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SXSW review: A night of badges, hipsters and a guy who looked like he was going to fall over at Mohawk
There’s something absurdly powerful about seeing an act really go for it at South By Southwest. There’s a packed house, the attention of journalists, fans and taste-makers and the realization that this is a make or break moment that can be electrifying. It’s amazing to see someone feeding off the crowd’s energy and giving it back.
Thursday night at Mohawk, the GZA, was not that man. And I’m pretty sure almost nobody in the crowd cared.
Taking the stage about 40 minutes late at 20 to 1 a.m., the GZA, one of the Wu-Tang Clan’s legendary M.C.s seemed….rickety? Overly relaxed? Barely able to stand up? One of those.
Let me put it this way: He had a hype man, he had a DJ and he had a dude who was essentially a spotter. This gentleman at one point literally put his hand on GXA’s back, perhaps to keep him from tipping over.
GZA stood very still for much of the set and at one point took out a Blackberry (smartphone?) and started texting. To his credit, he didn’t stop rapping. But he also decided to check some messages while on stage performing. Think about that. That’s considered rude when you’re ordering food at McDonald’s.
But again, it was unclear if anyone at Mohawk minded. SXSW crowds are more forgiving that you might think. After midnight, after a hard day of partying, people, to a certain extent, are just happy to still be awake. Mohawk was one of the night’s hotter tickets and as long as the GZA hit highlights from the Wu-Tang catalog (which he did) and rapped a whole bunch of verses from his brilliant debut “Liquid Swords” (ditto) people were going to be happy with it.
(A hype man also yelled, “Bill Murray is in the building,” but ol’ Bill was accused of being about four places at the same time, according to Twitter. Anyone know where he actually was? Are there fake Murrays running around?)
It was an odd evening. Swedish indie folk duo First Aid Kit (a.k.a sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg) opened the showcase. It was lovely stuff, gauzy and sweet, but it translated poorly unless you were right in front of them. This was not a band you could listen to and mill about at the same time and Mohawk is a prime milling spot. JJ (or is it jj?), another Swedish folkie who cuts her oddball song-forms with dub-reggae’s drift and pulse suffered a similar fate.
Salem were a stranger proposition, a Michigan trio with one dude who looked like his New Wave band abandoned him at a Shell station, one guy who mumble-rapped in a basketball outfit and a young lady seemed to hold it all together, blending elements of Southern rap’s muffled boom-bap with goth-keyboard overtones. It’s complicated stuff, a recombinant music that has an extraordinary amount of potential.
It was actually a brilliantly-realized bill musically, guitar motions and electronic vibes knotting up and spilling apart. But the front half would have worked better inside.
Then Holy (Expletive) took the stage and turned the party out. The Canadian quartet’s electro rock, blending live bass, drums and sometimes guitar, with electronic loops and flourishes, nearly doubled the gig’s heart rate. Their sound recalls the moments when Manchester rock fully morphed into “Madchester” dance music.
I wonder if GZA is awake yet.
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Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: SXSW 2010
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By Starf@*!er
March 21, 2010 8:16 PM | Link to this
Bill Murray was a Shangri La Friday night, and was bartending at one point.