So the music portion of South By Southwest begins tomorrow but Ani and I (and our surprise third partner, Hatchet photographer José) decided to scope all eleven blocks of Austin. Things I learned:
1. Kids love St. Patrick’s Day. Everywhere.
2. There is apparently always rock and roll going down in Austin.
Tonight:
Some Band Who Was Playing On The Steps Outside Of A Building – I guess this would be our official introduction into SXSW 2009. They had a washboard and a song about the Principality of Liechtenstein. Any combination of these two elements can be considered a success.
We Should Be Dead @ Friends – As we walked by this bar I was overwhelmed by their poster which was reminiscent of L.A. punk band The Mae-Shi’s. While we only heard the absolute end of their set (the ever intrepid José had to concoct some story about a press pass to mask his underage status) it sounded like a combination of wall-of-sound-girl-pop and Tsunami-Bomb-pop-punk. On this alone I am giving them the designation of radical but we plan to catch them again (particularly the Mae-Shi, who are awesome).
The Golden Dogs @ Friends – The following is very important. They have a song called “Construction Worker” and it seems to be about being stuck in traffic due to construction. This rules. At the time I claimed that they were “more than a’ight” and “sounded like Asobi Seksu,” upon listening to songs on their MySpace this just sounds straight-up untrue. Ultimately they sound like an uninspired pop band that is heavy on the keyboards. Plus they’ve got that husband and wife thing going that I hate almost as much as Southwest Airlines. I cannot recommend their music when recorded but it’s pretty hot live.
That was all we got to tonight but tomorrow morning we get our press stuff and begin the non-stop journey that is rocking and rolling.
Bands We Would See In A Perfect World:
Mae-Shi 12:35 @ Maggie Maes Deck
The Thermals 2:30 @ Red 7 Inside
Yoni Wolf 3:15 @ Red 7 Inside
Themselves 3:35 @ Red 7 Outside
Titus Andronicus 4:10 @ Maggie Maes
Deer Tick 4:30 @ Emos Annex
Pains of Being Pure At Heart 4:35 @ Red 7
Mae-Shi 4:40 @ Mohawk Inside
Tallest Man On Earth 4:50 @ Red Eyed Fly
Buck 65 @ Waterloo Records 5-6:30
Ulrich Schnauss 8 @ Elysium
The Week That Was 8 @ Friends
Pains Of Being Pure at Heart 9 @ Ms. Beas
8 Bit 9 @ 1142 South Lamar
No Kids 9:15 @ Beauty Bar Backyard
Boys Noize 10 @ Elysium
Yoni Wolf 11 @ Mohawk
School Of Seven Bells 12 @ Buffalo Billiards
This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb 12:15 @ Habana Bar
Parenthetical Girls 12:15 @ Beauty Bar Backyard
Themselves 1 @ Mohawk
Deer Tick 1 @ Club De Ville
Tallest Man On Earth 1 am @ Paradise
This Will Destroy You 1 @ Soho Lounge
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone 1:15 @ Beauty Bar Backyard
I’m sure that we will only end up at half of these and end up seeing six other bands we weren’t planning on but I guess that’s the goal.
The Mae-Shi – Awesome
Southwest Airlines – Hell
A.
