DAY ONE - WEDNESDAY - SXSW
I like to get
off to a good start at SXSW, and the Brooklyn Vegan party
with the Rural Alberta Advantage, the Morning Benders and
Japandroids (and more I didn't see) helped me do just that.
Have to say the highlights of these three were RAA playing a
rather good new track and the realization that MB might be
the new Okkervil River. Japandroids were solid, but
had an all too quick set.
There was
nothing but hate flowing through me when I saw the Walkmen
try to perform at Bumbershoot a couple of years back,
but they really me impressed at Stubb's with an inspired set
that included a rather fantastic version of The Rat.
Although, that's such a great song that it's always going to
win me over no matter what.
Sharon and the
gang mainly focused on new material, but it wasn't one of
those shows where you're left wishing they had played some
older tunes. They're just too much fun to watch.
Plus, the new songs are just straight up brilliant. I
have the feeling they may really take off with the upcoming
release of I Learned The Hard Way.
Not much to say
here other than this band's twisted electronic ways work
very well live and the singer tried to kill me when she
locked her eyes with mine, jumped off the stage and pushed
me into a mosh pit. Guess it isn't SXSW if you don't
almost die at least once.
Rose was on my
list of 10 Artists To See At SXSW, and she didn't
disappoint. My only concern is when she'll actually
take the time to put out a full length. I mean, I love
the singles approach (and those recently released tracks
worked great live), but she had a slew of great tunes that I
feel need to be made available to all. Hope that
happens soon.
I was already at the Galaxy Room for Rose, so when she wrapped up I decided to stick around for Eddie Argos' (Art Brut) new side project. Wasn't sure what to really expect, but fortunately Eddie setup shop in the middle of the crowd and explained that all of the band's material is retaliations to other songs. So, in other words, you get silly titles like Billie's Jeans and lyrics that call out Avril Lavigne and others. It's crazy. And hilarious. This was one of the more pleasant surprises at SXSW, and I can't wait to hear the whole album.
On Thursday I
started off with the Cave Singers and Bowerbirds. I
had already seen the former once before, so their set wasn't
necessarily surprising as much as it was good.
Bowerbirds were solid, but I think they're a band I'd rather
see in a dark club somewhere than in the early afternoon.
Some acts just can't pull of the quick set, festival thing
as well as others.
Obviously, I had already seen Sharon the night before, but she just so happened to be in the lineup at the Mohawk and there wasn't any way I'd miss her. She killed. In fact, I'd say her set here was better than the one at Stubb's.
I've had an
ongoing love affair with the Dutchess and The Duke, so it
really nice to finally see them. They actually ended
up putting on one of the more fun shows of my SXSW simply
because they winged the setlist and seemingly the songs
themselves. Definitely the kind of band you want
playing a festival.
Once the Black
Angels stopped playing I had two thoughts. One was
that I really loved the new songs. They seemed to have
drifted away from the drone-heavy realm of their last LP and
onto something a lot more accessible. The other thing
was that all the bones in my body felt loose - that's how
loud their set was. I really hope everyone in the
crowd was sporting earplugs.
Both the
Pomegranates and the Mynabirds had nice sets that reaffirmed
some stuff I already knew, which is that the former is one
their way to stardom once their sure to great new album
comes out, and the latter needs a lot more attention.
So, while you wait on the aforementioned release, seek out
music from the Mynabirds.
I absolutely
loved the opportunity to see these guys, but I didn't find
them to be a quick set sort of band. Their songs are
fairly long and involved, and I think overall it would have
worked better if they had been given an hour or so to
showoff. Still though, A More Perfect Union was
fairly awesome live.
Rocky was just
fine, but I wouldn't really know for sure since I zoned out
about three songs in. Bit of advice: never go to see
the guy with the acoustic guitar around midnight at SXSW.
You will not pay attention. It's impossible.
As I mentioned
last week, this was the band I was probably most excited to
see at SXSW. I love Eyelid Movies, and I
figured they'd put on something similar to the slick noise
that School Of Seven Bells churns out when they're on stage.
In some ways I suppose they did do that (and oddly enough
the band I thought they'd sound like was actually in
attendance and standing right behind me), but for the most
part they were what can only be described as bombastic.
This duo is going to be huge. - John Laird -
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