Sunday, March 22, 2009
SXSW / Wow SXSW 2009: Dumps and Dinosaur Jr.
Posted by Tracy Moore on Sun, Mar 22, 2009 at 4:51 PM
Friday night, we hit Cedar Street Courtyard in the hopes of catching Peter, Bjorn and John and '90s holdovers Dinosaur Jr. When we turned the corner, we saw a mass of people gathered around in no discernible order. If you've been to SXSW, you know all about the crazy swarms of people and the line fascism and the subsequent Badge Envy, but if you haven't, allow me to explain.
First off, anyone can go to SXSW for free and still see a ton of good music. There are day parties and official showcases, and the day parties are free and open to anyone 21 and up. First come, first serve, all based on nothing more than club capacity or the occasional RSVP.
At 8 p.m., though, the official shows kick off with the instant hierarchy of entrance based on how much money you spent. If you have the several-hundreds-of-dollars badge, you stand in one line, the slightly more affordable wristbanders go to another, and the third line is for Everyone Else--paying customers with cash in hand hoping to catch a show. Entrance goes in three tiers: badges first, then wristbands, then cash-paying hopefuls. Once you're in, if you decide to leave for a phone call or a smoke, you go to the back of your respective line.
The first few nights, entrance for most anyone is not that much of a problem. You maybe wait a few minutes but you can usually be certain you're getting in. Come Friday, everyone who's attending has likely now arrived in town, and it's pretty much a massive clusterfuck to get anywhere. That makes picking your shows all the more critical. Just because you have a badge doesn't mean you're getting in--most of these clubs have the capacity of The End or Exit/In. Spend too long trying to get in one line, and then decide to ditch, and you'll merely find yourself in another line for another show, and the likelihood of not seeing anything because you've spent all your time waiting is all too real.
Metallica did end up playing at Stubb's, but people had been waiting in line since 5 p.m. to see the 10:30 show. We opted to see something we thought had reasonable entrance odds, but it turned out, so did a lot of other people. We arrived well before PB&J were supposed to take the stage to that aforementioned mass of folks milling around, craning their necks. Turns out the fire marshal had shown up and capped the entry, so it was a veritable standstill for a good hour.
Finally, lines formed according to entry privilege, and we waited in the cool breezy Texas night, occasionally hearing the distant sounds of songs such as their new one "Nothing to Worry About." It sounded pretty low-key and chill, but I was so far away I don't know accurate that reflects the actual show. Inside it could have been off the hook!
We got in in time to hear Grizzly Bear's twinkling and rich palate of harmonies and croons--"like a pillow for my soul," our companion remarked--lucky to find a beer and a small unoccupied corner in the outside courtyard to sit down for a second after all that line-standing. A fellow attendee slid down beside us and made some small talk. We all zoned out for a moment, until some dude--a kind of scrawny, hippie type guy, waltzed over and squatted down in the corner of what was the tiny rectangle we were occupying.
Suddenly, the girl next us turned to us and said quite calmly and very matter-of-factly, "Hey, I think the guy in the corner is taking a shit."
Sure enough, he was. Squatting down with his pants still strategically covering his junk, we saw that look of concentration and the requisite fast shuffling of the leaves underneath him that could indicate only one very specific publicly unholy act. We bolted faster than you could say white belts and capri pants, and pushed our way through a packed crowd to get as far away from the offender and watch guitar god J. Mascis set up.
It took nearly an hour for Dinosaur to set up his massive wall of amps, but it was well worth the wait and the distance from the doo. Finally, the doddering Mascis with a mass of gray stringy hair ambled on stage and plugged in. It was the original lineup, and Lou Barlow asked the crowd on pressing question: "You guys need earplugs? Well, it's a little late for that now," followed by a maniacal laugh.
What followed was a screechy, squawkingly beautiful set of tunes mostly off of You're Living All Over Me and Green Mind: "In a Jar," "Little Fury Things," "Sludgefeast" and "Wagon"--which featured Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew handling vocals with stellar ease.
The solos were trip-tastic, and even though the band said next to nothing to its rapt audience--well, Barlow looked like he was about to explode when his amp blew--it was a truly mesmerizing performance. Mascis loses himself in the playing and you believe the hell out of the guy. It was the best show I saw all week, and the irony wasn't lost on me that I thought the same thing last year at SXSW: A performer whose songs are decades old still blew everything I saw out of the water.
Comments (3)
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if someone started to defecate in my personal space I'm pretty sure I would punch him in the face after turning green with anger.
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Jay Mascis two years in a row? I'm jealous for sure -- I still have my 1991 Where You Been? CD, but dude you're supposed to go to SXSW and bring back news so we can stay on the cutting edge.
@Nicki Woods
Its "J" and Mascis is still is the cutting edge.
"Farm" is coming out in a few weeks.
Plainly put Dinosaur just delivers better solos and thoughtful music than the "cutting edge" newbies.
I'd put a way your 1991 CD and take the time to go to a LIVE show. You will be a believer in the power of J.
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