As usual, my hearing is slightly worse than it was this time last year. What was unusual about SXSW this year was the awesome new technology involved in planning for it, and the number of good bands I went to see. 15 of the 28 bands I saw were fun, interesting shows, and I will now begin the quest to track down albums. I didn’t kill myself to go to shows in every slot, which cut down on the number of bad bands.
This SXSW was all about embracing Web 2.0, which basically means being a communication connection obsessed teen with the attention span of a goldfish. First off, some bored programmers/SXSW attendees finally built the perfect web-based
scheduling tool for SXSW. This saved me 4 billion hours. Secondly, I did most band research on
MySpace. Seriously, I think I found my Dad's band's page.
Lastly, I attempted to utilize
Twitter for downtown communication with friends about show attendance. But more often than not my Internet-equipped phone failed to connect. Damn you T-Mobile! Thank god for old fashioned text messaging.
Anyway, the band reviews.
The Top 4
Yeasayer - Hippie-esque band, but none of that long-winded jamming. Super tight, layered music by 3 very competent, if unfashionably dressed, musicians. This was the best show I saw by a long shot.
Fuck Buttons – Yet another band with a stupid name. Their show was far better than expected. Super loud wall of sound electronic noise. Not unlike Holy Fuck in that respect either, but more drone, less dance.
Cloud Cult – I am pretty sure this album is going to go into heavy rotation when I get it. Many band members, strings, keyboards. And you can see Steve & me in the
video from their day show!
White Rabbits – Followed Steve & Kent here and so glad I did. Fun indie rock band of short men with 2 drummers. Seriously, I think the lead singer was my height…. On stage.
Enjoyable, but not tops
Shout Out Louds – Swedes! Who rock! With the pre-requisite hot blond girl on keyboards!
Grand Ole Party - Drum kit is set up front and center stage. Girl gets behind drums and puts on headset microphone. There are some ornamental hot men on some guitars or something. Who cares? The girl drummer is singing with a smoky voice from the 30s and making awesome faces. I was mesmerized!
The Big Sleep – Angsty rock band that Kent loves. . Live show had lots of energy so I totally enjoyed that.
Portugal the Man – 40 minute jam fest that didn’t get boring or derivative. Nice work rocker boys.
Lykki Li – Cute, poppy Swedish girl with quaint lyrics. Played 4 million day shows.
Bon Iver – Once every 5 years, I tolerate and then love the heartfelt crooning of a singer songwriter with a guitar. Bon Iver should hold me over until 2013.
Sea Wolf – The only band besides Yeasayer that I heard before SXSW. This is because my childhood friend’s brother is the bassist, and Diana keeps me up to speed on the local Hillsborough musicians. But they were great live, and I’m not just saying that cause of Ted!
Team Robespierre – Their MP3 lead me to believe I was going to see an electronic band. They managed to hide their punk roots for at least 30 seconds. Great punk band with a ton of energy, duck taped ankle braces, and none of the super simple repeatative drums that bore with me some punk.
Back Ted N Ted – Saw them at a super tiny theatre with seats so their show was decidedly low energy, but they were great poppy/electronic indie rock. The guys were like a trio of Buddy Hollys. I had a crush on the red headed lead singer with the cute dance moves in a suit.
The Deadly Syndrome – The band we were meant to see just didn’t show up so we saw this one instead. Considering they weren’t screened at all, they were pretty fun. Best encore ever. The entire band started playing the drums together.
Not so bad as to ignore the friend/water/seat option here
DJ Rhettmatic – Look I play records of songs other hip hop artists, and occasionally I scratch the record.
Scissors for Lefty – Skinny, pasty lead singer takes of his shirt and women swooned. It was troubling. I saw them a couple years ago, and thought they were great live. This time they were boring, even shirtless.
Evangelicals – Been done a million times before pop rock.
Santogold – More stage presence then MIA, but clearly a rip off, with really boring songs.
This Will Destroy You – Post rock. But boring.
Radar Bros –Not my cup of tea - twangy alt country singer songwriter type – but not an offensive way to spend 30 min in the Parish while waiting for the Shout Out Louds.
Tokyo Police Club – I was super excited to see this band. And the 4 song acoustic set by the singer was fine, but not what I wanted. Also, he’s like 19. The lead singer of a fairly successful indie rock bank was born in 1987! No worries, I’ve already pick out my coffin.
The Dodos – More indie rock. With a hint of Irish? Or interesting percussion? Good live show, but I can’t remember why I liked it so it’s been relegated here.
OMG, I must get the hell out of hereIndian Jewelers - It was so bad I already banned the specifics from my memory. Cow bell? Growling? A synth on repeat? AWFUL!
Toxic Avenger/Totally Michael – I was early for Shout Out Out Out Outs and had a comfy seat in air conditioning. They were so bad they chased me out of my chair and I never came back for the band I liked.
Tokyo Sex Destruction – Red Eyed Fly was running behind. Saw 2 songs and left. Boring and bad.
Dandi Wind –I went to this show on purpose. Apparently I hated them last year too. While I credit the girl’s relentless energy and fake blood on her shirt, the annoying techno and screaming felt more like “punishment” than “musical performance.”
Duchess Says –Dandi Wind, but with screeching & instruments. Just say no to experimental electronic music from Montreal.
