Music

Ok so here’s yet another (but the final) chapter of this year’s SXSW 2014 saga. It’s just a final overview of the entire festival so you get a feel of what the vibe was like this year and some overall coverage and fun pics that just didn’t fit into the other posts.

Jessie Andrews

After doing a gig with Jessie on Friday, I ran into her again the next day over at the Fader Fort – Was great to get to do the gig, Jessie was lovely and one of the most ambitious human beings I’ve ever met. She’s got clothing & jewelry lines in addition to her work in the porn industry & other modeling ventures and now a great DJ & music producer.
Now Jessie’s not the only adult performer current or former that’s kicking ass outside that industry that I saw at SXSW this year.

Open Windows Screening – Alamo Ritz

Sasha Grey (who would probably appreciate if I didn’t conjunct her name with porn any longer which is a fair request to make) is in a new movie with Elijah Wood called Open Windows that was screening at the festival followed by a Q&A with her, Wood & Director Nacho Vigalondo.
I mentioned that I went to see a movie since it was raining before the Rachael Ray party yesterday – This was it.

Elijah Wood leads as Nick Chambers, the man behind JillGoddard-Caught.com, a website dedicated to providing you with an endless stream of photos of one of the hottest stars out there, actress Jill Goddard (Sasha Grey).  Under the impression that he’s won a fan contest and will get to have dinner with Jill, Nick flies to Austin where she’s promoting her latest movie and preps for his big night out. That’s all I’m willing to give away.

However I will say – its a tough format to get used to.  Every little bit of action unfolds on Nick’s laptop screen, which is consumed by a number of open windows.   There are an abundance of vantage points that do offer a comprehensive representation of what’s happening, but the problem is, as presented here, navigating around someone’s laptop screen just doesn’t feel natural.
It’s clearly quite the undertaking so cheers  to director Nacho Vigalondo and his team for taking on that challenge and making it work as well as they did.

Sasha was fantastic and looked amazing and manages to sell the role and deliver the scenes with an impressive amount of honest emotion.  The multitude of viewpoints is necessary to tell all sides of this story, but sliding up, down and sideways time and time again makes it hard to get your bearings.   The abundance of story details, twists, turns and then new plot points & you’re trying so hard to keep track of the details I was exhausted.
Vigalondo has something here.  This found footage 2.0 shooting style is a natural progression for the technique and offers a wealth of innovative opportunities.

They followed the movie up with a fun Q&A session – Many I think were surprised to see how fun and eager to laugh Sasha is. When I hear people talk about her they always mention a coldness or a stiff personality and I can kinda see where they might get that, but in all of my interactions with her she’s always been super fun and quick with a joke.

April O’ Neil

…….to see Kendrick Lamar‘s label Top Dawg Entertainment using some T&A marketing tactics of their own (just as some parents were leaving as their curious children disturbingly look on).

New York dance duo Heartsrevolution sold merch and popsicles from a repurposed ice cream van. What made that van extraordinary: every inch was covered with Swarovski crystals, which, according to singer Leyla Safai, took the band two-and-a-half years to affix.

So yesterday was the last Official Day of SXSW and like in past years theirs usually a few events still leftover or some other non-official things to do on Sunday.
Not that those events aren’t cool, it’s just that usually I’m here for like 10 days and by Sunday I’m spent. Everyone else has to get back to their day jobs on Monday so literally everyone leaves on Sunday. I was totally spent as well but nothing was going to stop me from finally seeing Cherie Currie perform.
Plus, I had a boat Ride to take –

Day 5 – Sunday March 16th –

One of the things I look forward to when I come to Austin for SXSW or anytime in the Spring/Summer is the many boat rides that you can take around Barton Springs etc. Every year that I’ve come to SXSW theirs always some crazy party on a boat that I wind up on and two days ago I was supposed to be on one but I had a gig and a million other things to do. Today I would make up for it (sorta).
I’ve been thinking a lot about purpose this week and if there is any way that the ramshackle-ness of SXSW — with its frustrations, lines and corporate overtones — can coexist with the countercultural spirit that began this event, and that continues to make this experience great. The unofficial events this week were phenomenal, particularly on the East Side and South Austin. There’s a sense that these DIY-style events are put on because of passion, not so much exposure, and that true heart goes into the curation. It makes a difference.

7th Annual Chicarones Boat Party – Highland Lakes Marina
w/ The Coup
& more

The old trusty boat bobbed in the water, inviting us crazies on board to give this hell week one more hurrah, and we did it in fashion.
Haunted Spaceship, Sleep of Oldominion, Ariano, XP, Murs, The Chicharones, and The Coup, all rocked it in true boat party fashion. The evening was hitting hard and the wind was whipping, the rap battled the elements of nature and hip hop won, despite the fact it was freezing as shit.

The Chicarones

If your unfamliar with The Chicharones & indie Hip-Hop period, they formed in 2001 after a chance meeting between Seattle-based Sleep and Vancouver-based Josh Martinez here at the festival actually. Sleep was at the time a member of the hip hop collective Oldominion, of which he is still an active collaborator. Josh Martinez entered the duo from a career as a solo artist. They did their thing and it was great as it is every year I see them.

The Coup

Afterward, funk collective the Coup took over. Politicized lyrics &  the music itself is more a study of rhythm in all its forms. Melding elements of soul, punk rock, and the tenacity of early-’90s-era hip-hop.
Frontman Boots Riley prowled the stage, provoking the audience into moving along with the beats. The Chicarones are a tough act to follow, but The Coup really delivered.

As I mentioned you can see how bundled up we all are – it was cold!

Texas Chainsaw Meltdown @ Hotel Vegas
w/ Cherie Currie
Black Oak Arkansas
Animals
Apache
& more

As I mentioned above, yesterday was the last “offical” day and everyone goes home today and I normally would too, but when I see this poster a few weeks before coming down here, and saw Cherie Currie was not only gonna do one of her Chainsaw Sculpture art demos that she was going to also be performing a Runaways set, it instantly became (for me) the most anticipated event of the whole damn thing. (…and is that Jim Dandy & Black Oak Arkansas I see too?).

Ok, so this was now Saturday the last official day of the festival (though I would stick around for two more days) and as I didn’t get in until close to 5am I woke up around 10am and it was pouring down raining. As in past years I had planned to attend Rachael Ray’s Annual cookout and concert that is held outdoors at Stubbs on the last Sat every year. Little sleep and not quite ready for rain and more Rock and Roll – I decided to finally see one of the movies instead –  Open Windows (more on this in the next entry).

Day 4 – Saturday March 15th

After coming out of the movie (which was weird…review to come) its still raining a bit so I took that opportunity to run by the Brass House to see my buddy (and occasional collaborator) Neil and his band Son of Swan –

Neil has been on quite a roll this year and has been getting some waaay overdue recognition. From a great showing at NAMM this year to performing with Orianthi Panagaris at the Trobudour – he’s been on quite the ride. He flew straight here from Los Angeles after performing an insane show with Eurthymics’ Dave Stewart just the night before.
Once I got to Stubb’s, after all the crazy running around this week I was determined to just stay there and not leave for the rest of the day/night (and that’s exactly what I did).

Rachael Ray’s Feedback – Stubb’s
w/ Yelawolf
Blondie
Ceelo Green
& more – 

Rain apparently does not dampen the appetite for free food and music – even after 2 straight weeks of it apparently as the line snaked literally the entire block around Stubbs when I got there after 3pm & into the late afternoon. I feel guilty sometimes that I am ushered right in to these things while others wait for hours, but I also know that I have worked my ass off and have earned it.
This party, now in its seventh year, has won its reputation as one of SXSW’s most reliable good times, whether you’re there for the food/free booze or music from usually a pretty reliable lineup.

Yelawolf 

The first group I saw when I arrived was this rapper dude Yelawolf – I saw him at some Village Voice party down here a few years ago and it was fucking terrible.
Another in a current crop of white, heavily tattooed skinny dudes that look like they just got out of jail.

Speaking of heavily tattooed, skinny, white dudes that look like they just got out of jail the big attraction was that he was playing with a full band that included Travis Barker – drummer for Blink 182 (& for hire for whatever flavor of the week or awards show).

I went to the indoor bathroom right after this and suddenly I couldn’t get out – the inside was overtaken by total insanity as everyone it seemed in town had evacuated the city and were rushing in here to the tiny indoor stage (apparently because they heard that Green Day was doing a surprise intimate show) – Wait….fucking Green Day was causing all of this?

Foxboro Hot Tubs

Ok, so while its all three members of  Green Day, its a side project called Foxboro Hot Tubs that’s from the looks of it supposed to get them back to basics and have a reality check of some sort from carrying punk rock guilt and miss playing small clubs and the fun without the pressure.
They didn’t downsize its show at all, from the balloon drop at the start of the show to the confetti and silly string that  showered the packed room.

Billie Joe Armstrong (the guy with the most punchable face in Rock N Roll) sporting a flowered top hat & a (ironic…barf) Motley Crue t-shirt, Armstrong opened by taunting the crowd that it was “Boring!” before the group tour into its garage-y originals –
However a running theme of the day seemed to be all of the bands doing at least one recognizable, but completely unexpected cover – In this case it was the Who’s mini-opera A Quick One (While He’s Away).

Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell proclaimed Saturday Rachael Ray Day and presented her with a plaque; Ray, however, had lost her voice “screaming the Beatles with my husband ‘til midnight” and kept her remarks truncated, though she did introduce Foxboro Hot Tubs’ set.

Blondie

Despite the shortened set, Blondie was tight and clearly energized, powering through a hits-heavy playlist that included One Way or Another, Rapture, Heart of Glass and Call Me.

Debbie Harry is still able to pull off being Debbie Harry – and their recognizable, but completely unexpected cover was the Beastie Boys’ Fight For Your Right To Party which was done really cool and perfect for the afternoon. I’ll never forget the image of after they were done Rachael Ray came out to receive them and drunk or just unaware of Debbie Harry protocol, grabs Debbie by the ears, and moving her from side to side in total fan girl glee.

Har Mar Superstar

My friends Joady & Andrew own a booking company (that also includes Peter Murphy & Star and Dagger that I saw last night) and they represent an enigma that goes by the name Har Mar Superstar. The pic below is the most clothes I’ve ever seen him wear in concert.

I spared you the vision of him (as per usual in his show) stripping down to his whitey-tighties – This dude is so absurd and I believe that’s the point. A short, balding, pudgy man that looks like a cross between Danny Devito & the Critic gesticulating suggestively like he’s Prince but it’s not parody and he sells it as sincere as can be. You actually believe that he believes that he is this fearless & sexy. Hey good for him, and the thing is that the dude really can sing. So you could look at it like he’s not letting his aesthetic short-comings hold him back, or it could be that he’s completely unaware and someone should tell him – you decide.

Ceelo Green

However, Cee Lo Green was not to be outdone – . Fronting a full, mixed-gender band, whose female members called Scarlet Fever, sported tight, glittery body suits, and promising to “be your adult entertainment for the evening,”
Out of the seemingly millions of unbelievable hot girls I’ve seen this week, either performing on stage or just a patron of the festival (Austin is home to some of the most beautiful women on Earth) I really think the most attractive girl I saw all week (and one of the hottest ever) was the blood-red-headed keyboardist, Dani Ivory. They were ALL really hot – and played their asses off but on a stage full of insanely gorgeous women, she still stood out – THAT’s how hot –

He started his buoyant, spirit-lifting set with Bright Lights Bigger City before taking the human jukebox approach at the start of his set, covering MGMT’s Electric Feel, David Bowie`s Let’s Dance,  Pussycat Dolls’ Don’t Cha and of course the Violent Femmes’ Gone Daddy Gone which he recorded as part of Gnarls Barkley before elevating things even further with Crazy and “the song that made me rich and famous,” Fuck You.
Pretty much what you would expect. Though I’m quite aware that he’s a punchline and I share that opinion, I thoroughly enjoyed both Gnarls’ LPs and thought this was a really fun show.

The Toadies

I’ve known these guys since I was 16 years old and when they got signed to a major label deal a few years later, it felt like a victory for all of us. When they released their debut LP Rubberneck it was a triumph that is still celebrated as they have become a state treasure for Texas.
This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the LP and the band is still going strong and the singles from the album are still in heavy rotation all these years later.
So to commemorate the occasion they are about to embark on a tour that features them playing the entire record from front to back, something they have actually never done before and tonight was their first time doing so.

To be clear, usually when you see the Toadies live they do play most of Rubberneck, usually sans:

Mexican Hairless
Quitter
Velvet

But what the big deal was that they were presenting it in order for the first time and it was a real treat. They were a last minute add (hence why they were going on first) and they were doing just the LP and that’s it – No encore etc. Just here’s the record and bam – A very cool statement I thought.
They pulled it off in spite of logistical problems beyond their control – I had been texting with them to find out when they were going on and apparently CeeLo was in no hurry/wasn’t aware/or simply didn’t care to get his shit and go so they had the nightmare of trying to park and get set on his schedule.
I was hoping they were gonna go on late – I wanted a break from music and was hoping to catch the wrestling show and then follow that up with them, but staying there gave me a serendipitous moment of what came next that might be the highlight of the whole week for me – Here’s what happened:

The Last Internationale

After the Toadies played, I wasn’t sure of what was next – All I knew was that I was so drained and exhausted from the week that I really no longer cared about anything other than just staying put, however I didn’t know any of the bands that were listed to play and the sponsor for the showcase was the fucking Gap so I really wasn’t sure what to do.
I went to the inside bathroom once again and then to the inside bar where that smaller stage was to get a beer and I’m really, instantly enjoying the music I’m hearing behind me on the stage, from what I learn is the band the Last Internationale.
And then I hear this:
“We found out that the Gap recently became a sponsor, and we almost canceled this show, but we didn’t because we didn’t want to upset anyone, but we want to make it perfectly clear that this show is NOT sponsored by Gap.”

This immediately got my attention and I turn around and see this incredibly striking looking gal just kicking ass and the band is right there with her.

Then, addressing anyone from the Gap who might be in the room, the guitarist began throwing out free band shirts, shouting “This is made in the USA … NOT in some sweatshop. Fuck the Gap!”

Mixing politics with music can be dangerous, but I look past the singer and I swear that the drummer is Brad Wilk from Rage Against the Machine.
Inciting some strong feelings was clearly the intention here. Besides, it never got violent, just more awesome as the frontwoman leapt from the stage to sing the final song encircled by wildly cheering fans.
They were one of the most enjoyable acts I’ve seen in a long time and wanted to know more – I had never even heard of them, I just happening to be getting a beer in there.
I’m no fanboy type but I had to know so when the drummer walks by me I asked him if he was from Rage and sure enough it was him – He then turns his attention to my T-shirt (Eddie Van Halen) and asks me if that’s EVH on my shirt and then instantly we are bonding as VH fanatics.
I told him that David Lee Roth’s first solo tour was my first concert and he countered that VH”s Fair Warning tour was his to the point that it became playfully competitive over who was the bigger fan.

As silly as it sounds but for some reason I was expecting him to talk like Rage singer Zach and be humorless and very militant – He couldn’t have been further from that and was the nicest most regular dude ever. Talks with a heavy Southern California accent and was instantly welcoming and incredibly friendly.
While we were nerding out over VH I remembered reading something a few years ago that he was married to Selene Vigil the singer from 7 Year Bitch – one of my all-time favorite bands – I was afraid to ask him in case they weren’t together anymore etc. But finally I did and he says “Oh yeah man, she’s outside with our kids, would you like to meet her?” – I was just simply on my way to the bathroom – incredible.
I follow Brad out and he introduces me to his two young boys and Selene, who looks exactly the same as she did the last time I saw her which was close to 20 years ago. Her and I talked for like half an hour really enjoying reminiscing about the 7 Year Bitch days and seemingly everything in between. She was as nice and eager to talk as he was. She released a solo record in 2010 (that I didn’t get to hear to almost 2012) called That Was Then – that I highly recommend.
I told her how happy I was that she was making music and how good it was to hear her voice again and she said that the timing of our conversation was fitting because like just this week a label is wanting to put out a live 7 Year Bitch record – I instantly started winding her up that they had to tour etc and we just had the best time. I really hope they decide to do it.
Selene introduced me to the awesome frontwomen I mentioned earlier from the band, Delilah, and she is really friendly as well and was telling me about the band.
While Brad is obviously based in California, the rest of the group is actually from NYC and living in Brooklyn for seven years we did the NYC talk for a bit before I got out of their way and let them get on with it.
Their debut record is coming out in June – If its anything like what I heard its really an album to look out for.

The Gap Showcase
w/ The Preatures
Bear Hands
The 1975

Ok so after bidding them all farewell I was thinking about calling it a night but was gonnna hang with the Toadies a bit before and thought I would go outside to the main stage and wait till they were done loading out. It took alot longer than expected and I managed to see the next three bands of this silly Gap Showcase.

The Preatures

One good thing that did come out of this is that I did see this band the Preatures from Australia and their singer Isabella Manfredi is just awesome – A total Force of Nature –

Bear Hands

Next was a dumb band with an even dumber name – Bear Hands – get it?

Not much to say here other than they sounded exactly like the kind of band that would be playing a Gap Showcase at SXSW with a name like Bear Hands.
the kind of contrived act that found themselves in the hands of connected handlers that manufacture this kinds crap.

The 1975

The EXACT same thing can be said for this band the 1975 – they even the prefix The AND a number as the suffix – how so very trite and calculating.
The entire festival I’ve been hearing the hype of this band – They are this years Ambulance LTD. – remember them? Me neither.

Photos – 

Roy Turner
Jerri Starbuck
Ted Chase
David Hall
Kayla Merrill
Daniel Boczarski
Brian Lahiere

Ok, so here we go with Day 3 of the 2014 SXSW Conference in Austin, TX – As I mention in Part II, I didn’t think I could outdo yesterday’s ambition of seeing 15 acts over 7 different locations but I think I may have even topped that today. And its certainly not like I’m trying. In fact I was actively trying to NOT do this and just get my work done and see what else came along the way. That biz took me to alot of different parts of the conference today but also when that fuse gets lit I tend to get out of control. Here goes:

Ok, so I had to be in like 3 different parts of the city all seemingly during the 4pm-5pm hour and somehow made all of my appointments and even caught some impromptu action along the way. First thing was I had an early afternoon DJ gig at the Living Room Bar at the W Hotel – nothing major, just a chill session in a swank hotel lounge for about 30 people.
What made it special was that Jessie Andrews was also scheduled to DJ – If your not familiar with her, or have just seen her many American Apparel ads – she’s really something.

In addition to being a high-profile model, she performs in adult films, has her own jewelry line, is a columnist for BPM and Galore Magazine (and she’s only 22) and has been focusing heavily the last year on producing music and doing tons of DJ gigs all over North America. I’m not usually into House Music but her Girlfriend Mixtapes have been some of my favorite this year and she made a killer video for standout track You Won’t Forget Tonight –

Was happy to have met and played a gig with her – She was super nice and as you can see super attractive, and in person its kinda insane how good-looking she is. She doesn’t smoke or do drugs like me and is just doing it right. You can’t kick this much ass and look this good doing that shit.

Ok after I wrapped up my set, I had to get all the way over to the East Side but was gonna swing by and see some other friends from New Jersey, New Day Dawn –

New Day Dawn – Texas Rockfest 

Their a great band from Maplewood, NJ where my dude Claude (Ween) is from, whom I was on my way to meet that very second. I was disappointed by the producers of the Texas Rockfest as they do literally nothing to promote this thing and just rely on passers by at the festival (which is ludicrous given all the competition and people usually come here with a set agenda) as well as they don’t spend any money booking anyone with a major draw that these smaller bands could play with to get some needed exposure (the whole idea of the festival right?).
In fact they CHARGE you to play there – and let this be a cautionary tale for any band potentially falling for this scam or any racket that this festival enables.
They prey upon bands that are naive about the business side of things who just simply want to play the festival – The festival itself does the same thing – that submission money that unknown acts pay to showcase at the festival is what funds their agenda for other big acts. So while everyone is down the street watching stadium headliner-in-a-club setting, your band plays to no one.
Here’s a tip – if your paying your doing it wrong – hook up with a sponsor, have them foot the bill and play to a real crowd. Don’t fall for the “We are playing SXSW!” racket – You’ll spend all your money getting to and from Austin, play to practically no one and go home empty and instead of creating buzz, you just created more debt for yourself.

Here’s a way of creating buzz the right way, as I was headed back to my car to get over to the East Side I literally walked into a fucking tornado of fan fury.
As I later learned, Hardcore band Trash Talk’s performances were cancelled yesterday due to the tragedy that took place and with one simple tweet that they were staging a free show literally in the patio/street in front of Beerland, it was as if the entire festival evacuated anywhere else to get there.

Trash Talk – Beerland Patio

I just happened to be walking to my car and into the eye of this impromptu madness. Minutes elapsed before the cops broke it up. This kind of thing evokes the very punk spirit the band represents so their fans live for this shit and dudes were literally jumping off the Beerland roof, onto a throng of circle-pitting insanity that coagulated the Red River block adjacent to 6th Street. Police, still obviously sensitive to yesterday’s events were doing their best to break up the chaos while fans shouted  “One More Song!”.

Regardless I got the fuck out of dodge with a quickness. Headed over to the East Side old school record store Trailer Space.
Claude was playing bass with some old punk friends of his from New Jersey called TV Tramps.

TV Tramps – Trailer Space

Singer Joy, has the best look ever and I would invest any amount of money in any of her future endeavors. The whole band is the real deal and all great players.
Saw a bunch of old friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. Had some biz to take care of with Claude before heading out, wish I could of stuck around to check out the store more, it reeked of something very similar from my past of employment at an indie record store.

Jesus Lizard Book Party – Book People

Waterloo’s literary neighbour Book People was hosting David Yow, Mac McNeilly and David William Sims of the Jesus Lizard who collectively have penned a book that offers a frank account of their time in the band as well as Scratch Acid, the band that started in Austin that later became the Jesus Lizard.

Book includes a mini-autobiography from each member, priceless photos, an epic list of every show they played, bassist/resident historian David Sims’ obsessive track-by-track breakdowns of each album, and testimonials from peers like Krist Novoselic, Guy Picciotto, and the band’s longtime producer Steve Albini.
– Mike Watt’s entry is like an abstract beatnik poem.

After the singing the band participated in a discussion with a moderator. The SXSW timing, Yow said was “happenstance,” but he wouldn’t totally rule out playing a few songs with Scratch Acid since he, Sims, drummer Rey Washam, and guitarist Brett Bradford were all in town.
I don’t think that actually happened on this trip but I did catch Bradford’s current project, Insect Sex Act a few hours later, check it later down in this post.

Ok, so now I was headed back to the East Side which for me, is increasingly where all the action is (at least the action that I’m interested in is).
I needed a break before the next two events so I stopped off at a familiar SXSW destination – the Fader Fort.
Needed to charge my phone (and my mind & body) – sit down for a sec, have drink and chill and you can do all of that here (which makes it such a popular destination) and oh yeah, my “break” consisted of also seeing Damon Albarn while I was here.

Damon Albarn & Guests – The Fader Fort

I literally had no idea who was scheduled to play,all I knew was that I was beat and needed to pay the Fort a visit to chill and recharge before heading back out.
That’s the other amazing thing about this festival – Like yesterday with the Les Claypool thing, I can’t tell you how many things I’ve got to enjoy just out of proximity and happenstance and those always seem to be a bit more special because of it.
I’m by no means a committed fan of Damon Albarn but I do know that he’s heavily influenced by alot of artists that I’m interested in and the (& Guests) invited the promise that something special indeed could go down.

Albarn, who’s primarily here to debut songs from his new solo album Everyday Robots, and again I’m not a committed Albarn fan, but these songs were just downright dreadful. Every song was super mopey and slow and just plain boring. They seemed meant to have this powerful dynamic but just came off as extremely dull. People were leaving in droves.
Albarn’s a smart guy, so to break up the monotony he invited De La Soul onstage to join him for their Gorillaz collaboration Feed Good Inc. and naturally the place went positively batshit –

Pulling off one of the bigger surprises so far at the conference as I knew that a big deal was the return of Deltron and they were in town to kickoff their first tour in their 15 year existence, but I didn’t even know Albarn was playing, remember I just came in for a drink and to sit down.
And then look at the pic above, Albarn doubled-down and invited Snoop Dogg to finish the song with them and do a few verses from Drop it Like Its Hot.
It was a great moment and one that just totally fell into my lap.

Ok so I only had a few blocks to walk which was good because I could barely stand at this point for a one-two punch of shows at the Grackle and Hotel Vegas – which thankfully were right next door to each other. An act of convenience that I would miraclously repeat again later in the evening with an another gift of proximity for my aching feet.

Insect Sex Act – the Grackle

As I mentioned above, members of legendary punk freak-out Scratch Acid has a new band with the impossible name of Insect Sex Act and with a pedigree extending from Scratch Acid through Prong via Ministry, they are quotable experts in perverse, rock psychosis.

For example their outrageous new album is called A Fistful of Panties, For a Few Panties More, or Once Upon a Time in Your Panties.
The show was ridiculously loud and even more inanely awesome – Just some crazy old-school art punks doing their best to piss everyone off and kicking ass at the same time.

Buffalo Daughter – Hotel Vegas

So I only had to walk a few hundred feet this time first stopping at the Sailor Jerry House next door to use the bathroom and say hello to some old friends.
I was finally going to get to see Tokyo Japan’s Buffalo Daughter, a funk rockabilly quartet  best known in the late ’90s when they were signed to Beastie Boys’ label, Grand Royal. Their 1998 album New Rock exemplifies what they do, mining synthpop, krautrock and hiphop into one funky dance party.

I never got to see them back in the day and this was one of their first shows in North America in 15 years. The show was phenomenal and one of the best I saw all week. I was just so happy to be finally at one of their shows. Their DJ is a real charachter doing very unorthodox scratching and makes all the weird faces in the world, and projecting animated buffalos onto a screen behind the band with his phone. It was VERY Japanese (and awesome!)

Ok, so now back to downtown for as I mentioned (and thankfully) the next two shows were in also in side-by-side venues – Swan Dive and Holy Mountain.

Star And Dagger – Swan Dive Patio

I get over to Swan Dive to see some friends of mine from New Orleans – Star and Dagger – and really this was the only real hiccup I had the entire festival.
I don’t do that badge/wristband racket – Instead I secure invitations from the bands I want to see ahead of time or in this case invited by the band themselves.
I don’t know what going on inside Swan Dive but it was a total shitshow out front and no could tell me what was going on.
I finally figure out that the show I wanna see has to be accessed through the alley as they were playing the outdoor patio.
The door people at this place were fucking chimps with the corniest Austin-style pose ever – These guys thought they were really something guarding a door in an alley next to a dumpster. They also “assign” certain SXSW “staff” at some of these venues to “oversee” shit – They are always some humorless 19 year old chick volunteering for free while taking a night off from their barista job and think their now in the mix and have the worst attitudes – I almost said fuck it and just went next door to my next show before a member of S&D’s crew recognized me and walked me in.

And good thing too, because the show kicked serious ass. The three women who make up Star & Dagger put heavy music’s testosterone contingent on notice. Dava She Wolf was in the crazy-fun and unfortunately short-lived Cycle Sluts From Hell, while bassist Sean was the other half of White Zombie until they disbanded in 1998. Singer Von Hesseling is such a bad ass, I could watch her do her thing all day.
I met them last all last year in NYC through my buddy Dave Catching who sometimes plays with them along with other Queens of the Stone Age alumni Gene Trautman – Unfortunately both of those dudes were not at this show but it didn’t stop the girls from tearing the roof off this piece of shit.

I hung for a bit to catch up and say hello before heading next door to continue today’s motiff of seeing some legendary Hip-Hop.

Mobb Deep – Holy Mountain

I go over and get in no problem (unlike their asshole neighbors next door) to see one of my fave Hip-Hop groups ever that I never managed to get to see – Mobb Deep –  I was scratching them off the list day left and right today.

As you may know I notoriously hate pop music from the 1990’s and loathe the current nostalgic wave that always happens at the 20 year mark of anything – but I will say this – They got Hip-Hop CORRECT in the 90s and their LP, 1995’s The Infamous became the archetype for a genre. A small but exuberant crowd completely lost their shit, rapping along to every word, when Shook Ones Pt. 2 closed their brief 20 min set.

Kelis – Hype Hotel

Ok, what else could possibly be still going on in this town tonight?? – It was now after 1am – I was so tired I couldn’t speak, dude GO TO BED – but oh no, on the way to the car I passed by the Hype Hotel because I was hungry as well and guess what – Here comes Kelis –

Ten years after her Neptunes-produced sugar-bomb Milkshake and four since her EDM diva turn on Flesh Tone, Kelis has morphed again — this time into an earth mother R&B priestess more about sustenance than confections. Fronting a big band — including a four piece brass/wind section and backing singers — in robes and gold-dust makeup, thick mane of hair to her waist, she segued non-stop through a set of new soul vamps with an Afro-Caribbean undertow and an overall sound recalling 1970s Stevie Wonder. If the songs fell short of that mark, she put them over with spunk and charm.
With a solid new Dave Sitek-produced album called Food as well as an actual food truck to promote (which fits the Austin dynamic brilliantly)  Kelis has been working SXSW hard all week. She’s spared no expense in an effort to recreate the album’s sleek R&B sound, backed by a crack dozen-piece band that delivers the goods. It’s a stellar show, leaning very heavily on the new album and deep cuts from her past albums, and almost grudgingly the fast one-two punch of Milkshake and Got Your Money late in the set that brought out the inevitable field of phones in the crowd. She did not play Bossy, despite Beyonce’s recent poaching of the word.

Ok, so that’s GOT TO BE THE END right?  Wrong!

Jessie Andrews – Republic 

When I met Jessie earlier in the day at the gig we did together, she technically didn’t get to play for very long at all. She didn’t have an SD card and I didn’t have a spare one to give her (and oddly no one else did either) So she invited me to come to an after-hours party at Republic where she was going on at 3am – I had just left the Kelis show a little after 2am – so I just walked over.

I’m wasn’t the only one having an exhausting marathon day – This was her SEVENTH DJ gig of the day (and 9th overall of the festival) – You have to admire her ambition and her skills were still on point. It was a great way to enjoy the end to a very hectic but amazing day.

Stay tuned for Part IV –

Photos –

Roy Turner
Will Oliver

So waking after a long day of driving here yesterday and the events of last night’s tragedy still ringing in my head. especially after the gruesome details started to unfold.  The mood was palpable and you could feel it on everyone’s lips all day. I buried myself in work (and play) and went on to have one of the longest/weirdest/awesome/exhausting days in (my) the history of SXSW –

Day 2 – March 13th

So as you know parking is real bitch in Austin even when its not SXSW, but during it, its nearly impossible and every year I get disgusted seeing locals charging you to park in their yards and now schools and churches getting in on the act – fucking parasites.
My goal was first to go by a few places on the East Side to get credentialed and then drop off some business materials at Stubb’s and then make the long sojourn about 11 blocks down E 12th to see King Buzzo from the Melvins do an early solo acoustic gig –

King Buzzo – Record Label Rummage Sale

A cool outdoor show put on by some locals, who could detect my exhaustion (if I looked bad to these people, I must’ve looked terrible…j.k…much to my chagrin their is photo proof later in this post) and offered me a beer as Buzz was just getting started. First person I see is Jeff P once again and we regaled the previous evening’s Pure Luck gig as well as the tragedy that followed. He has a natural gift for simplefying things and we drank in the sun and listened to Buzz.

…..and now for something completely different – I still had like 25 blocks to trek back to the mess downtown so I walked back down the east side of 6th st picking up more credentials along the way….by the time I made it to downtown I had so many colorful wristbands, I looked like Cyndi Lauper.

MTVU Woodie Awards –

Every year, MTV produces this TV special with their sister imprint MTVu – as in University – aimed at showcasing (and rewarding) new, young up & coming talent in tandem with the festival. The crowd is usually super young and super annoying and if I didn’t feel old enough I usually have never heard of any of the bands that are booked to play – I’m no longer of that demographic – I usually just use this as a pit stop because MTV has big money to give out free food/booze and all kinds of other goodies and being the bottom feeder that I am, I don’t pass up free beer and bbq and a chance to get out of the sun for a sec.
Not this year – I was moving on up in the world and this year I was an invited guest with an All Access pass so I could sit my old ass in an air-conditioned twerk-free tent and feast to my heart’s content.
…and I did get to check out some new bands (and no previously I had not heard of any of them)

Echosmith

The first band I saw was Echosmith – kind of like Haim, their a family-band from Southern California and play a pleasant, earnest kind of pop music.

Bleachers

Singer dude was dressed so ironically fashion-forward style that it had swung back around to just plain irksome looking. Kinda reminded me of Waldo from the Hot for Teacher video – but he did do a great cover of my fave Tom Petty song – Don’t Come Around Here No More –

London Grammar

I saw this super good looking girl backstage and asked someone who it was and was told she was in a band called London Grammar who were up next and that they were indeed from London and compared them to Portishead – who are like my favorite band ever, so needless to say, they had my full attention.

Wrong again asshole – as I discover  this pic on the cover of MTV.com and Zimbio – among all these pretty people with their perfect hair and cool sunglasses, who is that pasty, balding, homeless looking dude with BBQ sauce on his shirt their in the left corner? (and who let his old ass in here?) – Oh..that’s me

IFC Fairrounds
w/ Les Claypool’s Duo de Twang

I had to take a break from the cool kids so I walked outside and I swore I could hear Les Claypool’s unmistakable goofy voice in the distance – and that my friends is the very essence of this festival and what keeps me coming back – Where else could you take a hiatus from Lil Wayne’s pot smoke and find yourself at a Les Claypool gig….in some new formation you didn’t know existed?

Setlist – 

Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver (Primus)
Booneville Stomp
Amos Moses (Jerry Reed)
The Bridge Came Tumblin’ Down (Stompin’ Tom Connors)
The Battle of New Orleans (Johnny Horton)
South Park Theme
Man in the Box (Alice in Chains)
Stayin’ Alive (Bee Gees)
Jerry Was a Race Car Driver (Primus)

Thurs night of music week is always the big night – lots of competition – nowhere else in the world would some of the shows be happening all on the same night.
Thurs night at Stubb’s is always the big deal – their always an act that could play arenas/stadiums that play to 2k or so lucky fans – (one year it was Metallica) – This year it was Lady Gaga and if you haven’t already heard, I hear it was a vomiting good time.
The long shaft of Corporate Cock stretched far with this one as for the last few years one of the biggest sponsors of the festival has been Doritos – and every year they build this FOUR STORY tall monstrosity of a replica of a Doritos vending machine that bands play beneath. So anytime you are walking around downtown during the festival you can just look up and see this Doritos monolith in the sky. It’s Ian Mackaye‘s worst nightmare.
Well this year apparently Doritos is launching a line of chips they are calling BOLD – and in order to see Lady Gaga you had to actually film yourself doing a series of pre-determined “bold challenges” and submit them and then hoped to be chosen from a lottery of other “bold challengers”. How about GALL? These sound like chips that have gall.
Ok so know it was time to head West a few blocks up to the Moody Theater where they tape Austin City Limits for the Itunes Festival. I was there to meet up with some investors for my upcoming film project and Soundgarden were having a special event.

Itunes Festival – ACL Live Moody Theater
w/ Capitol Cities
Band of Skulls
Soundgarden

First of all, I’ve never been to this new theater and let me tell you something – this is the most impressive, intimate and just overall inspired concert venue I’ve ever been in. Only holds around 3k and not a bad seat in the house – every detail seems to be to advance the patrons experience – the lights, flawless sound – stage arrangement to the cleanest facilities and an efficient, capable staff – I’m happy to report that the live music capital of the world did the right thing and got themselves the best venue for it.

I was also excited for the music – Soundgarden was celebrating a birthday The occasion was the 20th anniversary of the band’s Superunknown album, and they were gonna play it in its entirety for the first time, anywhere (not even in rehearsal as singer Chris Cornell mentioned) and some of the songs like Limo Wreck had never been played live before ever.

This was also the band’s first-ever performance at SXSW – Cornell disclaimed (if not a bit nervous..which was fun and sobering to see)  He said the band hadn’t quite managed to fully rehearse playing the album’s 15 songs in order, and warned that Superunknown’s multiple tunings meant he and guitarist Kim Thayil would change instruments with every song. Apologies hardly seemed necessary.
Cornell looked much as he always has, goateed and tightly wound, often leaning back from the mic to dig deeper into a riff. To finally hear Mailman live was a huge highlight for me.
They stuck to just playing the LP and at over an hour long that was plenty.

I had to get there early to secure my place so I saw the openers too – Synth- and horn-plenty pop group Capital Cities opened the night and convinced the crowd to do the Hustle when THEY did a cover version of the Bee Gee’s Stayin’ Alive. Again where in the world would I hear in the last 90 mins Les Claypool and now this band cover that song?
contrast, the next act, alt-rock trio Band of Skulls blasted a stripped-down sound that served a perfect bridge for the headliner.

I was seated next to this really fun, affluent couple that were buying me drinks and making me laugh all night. She was totally hot and lovely and he was a big nerd like me so we all just got on like gangbusters and had a great time. I love the commaraderie of this festival and hope its one thing that it never loses.

Ok, onward! It was now after 11pm and Matt (my host) just text me and we were hoping to have a fun night of just us and see some good Hip-Hop and though I already have had an insanely long day and it was fucking freezing outside – that night was tonight -and that time was now.

Audible Treats Showcase – Half Step
w/ Black Milk
Souls of Mischief
HIeroglyphics

That area south of the Convention Center informally known as just Rainey for its street of the same name has become my new fave area the last couple of years. Its got that undiscovered, unspoiled, newness to it and though its anything but a secret, it just feels like a row of speakeasies and bootleggers or something. It feels like your getting away from the shitshow, though its within walking distance and at times a shitshow of its own. You can tell that it won’t remain this way for long.
I get over to Half Step and bouncer dude gives a tiny bit of static but was resolved quickly enough. The show was outside – I was freezing and my feet hurt but hey Black Milk was on –

Matt showed up (in a limo somehow haha) shortly after he was done and thoughtfully brought me a sweater with a hoodie (but remember I still had my prison-issue special with dried sweat to keep me warm) bought a round of drinks and we headed to the front for Souls of Mischief/Hieroglyphics –

Hieroglyphics was of course founded by Del the Funky Homosapien and the collective is currently composed of him, Casual, Pep Love, producer/manager Domino, DJ Toure, and the four individual members of the rap group
Souls of Mischief:
Phesto
A-Plus
Opio
and Tajai.
Del being the highlight but doesn’t always perform with Hiero, in fact the last few times I’ve seen them he hasn’t been there – but we knew he was in town so we were expectant, but for some reason (and none was given) he wasn’t at this show (or any other Hiero show this week). But that’s not to say that we weren’t blessed by a special guest because if you look close in the picture above, Ali Shaheed Mohammed from A Tribe Called Quest took over for Toure the last few numbers that capped off a very fun, strong showing by the group and just fueled a great night with Matt and I even further. Good times.

Ok…so it was now 2am, I couldn’t even spell exhaustion at this point, we still had 20 blocks to go to find my car, you would think we would be done.
We were not and for once it was my idea.
After getting back to my car I heard this over-hyped band with the great name Perfect Pussy was playing on the South Lamar Pedestrian Bridge at 3am.
Some band always braves the bridge and it usually gets busted in minutes and is patroned usually by those that hang at the bridge anyway, but as Hunter S. Thompson once said, once you get locked into a serious collection of anything the tendancy is “to take it as far as you can”. Off we go –

Perfect Pussy – South Lamar Bridge

A gas generator powered the short set. –  Here there was no line, bouncer or sponsors — and, thanks to a slight bend in the bridge that kept the crowd mostly out of view, no cops, either.