Official SXSW 2008 Thread

Wednesday 3/12 day shows, all free:

2:55pm The Raveonettes @ Emo's, outside stage
3:45pm Phosphorescent @ Mohawk, inside stage
4:25pm WHY? @ Emo's, outside stage
5pm The Slits @ Red 7, inside stage
5:15pm The Wedding Present @ Emo's Annex, across Red River from Emo's
--dinner break--
8:20pm A Place to Bury Strangers @ Enchanted Forest, 1412 W. Oltorf

My brain hurts: Six-Word Reviews of 763 SXSW Mp3s

hey (surprise) want to big-up some MN homiez that are throwing down a great bash at SXSW, some really great bands and good MN beer...

Burlesque of North America & Modern Radio Record Label Present:
MINNESOTA MIGRATATION: A FREE SXSW DAY PARTY
Friday, March 14th from 12-6PM at the Dog and Duck Pub in DT Austin, TX
Music Provided by:
Doomtree
The Plastic Constellations
Birthday Suits
STNNNG
Vampire Hands
His Mischief
Chooglin'
Private Dancer
DJ Mike and Wes of Burlesque

Beverage and beverage holders will be provided by Summit Brewing Company
There are many more people and sponsors to thank in the coming days.
Special thanks to Sarah Sandusky for her ambition and vision.

Who will be at SXSW?

Thursday 3/13 day shows:

1:20pm Constantines @ Emo's, outside stage
1:30pm No Age @ Mohawk
2pm J Mascis @ Museum, 802 San Marcos St.
2pm High on Fire @ Stubb's
2:50pm The Raveonettes @ Red Eyed Fly
4:10pm A Place to Bury Strangers @ Red Eyed Fly
4:30pm Clipse @ Mohawk
5pm Saul Williams @ Fort
5:20pm Autolux @ Antone's
5:30pm The Black Angels @ Red Eyed Fly
5:45pm Tribute to Lou Reed with Thurston Moore, Dr. Dog, Mark Kozelek, Yo La Tengo, My Morning Jacket @ Fort
8pm Spoon @ Auditorium Shores

Is no one else at SXSW this week? BIG HOOS, are you going to anything? Anyone else?? C'mon!

(quick reviews of Wednesday/Thursday coming soon...)

My friend Nari was raving about last night's Table of the Elements showcase.

Is no one else at SXSW this week?

I live here/am here this week. Always avoided the craziness, but thinking of trekking out to see Thee Oh Sees tonight (the new record is great) at Art Authority. Man Man tomorrow night, maybe, and Thomas Function or El Guincho during the day. Tyvek is here too but I think I'll have to miss them due to my 9-5 (Tyvek at 4pm @ Beerland).

Anything else crazy I shouldn't miss? ...that is free, I mean.

I'd really like to make it out to something, but work all day & schoolwork all night makes it pretty much impossible.

Wednesday 3/12 day show reviews:

The Raveonettes at Emo's, outside stage: About 500 people showed up for this. Quick, efficient 30-minute set, 9 or 10 songs, mostly new, almost entirely great. New songs all sound excellent live, lots of trebly feedback and harmonies buried in the mix. Set highlight was "Love in a Trashcan" from their previous album, quite underrated. Grade: B+

Phosphorescent @ Mohawk, inside stage: Totally packed indoor stage, much too small. Couldn't make it past the bar area, sound mix too soft, people too chatty. What I heard was gorgeous. Left after 1 song, though. Grade: C

Shearwater @ Emo's, outside stage: Had never heard these guys, fortunately. Pretty awful. Very Sufjan-esque arrangements, pretty enough but forgettable, lots of cello, xylophone and piano. Vocals were histrionic, Freddy Mercury wannabe, totally unsuited to the music. Left after 10 minutes. Could've been worse, I suppose. Grade: D-

The Wedding Present @ Emo's Annex: This was a stripped-down affair, just Gedge on guitar and his lady-friend from Weddoes/Cinerama on bass. Good energetic set, lots of banter from Gedge, who was in good spirits. Clearly suffered from the 1/2 band treatment, though. New songs dragged a bit, older ones uniformly great. Setlist included "My Favorite Dress," "Suck," and "What Have I Said Now?" plus a Cinerama tune, 2 or 3 new songs and a couple I'm forgetting. Enjoyable show, if not transcendent, and it's good to see 'em stateside again. Can't wait for a full tour. Grade: B

A Place to Bury Strangers @ Enchanted Forest: Nice outdoor woodsy venue, didn't make it past the gate due to unannounced $20 "donation" for 2 people to attend. Didn't have the cash, wouldn't have paid $20 to see 'em anyway. Grade: n/a

Constantines @ Emo's, outside stage: One of the day's best. New songs are stunning, all built up tension and release -- as good as late-era Fugazi art-punk, with shades of late-era Talk Talk ambience (not kidding) in a couple songs. Old tunes were predictably awesome. Highlight was "Soon Enough," gorgeous song. Grade: A

No Age @ Mohawk: Caught their last couple songs. Energetic, fun and witty. Good but not great. Grade: B-

High on Fire @ Stubb's: Line had to be 1000 people deep, venue was already packed to capacity, no chance of getting in. Sounded brutal from outside, though. Grade: n/a

The Raveonettes @ Red Eyed Fly: Sound mix MUCH better than the Emo's show, songs just as punchy, more feedback this time and no complaints. Same great setlist, plus ~2 songs toward the end. Uniformly excellent. Plus free Dewar's and ginger! Grade: A

A Place to Bury Strangers @ Red Eyed Fly: Didn't live up to the hype. Very loud, yes. At the expense of any sense of dynamics or tension, unfortunately. Not bad, just went by in a blur. May give 'em another chance today. Grade: C

Clipse @ Mohawk: Totally packed, crowd looked into it, sounded alright from outside walking by. Grade: n/a

Tribute to Lou Reed @ Fader Fort: Took an hour to get in. Totally worth it.
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Yo La Tengo: Awesome 2-song set, including "I Heard Her Call My Name" and one other. Typically noisy, knees-on-the-floor Ira guitar freakout for about 5 minutes to finish up. Can't wait for their day show today. Grade: A-
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Dr. Dog: Beatles-esque, nice harmonies, forgettable. Not my thing. Grade: D
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Mark Kozelek: Highlight of the day. Dude has a knack for cover songs, both his choices were very compelling. Absolutely sublime, had goosebumps more than once. Not a bad accomplishment for 2 cover songs. Grade: A+
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My Morning Jacket: One song, muddy sound mix, sort of dull. Not even close to matching up to their powerful live show. Not bad by any means, but unimpressed. Grade: C
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Thurston Moore and the New Wave Bandits: WOW, I had never seen Thurston this energetic before, tearing up his guitar parts, then roaming the stage freely, nearly jumping into the crowd at points. Band was very tight, Steve Shelley on drums, don't know who else. Bordering on riotous, great crowd response, lots of fun. Grade: A
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Moby: Not a fan, but he was actually pretty good. Had a female friend on vocals for "Femme Fatale," and Moby played guitar. Grade: B
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Lou Reed: Yeah, he played "Walk on the Wild Side," predictable as hell, but how could this not be a blast after a couple free drinks and an hour of mostly great cover songs? Vocals weren't half bad, Moby still on guitar, straightforward rendition, big crowd singalong. Perfectly nice end to the evening. Grade: B+

Thursday 3/13 day show reviews, of course ^^^

Friday 3/14 day shows, thinking about catching a couple of 'em:

11:45am Dizzee Rascal @ Free Yr Radio Broadcast Corner, 7th and Red River
1:30pm The Breeders @ KLRU Studios, Guadalupe and Dean Keeton
3pm The Black Keys @ La Zona Rosa
3pm Atlas Sound @ Emo's, inside stage
4pm Yo La Tengo @ Museum, 802 San Marcos St.
5pm A Place to Bury Strangers @ Emo's, inside stage
5:30pm Autolux @ Red Eyed Fly
7pm Akron/Family @ Design Within Reach, 200 W. 2nd St. at Colorado

i'm interviewing rachael ray tomorrow. my bosses will be thrilled!

hahah that's awesome. i'm gonna try to get to Beauty Bar around 1pm for FREE LUNCH by Rachael Ray, and another great Raveonettes set.

oh! and the Napoleon Dynamite dude is DJing, not that i care. funny though.

(Pedro, not Napoleon)

Friday 3/14 day shows, all excellent:

Yo La Tengo @ French Legation Museum: Easily the best venue I've been to this year - a beautiful, grassy, expansive backyard party outside a museum a few blocks east of the bar scene; music under a big shady tent, everyone sitting down on blankets and chairs. Yo La Tengo were excellent, almost entirely acoustic set (which suited the occasion just right), about 30 minutes, Roky Erikson cover mid-set. Relaxing, refreshing and perfectly executed. Grade: A+

A Place to Bury Strangers @ Emo's, inside stage: WOW, much better than yesterday. This was at the Pitchfork party; as they supposedly love these guys, I'm glad they knew how to sell the live set. Which is to say: The small room at Emo's (filled to capacity, maybe 300 people) was pitch black, couldn't see a thing; flashes of white and black TV static, occasional strobe lighting; and fucking LOUD, nearly like a jet engine. Setlist had no breaks, songs bled into one another. Can't imagine a better setting; didn't quite love the music, but I'm sold on the live show. Grade: A-

Autolux @ Red Eyed Fly: Headlining the Noise Pop party, full house, 400 people + line out the door. Very solid set, 40 minutes, mostly old songs with 2 or 3 new ones, which were similar to Future Perfect material; news songs were more noise, less pop, if anything. Greg's guitar tone was spot on, recalling 80s Sonic Youth and, of course, Failure. No banter, but none needed. Grade: A

Rachael Ray and 2 Live Crew today. That sounds about right.

Saturday 3/15 day shows:

1pm The Raveonettes @ Beauty Bar (hosted by Rachael Ray)
3pm A Place to Bury Strangers @ Mohawk
3:50pm J Mascis @ French Legation Museum
4:30pm Thurston Moore and the New Wave Bandits @ French Legation Museum
5:15pm She and Him @ French Legation Museum
5:25pm Atlas Sound @ Waterloo Park, main stage
6:50pm Black Mountain @ Waterloo Park, main stage
7:45pm Islands @ Waterloo Park, main stage
8:40pm The Breeders @ Waterloo Park, main stage

I'm passing on the Breeders tonight, had a short day. Lots of fun otherwise. Will elaborate soon!

Billy Gibbons was at the RR party and he is an awesome, friendly guy.

I love that story about him and some card that had pictures of the (then) nine planets and Elvis's weight on each one and he said: "They forgot to put Elvis's weight in heaven!"

I'd really like to make it out to something, but work all day & schoolwork all night makes it pretty much impossible.

-- BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, March 14, 2008 6:11 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Link

Aren't you like 21, HOOS? GO SEE SOME MUSICS!

Yeah, at your age you should be able to drive the steen at both ends.

I know right