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It’s a bit ridiculous, posting these over a week after it’s all done, but this is my website and I’ll do as I like.
Friday night was the Frenchkiss Showcase at the Galaxy Backyard, and the lineup was so kickass I decided to stay there all evening. So I had fun with Local Natives, was impressed and intrigued by Suckers and An Horse, fell in love with Peter from the Antlers yet again, and jumped in the mosh pit for Les Savy Fav.
I hadn’t really even heard of Local Natives before sxsw, and then in the usual southby tradition saw them twice in one day. They were a blast of unfettered enthusiasm: swapping instruments and vocals from song to song, jumping all around the stage, and seemingly untired from the daunting amount of shows they had already played. Loved ‘em, can’t wait to see them again next month.
About two songs into their set, An Horse blew an amp. I just remembered that now, because their professionalism made it a complete non-issue then… finding another to borrow, swapping them out, and beginning the song again took maybe two minutes. (anecdote, y’all!)
Suckers were another band added to my list of ’sxsw finds I’m excited about’.
Dear Peter (from the Antlers),
I know we’ve actually had a few conversations where I seemed a fairly normal person, but in reality I am just a gigantic fangirl for your music. Seriously, I got an advance copy of Hospice in February of last year, and wrote a ridiculously gushing album review. Next time I run into you, I promise I’ll stay cool, but you might as well know that afterward I will get all verklempt at a friend about how goddamn emotional your music makes me.
XO, and sorry about the slight bit of crazy,
Mary
Lesson the first: don’t look down during a Les Savy Fav concert. I briefly took my eyes off the stage to check something with my camera, and next thing I knew the guy pictured above was hurling himself over my head into the crowd.
Lesson the second: the mosh will happen. Prepare for the mosh. It will likely be congenial, and full of euphoric, endorphin-high wierdos. If you have a friend who is not in the mosh, ask them to hold your expensive camera equipment. This is a good idea.
Lesson the third: he likes to climb into the lights/on top of the crowd/any combination of the above and more. It will be insanity, but you will have an awesome story to tell people.
Lesson the fourth: Les Savy Fav is always worth seeing live.
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago. Add a comment
Exactly a week ago, I was strolling around downtown Austin, fuzzy-headed from free booze and ears ringing from standing in front of too many amps. Today is much less fun.
Let’s just re-live last Friday through pics, huh?
Warpaint lived up to all the good things I heard about them. You should go see them when they’re back for the Psych Fest at the end of April.
Also a very big amount of awesome: Local Natives. Also coming back to town right around the same time as Psych Fest. I caught them again that evening at the Frenchkiss Showcase and they did not lose any appeal.
I walked in for Lemonade, and the stage was lit by the most bright yellow light… It made me smile.
Diplomats of Solid Sound were all soulful, but I was totally excited for Holy Fuck, so I didn’t get into them as much as I could’ve. Dug the two female lead vocalists, though.
Love love love Holy Fuck. They throw down a kickass dance party every time, and their name is ever-so-appropriate: they start in on a song, and a beat or bass line or something will soon make you go ‘oh holy fuck that’s good’.
Hollywood Holt downed 4 tequila shots, one right after another, that had been brought up for everyone on-stage. He’s kinda my hero for that, albeit one with a very dirty mouth.
Speaking of a dirty mouth, you have heard Uffie, right? She’s so effing tiny, blonde, and lovely, and when she raps you can’t help but blush ’cause DAMN, but that girl has got a filthy way with language. It is so much fun, though, that you can’t really care.
Then it was off to Music Gym for the Danish bands day party, and Oh No Ono again, who I still wasn’t into terribly much.
And then the reason I stopped by. Yes, this was the third time I saw Choir of Young Believers in three days, what of it? The music was gorgeous, and I don’t know when they’ll be around again.
Immediately after the YACHT show, I tweeted: Dear @YACHTMUSIC, that show made my damn week. <3<3<3 from a girl in the front row. Unfortunately, their account is actually @teamyacht, so they likely didn’t see my effusive love. But really, that show was so much fun! They have gobs upon gobs of stage presence, and at one point a hand of benediction was laid on my head. If I hadn’t seen anything else that week I would’ve been happy at that.
One more post then I’m done with sxswmusic, y’all! Then it’s on to the Saturday through Tuesday evening parties before it all officially started…
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago. 1 comment
I have photo-editing burnout, but dammit I’ll persist.
Thursday of last week I just hung out at the Mohawk all day… the lineup was solid the entire way through, I knew just about everyone working there by name (yes I am a barfly, and the Mohawk my drinking place of choice. So?), and whiskey and bbq were free up in VIP. Why leave?
Bear In Heaven were playing outside when I walked in, and upon approaching the stage for photos my ears vibrated off. I liked their music, really I did, but I liked my hearing more so it was inside for drinks and the Cave Singers.
The Cave Singers are a big “yes please more” in my ’sxsw seen bands’ roster. Pete Quirk’s rough yet gorgeously melodic voice fit perfectly with the aesthetic that the Mohawk exudes as a venue. Check them out, and be prepared to close your eyes to fully appreciate how lovely the music is.
Bowerbirds are always so good live… I’ve seen them three times within the past 6 months, and it has been an entrancing experience every time.
Then it was back inside for the Generationals, who I wanted to love but just wasn’t feeling that day. Their song When They Fight is my jam, and their live show was fun, but… I dunno. I’d like to catch them again, because I’m pretty sure they are actually great.
Oh No Ono was next, and was another band that I just couldn’t get into… I think it’s a problem with me; I was so distracted by the lead singer’s poncho that I couldn’t concentrate on the music.
You may recall something about my previous bad experience with the Duchess and the Duke, so I was leery about seeing them again. They were great this time, though: gorgeous harmonies, perfect deliveries of the songs that I dug so much on the album, not a single alcohol-slurred word. Still, are they always going to be hit-or-miss?
The Black Angels are wierd for me. I love the music – going to a concert of theirs is like being on drugs, only it’s a completely auditory high – and I love that they are local.
But that second thing. It’s kinda odd hanging out and getting drunk with people, and then seeing them play like total rock stars on stage. That’s my problem, though, not theirs. Also, their collaboration with UNKLE for the new track is fucking awesome.
I was walking down the street afterward, and stumbled into the insanity that was Fucked Up playing the patio at Beerland. There was a huge crowd of people all the way into the middle of the street, while Father Damien sang into the blindingly bright sun setting over downtown. Hell yes.
I’m completely baffled by the people who saw jj’s set Thursday night and thought it was great. Did they approve more of the obviously extremely intoxicated girl meandering her way – with mid-song pauses for another swig of beer – through laptop-backed tracks? Or was it about the male half of the duo, who pressed play on the laptop at the beginning of the set, then huddled into himself in a near-fetal position off-stage without moving for 30 minutes?
Because I wasn’t impressed at all, and that makes me sad, because I loved the album.
Holy Fuck, at least, blew my mind with awesome. It was a complete dance party, both on and off the stage. And when a band is obviously having so much fun playing, it’s hard to not get into it as well. I had so much fun, in fact, that I totally caught them again on both Friday and Saturday.
Previously: Wednesday night post
and: Wednesday day post
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago. 1 comment
So, when I left off I was enamored with Choir of Young Believers. I had to catch them live again. The best thing about sxsw is, if you like a band it’s probable they are playing at least 2 or 3 other shows.
But before that, I caught the tail end of Soko’s set @ Galaxy Backyard. I thought her rough-around-the-edges voice and minimally-instrumented folk was really enchanting. A fellow audience member later remarked to me, though, that he wouldn’t ever want to date her because bad relationships are all she seems to sing about. I hadn’t noticed.
Choir of Young Believers @ Galaxy Backyard
CoYB were gorgeous (seriously, you don’t think the singer’s voice could possibly be that perfect in person but it is), though there were major sound issues and they didn’t get started until 20 minutes into their set time. Cranky Mary was cranky.
Fanfarlo
Well hello there, Fanfarlo, with your infectiously jaunty rythms and high school band geek instruments (clarinet! trumpet! violin!) and group of enthusiastic, fun young musicians. I had a blast at your show. Whenever you make it back to town I wanna see you again, because your set felt like being at a party and seeing all the people you wanna see and none of the ones you don’t: giddy and euphoric.
Pirate Love @ I have no idea what bar on 6th
I grabbed an interview with Pirate Love earlier Wednesday (will link when it’s up); they are really funny and nice, and we ended up chatting for way longer than the usual 20 minutes. But you wouldn’t be able to tell they’re such sweethearts from the music, which is a dirty, raunchy, vocal-chord-shredding jungle-surf-rock mashup of face-melt. And yes, all of those hyphenated words were necessary.
Quick interview tease: the producer who helmed the Strokes’ mind-bogglingly good Is This It approached these guys about working with them on their new album. Goddamn.
The Depreciation Guild @ Wave Rooftop
No real impressions about these guys… nothing stuck out about them, but it might’ve been me with some early sxfatigue.
Surfer Blood (hell yes!)
Surfer Blood was really really great live! The crowd was energetic, the band was all over the stage, and the music was raucous. Would see again.
Lastly, I had to catch Woodhands at PureVolume at 2am. They played at Monolith last year, and the ensuing dance party destroyed my brain with awesome. If you ever have a chance and love dancing your ass off to insanely catchy beats and a guy with a keytar, GO SEE THEM.
(Wednesday Day Shows Post Here)
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago. Add a comment
Out of the 96 hours of SXSW music, I was downtown about 60. That has to get me some sort of award… a trophy, perhaps, or a badge… will somebody at least buy me a drink, dammit? Because out of those 60 hours, most of them were accompanied with free booze; I’ve grown accustomed.
Since the sheer number of photos I’ve taken and bands I’ve seen is kind of intimidating, I’m breaking this down into day and night parties, two posts a day. I’ll link ‘em all together at the end of each post to make it easier on all of us.
DAY 1 – afternoon
Maps & Atlases @ Peckerheads – the Music Slut Day Party
I got there late for the set, sadly, and only caught two songs, but they were kinda brilliant. Completely entrancing live in a ‘goddamn they can play!’. Check ‘em out.
Gemini Club @ Peckerheads
Not long into their set, I tweeted: Ok, Gemini Club desperately needs the Parish Room at midnight, or PureVolume at 2am… Total dance party, dig it. AND THEY WERE. It was music that needed a packed crowd going crazy, and I have a feeling they might get there. Here they are online y’all.
Horse Feathers @ Paradise
Horse Feathers were a whole lot of pretty.
Choir of Young Believers @ PureVolume
The day was hot, I was starting to sober up, and I wanted to grab my PureVolume Lounge badge (ok, yes, I totally skipped the line the night before for Neko Case/Jakob Dylan without one, but that’s a story for another time). Plus, some friends were there. We were hanging out on the smoking patio, and I happened to wander inside, then pretty much immediately tweeted: Ohgod, why can’t I remember the name of this band?! At PureVolume now, singing Claustrophobia, fucking awesome.
It was Choir of Young Believers. They came to my attention a while back when The Antlers (who I also caught a few times this sxsw) remixed Claustrophobia. I listened to some songs available online and liked it, but seeing them live just entranced me. I rearranged my schedule to see them again later that evening, and would’ve happily watched them for as long as they wanted to play. Possibly my favorite new find of the fest.
Meiko @ PureVolume
Meiko is adorable, and her music is charming and fun. That’s all I got, but really, isn’t that all you need sometimes? Also: I posted the guy-in-her-backing-band’s pic because he was so obviously having a ton of fun on-stage.
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago. 1 comment