Dryvetyme Onlyne

APN Goes To Austin

From the outset, attending and attempting to chronicle my time in Austin, TX at SXSW 2008 was a rather daunting experience. There were people everywhere and bands were playing their music in every possible spare square of performance space. The crowds were teeming and brimming with energy, standing about for this show or that event, eating food, drinking early and often: all under a bright blue sky filled with a seasonably warm Texas sun. Everybody who was anybody and everyone in between was present in some form or fashion: hipsters, yuppies, college kids, aging rockers, goths, metalheads, parents with kids, journalists, camera-wielders, videographers, stoners, hippies, homeless, product hawkers, and the nearly innumerable bands.

But, before I discuss the music (remember, this WAS a huge music festival), I must further discuss the people who attended this luminous event in two respects: the on-the-street activities and the in-the-club personas. During the day, the average attendees strolling the byways of Austin’s downtown area were markedly well-behaved, though a bit loud — typical college-aged and indie kids. At night, after drinking free (but watered-down) drinks all day long, while not eating much, things would always become more raucous, but never strayed too out-of-control. Both of responses are understandable, no matter how trendy and/or hip these kids might be, by all demographic standards, these are suburban-raised, middle-to-upper-middle-class white kids who have been raised with a modicum of good manners instilled into them. They might drink too much and they might have a snot-nosed sense of entitlement, but if they bump into accidentally in the street while raging drunk, they’re still going to apologize. Fun kids!

However, throughout it all, the during-a-show behavior put me ill at ease. Most tenured concertgoers who actually try to enjoy the show he/she is attending have noticed the same thing — everyone is so busy trying to out-cool each other that they neglect the music on the stage. Wasn’t this shindig supposed to me about the music? Copious amounts of skin and the coolest of brands were flashed with regularity as people flaunted their hair, sunglasses, t-shirts with appropriately ironic slogans, cutesy attire, and shoes. The music had become mere background noise. It was as if these too-cool-for-school folks had moved their hip little conversations out of their cutesy lofts and onto the streets of Austin, TX, all for some added scenester credibility.

Now, with all of that negativity out of my system, I must say that I had an amazing time at SXSW. Being badge-less and wristband-less, I wasn’t able to get into the extra fancy shows (unless I wanted to stand in even MORE lines and pay MORE money that I did not have), but I was able to attend a variety of solid shows and hear some great music. And the beauty of SXSW is that you don’t need a high-priced badge or wristband to have a great time: music abounds and flows even more freely than the liquor.

I started my time Friday at the Yaris tent listening first to She & Him and then to Billy Bragg, as both played short sets designed to give people a brief taste of their music before they played longer sets later during the weekend. The Yaris tent was also designed to have young hipsters who are hoping to see the trendiest of trendy bands (aka Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward as She & Him) exposed to a product that the tent sponsors hope will become popular amongst hipsters. Call it product placement of the worst possible kind and it was everywhere (Oops! My cynicism is creeping in again.) The music was pretty good, but it was marred by the simple fact that I was surrounded by cooler-than-thous, cars open for inspection, and paid shills passing out posters.

From there, I headed over the British Music Embassy to hear a couple of Scottish alt-punk bands — Our Lunar Activities and Jyrojets — not that I knew who they were, but because I wanted to do something a bit off-the-wall. I almost felt sorry for the bands: they were playing their hearts out, hoping that their rough brogues would win over the American crowd, but the attendees were more interested than the free drinks and free fajitas being served. (Really? I know that we love Tex-Mex food here in Texas, but this venue has solely BRITISH bands playing all day long! Did they really think people wouldn’t eat free British food?) After that, I wandered over to the Filter Magazine party — Showdown at Cedar Street Courtyard — to hear The Wombats play their fun, but ferocious brand of punk, only to find more of the same behavior from the crowd. Throughout most of the days shows I saw on Friday and Saturday, the following statistics described the crowds: 1/3 were there to see the band and were excited to be there; 1/3 was there to see the band, but didn’t get into the music so as to keep looking cool; and the last 1/3 was there because they were supposed to be there, not because of the music, meaning that easily 1/2-to-2/3 of the crowd would mill about talking and not paying attention to the music.

Luckily, my malaise wouldn’t last too much longer, as I headed over to the Justice Records Showcase at Lucky Lounge to hear Houston/Austin-based band Electric Touch perform their engaging version of Brit-rock. The group deftly brought together The Who and Oasis to a rather appreciative group of attendees, presenting a very accessible, but not very challenging sound. Even more than their sound, their look was a patently over-the-top take on ’60s-’70s rock: skinny jeans, open-at-the-chest collared shirts, and heaps of shaggy brown hair. But after 6 hours of passive, talkative crowds, it was great to be around people who were into the music and appreciated the music flowing from the stage. Electric Touch confidently played to the crowd, and as they served up a great cover of “Come Together” towards the end of their set, it was more than evident that this band loves what they do because they certainly show it.

From there, I met up with my friend Marc and meandered over to Habana Calle 6 to take part in the Polyvinyl/Team Love Records Showcase, and while there were certainly some cool kids in attendance, a vast majority of the folks present actively paid attention to the music (SHOCK!). 12 bands took turns playing on 2 stages (one indoor, one outdoor) from 7pm to 2am, with each given a 30-40 minute timeslot, and remarkably, the bands efficiently flowed on and off the stage (kudos to the 2-stage, time-saving concept). First up that night was the Portland, OR-based band A Weather and they captivated the early arrivers with their dreamy band of folk music, as their sleepy, whispered delivery lost nothing in transition from their album to their live performance. Joan Of Arc then set to playing their droney, moody slowcore on the outside stage, using their keyboards to create the atmosphere to fill in the spaces between arpeggiated guitar chords.

Moving back indoors, the guitar-and-bass duo McCarthy Trenching performed their friendly, simple, unassuming brand of country-folk. Flowers Forever, the new side project from Tilly And The Wall guitar player Derek Pressnall, performed next, delivering up one of the more exciting sets that night, complete with their raw, ’70s-rock-meets-freak-folk sound and Derek’s animated belting/yelping of the song lyrics. In another stellar set from the evening, the five-piece that is Capgun Coup brought the crowd to their figurative feet with a strong, aggressive indie-punk sound that was tempered by some whimsical keyboard fills. The technically precise rock of Aloha then brought the crowd back outside to enjoy the band’s sweet, but driving indie-pop.

The venue then was able to chill out a bit as none other than Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal decided to hide in the back of the room to spin tracks from his laptop for 45 minutes. Striking a different pose than his ostentatious on-stage persona, the reserved Barnes presented a well-crafted mix, bringing together glam, funk, French electro, swing, dub, and Latin pop. David Dondero then took the outdoor stage, evincing an attractive, but less charismatic, conglomeration of Billy Bragg, old Wilco, and Conor Oberst. Next up was the Springsteen-ish country-rock of Nik Freitas, a good storyteller who made me once again question the sanity of radio and record executives. Nik’s music was nothing new, but it was leaps-and-bounds better that the Jack Johnson schlock that passes for folk on the radio.

Headlights performed next, with their shimmery, guy/girl dual vocals, and while their album is chock full of pretty dream-pop, their live set was much more dynamic, driving, and rocking. Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin then played, presenting the crowd their accessible, formulaic indie rock, even though most people present was assembling outside for the forthcoming Tilly And The Wall set. Thus, much to everyone’s delight, the complete Tilly ensemble played a raucous, excited collection of songs, including 5 tracks off their upcoming album. The place was packed, even at 1:15 in the morning, and still had enough energy left in them to sing along heartily to the songs they knew and respond well to the ones they did not. The band soaked up all the energy and channeled it back into the music, creating the best act I saw in my 2 days in Austin.

Saturday brought me a great day show at the French Legation Museum in East Austin (little did I know that Matthew Solarski of Pitchfork would also be at the show). The crowd at this event, while people did mill about and chat, was much more chill and laid-back, luxuriating in the picnic-like atmosphere. Hanging around and talking with your friends made sense in this environment: the music was under a tent, while the food and drinks were scattered about a large, attractive, grassy area. Laura Marling was the first performer I heard, a finger-picking singer playing her aching, painful folk songs along with violin, accordion, and ukulele. Lightspeed Champion was up next, complete with his bizarre headwear and his playful, quirky, upbeat folk.

Following them was the Scottish 4-piece Sons and Daughters, who ramped up the energy with their exciting brand of glammy-punk, including the guitar player with his Bowie-esque hair and the vampy, crooning, sexy lead singer. The illustrious J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. played a brooding, yet compelling solo set yet, drawing in the most attention yet from the crowd. Performing a collection of Dinosaur Jr. tracks along with some of his solo material, Mascis made sure that people knew he still had his guitar chops, complete with a host of long, winding solos played through a thick fuzz pedal. Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth – duh!) & The New Wave Radicals took the stage next and wowed the crowd with their classic-indie-meets-classic-rock sound. While Thurston did sing on occasion, the majority of the set was entirely instrumental, much to the delight of a very attentive and appreciative crowd of aging hipsters (complete with kids in strollers!). This was simply a great set.

From here, I turned on my inner fanboy and made my way back over to the Filter venue to partake of the lovely, up-and-coming British songstress Kate Nash. Knowing full well that this would, sadly, be another see-and-be-seen event for the cool people, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see Ms. Nash perform her brand of sassy pop music. Kate stepped onto the stage, holding a single acoustic guitar to play a string of 5 songs — “Breakup” (a new track), “Birds,” “I Hate Seagulls,” “Dickhead,” and “Don’t You Want To Share The Guilt” — before being joined on stage by none other than Billy Bragg. After declaring that he & Kate were brought together by their mutual affinity for the Shangri-Las, the two of them launched into a cover of the group’s “Give Him A Great Big Kiss.” The unlikely duo played Bragg’s tune “A New England” and then finished off the set with Kate’s big single, “Foundations,” much to the delight of myself and the majority of the assembled throng.

I then had dinner with one of my editors; alas it was neither the dashing Robert Ham nor dastardly Matthew McKechnie of Burnside Writers Collective, but it was nice to finally meet face-to-face with Doug Van Pelt of HM Magazine. From there, I met up again with my friend Marc to see The Breeders as they played the concluding set of a large, all-day festival at Waterloo Park. Performing for a rather large crowd, the Deal Sisters & Company put on a great set, introducing some songs from their new record Mountain Battles, along with all of their more familiar hits, including the crowd-pleasing “Cannonball.” All in all, it was a rather lovely way to end the evening — music lovers of all shapes, sizes, ages, and types, listening to two sisters play their superb pop music.

Yes, there were more events, more shows, and more musicians that I would have loved to have seen — David Bazan played twice, there was a DFA showcase that was reportedly amazing, The Hood Internet spun their brilliant mash-ups, and Blitzen Trapper played a couple of times as well, amongst a host of others. However, there was so much to experience for free that it seemed unnecessary to invest in an over-priced badge and/or wristband; so I didn’t. I viewed a bunch of great bands and often watched them with un-attentive masses of people, but in the end, I had a great time because I made sure I had fun. It would be easy to piss on those folks who talked all the time, as opposed to actually listen to music, but I’ve allowed the cool people to hamper my fun too often in the past. I would not and did not allow it at SXSW 2008.