3 posts tagged “sxsw”

This years SXSW was so overwhelming, even moreso than the first year.  I didn't see as much music this year, choosing instead to spend quality time with various friends and just go with the flow. Still, did see some great stuff, learned about some new bands, and just hung out with friends.

I wish I could say I did a good job keeping up with my sched.org, but mainly, each day I'd pick a bunch of stuff and see if I could make it all.

Here's some of the things that I noticed this year. A lot of the bands were genuinely grateful that audience was there. Often times you get the "thanks for coming out, woo [insert name of city]" but the tonality of the thanks just felt warmer and more real. Perhaps the competition and time slots made artists just feel happy that folks showed up to their show rather than someone else.

The other things that seemed in the ether to me were bands that didn't look like the genre they played in. This is me using every stereotype in the book and subscribing to it. But still, when I saw Grand Archives, I would have *sworn* they should have been a metal band. Cut Copy were just guys in jeans in t-shirts, no matchy matchy club clothes. This happened at least five-six times. Either I'm aging, or bands have finally decided they don't need to look a certain way to fit into parameters.

And it seems that long hair is making a resurgence. Not just any long hair. It's got to be an above the shoulder bob-type hair cut. With curly/wavy hair. Like the guys in Longwave.

Last year I was able to come up with a ranked order of shows, which proved impossible this year. Mainly due to Liam Finn. He was so incredible that everyone else paled in comparison. Shows were frenetic, with him playing both guitar and drums, within a single song. His partner for the shows had at her disposal a tambourine, cowbell and cymbal, not to mention a rocking voice. Both used a variety of looping devices, but the energy was unbelievable. Blew everything else away.

Other great shows

The A-Sides
British Sea Power
Cut Copy
Helio Sequence
Grand Archives
Longwave
Matt & Kim
Rufus Cappadocia
The Weakerthans
Tigercity
What Laura Says Thinks & Feels

Full Schedule with my in-the-moment notes

Wednesday

Aleigh/ poet like an acrobat @ the hideout
Full rich vocals, needs more originals though loved the johnny cash covers
+ A fellow consumator!

The Wedding Present @ emo's annex
Old faves in a two piece set up miss the drums

[went do dinner & a movie, so missed some tunes...]

Simian Mobile Disco at La Zona Rosa - so that's where all the lasers
from the 70s went. Good! Not chemically prepared.

Thursday

British Sea Power @ the Mohawk my new favorite - 3guitars drums
keyboard & violin. Buy

No Age @ the Mohawk - loud for a guitarist and drummer with a
bedazzled audience. Short songs punny banter.

Cut Copy @ the Mohawk - bring back the 80s vocals & sensibilities
filtered through the indie rock lens. Made me want to dance. Buy love
watching a band enjoy their own set as much as you do

Martha Wainwright @ Austin conventpn center - daniel lanois jumped on stage too! Just okay - she can sing but not familiar enough to fit in with all the fans who were there

Rufus Cappadocia - the 18th floor of the Hilton Garden inn - plays the cello as a guitar. Not the most dynamic performer but music is more interesting than that. Buy. Went "far out" - almost like metal violin

Noah & the Whale at Friends- great investigate further - A day for strings

The Whigs - Austin music hall - just a few songs not my thing

Yo La Tengo - austin music hall - warmed up to falsetto harmonies & multi-instrumentalism, great catalog miners but drawn out instrumentals get boring

The Weakerthans at Cedar Street Courtyard love them! Just solid indie rock

Devotchka - one song, which seemed to be my relationship with them all week - just one song. but not enough to compel me to stay or to listen.

The Octopus Project - emo's - excellent showmanship

Friday

Liam Finn @ dirty dog - in love with the next gen of the Finn family.
Amazing set. Buy

Los Campesinos - cedar street courtyard - great sound, perhaps biased
by beers in the sun. Energetic. Check it out

Cut Copy @ SESAC day stage at ACC - excellent repeat

Random foray to I <3 comix party

Superchunk @ Parish - mac solo

Crystal Castles @ emo's - I'm a poor judge of electronica, indiscriminate at best. This was a quick, crazy show but definitely enjoyable.

Aloha @ Habenero Annex Patio - arrived and the show just felt dry and uncompelling. Made me wonder if this would be better recorded than live, having liked the few songs I had heard before this.

Grand Archives @ Bourbon Rocks - I heard one song and wished I'd been here instead of at Aloha - so much so I took efforts to see them the following day. My notes from this say "CHECK OUT LATER"

Helio Sequence @ Bourbon Rocks Patio - front row standing for this show brought me up close so I could see how psyched the drummer was to play. Every time he smiled, I did too. These guys were great.

Saturday

Longwave @ Cedar Street Courtyard: Excellent. And when did big hair come so back into vogue?

Liam Finn @ ACC: Yes, AGAIN!!! I must own everything he has done.

Tokyo Police Club (Acoustic) @ YR Day Stage: just ok

Grand Archives @ Cedar Street Courtyard: Love the harmonies, their aesthetic/looks don't match the sound, buy

What Laura Says Thinks & Feels @ EMC Hilton Garden Inn: Despite the shittiest band name ever, we totally unexpectedly caught this band and they were great! Can't say no to a band with keyboards attuned to organ-intensity. Mellow, cool & great harmonies. Brushes on drum - a sucker for that. Fucking awesome keyboards, lots of "ooh aahhs" - feels like the prom music I never had.

The A-Sides @ EMC Hilton Garden Inn: another act that had us leaping out of our front row seats to dance along. There's a coolness to a concert in a conference in a hotel, but this group got everyone on their feet and rocking out. Straight ahead rock-n-roll. Buy!

Tigercity @ Lambert's Patio: how fun were thes guys? How can you not love a band that looks nothing ike what they sound? How can you not love a band where one guitarist is wearing a pink shirt with a moose and the star a multi-colored boa. Passionate fans and fun.

The Autumns @ Maggie Mae's: a little rough - where indie bands

Matt & Kim @ Mohawk - started with a cover of Europe's the Final Countdown - a perfect end to the week. Great tunes while we sat on the patio, drinking and talk.

I *finally* had the pleasure to attend SXSW -- an event I've been dying to attend since my years working at Ink19 and WPRK. (Although to be truthful, PRK was all about the CMJ).

I know I'm a wee bit behind writing this up for all of you who have asked for show reports, and apologies this isn't in the long form, well-written voice of my reviews of yore. Despite my love of indie rock, I did manage to break out of the mold a wee bit, in fact, some of my fave shows of the week falling outside of that genre.

I have a chronological listing of shows I saw, but realized this would be less useful than some sort of rating of the top shows, so I've got both, with 1 line reviews, captured in real time. (photo from sanfranannie)

Treo

TOP SHOWS I SAW

#1

Artists: Rachel Fuller with Special Guests, including Pete Townshend featuring Mika, Martha Wainwright, Willie Mason, Joe Purdy, and Alexi Murdoch

Venue: La Zona Rosa

Notes Captured in the Moment:
am going to buy willie mason album show was mellow, yet fantastic; mika - epic yet needs more stage presence ; rebecca fuller did an inspired & playful set ending w/joni mitchell torch song 'blue' ; joe purdy totally played piano & then pete t. Joined to play let my love; martha was strong & charismatic performer who touched me; alexi murdoch ; INTIMATE ; final set by pete w/rebecca on piano & him singing dulcet tones

Memory:
One of the top 10 concerts I've probably seen (and yes, I keep a list). Just one of those rare moments when you realize you're seeing a legend you've watched through the years and who helped you grow as a person, surrounded by other bright young lights.

I called my brother that night to tell him what I'd seen. I can't imagine any better tribute to our childhood than to think about sharing this show with him. Xan, I wish you'd been there with me.

#2

Artist: The Budos Band

Venue: Emo's Annex

Notes Captured in the Moment:
awesome, will see them again - top 5

Memory:
I actually twitted about how they got the crowd up and dancing. I loved the fact that they shifted sets around and I just happened to catch them. *I* actually danced, which means it must have been hip-quakin' good. And it was. I went out and bought the album so I can dance at home too.

Kudos to DJ Tiki Tim for introducing me to this band a year ago, which is the main reason I wanted to see them.

#3

Artist: The Annuals

Venue: The Beauty Bar Patio

rocked the house live with humor (full set)

Notes Captured in the Moment:
Shows in Chronological Order

Memory:
This was the last show of the night at about 1am. These guys managed to have an insane amount of energy and all these funny moments, including one wherein the bassist threw his mike on the ground, realized he needed it, and then crawled over to get it. Lots of musical multi-tasking. And a show I never would have expected from their album.

#4

Artist: Sharon jones & the Dap-Kings

Venue: Emo's Annex

Notes Captured in the Moment:
this land as soul/funk, guys on stage & amazing show

Memory:
Sharon Jones knows how to put on a show  - whether drawing up audience members to sing along. Her voice is amazing and robust and the Dap-Kings make it feel like a party. I was hard pressed to leave the show, since it seemed like with Sharon, the party was gonna go all night long.

#5

Artist: The50kaitenz

Venue: Elysium

Notes Captured in the Moment:
fuck yeah! Japanese punk/pop - fun, energetic & fast - one of my fave shows this week

Memory:
You've got three guys in black suits, white ruffled fancy shirts playing punk rock. What could be more perfect? It was the sort of live experience I'd been craving all week.

#6

Artists: Octopus Project and Black Moth Super Rainbow

Venue: Elysium  

Notes Captured in the Moment:
psychedelic indie rocktronica that made me feel amazingly musically stoned

Memory:
I really enjoyed this show. I went by myself since I didn't want to miss it. It felt more like watching art - we had video projections and a theremin, two bands playing together. It was enjoyable music, but way too short.

#7

Artist: Snowden

Venue: Emo's Annex

Notes Captured in the Moment:
the indie rock band that makes me dance, a live show that expands upon recorded music (full set)

Memory:
Bassist Corinne Lee is hot. I was so excited to hear them live, since I love Anti Anti, and they didn't disappoint. I think a different venue would have done them better than an outdoor stage with poor sound quality.

#8

Artist: Beirut

Venue: Emo's Main

Notes Captured in the Moment:
amazing neo-gyspy slow tunes w/accordian, horns, guitars, ukes, clarinet, strings, mouth organ, and megaphone (full set)

Memory:
Beirut's lead singer is really young, but seems to have the vision driving everything. Someone to watch and see how they evolve.

#9

Artist: Menomena

Venue: Emo's Main

Notes Captured in the Moment:
tight & talented

Memory:
I can't expand much beyond my notes, they struck me as being very tight, with incredible musical agility.Bummed to have missed them in previous visits to San Francisco.

#10

Artist: Girl Talk

Venue: Emo's Main

Notes Captured in the Moment:
booty shakin' & body quaking

Memory:
I'm still trying to figure out how a guy with a laptop makes for a compelling shows. But it was. I think I was the oldest person there. Or maybe not. I know that a young boy, probably six, raced through the crowd to get a photo and the nice guys in front of me held him up so he could get a great shot. Adorable. But as to the music, Girl Talk is a mash up artist extraordinaire and he managed to make for a good show, which is quite surprising in some sense.

Honorable Mentions

Apostle of Hustle
Dub is the Weapon
The Pipettes

SHOWS IN ORDER

Wednesday

urban_mermaid & lilbear @ austinist

Photo by Tantek

• Apes & Androids @ austinist party @ the mohawk - look like kiss, sound like queen (4 songs)
• Apostle of Hustle @ ioda party @ emo's annex - songs about mescaline in spanish (full set)
• The Black Angels @ ioda party @ emo's annex - loud & rawking (most of set)
• The Pipettes @ la zona rosa - girl group excellent (full set)
• Emma Pollock @ emo's main - blah (most of set)
• Beirut @ emo's main - amazing neo-gyspy slow tunes w/accordian, horns, guitars, ukes, clarinet, strings, mouth organ, and megaphone (full set)
• The Mountain Goats @ emo's - mellow with a rousing closer of thin lizzy's the boys are back in town (full set)
• Illinois @beauty bar patio (2 songs) worth further investigation
• The Annuals@beauty bar patio - rocked the house live with humor (full set)

Day 2 of Music

• Peter Buck & Robyn Hitchcock @ rhapsody party @ the mohawk - poor sound mix dampened what had the potential to be an amazingly mellow show
• Mika, Martha Wainwright, Pete Townshend, willie mason, Rebecca Fuller, joe purdy, alexi murdoch @la zona rosa - am going to buy willie mason album show was mellow, yet fantastic; mika - epic yet needs more stage presence ; rebecca fuller did an inspired & playful set ending w/joni mitchell torch song 'blue' ; joe purdy totally played piano & then pete t. Joined to play let my love; martha was strong & charismatic performer who touched me; alexi murdoch ; INTIMATE ; final set by pete w/rebecca on piano & him singing dulcet tones
• rhett bennen @ the parish - packed show w/jazzy overtonesp
• starsailor @ the parish - strong acoustic set & a powerful voice
• badly drawn boy @ the parish - attitude, not all that fab in person
• the pipette's@emo's - one trick pony? Can't decide - better sound here than friday (partial set)
• dave smallen @ emo's annex - (2 songs) powerful voice for an acoustic set

Friday

• snowden @ emo's annex - the indie rock band that makes me dance, a live show that expands upon recorded music (full set)
• menomena @ emo's - tight & talented
• girl talk @ emo's - booty shakin' & body quaking
• peter, bjorn & john @ emo's - despite their new-to-them equipment a rousing get the house jumping set that will lead to big things
• the50kaitenz @ elysium - fuck yeah! Japanese punk/pop - fun, energetic & fast - one of my fave shows this week
• the m's @ red7 - sloppiest set i've seen them play (perhaps due to the alcohol they had ingested) still their harmonies & guitars & drums made me happy
• you am I @ dirty dog- paid almost no attention so couldn't be that great
• sloan @ dirty dog - not much to say
  
• apples in stereo @ dirty dog - live show loses some of the melodics & harmonies i have come to expect
  

• budos band @ emo's annex - awesome, will see them again - top 5
• sharon jones & the dap-kings @ emo's annex - this land as soul/funk, guys on stage & amazing show
• octopus project PLUS black moth super rainbow @ Elysium - psychedelic indie rocktronica that made me feel amazingly musically stoned
• robert gomez @ buffalo - 9 piece mellow orchestra rockin' me calmly
• midlake @ buffalo - mellow harmonies
• dub is the weapon @ flamingo cantina - got into that stoned from the music space, had to leave before lee "scratch" perry joined the stage, last show of the week

In trying to coalesce my thinking about the themes that emerged at SXSW, I ran through my extensive notes (hey, sure, I can listen to podcasts again, but I find my notes reflect my interpretations) and thought about the many conversations I had.

None of these are earth-shattering, but instead continue to be themes that have been percolating in the ether for a while. A lot of what I do for work involves thinking about these pieces and how they fit into the grand scheme of things.

1. Intellectual Property Issues continue to dominate the conversation. Solving these issues will be a critical step in moving forward on the web, allowing creators their rights, while permitting the improvement upon those ideas.
2. Building community and relationships are the second phase of the promise of the Internet. Forging new relationships, fostering existing ones, and building impactful and effective community is a mantra all companies need to consider.
3. Opening the doors to users and respecting their contributions to leverage them. Companies and users are a circular cycle, not a linear process.
4. Mainstream media still has a place. It serves as a lingua franca, crossing borders (real & virtual), while niche-ification allows different types of people to find others like themselves.
   • Further market fragmentation will happen on all fronts. For example, in search, while Google may dominate, it will erode while specialist search providers with much smaller market shares will chip away.
5. Short vs. long form content - a lot about continuous partial attention and how much people can tolerate and/or be interested in.
6. Content quality is still the need. Just because there's a lot out there doesn't mean that it's all good.
7. Video as the richest (current) interactive experience.
1. Update: Understanding of course that there was much dialog around metaverses and immersive worlds. Still, adoption of these environments is not as widespread as video.
   
8. Authenticity is something we all desire. But authenticity doesn't have to be truthful. Sometimes something untrue or unreal can generate an authentic emotional response and that can be as valid as something that is.

I'll continue to update this post as I ruminate. But you know me, all about just putting it out there and thinking later.