SXSW 2012 Day 3 (March 15)

Food Truck lots East Austin

PUNK RAWK FOOD TRUCK

Best Burrito ever!

Cults to the right at Tops Warehouse/Gary Clark, Jr. to the left at Fader Fort. Tough decision . . . both!

Tops Warehouse is really cool though it was really hot. Because it is a corrugated metal quonset.

Cults. Amazing. Love this band.

Thousands enjoyed Cults in this airplane hangar scale warehouse.

This could be Rockstar Motel.com next year!

Gary Clark, Jr. - really great revivalist blues. Worth every word of the hype. I'm going to catch him again at the MOG Party Saturday at Mohawk, fe: Bob Mould Band, The Roots, Blitzen Trapper and more!

Fader Fort occupies about 3 blocks, has several different "rooms" to chill, form a band, play ping-pong, take photos with giant magnetic poetry kit words, hear DJs, lounge on various porches in the sun . . . it was my first time there, and pretty overwhelming in terms of scale and commercial aspects. Loved Gary Clark, Jr., Nite Jewel was mediocre to me.

Chill. Except its kind of hard because there is no floor space with everyone lying on it and no chair space. So first-come first serve to relax.

Fader Fort. It just goes on and on and . . .

Back to East Austin, 6th St. Quieter (a bit) than West Side, but lots of terrific venues, such as Hotel Vegas, 1808, The Gypsy Bar, and more.

More food truck lots! There are like 800 food trucks in Austin (it seems). Also I learned I do not like fried chicken waffles. Not my thing. Should've gotten the fish n chips.

Hotel Vegan (Brooklyn Vegan stages Hotel Vegas on 6ixth St daily in the back with awesome rock shows)

I was on my way to the Big Star show, knowing full well I wouldn't have much luck getting in, when suddenly I hear one of the best rock bands I've heard in ages. My Goodness from Seattle (of course!) Wow, they were crowd stopping, and people were shooting photos/video and raving ecstatically about them. They will be big, mark my words. I talked with a guy on the street, an Austin resident and studio bass-player. He said he saw 2 other Seattle bands, playing on the street corner who were really great too!

SXSW 6ixth Street. Like Bourbon Street, for rock 'n' roll and true music-lovers!

The Historic Driskoll Hotel. I dream of staying here someday . . .

Austin Klesmer Band busking on the street! Fantastic! People were dancing . . . there are several bands busking everywhere.

Banners by another music website. Love the message.

Bandpage HQ looks like a rock 'n' roll/electronica carnival. There's a guy on the roof spinning lighted balls.

SXSW 2012: Day 2 Weds., March 14

Lori Barbero on Red River Road outside Elysium, one of 8 venues (and 276 bands) she manages for SXSW Official!

SXSW Day 2 was the day parties really kicked into gear. As I hit Red River Road, rife with lots of bars with music blaring out of all the open doors, from thrash, to pop-punk to twang and hip-hop - Bars such as Elysium, Swan Dive, Stubbs, Beauty Bar, Club Deville, Mohawk (future site of Bob Mould Band, the Roots, Gary Clark, Jr. and more Friday day) and Beerland where I caught one of my favorite discoveries of the festival so far . . . Obnox. Obnox are a duo playing post-punk and thumping blues with tribal drumming. I and Lori B LOVE Obnox!

Peelander Z at the Elysium!

For me, what is SXSW without some wild, zany Japanese punk rock such as one of my favorites, Peelander Z, now residing on "Long Island City" New York. Their shows are quite indescribable. They're highly interactive and easily get the crowds in the packed Elysium to shout and sing along, and laugh at the hysterical games and antics like "Mad Tiger" and "Human Bowling" - yes, they roll a human at band members dressed as bowling pins. No, I wasn't on drugs at the time. Its that surreal. Think Flaming Lips surreal. 

One of the most beautiful merch tables - crazy colors! Beautiful art. Peelander Z! I could not resist buying the most beautiful T I've ever owned.

Big Peelander Z finale!

Pedicap rest area. Many of them drive SXSW'ers around 13 - 15 hours a day! Pedicabs are really the way to go. They and bartenders and servers are working indefatigably throughout the festival. I don't know how they do it. I do know most of the 300+ registered  Pedicabbers working their asses off to get us to the shows we want to see across town fast, take a well-deserved 5-day vacation to sleep after SXSW. Tip generously!

The amazing well-loved DJ Kevin Cole (originally from Mpls. now Director KEXP Seattle) right before Of Monsters and Men, which he loves so much, he plays them daily, he notes. The Mellow Johnnies Bike Shop was packed, maybe 800 or more fans.

Many fans wanted to get their picture taken with Of Monster and Men singers

Whizzing through the gentle night streets heading East for Porland(ia) party.

You know you're on the East Side when you see signs like these . . .haha. I left my cowboy boots at home, because I knew better. LOL.

Scoot Inn, on Fifth Street hosts massive amounts of great shows! Tonight Doomtree individuals and then a performance together. Got there in time to hear P.O.S. new "Fuck Your Stuff" song on anti-consumerism (including no Nikes - please note: this was sponsored by Converse, so that's cool!)

Yes, such things are very sad. I can relate. (Once broke up with someone because I couldn't stand hearing one more Creed song).

Take me to my dream street! Rainey!

A Great Big Pile of Leaves at Clive Bar. Next up, Motion City Soundtrack. Last year, there were very few people here on a Weds. Now, you can barely get in.

96 Bar on Rainey St. Love these old homes turned into cool looking bars. Soon up, Titus Adronicus performing for the Brooklyn Vegan party!

Ah, Lustre Pearl, how I loved thee. Now, I can barely set foot inside your awesome door. Wavves were here. Couldn't get into buzzed about thrash punk. Damn it!

Titus Adronicus at 96 Bar! Missed Andrew WK. This party filled with Brooklynites and punk and rock lovers galore. The coolest party I've been to so far. Titus Adronicus kicked this party into gear with a rousing rendition of "The Boys are Back in Town." I've never loved that song so much. A great mix of punk, pop-punk and indie rock, it made my night to hear rock like Titus Andronicus. It was sooo worthwhile for me to eschew sleep to catch this, my show of the night. Patrick Stickles sang intelligent, wry songs with his nascent vocals and with in-your-face driving Ramones/Dead Kennedys-esque punk rock of his bandmates. It was really NYC punk, like I imagined the you'd hear at CBGBs in the'70s. A fellow journalist whose musical tastes I share, noted this band was a huge deal at SXSW a couple years back. Sure enough, Stickles, who delivered terrific stories and banter between songs indeed talked about how SXSW 2009 really helped them kickstart their musical career, gave them the widespread attention that helped them shape their career. He also noted Andrew WK, who performed before them, was a great guy, who years ago taught him that you could perform great live rock shows and still be just a regular guy willing to talk with his fans and offer advice they asked for. Now, Stickles said, see how we do a live show, inspired by Andrew WK! And kicked into a snarling, leaping Fury of a punk rock song. Later, Stickles got into the Hipster Q that is rampant at SXSW. He said he knows, we (audience) are so not hipsters. But is that true? We don't get to decide. "They" decide, he said. "You are not hipsters. I'm not a hipster. But we are. And I am. And this song proves it," tearing into something that was more pop punk and indie, with some ironic guitar riffs sounding like a song hipsters would get into. You wouldn't understand . . . ; ) They closed with a really rocking song longer than the standard 2:00 or less that is a punk song, with sweet riffs of New Order's "Love Vigilantes." SXSW is officially a party. Now, I've got to get myself to some unofficials, fast!

 

 

 

SXSW Music Festival, Austin, Texas Night 1

Once I got a tour of the cool, yet laid-back easy-going East side (location of Fader Fort) I eased into the evening listening to a live Mexican folk band on the front porch steps of a beautiful popular little Mexica cantina, http://papitinos.com/. I enjoyed a couple excellent margheritas and delicious, fresh enchiladas rojas before hitting the streets filled with people happily wandering to the various backyard parties and outdoor stages that populate the warehouse area of East Side. I saw 1808 Bar future location of Friday's Minneapolis Mock Duck party fe: Astronautalis, Fort Wilson Riot, one o f Rockstar Motel's founding bands, the Japhies, and more.

People on 5th street were split about 50/50 going in 2 directions - the metal warehouse where there was a hip-hop show fe: Danny Brown and others to Scoot Inn where I was headed for the Panache/Sailor Jerry psyche-garage show.

The Scoot Inn. Bare Wires was very Brian Jonestown Massacre sounding. Dirty Ghosts was a good mix of garage, with kinda icky thump rhythms.

A sponsor of the Panache Party. Really good rum, if you like that sort of thing!

Bare Wire audience at Scoot Inn

DJ's in one room, metal in the next. I'll keep an eye on this place!

The Gypsy Bar - fe: a good math/prog rock band (didn't catch name)

The Gypsy Bar

The White Horse - a Honky Tonk Bar, where Lori Barbero usually works. She is busy this week managing 8 stages, such as: Swan Dive, Elysium, The Red 7, Barbarella and more . . .

White Horse staff are clear about what they, and this honky tonk (and so many of us real music lovers) are not about. And, everyone who came up to the bar (self, included) really wants to buy this shirt. They're sold-out, more will be in by Friday . . .

The White Horse - very friendly, fun staff!

Slim Dunlap

Likely many/most of you have heard the terrible news that Bob "Slim" Dunlap recently suffered a major stroke. He is now on the tough road to recovery, after doctors have determined nothing can be done surgically. Soon he'll go through therapy in efforts to regain his skills, with the huge support of his innumerable friends, family and fellow musicians he's played with over decades. For further details, Chris Reimenschneider wrote in Star Tribune blog, Artcetera article: "Twin Cities Music Hero Slim Dunlap Hospitalized by a Stroke" The existing Slim Dunlap Fan Club page has been growing rapidly, and a place we can find community, reach out to the Dunlaps and stay in touch.

Not only is Slim a stellar musician, he is truly one of the sweetest people I've ever had the rare chance to meet. He's renowned for his solo music, such as his terrific records, "The Old New Me," and "Time recent shows such as the reunion of his band for his 60th Birthday this summer at King's Wine Bar, his work the Replacements and bands with Curt Almsted (Curtiss A) such as Thumbs Up, then punk band The Spooks, who were one of the first three bands chosen to release a record, "1980 - 1990" in 1978 on Twin Tone label, and one of the first, if not the first, band to play the legendary Longhorn Bar.

Over the past couple years, I've gotten to work with and become good friends with his son Louie, who is also one of the sweetest people in the world, a great soundguy, musician, cook and all-around nice, humble guy with an wry sense of humor like his Dad's, a real chip off the block. In spite of how devestating the damage, today I heard from Louie, a couple positive things, I will keep you posted. I like so many who know them, love the Dunlaps and, because I've been thinking about Slim and the his family a lot, and the Curtiss A regular Thursdays residency show at Nick and Eddie, my mind keeps going back to one of my favorite moments. In late 2010, had the opportunity to interview Slim about the early music scene and his work playing guitar with Curtiss A, and his philosophy about performing live music and songwriting. I thought I'd share this with you.

 CC: Tell me about when you first heard/saw Curtiss A?
SD: I saw Thumbs Up with Curt at the CC Tap, that was the first night I ever saw them. The minute I heard their band, I had such a great time that night . . .I used to see them at the Tempo Bar. They were a breath of fresh air because they played songs, a lot of pop songs I'd heard and liked. I was always fascinated by bands that had harmonies. They had multiple lead vocalists that I liked. Bands didn't usually have multiple lead vocalists that could carry the song like they could. I heard a rumor the guitar player was leaving the band, and it was a crusher for me because I really liked his guitar playing in the band. I thought I'd audition not having any chance because he was good, even if you don't get it, you're doing better off to have gone and bust through that fear wall, and through some pure luck I got the gig and enjoyed the years immensely playing with them when I did. It was fun to play with Curt, because he had no . . . most band leaders would teach you how they wanted it and that was how it had to be, or they would get discouraged with your efforts.

It was fun to play with Curt because he would always be in a state of adapting things to the band. You didn't have to do it the same way every time, because he didn't do it the same way every time. It fostered a feeling that there's no one way to do the song, we can play around with it. I've kind of carried that over and tormented all the musicians that worked with me, because you're always working on a song when you do it live. Until you've recorded it, its not written in stone. Curt would always come up with parts of songs he didn't alert to you that he was going to try, he kept you on your toes. I admired that. To dare to change something in front of a live audience is something a lot of bands don't dare to do. All the bands I've been in and liked, aren't always the same every time. I always liked to keep things moving and different.

CC: Tell me more about the Longhorn Bar and the early Minneapolis original and punk music scene. . . SD: The audiences there didn't come with the preconception of hearing songs, how they sounded on the radio. People usually came to clubs to hear songs like they sounded on the radio. the Longhorn had a new angle, where they didn't want to hear what was on the radio - they wanted to hear something new, different. So, you had to impress the audiences differently. It made bands different, made bands try harder. Not just be good enough the booking agent would book you, good enough people would see you. You had to have a good draw. You had to keep impressing people. You couldn't rest on your laurels. It caught on in other clubs. It helped develop our music scene.

CC: Tell me about Twin Tone record label . . .
SD: There were other labels, but Twin Tone was a kind of tastemaker label. If Peter [Jesperson] was interested in it, you knew other people would be interested in it. All songwriters need a window to create their vision in. There is always someone like Peter who plays a role in guiding what that vision is. You can't do it self-contained. You kind of need someone to bounce it off of, to say "Is this any good?" There is no one capable of writing only great songs. Even the best songwriters write horrible clinkers. You've got to have somebody close enough to you to tell you a song is not a good song, without you getting angry. All artists need the wall to bounce off of. Creating music opens the door to other music you can create. That's a step-by-step process. A lot of songwriters starting out are terribly shy about it. In any great artist, the role of the audience is downplayed somewhat. When there's a music scene, there's a hub of what the writer was writing towards. All songwriters are better for having an an early, loyal audience that can give him their enthusiasm, and then his direction, where if he's going off on a bad angle. . . Everyone that creates cannot be the judge of their own material. The audience is a wonderful thing. You can't completely go where they want you to go, you have to follow your own heart sometimes. The music scene that Minneapolis developed is largely due to the wonderful audience that developed that would support it and hear your songs, even if you had a bad gig. People here know a good band when they hear it, they know a bad band when they hear it. They're not afraid to tell you. Its a good thing. Its kind of why we have higher standards.

CC: What were those audiences at the Longhorn like?
 SD: Minneapolis audiences were impressed by something different. It maneuvered bands toward what audiences were expecting. It was a higher threshold. It pushed bands to be better than they ever would have been, if they were cover bands, like a lot tried to be back then. It's largely owed to the crowd.

CC: Please say more about playing with the Spooks?
SD: The Spooks was Curt's original angle. He had cover bands going at the time, but the Spooks became his original venue. He came up with key songs for the Spooks in a short time period. It was fun to play completely new material with Curt. The Spooks was the first or second band to ever play the Longhorn. So Curt gets a lot of credit for generating the scene. There were the Suicide Commandos, who kind of came out of left field and inspired a lot of bands to dare to be different. But Curt's right up there with one of the early bands to take the plunge wholeheartedly being an original band, not a cover band.

First Avenue "Best New Bands 2011" Jan. 25, 2011

First Avenue "Best New Bands 2011" Jan. 25, 2011

I arrived at First Avenue for Radio K/First Avenue “Best New Bands 2011” night - highly anticipating this one, especially to see Sexcat and blood&stuff, who I knew would be able to fill the room - with people and their full-on loud rock sound. I got there halfway between Fire in the Firs set, and was surprised to see the West staircase removed! How that opens up the room! More, great sightlines.

It was great to instantly see so many friends in the room, early on. Early on there were several times more people in the beginning than in years past, a sign I think, that the music scene is experiencing a resurgence, definitely. Watched Fire in the Northern Firs with Jacob Grun (who worked on engineering singer Carin’s earlier band, First Communion Afterparty). Grun would later be singing with Dream Crusher, also one of the best new bands. Ran into Ed and Dylan of blood&stuff, who were excited about their upcoming mainstage show, their first, and … they found out they won their Kickstarter campaign this day! With enough left over, Ed said, to maybe make more t-shirts to sell! And they finished their new record the night before. Things are looking really good for one of my favorite bands, blood&stuff, and I told them as a contributor, I cannot wait to get my CD (which I will spin frequently on Spin with Cyn show) and T!

I really liked Fire in the Northern Firs, who I’d not seen yet. Dark, alt-rock, sort of post-punk, ala Echo and the Bunnymen, New Order and Bauhaus (very favorites of mine back in the day).

Then, Sexcat!!! Yay! Sultry, Dressed in dark, shiny, beautiful red and black garb with a dramatic light show, Sexcat’s songstresses Hannah von der Hoff and Megan Charles sexed up First Avenue with their incredibly funky soul, make-out dance music (you think Polica is make-out music? You oughtta see/hear Sexcat!). To me, they brought back the best of female rock music of the ’80s and ’90s … sort of Berlin meets Missing Persons with a heavy dose of Donna Summer “Love to Love You, Baby” vibe. I know, sweet, right? Their dance moves would make for a great burlesque show, Hannah’s low, husky yet strong vocals, weaving playfully with Megan’s at times soaring, others scratching and rawrring like a cat were frankly, mesmerizing. Their set was all too short, like 20 - 30 minutes. While they performed favorites like “Champagne (In Your Face)” “Sexpot” and “Electric Hypz” I still felt I wanted this to become (hopefully someday) a 3-hour (or even all-night long) dance party. And a great way to get you in the mood.

Then Dreamcrusher, 11 guys who are in innumerable bands. Its an experimental, atmospheric, ever-changing collaboration. Performing on the main stage gave them room to really project their lo-fi, quieter, hypnotic sound.

It was Joe Hastings’ birthday - his “28th” - we will never know the true age of this timeless, ageless musician, one of the best, and most in-demand guitar-players in town … one-man-band Hastings 3000 and with the Sex Rays (a huge fave of mine - Sex Pistols meets Link Wray). Happy Birthday, Joe!

I’ve been likening the phenomena of the steady growth of blood&stuff, their full-throttle, loud rock shows and rabid enthusiasm and fervor of audiences at their live shows, and how big I think they will (should) get in the world to the phenomena of Husker Du back in the day. Oddly, before their set, First Ave DJ spun Husker Du and Hold Steady. Appropo!

Blood&stuff hit hard right out of the gate, and totally owned the main stage like I haven’t seen in years. 2 guys, sounding like 5. Astounding!

“There will be blood … “

After blood&stuff’s amazing show, numerous fans, super-fans, and first-timers exclaimed, “They’re amazing!” “They really ROCK!” and so on, as they always get from people seeing them for the first time, or the 5th …

"One Day Roses"


"A Fire Out at Sea"

Catch blood&stuff at the Turf Club, Feb 3 for: “Ice Damage, Inc.: A benefit and auction for Tasha Pruitt, also fe: Sea Whores (laser light show in Clown Lounge, Birthday Suits, Gay Witch Abortion, and DJ Danny Sigelman.

Post blood&stuff, I caught rapper MaLLy, and caught up with The Japhies’ frontman Reed Wilkerson, who updated me on the status of their recording their new album. The Japhies will be guests on my next Spin with Cyn show, Tuesday, January 31st, from 10 a.m - noon http://www.kfai.org/spinwithcyn in advance of Reed’s Bday Bash, February 3 at the Triple Rock with guests: My My Misfire, Black Church Service and Lost in Prague!

Headed to the Depot, for late-night fries, a 2-Hearted and chat with friends. Christy Hunt noted Pink Mink is going to do SXSW, this year with Peter Wolf Crier.