Wednesday, March 25, 2009
SXSW SXSW: The Casio Way '09: A Belated Recap
Posted by Seth Graves on Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 7:00 AM
Whether you made it out to Austin last week or not, you're probably still sick of hearing about SXSW by now. Frankly, after being in the hot, sweaty, windy, sun-soaked, beer-flooded, BBQ-flavored midst of it for a week, I'm pretty much over talking about it myself. My liver feels as if it could fail me any minute, my ankles and kneecaps as if someone took a crowbar to them last night. Though, I did pledge attempts at covering it for the Cream, other obligations left me spread a little too thin to actually make it happen in real time. . Only just now in the wake of it all have I had a moment of clarity and spare time to reflect on it all.
Whether you went or you didn't, you probably well know by now the gist of this thing: thousands of bands in hundreds of bars, corporate sponsors and up-and-coming bands both vying for your attention and seeking name recognition, showcases, parties, food, drinks, swag, miles of walking, hours of aural abuse, etc etc etc. Needless to say, it's a bit much. To make the most of it, you have to be on top of your game to say the least. Schedules must be made and adhered to. An ear needs to be firmly planted to the ground to keep abreast of changes, surprises, tips, and invites. And this year, that just wasn't me.
For every awesome day party with kick-ass bands, open bar and complimentary grub you stumble upon, there are two or three more that are a total bust. You get there a moment too late, find yourself at the back of a seemingly endless line, miss the band you came to see, watch the free food run out just before you get to it, or maybe a sassy bartender informing you the gravy train stopped an hour ago. All these things happened to me this year nearly every day. The problem with free shit is that nobody doesn't want it and they'll take as much of it as they can get--myself included. I've made nearly a career out of getting as much as I can without paying for it--namely drinks, concerts, and the occasional free meal. However, it's an event like SXSW that makes you wonder just how free is "free." You start to wonder just where the gratis ends and the effort you expend in getting a free drink exceeds its worth.
Bitching and moaning aside, it was still an awesome time. Yes, laziness, scheduling conflicts, and poor choices meant I didn't see as many bands as last year, but there are still many quality moments to speak of.
There were some pretty big-ass names this year that would have been anywhere from amazing to kinda cool to see: Jane's Addiction, New York Dolls, Dinosaur Jr., Devo, to name a few. Thing is, as Tracy pointed out, if you're not one of the fortunate few with a badge, your only chance to catch one of the bigger shows is to get there early and wait a really long time. I'm personally incapable of getting anywhere early and waiting is for the birds, so I resigned to focus mostly on smaller acts.
High on my list of priorities were electronic-based acts who rarely make it through Nashville. The IHEARTCOMIX showcase at the Beauty Bar Thursday night was indeed a cavalcade of talent which I'd not likely see anywhere else. HEARTSREVOLUTION (this year's Crystal Castles) showed us that the new punk rock is all about trashy, blasty, dirty electro incursions with a drummer on back-up for extra support. Milwaukee's Juiceboxxx delivered a rousing, hype-heavy set of obscure DIY hip-hop that was sometimes just as comical as it was intense. Another bad-ass find came in the form of Toronto's Thunderheist--a ghetto blasting mix of leg-humping dance beats and bawdy, sexy raps executed by a bootylicious front woman named "Isis.
While everyone last year was changing their undies over MGMT, I let the hype dissuade me, only to end up loving them a month later. So I decided not to make the same mistake with this year's buzz band Cut Off Your Hands. I managed to catch one of many daytime performances at the Radio Room. What I saw was an amped up set of jangly pop songs, which sounds a bit like twee but was more like The Smiths on Adderall and antidepressants. No doubt these boys had energy to burn and put on a damn good show, but I can't see their record giving me any more than a week or two's listen before I'm bored of it.
Finally, the event I looked forward to all week was not an official SXSW event, but the Mess With Texas fest in Waterloo Park on Saturday. It's more an outdoor festival vibe with overpriced beers and funnel cakes, but after bouncing from club to club to club all week, it's nice to have so many great bands on just two stages, less than a quarter-mile from each other. This meant I finally got to catch seminal L.A. punkers the Circle Jerks who, discounting a hiatus or two, are now in their 30th year as a band and no less fast, and pissed off than they ever were. The set was heavy with choices from Wild in the Streets and Group Sex, and they ended things with a few songs from singer Keith Morris' former band Black Flag. The bill also included Kid Sister, Akron/Family, Busdriver, The Death Set, Black Lips, The Thermals, Vivian Girls and Monotonix--who played not on the stage, but on top of the audience.
Other notables include Chicago hip-hop darling Kid Sister and white boy flowmaster Asher Roth at Club de Ville, funky indie pop wedding band Sugar and Gold at the Radio Room, and former Dead Milkman Joe Jack Talcum at Red 7.
And finally, that's all I can say about SXSW 09'. While having a wristband this year was definitely a step up from 08's freebie nickel tour, next year I'm not going back without a badge.
Comments (10)
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Thanks for this. There's been a serious lack of SXSW coverage around here lately. We need to hear more about bands no one has never heard of. Please, everybody tell us more about driving for two days to drink free shitty beer and listening to bands nobody cares about.
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did you even read this?
i'm pretty sure i at least mentioned the free beer kind of sucks most of the time.
Okay, I re-read it, paying very close attention to detail. Um, still not even vaguely interesting, even for a "music blog."
i'm glad you posted this. i expected to hear more about sxsw from you guys this year.
My theme for the week was to see bands that will never come to Nashville and to not stand in line. That meant going to The Copa to see Brazilian acts like La Pupuna, checking out Japenese electronic artist Sonpub, hitting a great Primal Scream show and seeing That Petrol Emotion play its first U.S. show in umpteen years. Grant Hart will probably never come to Nashville, so I had to see the former Husker Du drummer do a solo set. Oh, and Ulrich Schnauss. He was great, as always. I figured I should see Pains of Being Pure at Heart, then found at a few days later they're coming to Nashville in May. Oh well.
The older bands proved why they have staying power. Just listening to Dinosaur Jr and Echo and the Bunnymen from the street was better than watching most young bands. The only halfway new band I saw that I thought was really good was Glasvegas. OK, so they only have two songs, but they're really good at those two songs.
i'm trying not to think too much about all the stuff i missed. i mean, it's inevitable you're only going to see a small fraction of everything that's going down anyway, but i really slouched this year and only caught a fraction of that.
still really wishing i'd seen Pains of being pure and Late of the Pier. i've seen Dinosaur twice since the reunion, but still sore i missed Echo and New York Dolls. That Petrol Emotion would have been bad ass too.
There's been a serious lack of SXSW coverage around here lately.
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Since I saw a lack of Hip-Hop in The Scene's wrap up, I figured I'd share my own experience.
We (The Smoking Section) had the opportunity to play host for a day show on 6th. Like someone else, it felt like a chance to "see bands that will never come to Nashville" when putting together the lineup.
http://smokingsection.uproxx.com/TSS/2009/03/the-sxsw-recap-the-unabridged-version
Feel free to peruse at your own leisure.
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