this year was going to be my first foray into the SXSW experience. well, i could have gone last year, but i was too lazy. :( anyways, i was looking forward to the whole thing. for those that aren't from Austin or have never been out of there cave, SXSW is a showcase of music, movies, and web stuff. there are shows, viewings, panel, lectures, keynote speakers, parties, and alcohol. i was mainly interested in the music and alcohol part. so i tried to figure out what bands i wanted to see and when. the thing is that there are over 400 bands that play during the 5 days and nights of the conference. the vast majority, i have never heard of. luckily for me, i had Gus, Kat, Thomas, Brian, and Kevin to rely on for some good picks. so, here's how it went.
wednesday...
one thing to note about SXSW is that there are 3 different way to gain admission into these show. one is a badge, that you either get from being in the industry or famous or just volunteering. the second is the wristband, something you buy ahead of time for around $150. both of these methods prevent you from having to pay cover charges and you can leave a venue and get back in at a later time to see another band. if the lines aren't outrageously long when you get back. the last way is plain old cash or the cash crowd or the lazy fucks that didn't buy a wristband. the priority for these three types is badge, wristband, then cash. some places get so big that they cut off access to the cash crowd early or only allow badges. i think next year i'll consider getting a wristband or badge. its definitely worth the price if you wanted to go to a bunch of different places in one night over the next few days. basically for me i had to be choosy. finding the bands i was really interested in seeing and getting to the venue early to see them. sometimes listening to some less-than stellar bands and some really good surprises. anyway.
8p.m. - first off i needed to meet up with one of my old friends that was working on this night. Chris helps out with promotions for the band 54 seconds. they were playing at Elysium that night. it didn't seem like my kind of place, i mean no offense, but maybe lesbian bartenders aren't my thing. that aside, i talked to Chris for a bit to see how she'd been the last few months. but of course, she seemed preoccupied, especially since she was supposed to be "working." so after a bit of talking, she was back to work. the band's sound is a bit tough for me to explain (this will be a theme throughout the blogs of SXSW). when i heard them earlier, they were more experimental in their sound. my first impression was radiohead (post-OK computer) with David Gray as the lead singer. this night they sounded like radiohead (pre-OK computer) with a David Gray lead singer. the singer, the same. the band sound, not the same. so it was considerably more poppy then they were before. maybe they were playing up the record people. who knows, but their good. they play monday night show at lucky lounge. i might catch them again.
9p.m. - after that show i met up with Kat and Gus over at Zero Degrees to check out j.a.m.o.n., a local DJ that spins at Plush. good thing no one was at the door, they were starting their SXSW bit at 9, so that allowed me to sneak in without paying cover. yeah for me. but we walked around the club a bit before the DJ started. another aside, i like house and electronic music, but SXSW isn't really the type of venue for good DJ exposure. he really needs to go to the Winter Music Conference in Miami. he had a good set, but not may people were there. basically it was me, Gus, Kat, the DJ, a friend of his, and some chick that was probably his girlfriend. we were only going to stay there for a short time before hitting Buffalo Billiards to see Mike Doughty, the ex-Soul Coughing guy. so we left. too bad, i mean we took half of the crowd with us. i mean we were half of the crowd. i'm sure i'll catch him a Plush one night, if i haven't already. so on to Buffalo Billiards.
this is where the statement about 'probably should have got a wristband' comes in. Gus (wristband) got in. Kat (badge) got in. me i was the cash whore. so i had to wait in line. and man was is slow. it felt like i was on I-10 in Houston waiting in traffic. it wasn't moving whatsoever. i had to start out in line around the corner of the building. when i did get to the corner, i noticed another line. what another line for the same place? another cash line? wait why would they have a second cash line, oh shit! crapola, it was a wristband and badge line. man if there's a line for that i'm definitely not going to get in to see this guy. so i gave up and headed to the drink to see Duncan Sheik at midnight.
10p.m., well a bit before - so i get there, no line in front and i pay the cover to get in. whoo! nice. the guy at 10p.m. was some guy named Chris Garneau. i'll save you the madness of the link on him, besides it wouldn't be worth it. again harkening back to an earlier quote of 'sometimes listening to some less-than stellar bands', this was one of those occasions. although Gus and Kat have a better story from earlier in the night. you remember those times in your life when you had to do an unpleasant chore before your parents would let you do something fun or meet up with you friends or ever go to the bar. it seems painful, boring, and takes for-ever. this show was that unpleasant thing. i don't know how we all got through it but the crowd persevered to hope for a better tune. it was a two piece band, a keyboard/vocals guy and a guitarist. the vocalist, shitty and painful to hear. wanted to make me drink my sorrows away, and i wasn't even sad about anything. but the guitarist, strangely familiar. seemed quite into the show. i mean his parts weren't elaborate or anything, but he played his heart out. that was kinda refreshing. needless to say, i was glad when it was over.
11p.m. - the next guy up at the Drink was Micah Green. his set was good, not anything i would write home to about. but compared to the set of pain, this was a welcome sound for sore ears. Gus and Kat made it during the middle of his set. its great to see familiar faces again. so, as the SXSW website puts it Micah Green plays 'moody alternative rock.' a good way of putting it. i wasn't really in the mood for it, but it was good. however, he had a weird sounding voice. and that guitarist from the Chris Garneau show was playing in this band. hmmm. anyway, good, but nothing i would put in my CD or mp3 player. but Micah did make some comment about the guitarist playing three shows tonight. three? wait a minute...
12p.m. - so that answered that question. no wonder he looked familiar. because that guitarist guy was Duncan Sheik. who would have though, unless you knew what he looked like. but i would have to say, what a great show. it made the wait worth it. apparently he runs a recording studio and the first two acts were a couple of his buddies that came along for the ride. he played some new stuff, some old stuff from his albums. the best known one of the night being 'wishful thinking' from the 'great expectations' soundtrack. of course why would he want to play his best know song, 'barely breathing'. that's like radiohead playing 'creep' during a live show. (*note: for those that don't know radiohead refuses to play 'creep' live. because it's the song they are known for and they now sound nothing like that band that made that song.*) so instead of playing 'barely breathing', he played a hilarious version of 'wonderwall' by oasis. funny, because he kept screwing up the words. that made the show completely awesome. i'll really have to check out some of his other CDs after his '96 release.
so after this show i was done for the night. i really have no other band that i wanted to see that night, plus i didn't want to pay cover again. so that does it for wednesday. what will be in store for thursday. bands playing songs on broken glass? midget drummers? horney girls willing to makeout with me? probably not. but it should be another promising night of bands and booze, sans hooking up. maybe later. so one night down, three more to go.
