It's over.
I don't know how I did it, but I managed to survive another
exhausting endeavor at SXSW. It's probably hard to
believe, but even with my sore legs and general sleepiness
I'm already looking forward to next year. Below and
all around is the rundown of my final day. I hope you
like it. Now, excuse me while I go lay down.
Normal posting will resume in a few days.
Originally, I wanted to make it down to Waterloo Park for
Mess With Texas 2 early enough to see Aloha, but I was
running a bit behind schedule and ended up starting my day
with Shearwater. I was thinking that they would maybe
be an act that wouldn't work that well when not experienced
in a dark, intimate venue somewhere, but those guys were
rather captivating. Plus, the new songs are simply
stellar.
Perhaps the best part about the Mess With Texas 2
mini-festival was the use of multiple stages, specifically
the middle one with two sections that allowed the next act
to start within five minutes of whoever played before them.
It was really great, and I wish more would incorporate such
trickery. Anyhow, jumping from Shearwater to White
Denim was a little strange, but once that trio get going it
can be easy to get lost in the pop noise their pushing out.
I just sort of wish they had seemed more into the
performance, because yesterday was nothing more than solid.
I had pretty much spent the entire festival convinced that I
would not have time to catch Langhorne Slim, but out of
nowhere yesterday I noticed that he was coming up right
after White Denim. Not only did that make my day a
little, but it reminded me how giving SXSW can be when it
comes to where you might ended up seeing an artist play.
As for the set, it was pretty good. I've definitely
seen them do better, but the new songs did sound nice.
- Grand Ole Party -
- Two Gallants -
- Atlas Sound -
If you read my
passage on Grand Ole Party from the other day then you
already know that I think very highly of the trio.
With that being said, after seeing them three times in the
last few months I've begun to notice that they really need
to work on their stage presence. The sound is there,
but the silence between songs and general awkwardness has
got to go.
I'm lumping my thoughts on Two Gallants and Atlas Sound
together because I happened to feel the same way about both
sets; they sounded great, but they didn't belong in a park.
I want to see both of these acts in a weird venue at two in
the morning, and not in the middle of the day when I'm hot
and sweaty. Maybe they'll both hit the road sometime
soon so that they can place themselves in a more appropriate
setting.
- Yeasayer -
- Black Mountain -
Some friends of
mine had been recommending Yeasayer all week, so I made sure
to take a little time to check out the trio. And?
Yeah, those guys are as good as advertised. The main
singer is wildly passionate and moves like at any moment he
might burst into thousand pieces, so it really makes for an
interesting viewing and listening experience. I need
to check out more of their music.
At this point in the day I almost skipped Black Mountain to
go eat and relax, but my sheer love for the band got the
better of me and I ended up staying. I thought their
set sounded as booming and beautiful as I knew it would, but
because their songs are so long they didn't get to play as
many as I would have liked. That's right, I didn't get
to hear Tyrants again! At any rate, they're
still one act that I would see over and over again whether
they played any or my favorite tracks or not.
On a related note, Mess WIth Texas 2 was great. I know
a lot of people complained about last year's, but it looked
like the organizers listened and made all of correct
adjustments. Nothing like a festival within a festival
to please the masses!
- Georgie James -
- Jason Collett -
- Los
Campesinos -
I have to say
that I was a little disappointed in Georgie James. Not
necessarily because of performance itself, but mainly due to
how they were going at it as an acoustic duo. I had
really been looking forward to hearing their work live, so I
wasn't that into a bare bones version. To their credit
though, it was still entertaining.
I've been meaning to explore Jason Collett's solo work for
awhile now, so it was nice to check it out live and in
person. He seemed like a nice guy who just enjoys
making music, and each of his songs felt different than the
one before it. I know that sounds obvious, but
sometimes when I see an unknown act for the first time their
stuff starts to run together after awhile.
Ending my SXSW experience was Los Campesinos. I had
heard from just about everyone that I ran into throughout
the week that I had to catch them no matter what, so I
figured they would be the best way to bring the week to a
close. Fortunately, they didn't let me down. In
fact, I think they were probably one of those most high
energy acts that I saw the whole time, and I can't wait for
them to come back to town. I guess I'll dive back into
their album while I wait.
- John Laird -
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