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Saturday, March 20, 2010
SXSW review: Kings Go Forth at Galaxy Room Backyard
Remember when Indiana Jones was descending into the forbidden tomb and sees the floor crawling? “Snakes,” he moans. “Why did it have to be snakes?”
I knew just how he felt as I prepared to hoof it across downtown to see the Kings Go Forth at the tent-covered Galaxy Room Backyard: “An outdoor venue…why did it have to be an outdoor venue?”
Fortunately, the adult-strength dose of hot-buttered soul, R&B and funk that the 10-piece band from Milwaukee served up was an ideal remedy for the blue norther that dropped temperatures 40 degrees overnight. To the Wisconsin band members, it probably seemed like a day at the beach.
The band, which featured horns, keyboards, congas and three vocalists, including frontman Black Wolf, went from zero to 60 faster than a runaway Toyota. If they had any ballads, they kept them to themselves, instead serving up a handful of tracks drawn largely from their forthcoming album, “The Outsiders Are Back.”
The instrumental fanfare that brought the vocalists on morphed into the funk-flavored “Get A Feeling.” Shades of Motown, Stax-Volt Memphis-simmered soul, New Orleans horn and percussion grooves and gritty Southern R&B informed tunes like “Paradise Lost,” “You’re the One” and “One Day.” Another track, “I Don’t Love You No More,” sounded like it was lifted from the James Brown playbook, with its fuzz-laden guitars and tight groove.
Black Wolf’s playful falsetto, with its echoes of Curtis Mayfield and Aaron Neville, made an arresting counterpoint to the tongue-in-groove lockstep arrangements and crisp musicianship. Fellow vocalist Don Fernandez also had a couple of impressive solo turns and bassist/band leader Andy Noble kept the bottom locked down.
With a healthy neo-soul scene having arisen in Austin in the past year or two, it’s easy to see how Kings Go Forth could easily become valued additions to the local scene. Now if they’ll just play indoors next time …
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SXSW scene report: Austin Music Awards/Texas Sheiks
The Texas Sheiks play a tribute to Stephen Bruton.
Photos: Scenes from the Austin Music Awards
Austin Music Hall
7:55 p.m. Saturday
The annual Austin Music Awards (aka, the Bob Schneider Canonization Ceremony — he’s up for archbishop this year, I think) kicked off on a new night, but at the same don’t-be-late 7:55 p.m. start time.
The first act, the all-star acoustic music ensemble known as Texas Sheiks, had a special poignance for the local music fans in attendance. The Sheiks represented one of the final projects (the other was the soundtrack to the film “Crazy Heart”) to bear the imprint of singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer Stephen Bruton, who died after a long siege of cancer last year.
The Sheiks, helmed by acoustic music veteran Geoff Muldaur, and starring local luminaries like pianist Johnny Nicholas, steel player Cindy Cashdollar, bassist Bruce Hughes, Muldaur’s mentor Jim Kweskin and others, was conceived of as a way for Bruton to stay in touch with his musical lifeline and to distract him from the rigors of radiation and chemo. Sadly, Bruton died before either the Sheiks’ record or the “Crazy Heart” soundtrack saw the light of day.
“What started being a diversion ended up being a tribute,” said emcee Andy Langer.
“We didn’t know we were making a record,” recalled Muldaur from the stage. “We were just getting together to have some fun.”
And so they did on Saturday, launching into a jazzy vintage lament, “The World Is Going Crazy,” with Muldaur on vocals and featuring a hot dobro solo from Cindy Cashdollar. A rousing jump-blues take on “All By Myself,” featuring Johnny Nicholas on vocals and guest pianist Floyd Domino followed.
By way of introducing jug band music godfather Jim Kweskin (who also guested on the album), Muldaur said, “When he was 19 years old, Stephen and a friend left Fort Worth and drove to the Newport Folk Festival just to see this guy.” Kweskin is getting on up there, but his nimble guitar playing and easy vocals belie his years, as he demonstrated on the playfully ribald Bob Wills song, “Fan It.”
After bassist Bruce Hughes essayed one number (whose title I didn’t catch), the group wrapped up their brief set with a swinging blues/gospel-flavored Bruton original, one which the Sheiks did not feature on their record. “Walk By Faith” probably came as close to being Bruton’s personal mantra as anything else he ever read or sang: “You got to walk by faith and not by sight.”
Wherever he’s walking now, Bruton is taking note of the accolades for “Crazy Heart” and the outpouring of affection from fans, friends and peers and he is, make no mistake about it, eating it up with a spoon.
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SXSW scene report: The line at Antone’s for Big Star Tribute already down the block
At 7:05 p.m., the line was already down the block (Lavaca) at Antone’s, presumably people lining up for the Big Star - Alex Chilton tribute, scheduled to being at 12:30 a.m. The show is badges only.
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SXSW video: Rachael Ray’s Feedback Party
Austin American-Statesman writer Addie Broyles spoke to Rachael Ray at her Feedback Party, where Bob Schneider, Andrew WK, She & Him and others performed on Saturday.
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Leon Russell canceled tonight
Due to the weather, Leon Russell’s show at Threadgill’s tonight has been scratched. Promoters are looking for a new date to reschedule.
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SXSW panel: ‘I Never Travel Far Without a Little Big Star’
12:30 p.m. Saturday
Panelists: Jody Stephens, Big Star/Ardent Music LLC; Andy Hummel, Big Star; Ken Stringellow, Big Star (mach 2); John Auer, Big Star (mach 2); Chris Stamey, Modern Recording; Tommy Keene; moderator Bob Mehr, Memphis Commercial-Appeal; John Fry, Ardent Studios.
Originally intended to discuss the legacy of Big Star, in light of the 2009 box set Keep Your Eye On The Sky, the panel was nearly cancelled in the wake of frontman Alex Chilton’s death on Wednesday, as was Saturday night’s scheduled Big Star concert. However, drummer Jody Stephens decided to forge ahead in tribute to his late bandmate, and the panel carried on with the addition of Ardent Studios founder
John Fry, participating via Skype.
Chilton was never scheduled to appear at the panel, looking back on past glories not being anything he ever willingly indulged in. He was, however, well aware of the long, strange trajectory by which Big Star went from being a music-business casualty to an indie rock icon.
At a latterday Big Star show, after Chilton and Stephens teamed with the Posies’ Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer to reconstitute the band, Fry recalled that Chilton told the crowd that they were about to play some new songs: “If you don’t like ‘em now, don’t worry. You’ll love ‘em in 30 years.”
The 90-minute session was filled with such Alex anecdotes, along with some discussion of his upbringing in a musical and artistic household and a rough outline of his eccentric career path. Fry shared his memory of first meeting a teenage Chilton when he was sitting around waiting to lay vocals on top of Box Tops rhythm tracks. He recalled Chilton’s growing frustration with recording other people’s material in that band as his own songwriting talents developed, while Stephens and original Big Star bassist Andy Hummel reminisced about when they and Chris Bell enlisted Chilton in their group, Ice Water, which mostly played covers at frat parties and department-store openings.
With Fry, they talked about the recording of Big Star’s first album, when everyone was working together enthusiastically toward a common objective and Bell and Chilton were at the peak of their creative collaboration.
“They were both alpha guys, and their talents were along similar lines, but they worked together very seamlessly,” Hummel said.
Fry explained how the downward spiral of Stax Records and the Memphis music scene affected the band, while Chris Stamey made what he called a “revisionist” plea for more careful consideration of the superb musical choices and performances on the third and final Big Star album, recorded after Bell had left the group. He recalled how his dBs bandmate Peter Holsapple used to make Big Star a litmus test for
girlfriends, and once ordered a young lady from his house for showing an utter lack of appreciation. Especially fascinating was Stamey’s account of how Chilton came up to New York to play a Valentine’s Day show in 1977, slept over on a cot in the tiny room Stamey rented with his girlfriend — “and just stayed,” becoming a mentor for Stamey and for a while participating in the fertile scene at CBGBs and Max’s
Kansas City.
The panel spent a fair amount of time elaborating on Chilton’s image as mercurial and curmudgeonly. Fry said over all the years of their friendship, he always enjoyed a cordial relationship with Chilton. Stringfellow recalled: “He let you figure him out. He sort of kept his cool, he didn’t explain himself, but he was very consistent.”
Stamey said Chilton just really didn’t have it in him to maintain the fictions that govern many social relationships, but you could always count on him to be honest — although he did have a smalll set of favorite sentences to salve the feelings of bandmates after a performance didn’t go well, two of them being “It couldn’t have been better” and “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
In his sorrow this past week, Stamey said, he’d been trying to think of funny things, and one was perhaps the best and most telling anecdote of the panel. He and Chilton had had a falling out for a while, and then Stamey finally spoke to him by phone in New Orleans, where Chilton lived for the last decades of his life. Chilton had a
job at the time washing dishes, and told Stamey how he had been explaining his theory of the world to a co-worker, who told him “Yeah, Alex. You’re right and the whole world is wrong.”
“You know, Chris,” Chilton said. “I really think he was onto something.”
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SXSW video: Saturday afternoon scene report
Matthew Odam with Austin360.com details South by Southwest happenings on Saturday, while Sydney Wayser of Brooklyn, N.Y., plays Dominican Joe’s.
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In good: Company rides down to SXSW with Band of Horses
One day you’re asking one of your musical heroes if he wants cream with his coffee; six months later you’re asking him if he’s seen your wah pedal lying around. That’s the shorthand version of the story of Brian Hannon, frontman for the band Company, and how he ended up playing at the Central Presbyterian Church with Band of Horses on the Friday night of SXSW.
Following one Company’s shows at a club in Charleston, South Carolina, Hannon, wearing a Band of Horses t-shirt, was approached by David Bridwell, father of Band of Horses frontman Ben Bridwell. Hannon happily gave a Company CD to the father of the bearded rock star who had become a regular at the restaurant where Hannon worked as a waiter.
Soon after his introduction to the elder Bridwell, the baby-faced (despite the eager beard) singer approached his musical hero at the restaurant and finally worked up the nerve to introduce himself. Bridwell remembered hearing Company from his father and shortly thereafter asked Co. to play a local gig with Band of Horses in December.
“I was just a guy at a restaurant, but he’s still nice enough to talk to me like a normal person,” Hannon said of Bridwell’s kindness and generosity.
The show in December led the big brother Band of Horses to invite Company (whose psych-tinged rock should bring the youngsters some more attention as their playing matures) out West to play two shows in Denver before coming down to Austin for SXSW.
While extremely grateful for the opportunity his young band has been afforded by one of the country’s most critically acclaimed bands, Hannon admits that he hopes the whirlwind of the past six months is only the beginning for him and his friends in Company.
“It’s great. I hope it continues,” Hannon said.
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Todd P’s MtyMx festival kicks off in Monterrey, Mexico today
The morning after the South by Southwest Music Festival concluded last year, famed New York-based concert promoter Todd Patrick — who had just thrown his fourth series of free outdoor shows at East Side venue Ms. Bea’s — packed up his bags and ventured with some friends down to Monterrey, Mexico. There, they ate tacos, relaxed and savored the city’s low-key charm. That day, Patrick, concerned that his increasingly high-profile SXSW shindig may come under fire from fest organizers, had the idea to pack up his party and move it south of the border.
That idea — and several long months of working logistics in his New York apartment — culminates today, as Patrick’s MtyMx kicks off in Monterrey. More than 50 bands — including both SXSW bands making the trip south and Mexican bands — will play across two stages from today to Monday, March 22 at an abandoned drive-in carved into a hillside. The site boasts camping and a visual arts display.
Despite the overlap of dates and artists — SXSW artists including Health, DD/MM/YYYY, Liars, Neon Indian, Andrew WK and many others are playing the festival — Patrick insists his festival isn’t intended to be adversarial to SXSW.
“Ideally they wouldn’t overlap at all — but there are people who live there who wouldn’t be happy with it starting on Sunday and running until midweek, and you have to respect that. It’s never been about trying to steal South by Southwest’s thunder,” said Patrick a few days out from MtyMx. “I don’t care about that. It’s about taking advantage of a situation, about taking advantage of what’s in front of you.”
“What’s in front” of Patrick is a wealth of touring bands congregated hours from Austin who face the difficult prospect of booking post-SXSW dates in nearby cities against a horde of competitors. MtyMx offers bands leaving Austin the chance to play better-attended shows against less competition than they might face in other cities in Texas, Oklahoma or New Mexico. That’s how he pitched it to more than 400 bands, with over 200 expressing interest. Patrick said the festival was also an attempt to correct misconceptions about the safety of Mexico and to present the world with images of Mexico’s burgeoning indie rock scene. He said the festival is being thrown largely for Mexican indie fans, who often have to cross the border to see shows — a difficult prospect.
“We have this vision that Mexico has no government and is riddled with crime and has no public health system, and all of these things are either offensive caricature or just out of control sensationalism in the media,” said Patrick. “I’m hoping that a lot of photos get taken, videos get shot, and in doing that we paint the picture of a country that’s not the stereotype. You look at the photos and you’ll see a thousand hip, well-dressed, well-educated brown faces. And that will paint a different, more accurate picture of Mexico.”
One among Mexico’s indie rock community is promoter Pablo Martinez , who threw a similar festival that also poached SXSW talent, Festival NRML, Saturday March 13 in Monterrey. He started the festival to give Mexican indie rock fans the chance to see bands that are often out of reach.
“We grew up seeing MTV and all these American bands, and usually they don’t come play to Monterrey, we have to go see them in San Antonio or Houston or Austin,” said Martinez. “So one of the objectives of the festival was to open this root of touring bands south of the border.”
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SXSW scene report: Yard Dog party
It’s everybody’s favorite old-school SXSW event: Randy opens up his Yard Dog Gallery on S. Congress Ave., bands play in the lot out back and people wander down the alley in search of a cold beer and some free music.
The crowd seemed to be smaller than normal Saturday afternoon, no doubt because of the weather, which didn’t keep one joker (surely a local) from coming out in short shorts and sandals.
“It’s good to be back in Anchorage for North By Northwest,” Coal Porters vocalist-mandolinist told the crowd that was trying to outsmart a chilly wind that went through you no matter where you stood. “I told the band to pack shorts — it’s hot in Texas.”
A genuinely funny (guitarist Neil Robert Herd is actually a comedian of some renown in the U.K.) and irreverent bluegrass band, the Coal Porters got serious long enough to do the weepy “A Soft Place to Fall,” written by Allison Moorer, also known as Shelby Lynne’s little sister. By set’s end the crowd seemed in an agreeable mood, and the $2 pints of Dogfish Head beer no doubt helped.
Franklin said the weather hadn’t caused him any problems except “it’s making me cold. But everything’s on schedule. And we haven’t had bad weather for this in years. But we’ve been doing this 15 years and I don’t ever remember it being this cold.”
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Where to go tonight after last call, y’all
Vice Magazine is taking over the vacant Starr Building at Sixth and Colorado Streets tonight at midnight for a party that should run until 5 a.m. Free cocktails and music from:
Les Savy Fey
Cheeseburger
Happy Birthday
Davilla 666
DJ sets from Mr. Jonathan Toubin
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New schedule for outdoor shows at Auditorium Shores
Following the announcement earlier today that tonight’s free and open-to-the-public shows at Auditorium Shores were going to be shortened to just the daytime hours, SXSW organizers have released a new schedule with modified set times.
Aside from headliners She and Him, most of the performers will be playing 20-minute sets.
Here it is:
- Doors, 5 p.m.
- Kimya Dawson, 6-6:15 p.m.
- Dawes, 6:20-6:40 p.m.
- Deer Tick, 6:50-7:10 p.m.
- Lucero, 7:30-7:50 p.m.
- Justin Townes Earle, 8-8:20 p.m.
- She & Him, 8:40-9:45 p.m.
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SXSW scene report: Rachael Ray party at Stubb’s
Our Addie Broyles has the scoop on the just wrapped Rachael Ray party at Stubb’s. Sounds like the cold weather did not affect the good mood of fans, bands or host.
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SXSW interview: YACHT
Jona Bechtolt and Claire Evans, aka YACHT, make danceable, Brian Eno-inspired music, but that’s only one aspect of their mission, which extends to visual arts and the written word, most recently in the form of pamphlets about the history of the triangle. They will play a total of six shows at SXSW this year, with their last two on Saturday. We caught up with Bechtolt and Evans in the convention center Saturday as they fretted about the fact that their final shows were at outdoors, as temperatures dropped into the 40’s.
How has the week gone so far?
B: It’s been intense and stressful, really great and fruitful, and a dash of fun has been in there.
E: A pretty small dash of fun.
What’s different this year?
B: This year we brought an extended lineup. We’ve expanded to the Yacht and the Straight Gaze. We were supposed to have three extra members but one got seriously ill, so we now have two extra members. It’s been kind of fun to take people who never been here before and show them around.
E: It’s been nice to get back in the swing of things. Last year we came but didn’t play any shows.
B: We had literature that we were distributing.
E: It was almost more productive then playing. No interference of music, just pure message.
What was the message?
B: We were talking about triangles. Two years ago when we were living in Marfa we became obsessed with triangles, and did a lot of research about the shape and it’s importance throughout human history. So we wrote a primer pamphlet introducing to people why we feel triangles are important to human kind, and we gave those to people directly.
What’s the story behind your new album, “See Mystery Lights?”
B: In 2003 I met this artist who told me about the lights in Marfa, and I had never heard of them and had very low expectations for the experience. I had a day off between Austin and Los Angeles so I stopped in Marfa, saw the lights and it completely changed my life. I met Claire the next day, when her noise band was randomly paired to play with YACHT when YACHT was just solo, which I thought was pretty serendipitous, having this life-changing experience and then meeting someone who would later change my life. I took her to Marfa, and when we saw the lights together there, we decided we had to live there. We had no intention of making an album of music, and after three months of living there we looked down and we had the album.
E: We come from a generation of people that go directly to the Internet and finds solutions to our problems instantly. That ease of access to information has made us really blasé as a generation. But to go somewhere and have an experience, a real experience that was completely paranormal that had no actual explanation. We couldn’t Google it and find out what the real deal was with it, it was just there, and real, and bigger than us, and completely disinterested in our hyper connected self navigating media digital world. There’s something that just totally knocked us out of our orbit.
Was it difficult to translate the music for a live setting?
B: Not really, because it all came from live performances. We don’t generate stuff solely inside of the computer. Everything that we make starts with some kind of physical object, whether it’s a rock instrument or some kind of bang on a table or whatever, so it was easy to take those parts out and translate them to human beings playing those things.
What do you think about the trend of releasing cassettes?
B: That’s something that hasn’t really stopped for us in Portland. The Pacific Northwest really has a fond heart for that.
E: I like it. I see it as a return to asthetic value. The CD to me is just such an ugly format. Both on an audio label and as a physical object, I find the CD and jewel case to be really offputting and really cheap, whereas the cassette, for a generation of people that grew up making mix tapes, it at least implies a level of thoughtfulness that has been lost. Now that we’re entering into an age of purely digital music, selling mp3s than CDs, it make sense that if we’re going to make something physical we should make something that has meaningful, tangible to it.
B: I don’t care about any of the media, I just see it as a platform to deliver messages.
What has touring on the new album been like?
B: Consistently shocked and overwhelmed from the response we’ve gotten from people. Last year we made a point to go to places that we’ve never been before and that a lot of bands have never been before. We toured in South Korea, in China, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand. Bands have gone to a lot of those places, but going to the Tibetan Plateau in China and playing “Psychic City” and having people know all the words because they downloaded it on the Internet has been mind-blowing for us.
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SXSW scene report: One girl follows her Muse to fest
The trio from the UK isn’t just the kind of band that can draw people from one end of a park to another, it’s the kind of band that compels fans to travel from one city to another (and likely one country to another), even when the chances of seeing their musical demigods is about as good as Billy Murray not showing up on Red River Street during SXSW.
Before the sun went down on Friday, the line to get into Stubb’s already stretched down the block. It had been highly publicized that only badge holders would be getting into the “surprise” Muse show at 10 p.m. but that didn’t keep hundreds from showing up anyway, hoping a badge would fall into their hands (around their necks?). Once the amphitheater reached capacity, dozens lined the roof of the parking garage across the street. But some decided to listen to the show from 9th street, behind the stage, where the band loads and unloads.
Among the devoted lining the sidewalk was 20 year-old Erika Waller and her group of girlfriends. They had already seen Muse in Ft. Worth on Wednesday and Houston on Thursday, but, with appetites not satiated, they made the drive up I-35 from San Antoino to try and get one more glimpse of their musical heroes.
Waller, who has seen the band perform 9 times since her first Muse experience at ACL Fest in 2006, actually had the great fortune of receiving a harmonica from bass player Christopher Wolstenholme — who, according to Waller works the harp as a lead in to “Knights of Cydonia” — at the show in Houston.
She followed Muse to Austin in hopes of meeting the band. And, while a full-on tour of the bus and photo opp. hadn’t occurred at the time we spoke, she did get Wolstenholme’s attention as he was exiting the bus at 9 p.m.., and, recognizing her from the night before in Houston, he graciously autographed the instrument for her. As we talked, she held it in her hand like it was the holy grail.
“They blend classical music with rock, and every song is different … no two songs are the same,” Waller said.
Her pilgrimage continues this spring, as she follows her Muse to California for the Coachella fest.
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Big Star Alex Chilton tribute lineup released
Announced today at the Big Star panel, for the show that has become a tribute to Alex Chilton, who died Wednesday: Evan Dando, John Doe, Chris Stamey, Watson Twins, Sondre Lerche, and MIke Mills are playing. They reached out to Jeff Tweedy but his schedule wouldn’t allow it.
It’s scheduled to begin at 12:30 a.m. at Antone’s.
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SXSW review: Lucero
“This is the last time we’re playing this (expletive) festival. Of course, I’ve been saying that for eight years in a row.”
Welcome to the warped cantina that is the mind of Lucero’s Ben Nichols. The above wry line came roughly an hour and innumerable whisky and Cokes into his roots rock band’s sprawling, epic set Friday at Red Eyed Fly, and was a microcosm of the acerbic open heartedness that dominates Nichols’ lyrics.
The show, which weighed in at nearly two hours - “That clock on the wall better be right, because we’re going to use every single minute,” Nichols chided the sound tech - was a display of the muscular but nuanced sound of “Summer Song,” the open lament of “Wasted” and the singalong glory of “Sweet Little Thing.”
What really stands out live is that as easy to pick apart as Lucero’s sound is - Tom Waits fronting The E Street Band while trying to cover The Band - the ache and world weary joy Nichols pours into every word holds the entire outfit together. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s got a crack band who can just about read his mind (there’s a tremor-inducing thought) behind him.
By the time “What Are You Willing To Lose?” closed things off at 1:59 a.m., with Nichols’ voice sounding like it was emanating from the bottom of the galaxy’s deepest whisky barrel, there was enough beer on the floor and fists in the air to pretty much guarantee that “the Lucero family picnic,” as the singer dubbed it, will probably make its ninth SXSW appearance next year.
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Auditorium Shores show tonight shortened to just evening hours
(She and Him at Lustre Pearl. Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN) Just in from SXSW headquarters:
Please let people know that the outdoor stage show is still happening, but that we have shortened it to just the evening hours. She & Him, Justin Townes Earle and Lucero are still performing. Hopefully, Kimya Dawson, Dawes and Deer Tick will also be able to perform if their schedules permit. Doors are at 5 p.m.; music begins at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public.
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SXSW interivew: J. Roddy Walston and the Business
J. Roddy Walston and the Business snapshot dreams lost (“Brave Man’s Death”) and reclaimed (“I Don’t Wanna Hear It”) with wolverine fury. The Baltimore-based quartet scored a last-minute slot at Mr. & Mrs. T and Rachael Ray’s Stubb’s party on Saturday.
“It was a surprise to us,” lead singer Walston says. “I think they booked the whole party and (someone at Vagrant Records) sent over our demo. Between their reaction and Rachael Ray’s, things got shifted around and we got added.”
American-Statesman: How did your set go at Red Eyed Fly (Thursday afternoon)?
J. Roddy Walston: It went great. We had the exact opposite SXSW experience a couple years ago. We played a pizza parlor that was turned into a club and no one was there. Everything this year is awesome. We played the same way that we played at the pizza parlor in 2008, but everyone seems to be reacting.
Earlier this week, you told us that you wanted to eat at Torchy’s (Tacos).
I haven’t been yet. I got free jeans, though, which nearly brought me to tears. I needed jeans so bad, like I literally would’ve taken anything with a crotch in it. We’re living on the edge right now (laughs). We’ll try to get (to Torchy’s).
You’ve talked about Paul Westerberg’s influence on you.
I heard him and Big Star at the same moment. Something about those two connected. With Westerberg, we were kind of trying to tap into a wild (streak). We were touring and feeling something branching out, and they’re such a dangerous band. They have an entire record where they’re obviously just blasted. Not that I necessarily want to do that.
Now, (Westerberg’s former band) The Replacements’ song ‘Alex Chilton’…
Oh, right. (Chilton’s death earlier this week) is pretty shocking. I’m really, really bummed out. I’ve been so involved in this experience that I haven’t really gotten to dive into what happened. Do you know?
Looks like it was a heart attack.
Man. Big Star’s “#1 Record(/Radio City)” definitely changed my life. I would’ve loved to have actually seen him play. It sucks. I think every single song on “#1 Record” is mind-blowing. I don’t cry too often, but that record will bring a tear to your eye.
Not many would say the same for (Queen’s) ‘Fat Bottomed Girls,’ but you guys do a great cover.
You know, we’re still a band who people don’t know when we roll into a city. That’s the one (cover) that might pop out because people know it, but we don’t want to be stuck playing it for the rest of our lives. We had to pull the plug on it after a couple tours.
How does living Baltimore influence you as a songwriter?
I grew up in southeast Tennessee. There’s no comparison. (Tennessee) is this weird, perfect world, and then we move to Baltimore. It’s like, “Oh, this is different.” Within a week, our bass player was laying out the contents of his wallet for a dude.
Does ‘Brave Man’s Death’ relate to that?
That’s probably the most direct reaction to living in Baltimore. The whole song stems from the core idea that I don’t want to die in a bed or have a heart attack. I want to go out with a bang.
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SXSW review: World Music Expo showcase at Copa
The WOMEX (World Music Expo) showcase at Copa on Friday had to be one of the most diverse events in SXSW history, in terms of genre, style and place of origin, although quality-wise, it only ranged from very good to extraordinary.
Affable South African flautist Wouter Kellerman opened the evening with an appealing set that combined African, classical, Latin and contemporary jazz elements. Backed by acoustic guitar, bass and drum, he played with symphonic technique and a great deal of feeling. Toward the end of the set, he even announced that he was going to prove the theory that white men can’t dance, and donned a pair of rubber rain boots to get up and perform side-by-side moves with his drummer — who was definitely the better dancer, but Kellerman acquitted himself well, leaping, throwing his arms and slapping his boots with enthusiasm.
Almost a polar opposite was the next artist, Norwegian singer Unni Lovlid, who opened with a traditional song that she said she had heard sung by an old man who lived at the very end of a fjord and ate nothing but bread and water day in and day out. No need for a translation of the lyrics — it was pretty much the loneliest song this side of Ralph Stanley’s “O Death.” After that, Lovlid turned to more experimental compositions, accompanied only by drummer Thomas Stronen, who manipulated electronics and added more expressionistic color than propulsion.
Lovlid’s lustrous mezzo soprano is a fantastic instrument for this kind of abstraction, and some of the atmospheric, non-linear compositions sounded like they were waiting for the right filmmaker to seize upon them. Particularly fascinating were a piece where she harmonized with a loop of her own vocals, and another that she said incorporated a recording of the Northern Lights. Both seemed like something adventurous-minded Elizabeth Fraser fans would love. Unfortunately, the Copa is not exactly a listening room, and loud voices from the bar frequently broke the spell. To her credit, Lovlid never seemed to notice, even when a guy hollered to his friend “You buyin’ shots, dude?!?” loudly enough to be heard in the next venue. I was extra glad to snag a promo copy of her gorgeous album “Rite,” so I could listen to her again at the end of the night without the drunken intrusions.
More cultural whiplash occurred when Tel Aviv-based Boom Pam took the stage. They looked kind of like a rock trio, with a tuba player instead of a bassist. He started out wearing a suit, while the guitarist wore dress pants and a sleeveless undershirt, and the shirtless drummer had on a Mexican wrestling mask — perhaps an homage to Los Straitjackets, who share Boom Pam’s affinity for surf music, if not the Mediterranean and Jewish influences.
Drummer Itamar Levi, who looked to be about 18 when he took his mask off, wailed away with punk intensity, no matter what the rhythm. Both swift-fingered Uri Brauner Kinrot, on an aqua Stratocaster, and mighty tuba player Yuval “Tubi” Zolotov handled melodic lines as well as rhythm. Most of the numbers were instrumentals, and Boom Pam’s Dick Dale cover was undoubtedly the only tune anybody recognized, but their energy and improbably successful mashing of genres kept the audience fully engaged. They seemed like the perfect band for a wedding where the bride and groom wanted to appease family members with disparate tastes, and keep all the guests dancing to avoid potential discord among incompatible in-laws.
Austin’s Grupo Fantasma was in peak form, its blend of salsa, cumbia, boogaloo and other forms of Latin music more seamless than ever, with a non-stop funky undertow. The strength of songs from the new album, “El Existential,” due May 11, would indicate it’s likely to be as successful as the Grammy-nominated “Sonidos Gold.” The new original “Sacatelo Bailando” really burned, with an insistent little guitar riff weaving through the swagger of the horns and percussion. The showcase set length was short by the band’s usual standards, and they were probably just getting warmed up, but they’d reached such a peak on the last song, “Gimme Some,” that I told a friend I couldn’t imagine any band wanting to go on after them.
And I almost ducked out before the last act, Korean group Gong Myoung, because not only would they be anticlimactic, but it was taking them ages to set up their vast battery of instruments. They didn’t go on until 20 til 2, but the announcer promised they would be worth the wait. He also said everybody had to sit, and although people looked puzzled, everyone standing in front dutifully plopped down on the floor in front of the phalanx of chairs where others were already seated.
The announcer was right on both counts — they were one of the most amazing acts I’ve seen at SXSW, and although their dexterous polyrhythms might make you want to dance, everyone really needs to be able to see what the musicians are doing, since the playing is very physical and extremely complex. I lost track of how many different instruments they used, but at the beginning, it was mostly ferocious drums, a simple, straight horn with a high sound, and a huge wind instrument that looked and sounded like a didgeridu. The four musicians wore stoic expressions, like martial arts masters, and seemed almost unaware of the audience as they pounded out fierce beats or held notes for impossible stretches, launching a mesmerizing assault on the senses.
Things seemed to be getting more and more intense, but suddenly the mood changed with the introduction of a marimba-like instrument, and by the end of the set, the musicians were sitting on the edge of the stage, grinning happily as they each played a marvelous bamboo instrument of their own creation, which they hit with paddles and slapped onto resonator boxes to make melodic as well as rhythmic patterns. The sounds were enchantingly strange and pretty. Just when it seemed things could not get any more unusual, one of the musicians started rummaging around in a leather valise and pulled out all sorts of objects, including a cordless power drill, a goofy pumpkin hat and plastic flowers. He plopped the hat on his head, produced a cane from somewhere and started drilling into it. Turned out he was making himself a new flute right there on stage, complete with an extra hole to display flowers. And when he was done playing it, he presented it to a lucky woman in the audience.
It was almost 2:30 a.m. when the band finally finished, so I expected everyone to rush out the door, but the clapping went on and on, and then the band and the audience just kind of grinned at each other happily for a moment before everyone returned to reality.
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SXSW review: Sarah Jarosz at Momo’s
If you’re a teenage girl in most households in America, perhaps you grow up wanting to be Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift. Or, if your tastes are a little more sophisticated, perhaps Lady Gaga or Beyonce.
If, however, you grow up in the Jarosz household in the small Hill Country town of Wimberley outside Austin, you debut onstage playing the mandolin at age 12 in bluegrass festivals, then move on to guitar and banjo. You write a fistful of songs that are wise beyond your years, sign with Sugar Hill Records, record with the likes of Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien and Ben Sollee, and see your first album nominated for a Grammy. All before you get out of high school.
And then, just to put a cherry on the year, you get to play SXSW and see yourself voted Female Vocalist of the Year, Country/Bluegrass Band of the Year and Folk Band of the Year at the annual Austin Music Awards, to be presented Saturday night.
No doubt about it, it’s good to be Sarah Jarosz.
Jarosz played for a packed room of adoring hometown fans, recent converts and acoustic music aficionados who were just getting the word at Momo’s on Friday. Such a crush of expectations might have wilted any other young woman within shouting distance of 20, but she seemed to take it all in stride. Coolly taking the stage by herself, Jarosz moved through a set that included original material from her first (and so far only) album, “Song Up In Her Head” and cannily chosen covers.
Patty Griffin’s wry yet poignant “Long Ride Home” kicked off her show, followed by a new tune, “Gypsy,” and a lesser-known Bob Dylan song, “Ring Them Bells.”
Jarosz’s confident demeanor and penetrating voice cut through the club chatter with ease, but you could still see the young girl within the assured. “How fun is this?!” she exclaimed at one point, sounding incongruously like a young girl who’d just won a shopping trip to the mall. To a grumpy and dyspeptic old music critic (think the old guy in “Up” with a notebook), it was an endearing moment.
After a solo turn mandolin, performing her Grammy-nominated song “Mansinneedof,” Jarosz brought up her backing band, Black Prairie, which included members of the Decembrists. A cover of Shel Silverstein’s “Queen of the Silver Dollar” preceded the grisly “Shankill Butchers,” a Decembrists song that Jarosz covered to chilling effect on her album.
This writer had to depart at that moment, making a note to check out Jarosz again soon, after the tourists had all gone home. He’s a sour old crank, and he doesn’t play well with others.
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SXSW review: Jail Guitar Doors at Ghost Room
For all I know, lo these many hours later, the Jail Guitar Doors are still rocking onstage at the Ghost Room, one musician/activist after another taking the stage in apparently endless succession. At the shank’s end of Friday night, the loose-knit collective of folkies, rockers and rappers showed no sign whatsoever of relenting as last call inexorably approached.
After taking the stage almost an hour late, ringleaders Billy Bragg and ex-MC-5 guitarist Wayne Kramer set up housekeeping on the tiny corner stage and began ushering one guest star after another in from the outdoor beer garden.
It was a case of hey, look, there’s Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters! There’s Mike Mills from R.E.M. rocking CSNY’s “Ohio!” There’s Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello shredding guitar with funk-rappers Street Sweeper Social Club! There’s Billy Bragg wryly declaiming the origins of Jail Guitar Doors to Wayne Kramer, standing at his side: “I said I named it after a song by the Clash,” said Bragg. And Wayne said, ‘Yeah, I’m in it.’ I said, what? He said, ‘What’s the first line?’ and I realized it was ‘Let me tell you about Wayne and his deals with cocaine.’ I felt about this big.”
Bragg went on to explain that JDG (which Kramer aptly described as “the loudest charity on earth”) was formed in England as a collective of musicians who put the redemptive power of music into action by making instruments and outreach programs available to jail inmates. An ex-con himself, Kramer became an ally with Bragg and helped get the ball rolling on this side of the pond. Their SXSW gig, they said, marked the American debut of Jail Guitar Doors.
Just that morning, said Bragg (a lifelong political activist for a host of social justice causes), the group had played at the Travis County Jail. “This is the after-party,” he said.
And “party” was the operative word. There was folk, hip-hop, scalding rock ‘n’ roll (the anthemic rendition of “Jail Guitar Doors” itself, for instance), passionate advocacy and heartfelt musical camaraderie. Drop by the Ghost Room today — they might still be having at it.
(More on Jail Guitar Doors here.)
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Mos Def to play Red Bull party tonight
Doors open at 8 p.m. for a party tonight in the parking lot at Fourth and Colorado streets hosted by Red Bull. Mos Def is the headliner, with such other acts as DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Spider, DJ Klever, J.Rocc, Cut Chemist and DJ Juan McLean.
The invite we received doesn’t say anything about credentials needed, so if you’re in the area (and who won’t be tonight?) it might be worth a shot. Capacity looks to be about 2,000. All ages.
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SXSW scene report: First in line for Band of Horses at Central Presbyterian
I picked up my first SXXpress Pass Friday morning. I wanted to make sure I caught Band of Horses at Central Presbyterian Church around 9 p.m., and given reports of the madhouse that was the Grizzly Bear show there last year, I figured I wouldn’t be the only one. Realizing the church would reach capacity early in the evening, I knew that if I got there before the doors opened, I would be assured a seat. When I arrived, I expected to see at least a small Xpress line, but it was just I. At least I thought it was until I realized the middle-aged gentleman already sitting on the wall was a fellow pass-holder and not a musician.
Stephen Hoad had seen the queue on Wednesday night — one he said was equally long to the 100+ line formed by 6:45 p.m. Friday — and figured he would play it safe by getting an Xpress pass for Saturday night. The Brit from Aylesbury, England said he had been turned onto the South Carolina-based band by his son but had missed them their last time in the UK and he was determined to remedy that.
Attending his fifth SXSW, Hoad said he loved the smaller crowds and venues of the fest because, “it’s the way I like to listen to music.” Having attended the Wednesday night showcase, he was already enchanted with Central Presbyterian, a venue who compared to Union Chapel in London, though he said the church in downtown Austin was nicer.
When I asked the well-versed music lover for any fest highlights of the week, he pointed to California duo El Ten Eleven, a band he said he had been waiting to see for five years after a DJ from the BBC whom he ran into at SXSW turned him onto the band. That’s quite a wait, but Hoad seemed to think it was worth the wait, calling the band “just stunning.” Seems I have a new band to check out.
With that, the doors to the church opened and Hoad and I went our separate ways, with him taking a seat in a pew about 10 rows from the front, just past the soundboard and a perfect distance from the speakers, ensuring a fantastic listening experience. The guy knows his music.
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SXSW scene report: Rachael Ray party at Stubb’s
It might only be in the 40s, but a laid-back Matthew McConaughey helped kick off the Rachael Ray feedback party by introducing the first band to play outside, Mishka: “the sun might be up there behind the clouds, but on stage, it’s a warm 72 degrees and s-s-s-sunny.” The bundled up crowd seems to share his sunny disposition; although the free food hasn’t started yet, the free bloody Marys and margaritas are flowing and McConaughey and Ray are jammin’ to the reggae side by side at the front of the stage.
Ray’s first words to the crowd came when she introduced Bob Schneider: “Plenty of food, plenty of drinks and even more bands.” “And one of the best things about Austin, Bob Schneider!” “Believe me, the food is worth the wait.”
And there might be a wait - gigantic lines stretch across entire Stubbs outdoor area.
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Wondering about tonight’s Big Star tribute
I’m driving to the Convention Center this morning to get an express pass for tonight’s musical memorial for Alex Chilton and what do they play as bumper music on “Car Talk?” Big Star’s “Back of a Car.”
It seems the rest of the world is missing him, too.
There were 10 people lined up for express passes at 9:30 a.m., 30 minutes before they were to be handed out, and a few people were there to better guarantee themselves a spot at the 12:30 a.m. show tonight at Antone’s. Word at the convention center was that R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills was going to spend the day rehearsing with as many people as possible, including Chris Stamey, M. Ward, members of Cheap Trick, John Doe and approximately the rest of the known pop music universe.
Exciting, completely unsubstantiated rumor: Paul Westerberg has been approached to participate.
Depending on how many musicians participate, there’s a good chance that this gig could outgrow its scheduled venue, although sxsw.com still has it at Antone’s. But where could they move it? The Austin Music Hall is out because of the awards; an outdoor venue seems less than ideal because of the iffy weather. Wherever the show is, children by the millions will be lined up, screaming for Alex Chilton.
If you hear anything about venue or lineup, post a comment here.
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SXSW scene report: Mess With Texas, Day 1
Despite being displaced from its normal home by a public works project in Waterloo Park, Transmission Entertainment’s Mess With Texas day party continued to grow in popularity with its new east 6th St. home on Friday.
The move actually makes sense in a way, providing another tentpole day party east of I-35 as the SXSW side party scene continues its spread beyond downtown and toward Chicon Street and onward to Airport Boulevard.
Not that everything went smoothly. Sound issues provided a lot of headaches on the free fest’s south stage, causing Austin’s Hacienda to lose their vocals - and throw an extended cover of the instrumental soul groove “Green Onions’ into the set to kill time - and muted a live trip-hop collaboration by DJ Spooky and local avante classical outfit Golden Hornet Project that would probably be best served by an intimate indoor setting anyway.
The PA issues didn’t much bother new garage punk band Jeff The Brotherhood (who had a distinct high school battle of the bands amateurism going on) and The Jim Jones Revue played with all the power they’d expect from a lo-fi blues punk band in an outdoor setting, but singer Jim Jones did say he was soldiering despite constant electrical shocks from the microphone.
Up on the north side, Austin’s Grupo Fantasma kept the crowd moving and prepared for the release of its next LP, Frightened Rabbit strengthened its case for being this year’s SXSW Band You Hear No Matter Where You Go and Billy Bragg delivered a passionate set of political folk aimed at “all the people without wristbands.”
It was a bit incongruous, Bragg a strident populist taking several breaks from his own songs and Woody Guthrie covers to plead with the crowd to stay politically involved and be conscious of the outright greed of large companies and banks, all delivered on stage at a festival sponsored by more than a dozen companies including Camel cigarettes.
But that’s nitpicking. On a postcard perfect weather day Bragg was a highlight for a party that’s comfortably evolving and firming up its place - along with neighboring shindig the Levi’s/Fader Fort - as a SXSW day side tradition.
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SXSW review: Hole at the Dirty Dog
(Courtney Love at the Spin day party at Stubb’s. Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN) It’s all about her. But then it always is.
The intermittently talented and consistently unamusing Courtney Love and her band, Hole, were almost a half-hour late for their 1 a.m. start time at the Dirty Dog Friday night, but book a diva and that’s what you get. And Love, rock’s most self-conscious widow, seemed to be interested in lowering expectations from the get-go, saying, “I have to do this for me and not for you so if you don’t like it…” And later, “You guys, I’m really sorry we suck but actually not, it’s for me.” And later: “My voice is shot, you (losers) and this is a dive bar with (crap) sound.”
At least she didn’t say it was a Hole in the Wall, the locale of an alleged Love incident some years back.
She even complained about her guitar picks and asked for different ones. To her credit, she actually said “please.”
Yes, they did “Doll Parts,” but what a weird set. Covers included “Sympathy for the Devil” and Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes.” The former was at least interesting, the latter felt less than half-hearted. More like quarter-hearted.
Before the set the badge line was long but doable, the club packed and jostly. But by 2:05 a.m. the crowd had thinned out. Thirty minutes is enough to be in the presence of someone who wears her notoriety as a badge of honor.
Still, there were dozens of people peering through the front windows trying to catch a glimpse as she left the stage, camera flashes popping. Because she’s Courtney Love, and she’s really, really famous.
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SXSW panel: ‘Creating a Music Town’
11 a.m. Saturday.
Panelists: Jared Bailey of AthFest, Bruce Burch of the University of Georgia, Ashley Capps of AC Entertainment Inc., Jocelyn Kane of San Francisco Entertainment Commission, Patrick May of Skyline Music
The gist: Building a music scene in a town can pay big benefits — when police, city officials, citizens, artists and media converge and work together to build a music scene, local economies can be revitalized, careers of local musicians can be advanced and downtown areas can be enlivened and bolstered. Although city governments can’t build local music scenes from scratch — that takes the presence of talented artists — they can encourage it by publicizing the scene, trying to provide for musicians and trying to encourage city policies that are friendly to a music scene, like reasonable sound ordinances.
Takeaways: One of the most fundamental necessities to create a music town is to publicize the issue and make regular citizens aware of the size, scope and impact — people knee-deep in the scene may not realize how invisible music and music issues can be to those outside the scene. Although the economic revitalization and mixed-use development that come about as a result of a thriving downtown culture can be positive, musicians and activists should be careful to make sure those developments don’t result in conflicts between businesses, residents and music venues. Activists need to stay focused on the needs of musicians — affordable housing and health care, for instance — and not just the PR. Forming music commissions, nonprofits and foundations can be helpful to encourage and shepherd a music town, but small groups and driven individuals can make a big difference on their own, and organizing large groups of people can be more trouble than it’s worth. Cities should avoid efforts to brand their city as being home to a specific genre — that can lead to pigeonholing that actually discourages some musicians and fans.
Quotes: “If you live in a community where people support the artists they like by going out and seeing artists, the artists will tell their managers, the managers will tell booking agents, fans will tell the media and word will get about your town’s music.” Ashley Capps.
“As people feel that energy and that community of music they start to look at your town as a place to live. We have people move from outside the city and great businesses starting that support the music community. There are a lot of ripples that can come from this activity and I think the key is telling that story and communicating with the community. It may be self-evident to you if you’re on the front lines how important the music scene is but to a lot of people it’s not.” Ashley Capps.
“We don’t have a music commission in Athens, Ga. I sometimes joke that we’re too indie of a town cause we can’t seem to get all of our musicians in one room, and when we do they complain the entire time. But while the Country Music Association did a lot for Nashville, they discouraged people for a long time by so intimately associating the city’s scene with country that other types of musicians didn’t want to go there.” Bruce Burch.
“If you can organize people and get a group effort going that’s great. It’s very hard to do, it’s like herding cats. But you can make big impacts as an individual or small groups, if you’ve got the vision and strength of will to do certain things.” Jared Bailey.
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A SXSW appreciation: Thurston Moore
To spend Friday night at Red 7 - headquarters of the Ecstatic Peace Records showcase - was to see indie rock hero Thurston Moore pretty much own the joint in every way possible.
In the space of a few hours he:
opened the night(!) solo on an acoustic 12-string guitar, playing multi-layered, dream-like folk rock songs with titles like “Friends,” “Blood”, “Circulation” and “With Out.” The tunes were suggestive of what Sonic Youth (Moore’s day job when not running his label) would sound like sans effects pedals and a back band, and about a half hour in, Moore thanked the crowd for listening to what were essentially a bunch of demos.
watched on like a proud papa while bands from his label like Black Helicopter, Awesome Color and The Entrance Band took over the club’s two stages, all of them doing their own takes on Sonic Youth’s trademark noise rock.
good-naturedly chatted with the few clubgoers who wandered up to pay respects to Moore for his nearly 30 years of music. It can’t be overstated how easy going and down to earth the guy is.
in one of those “Only at SXSW” moments, Moore dipped into his punk past with Demolished Thoughts, a supergroup hardcore cover band featuring J. Mascis, Don Fleming, F—-ed Up bassist Sammy Miranda (subbing for an MIA Andrew W.K.) and Awesome Color drummer Allison Busch. It was as jaw dropping as it sounds, with Moore on vocals, screaming while reading from a stapled-together lyric sheet as a storm of fists and feet grew in front of him. After 40 minutes and a brief encore it was over, with the members walking off stage, Moore returning a moment later to remind the crowd of one more chance to bear witness; “Mohawk, 1:30 tomorrow” and then dropping the microphone. Yep, awesome.
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SXSW review: Cheap Trick at Auditorium Shores
(Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN)Let’s talk about how a seasoned band should build a set list: You’ve got to push the new album, of course, but not to the detriment of stuff deep in the catalog that old fans will appreciate. If it’s a big crowd — meaning there will be more than a few casual fans — you’re going to have to play that one song everybody knows, whether you want to or not. Bonus points if you’re playing more than once over a few days in the same town and don’t play the same set over and over.
So it went with Cheap Trick at Auditorium Shores Friday night. With a sizable crowd enjoying quite possibly the last hours of pleasant weather during SXSW 2010, the band opened with “Hello There,” closed with “it’s-the-same-song-but-different “Goodnight,” enthusiastically delivered about a half-dozen songs for their most recent, “The Latest” and, gulp, dutifully performed their monster hit, “The Flame.”
On Thursday night the band taped an upcoming episode of “Austin City Limits” and entirely neglected their first album. On Friday they got re-aquainted with that self-titled 1977 record, one of the weirdest, darkest records cheerfully masquerading as harmless ock ‘n’ roll ever. “The Ballad of TV Violence?” OK! And why we’re at it, how about “Oh Candy,” “Taxman” and “He’s a Whore?”
They had me at “He’s a Whore.”
But let’s say an uncharacteristic word in defense of “The Flame,” or at least singer Robin Zander’s vocal delivery of it. Born in 1953, the guy still sounds like he’s 20, and a lot of the Cheap Trick catalog calls for roaring delivery.
As they did Thursday night, the band dedicated “Sleep Forever,” “Heaven Tonight” and “That ’70s Song” (a reworking of Big Star’s “In The Street) to the memory of Alex Chilton, possibly the most noteworthy SXSW no-show ever. In a town even more full of musicians than usual, it seems everybody is remembering Chilton with a mixture of melancholy and sadness. Kind of like the man’s music.
Speaking of no-shows, the band’s management Friday night released a statement explaining, sort of but not really, the absence of drummer Bun E. Carlos: “Bun E. Carlos is not currently the touring drummer for Cheap Trick. Bun E. remains a band member. Everyone is healthy and Cheap Trick will continue to tour as planned.”
Filling in at both Thursday and Friday’s gigs was guitarist Rick Nielsen’s son, Daxx, and it was quite clear the guy has sat in for Carlos.
Nielsen paraded his collection of guitars around, including his five-neck Hamer, mugged and threw picks, as one would expect. They closed with “Gonna Raise Hell” and that they did indeed.
Cracker and the BoDeans were perfectly fine as the opening acts, and Cracker’s David Lowery was in a better mood than he was with Camper Van Beethoven Thursday night.
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SXSW review: Underground rock along Sixth St and Red River.
By Friday night, one often enters a kind of fugue state at SXSW in which one is willing to give a band about two songs to entertain or one is headed for the door in search of something better.
The WFMU/Aquarius Records showcase at Encore and the Encore Patio is a pretty safe bet for excellent cult acts and Friday was no exception. Brooklyn noise rocker’s Drunkdriver absolutely killed (sorry) in their 9 p.m. slot— the guitar/voice/drums trio created a fast moving juggernaut of impossibly loud amp roar punctuated by Michael Berdan’s scream. They played nothing but new material and everyone who saw them is likely lusting after their new album, which appears in April on Load Records. Probably my favorite SXSW set. (They also play tonight at 1 a.m. at Club 1808.)
Drunkdriver’s set was short and 10 p.m. act Home Blitz went on late, delivering a brief but shambolic shower of power-pop guitar hooks and singer/songwriter Daniel DiMaggio’s bratty bleat. The way fellow New Jersey native Bruce Springsteen internalized 50s rock and 60s pop to create something recombinant yet fresh, DiMaggio purées generations of anti-fi indie rock, bubblegum pop-craft and garage punk. Ragged and fun.
Over at Klub Krucial at the Mexican Summer showcase, the enigmatic Tamaryn moaned and preened like the goth princess she is. Swirly post-punk guitar, fog machines and rolling drums accented her debt to Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Cocteau Twins, but none of it was unwelcome. Is there anyone in San Francisco and New York that doesn’t have a crush on this woman yet? If not, what are you thinking? Can’t wait for the new album.
Austin band Follow That Bird! was packed onto the tiny stage at Waves, a bar one thinks none of the rock solid trio had ever been in before SXSW. I stayed for one song, the excellent “The Ghosts That Wake You” from the “Casual Victim Pile” compilation before the bar’s heavy frat-dude-type customer base and extremely packed state drove me out, but the band was absolutely delivering.
Back at Encore Patio, (Expletive) and Shine were not quite the utter force of nature the were back in SXSW 2008 (turn this video ALL THE WAY UP in your headphone to approximate how loud it was). Also, they had some band members sporting bunny masks and that is rarely a good look. But inside, Dallas act True Widow found the space between shoegazer pop and plodding doom metal, a combination so potent you wonder why it isn’t done this well more often. Their recordings err on the light side, but everything about them became much heavier live.
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Statement from Cheap Trick re: Bun E. Carlos
Well, this explains almost nothing. After Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos (known to his mom as Brad Carlson) was absent from the weekend’s SXSW events — a press day, signing at Waterloo Records, “Austin City Limits” taping and headlining a free show at Auditorium Shores Friday night — road manager Carla Dragotti forwarded this statement:
“Bun E. Carlos is not currently the touring drummer for Cheap Trick. Bun E. remains a band member. Everyone is healthy and Cheap Trick will continue to tour as planned.”
Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen’s son, Daxx, has been filling in on drums. And quite capably.
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SXSW review: Suckers
Like the labels “indie” and “garage,” the term “psychedelic” gets thrown around pretty liberally in describing bands, and it’s hard to tell at this point exactly what it means. Brooklyn-based Suckers play what might be categorized as psychedelic music, but that term doesn’t really begin to describe what it is they do. At certain points during their 11 p.m. set at the Galaxy Room Backyard on Friday, the band’s music might have been more accurately described as “circus disco,” a mixture of slightly disturbing atonal notes atop a drum machine. At other times, more traditional pop rock.
Like a lot of other buzzed about bands at the moment, the four-member multi-instrumentalist group layers their music with a good amount of harmony and vocal experimentation. Different members of the band at various points played trumpet, percussion, synthesizers and guitars. Lead singer Quinn Walker, who kind of had a weird Stevie Ray Vaughn thing going on with his black hat, likes to sing falsetto, too. The set contained songs both from last year’s self-titled EP and their forthcoming full-lenght debut, including the catchy “Beach Queen,” “Save Your Love For Me” and “It Gets Your Body Movin’,” the centerpiece of the EP and still one of the band’s best, complete with an epic whistling solo.
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SXSW scene report: More Chilton covers, kebabs and more
Today’s cold and rainy weather is nature’s way of telling SXSWgoers they’ve been having too much fun. Three perfect days of weather out of four ain’t bad, however.
Chuck Prophet really got the crowd going Friday night at Momo’s with a trio of Alex Chilton covers: “Bangkok,” “Boogie Shoes” and “Hey Little Child.”
The food at Kebabalicious on East Seventh Street must be fantastic. Even though two adjoining food trailers had no lines, more than three dozen folks waited for their Turkish wraps Friday night. Gotta try that place after the circus leaves town.
Hacienda made the best of a bad situation, performing the instrumental “Green Onions” by Booker T and the MGs after their p.a. went out Friday. Don’t there seem to be more sound problems this year than in the past?
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SXSW review: Girl In a Coma
Midway through their set Friday night at Buffalo Billiards, Girl In a Coma called Runaways singer Cherie Currie up to sing “Cherry Bomb,” which knocked a solid set into the bleachers.
But the highlight had to be a cover of Selena’s “Si Una Vez,” from the San Antonio trio’s upcoming “Adventures In Coverland” project. When GIAC is in a zone- and you could tell they were Friday from the look in singer/ guitarist Nina Diaz’ eyes- they’re a band that can incorporate different genres into their own seamless, flamboyant style of punk.
Director Robert Rodriguez is a fan, having been at all three SXSW appearances by the group, so maybe we can expect a video of the girls by him in the future.
Earlier in the night, Cruiserweight was having sound problems, with singer Stella Maxwell’s vocals being dominated by the harmonies of her brother Urny. But by the time GIAC hit the stage, the mix was close to perfect. The last three times I’ve seen the group, the sound was swallowed by Jenn Alva’s booming bass. But at SXSW, you could hear all the group’s weird dynamics, as on “El Monte,” a song that doesn’t know if it’s rockabilly or a show tune.
Oh, and Kristen Stewart was also in the crowd.
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SXSW scene report: on-stage with Smokey Robinson
Emily Adame was pulled onstage by Smokey Robinson at the close of Friday night’s performance at the Austin Music Hall.
The stage wasn’t just for professional musicians during Smokey Robinson’s Friday night show at the Austin Music Hall. Two lucky fans got to climb on stage with the Motown legend after Robinson split the audience into two halves for a singing contest on closing song “Cruisin.’” He pulled up a woman from each half of the crowd to act as team captain and encourage their side to sing louder than the other.
One of those women was designer Emily Adame, who represented stage left. After the show concluded, Adame, who was raised on Motown albums, excitedly called her mom to recount the story.
Speaking after the concert, Adame, who gestured animatedly to drum up the audience, described her crowd-encouraging philosophy.
“It was all improv. I wanted my team to win and I really wanted to pep the crowd up and I didn’t want to be frightened about it so I just went for it,” said Adame. “I was like ‘Come on, let’s do this! We want to win!’ I’m a go-getter so I put forth that energy. I wanted to win and take the house down.”
Adame had stars in her eyes speaking about her experience singing alongside Robinson, who hugged her at the end of the performance.
“When I got on-stage I was very calm. I wasn’t shaky at all. Because his energy is amazing and I felt very empowered to be with him, if that makes any sense,” said Adame. “It was unreal. I’m in shock right now.”
But the real question is — which side won?
“I have to say my team won fair and square.”
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SXSW scene report: the Octopus Project’s “Hexadecagon”
“Hexadecagon” just might be the trippiest, most elaborate thing the Octopus Project have ever done, and that’s a very tall order.
Remember, this is the band that played an original score for a set of bizarre animated short films from across the world at the Alamo Drafthouse. And is known for bizarre video projections. And once coated an entire stage in aluminum foil.
But “Hexadecagon” is a whole other echelon of weirdness, almost Flaming Lipsian in its combination of whimsy, ambition and unexpectedness. Underneath a tent in the parking lot of Whole Foods, the Austin indietronica favorites set up shop on a stage surrounded on all sides by the audience, with eight speakers surrounding the band and audience and eight video projections (designed by Wiley Wiggins) on the tent above the crowd.
That meant actually seeing the band play was difficult unless you were very close to the center of the crowd, but seeing the band wasn’t the point — the idea was to look overhead as the music played, absorbing sound and imagery at the same time for a unique, multimedia experience. Images generally matched the tone — monochrome on the long, droning, space-y third song, but colorful and fast-moving on the fourth, pop-oriented tune (an anthem fit to compete with Octopus Project classics “Truck” and “Music Is Happiness”) . Recurring imagery ranged from ships to twin blond-haired girls to snow-capped mountains — an homage to “Snow Tip Cap Mountain” off “Hello Avalanche,” presumably?
The performance included five ethereal, intriguing new songs that bode well for future Octopus Project albums — although one has to wonder if, given the uniqueness of “Hexadecagon,” the Octopus Project may be mulling something more elaborate than just another album.
Either way, the vibes were good, the visuals compelling, and the show free and open to the public (although lines were long and many were unable to get in). Overall, surely a pretty good deal?
“You guys (expletive) rock,” cried an audience remember early on in the performance.
Right on, random Octopus Project fan. Right on.
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SXSW review: Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq performs Friday night at the Austin Music Hall.
Soul musicians know how to entertain — perhaps better than those working in any other genre. From titans of old like Sam Cooke, James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone straight through to the revival pleasures of Maxwell or Austin’s own Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, no one knows how to play a crowd like a fiddle — or a bass guitar — quite like a soul man (or woman).
That goes double for Raphael Saadiq, the former Tony! Toni! Tone! member whose emergence as a superhero of neosoul is now thoroughly complete. Appearing before a rapturous crowd at the Austin Music Hall Friday night — as part of one SXSW’s most well-curated showcases — Saadiq boogied onto the stage as a vision in red, garbed in an appropriately passion-evoking red suit with an invigorating performance of “100 Yard Dash,” the addictive single off 2008’s “The Way I See It.”
Ably assisted by a formally attired, crack backing band — including an assistant whose sole job was to gather up the clothes Saadiq removed throughout the show — Saadiq blasted through a half hour of songs off “The Way I See It” and a couple of old numbers. As the songs wore on, “100 Yard Dash” turning to the horn-bolstered swagger of “Keep Marching On” and “Sure Hope You Mean It,” off came the clothes — first the jacket, then the tie, then the glasses. For a bit there midway through the show, it looked like Saadiq might well end up naked.
That would have been appropriate for the rawly sexual swagger of the silk-voiced Saadiq, who milked the opening lines of “Take A Walk” (“I need some sex/Some Sex With You) for all they were worth in audience reaction with ample gesticulations. He even took a sharp left turn into rock star territory, letting his inner axe men loose with an impressive electric guitar solo on “Blind Man.”
The set closed with an inviting rendition of “Staying In Love,” with Saadiq, ever a class act, thanking each member of the band individually — an act particularly savored by the keyboard player, who killed a vocal solo with extreme prejudice. Full of instrumental jams, it was about three times as long as the album version of “Staying In Love,” a perfect piece of pop neosoul that has only one problem: it’s criminally short.
In other words, the exact same problem as Saadiq’s live show.
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SXSW review: Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson performs at the Austin Music Hall Friday night.
How old is Smokey Robinson again?
This is a legitimate question. A cursory glance at Wikipedia — the information source of choice for the music critic in a hurry — says 70 years old.
But that can’t possibly be right. Friday night at the Austin Music Hall, sandwiched between revival artists Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and Raphael Saadiq, original soul legend and King of Motown Smokey Robinson showed the world how it’s done with an affectionate, charming, high-energy show. When it comes to elderly gentleman whose enthusiasm, zest for life and boundless energy seems to mock the very concept of aging, only Stan Lee can stand up to Smokey Robinson.
Robinson emerged with an expansive band and two superfluous but moderately impressive dancers — who underwent a half-dozen or so costume changes in an hour and a half — and quickly launched into “I Second That Emotion.” That was followed up by Miracles classic “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me,” and to hear a chorus of a thousand voices singing along in unity was a magical moment. For anyone who cares about the power of pop to bridge gaps in age, gender and social status — and if you’re reading this blog right now, there’s a good chance that’s you — it was impactful and touching.
The convincingly humble Robinson touted his Motown bona fides in a soaring medley of Temptations songs — “The Way You Do The Things You Do,” “Get Ready” and “My Girl.” And he held the crowd in the palm of his hand for “Ooh Baby Baby.”
Calling Robinson a musician does him a bit of a disservice — “entertainer” would be a more broadly accurate term. Whether thrusting his pelvis — a move that no 70-year-old should be able to pull off, yet he finds a way — or recounting amusing stories of Stevie Wonder, he’s a showman whose refined his act with five decades of performance. That strength was displayed most evidently on a lengthy closing rendition of “Cruisin,’” as Robinson split the audience in halves to participate in a contest to see which side could sing louder, complete with one member from each side pulled onstage and designated as team captain.
“We got some singers in here,” quipped the velvet-voiced Smokey early in the set. “I thought you guys were just people who bought tickets or badges or something like that, but I realize now who you are. You’re the South by Southwest choir!”
Maybe so, Smokey, but can’t nobody in the audience — or anywhere — sing like you.
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Uchi cancels East Meets Fest
The threat of cold, wet weather has prompted Uchi to cancel its East Meets Fest event, set to happen Saturday, March 20 in the sushi restaurant’s parking lot.
A number of bands — Curses, Many Birthdays, Dana Falconberry, Woven Bones, the White White Lights, the Red Boys, and the Authors — were set to perform at the daylong party, one of many happening around town during the South by Southwest Music Festival.
“We apologize and are looking forward to great weather and a great event next year,” organizers said in a statement e-mailed late Friday night.
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SXSW video: East Sixth Street
The South by Southwest Music Festival spreads each year, with more and more unofficial shows popping up east of Interstate 35.
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SXSW video: Cheer Up Charlie’s
Cheer Up Charlie’s hosted an unofficial South by Southwest party in its parking lot.
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SXSW video: Scoot Inn
Music lovers hit venues throughout town — including Scoot Inn — Friday to take in bands playing as part of the South by Southwest Music Festival.
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Time switch mars Jones Family Singers set
If the Jones Family Singers had gone onstage at the Carver Museum Friday night at their advertised time of 9 p.m., they would’ve played to a packed house, following the Mwangaza Children’s Choir, featured on the front page of the Statesman on Sunday. As it turns out, the great gospel group from Bay City played to 16 people after an act was put on before them, with a day’s notice, and cleared the room. Is this how you treat acts that travel far and wide to play for $250, SXSW?
The disheartened nine-member group drove four hours back home Friday night and cancelled their 6 p.m. set today at the San Jose Hotel, where they might’ve actually played for a lot of people. They’ve had enough of Southby- even if the San Jose party is not affiliated- and I don’t blame them.
Full disclosure: I’m a big fan of the JFS and I actually advised them to play SXSW, when fest booker Craig Stewart asked me about that great gospel group that I knew who had wowed ‘em at SXSW a few years back. I also put them in touch with San Jose owner Liz Lambert, who had seen them before and was a big fan.
I had nothing to gain except helping a band that I feel is amongst the very best, and underappreciated gospel groups performing today. And they’re really wonderful people.
Never again would I tell a band that they should play SXSW.
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SXSW review: An Horse
On the scale of drummer/guitarist rock groups, with Mates of State on one end and the White Stripes on the other, An Horse falls roughly in between. The indie rock duo from Brisbane, Australia made up of guitarist/singer Kate Cooper and drummer Damon Cox (each from other bands) played after Local Natives at 10 p.m. Friday at the Galaxy Room Backyard. They’ve got one album and a new EP under their belts, and have spent time touring with Canadian rock group Tegan and Sarah.
They started the set off on a tough note with a blown-out amp. Fortunately, they replaced it quickly, and got on with their set. Though Cooper handled most of the singing, Cox joined in quite a bit. He’s a talented drummer, and it was fun to see him play and sing at the same time. Cooper wasn’t doing anything particularly interesting on the guitar, but she had great vocal chops and was quite the ham on stage. At one point she had a back and forth with several audience members: Audience: “I like your guitar!” Cooper: “I like you too!” Audience: “Thanks for coming back!” Cooper: “Thanks for having us?”
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SXSW review: Local Natives
Sometimes it’s easy to tell when a band works really hard at what they do. Such is the case with Local Natives, a five piece pop rock band from Los Angeles. During their 9 p.m. set Friday night at the Galaxy Room Backyard, lead singer/guitarist Taylor Rice explained that they were on show number six out of nine they had scheduled for the festival. Despite the heavy load, the band didn’t show any signs of fatigue, as their set was among the best of the week.
With two guitarists, a bass player, a drummer and a keyboardist/percussionist, the band’s sound relies heavily on harmonies combined with choppy piano and drums, all of which sounded incredibly well-rehearsed. They played songs from their newly-released debut album, “Gorilla Manor,” plus an energized cover of the Talking Heads’ “Warning Sign,” which fit in well with the rest of the material. Other highlights included “Camera Talk” and closer “Shape Shifter,” as well as a guest appearance at the end of the set from the band Fool’s Gold, who jumped on stage and whipped themselves into a frenzy of drumming and dancing.
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