Another year, another grueling sprint to South by Southwest's
end--only, this year, well, things seemed a little different than in
year's past. Especially on Saturday night.
More so than on any
previous night of the festival, Saturday night seemed to finally show
some kinks in SXSW's armor--both on the festival's part and on the
increased savvy of the badgeless showgoers.
On the festival's
final night, the SXSW's over-selling of badges and wristbands this year
was quite apparent: Badge and wristband lines to enter clubs extended,
in many cases, longer than even the lines for the badge- and
wristband-less. And those folks--now quite hip to the fact that, if
they arrive early enough to a venue and camp out, they'll be able to
enter the show of their choice--clearly knew how to beat the system.
It's
not like the venues really mind--they're able to charge these folks a
cover admission and earn a little added scratch for the effort. But it
sure made figuring out what you were going to see--and how far in
advance you would have to arrive--something of a crap shoot, as venues
reached capacity way early on in the evening. And they never calmed
down much as the night went on.
There, of course, are advantages
and disadvantages to these developments. But, for a growing festival
like, say, Denton's NX35 Conferette, this situation maybe provides a
silver lining: Even the big boys have growing pains.
Oh, and
this was also one of the coldest nights--if not the flat-out coldest
ever--in the history of SXSW. And the crowds still showed. Which makes
us all suckers, I think. But I digress.
After the jump, a rundown of the final 12 acts I caught at this year's SXSW. And, in case you were curious, yes, I made my goal of catching 50 acts I'd never seen before over the course of the fest's four-day run. It was close at the end there--but the final day proved pretty fruitful despite all these issues...
Band: Washed Out, Georgia's chillwave answer to North Texas' Alan Palomo
Where: Fader Fort
What It Was Like:
Like the laziest dance party you've ever seen. Funny thing about
chillwave: It's dance music, but it's more non-committal than anything.
Ideal for background setting, Washed Out's music had audience members
dancing as they conversed--but few were necessarily actively paying
attention.
Verdict: That above sentiment is more a knock on
the genre than on Washed Out. Actually, Washed Out's lush performance
at the Fader Fort was quite enjoyable. Joined by Brooklyn's Small Black
on stage, Washed Out's songs packed an added oomph than did the
first few songs of his set, which were offered up alone by the artist.
Overall, though, the songs are quite good for what they were.
Band: Real Estate, a buzzing summer- and beach-obsessed quartet from New Jersey
Where: Fader Fort
What It Was Like: I don't really know what it is with the kids
these days, but non-committal, half-hearted, mid-tempo efforts seem all
the rage. Real Estate personifies this much with its sound--a winning,
'90s-indebted lo-fi rock style with some garage underpinnings. Live,
the band's demeanor is similarly low-key.
Verdict: It was fairly enjoyable, and the songs were quite nice.
But, in this live setting, the songs didn't really stand out much--nor
did they reall demand attention. Were it not for the palpable buzz wave
this band was riding heading into South by Southwest, it's questionable
how much of an impression the band would have made.
Band: Free Energy, a recently Rolling Stone-approved power pop-rock quintet from Philadelphia
Where: Cedar Street Courtyard
What It Was Like: The first show of the Night Four found Free
Energy drawing an early-arriving crowd of listeners eager to catch the
band's live performance. And not just listeners, but fans. This crowd
was singing along emphatically to the band's hook-heavy,
mall-punk-appealing, Journey- and Cars-owing, early '80s-indebted
pop-rock sound.
Verdict: I wanted to hate pretty much everything about this band
before I heard it. But pretty much everything about it--from the free
cassette tapes of its debut album that were placed throughout the venue
to the band's charming on-stage banter with the crowd--was quite
likable. So, too, was it's dancey pop-rock, which was filled with
"Don't Stop Believin'"-aping guitar licks for days. I've seen the beginning of the end for the mall-punk era, and it starts Free Energy.
Band: The BlueBonnet's, an almost all-girl garage- and blues-rock outfit from Austin
Where: Buffalo Billiards
What It Was Like: Pretty much
exactly what you'd expect an all-girl blues-rock outfit from Austin to
sound like, except with a little added kick, a little added sass, and a
little more gritty an appeal.
Verdict: More enjoyable than it appears, the BlueBonnets are the
kind of band you never seek out at SXSW, but don't necessarily mind
stumbling upon. Its appeal, too, is fairly universal given its genre
tendencies. But even though it did have some extra, and impressive,
elements thrown in the mix, it was a little too dad-rock-ish for my
tastes.
Band: The Deaf, a Dutch punk trio with energy that can't be bottled
Where: Buffalo Billiards
What It Was Like: Imagine The Hives (quirky, European,
in-your-face) crossed with The Riverboat Gamblers (high-energy, an
incomparable live show, immediately live likability) and, well, you've
got the he-said-she-said retro punk of The Deaf.
Verdict: Having never before heard of The Deaf, I can
confidently say that this was one of my better accidntal finds of SXSW.
The guitar-toting frontman spazzed out across the stage like Jerry Lee
Lewis as he frantically tossed off impressive licks between leg kicks
and stage slides. His bass-playing female counterpart was no less an
ass-kicker herself, oozing cool confidence and vocals with a soft grit
to balance things out. A whirlwind of a live show worth catching, for
sure.
Band: Wiz Khalifa, a buzzing, XXL-approved rapper from Pittsburgh with a skate-hop bent.
Where: Emo's Main Room
What It Was Like: Like watching a consummate crowd-pleaser. It's
tough to say how many in Emo's were necessarily all too familiar with
Khalifa's body of work prior to this show, but Khalifa showed a savvy
in this show that many other SXSW performers could stand to learn from.
Sure, he played the songs for which he's made a name for himself. But
he also made certain to play a song off his new mixtape that was sure
to please the indie-snob SXSW attendees, a song called "The Thrill,"
which boasts a sample of Empire of The Sun's "Walking on a Dream."
Verdict: Really fun, really impressive, and an overall good
time. Khalifa's got a charismatic on-stage persona, clearly comfortable
in the limelight. It benefited his performance greatly, too, this sense
of self, allowing him to fully command the room. Oh, and his flows were
an impressive match with his hipster-ish beat bent. Sidenote: Rappers,
better than anyone else at this year's SXSW, made sure to shout out
their Twitter accounts at shows, angling to up their follower counts.
Band: LoveLikeFire, an artsy indie quartet from San Francisco
Where: Emo's Jr.
What It Was Like: Like watching a band try too hard and not get
the job done. LoveLikeFire's sound is entirely predicated on its
frontwoman's vocals--which, unfortunately, weren't up to snuff at this
show.
Verdict: So-so at best. Along with leaning heavily on its
frontwoman's vocals., the band relied a little too intently on
crescendo. And though its builds were, indeed, somewhat pleasing, they
weren't impressive enough to carry the weight the band was aiming to
bear.
Band: Jake One & Freeway, an emcee and DJ pairing with a fine new album in tow.
Where: Emo's Main Room
What It Was Like: Unlike, say, Wiz Khalifa's performance prior
to Jake One a& Freeway's in the main room, this offering wasn't of
the hipster-hop varety that so many SXSW rap performances this year
seemed to be. Rather, this was classic backpacker hip-hop--gritty and
intelligent and reliant on old, time-tested genre tricks.
Verdict: Entertaining, for sure, and a refreshing offering given
the above parameters. This boom-bap, sample-heavy offering wasn't
aiming for indie cool, but more aimed to be true to the efforts that
allowed this sub-genre popularity in the first place. And, for that,
the show benefited greatly.
Band: The Drums, a Brooklyn act that made its name thanks to a
quirky music video that finds the band's frontman running along a
beach, singing its hooky, summer-loving "Let's Go Surfing" single.
Where: Stubb's
What It Was Like: Like being totally swindled. Whereas "Let's Go
Surfing" is a lo-fi indie gem, the band's live offering was, oddly
enough, of a distinct, new wave- and Interpol-aping variety. And, let's
face it, this ain't 2005 again.
Verdict: Disappointing, more than anything. The band's new wave
efforts seemed like uninspired retreads more than anything. And though
the band tried its damnedest to create some energy from the stage,
bouncing along with its performance, its energy didn't translate to the
crowd at the big venue, which seemed rightly confused at what it was
seeing.
Band: Get Busy Committee, a hip-hop collective that made the most of its time, if nothing else.
Where: Club De Ville
What It Was Like: Like a bait-and-switch. The venue, boasting an
all-hip-hop showcase on this night, was supposed to feature former
Death Row artist Kurupt in this time slot. But the former Dogg Pound-er
was nowhere to be found. So, the Get Busy Collective, at the request of
the event host, popped up on stage and performed a few cuts for the
restless audience. And, in doing so, the band showed off an impressive
awareness and understanding of how to energize a crowd.
Verdict: If nothing else, this band knew its audience. Starting
off by rhyming over a sample of The Knife's "Heartbeats" and then
segueing into a track with a beat created of samples from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme,
this collective quickly turned a downtrodden audience into a smiling
lot. Quirky, sure. But one should never discount an artist's ability to
read his audience.
Band: Rival School, a prominent post-hardcore outfit from the
turn of the century, reuniting for a slew of gigs in anticipation of a
new album--its second only--some ten years after its debut release.
Where: Red 7 Patio
What It Was Like: Featuring members from influential hardcore
acts Quicksand, Youth of Today and Gorilla Biscuits, Rival School
pleased a reverential crowd by not only playing hits off its seminal
debut, but also by offering the crowd new songs to chew on.
Verdict: Can't say I was ever all that familiar with Rival
School's body of work prior to this show, but the band's post-hardcore
sound was surprisingly catchy and memorable--and, some ten years after
its release, shockingly relevant today. Its new songs too sounded
great.
Band: J. Mascis, the legendary Dinosaur Jr axeman, offering up a set of solo material, and not a backing member in sight.
Where: Red 7 Patio
What It Was Like: Mascis hasn't released a studio album of solo
material in over five years, but at this show, it didn't really matter.
He put on a display, playing acoustically, and yet somehow using his
mind-bending talents (and maybe a few pedals) to distort the sounds
into a sonic display that even the most dynamic electric guitar players
can't even begin to fathom matching.
Verdict: It was a little slow, sure, but Mascis, folks, is a
hero. Far as I'm concerned, he's never really received the credit he
deserves as one of the greatest guitar players ever. And this show only
further confirmed his place atop the heap in my book. Without seemingly
much effort at all, Mascis--also an underrated vocalist, by the
way--played a somewhat wank-ish set of head-spinning solos and pleasing melodies. But it was rewarding beyond anticipation.
Band: Fucked Up, the Toronto hardcore heroes with a reputation for phenomenally off-the-rail live performances
Where: Red 7 Patio.
What It Was Like: Like the kick in the ass the tired, cold
festival attendees needed to close out SXSW 2010. By then end of the
set, frontman Damian Abraham, despite the cold, was down to his boxers,
swirling the microphone around in the air above his head as crowd
members hopped on stage, only to dive off and crowd surf--just as one
of the band's guitarists did, while managing to never miss a beat.
Verdict: One of the flat-out best performances I saw at SXSW
2010--and maybe 2010 as a whole. Giving The Riverboat Gamblers (who
played a set on Sixth Street at the same time, also, surely, to close
the festival out in fine form) a run for its money as one of the best
live performers around, this show just oozed with angst, vigor and
communal energy. Top-notch stuff, to be sure.
..and, well, that pretty much covers it.
