snider, Toadies, R.L. Burnside, Bettie Serveert, Guided By Voices
- The ‘94 folding of New York’s New Music Seminar vaults SXSW as THE major and indie label confab. Boston-based Rounder Records celebrates its 25th anniversary by hosting a free outdoor concert at Sixth and Brazos streets, featuring a New Orleans-heavy lineup of Irma Thomas, Johnny Adama, Beau Jocque and Rebirth Brass Band.
1996
Number of acts: 861
Keynote speaker: Krist Novoselic
Buzz, buzz, buzz: The Fugees, Dandy Warhols, Ben Folds Five, Girls Against Boys, Boo Radleys, Sixteen Deluxe, Guided By Voices
Charles Attal was recently named promoter of the year by Pollstar, but in 1996, the Stubb’s co-owner is so green he pronounces the Fugees, his big second-night headliner, ‘the Fudgies.’ Right when the Fugees start, there’s a downpour and the show is stopped. Attal figures that’s it, but Lauryn Hill gets in his face and says ‘We want to play!’ so after it stops raining, about an hour later, the Fugees play a long set as the empty venue quickly refills.
SXSW co-director Louis Black says Lou Reed ‘is showing disrespect for the Austin music scene’ by playing a concert that competes with the Austin Music Awards.
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