In years past, Wednesday’s unofficial day parties would, for most, officially start their SXSW. Six years ago, Jeff Davidson and I contributed to the festivities with Earvolution’s inaugural (and only) afternoon event. (Two artists from that showcase will be playing SXSW 2013: Joshua James and Ace Reporter’s Chris Snyder formerly of The States). With Tuesday becoming the new Wednesday, there is tempered excitement while heading into downtown Austin.
[The Lone Bellow Photo by @pastemagazine]
As it their custom, Paste Magazine has taken over The Stage At 6th for the week, this year pairing with HGTV, running two stages making it The Stages At 6th. As is also their custom, they’ve booked eclectic showcases featuring a wide variety of genres as well as a nice mix of buzzbands and soon to be buzzed about bands.
After a quick run down Sixth Street due to a change in bus routes, it’s a Lone star with The Lone Bellow. Well, it would be but for Red Hook Brewery’s sponsorship and free IPAs and ESBs. The bartender responds to my query about what makes the ESB extra special with a tired “I don’t know.” I suspect I’m not the first person to ask this. The Lone Bellow may owe a debt of gratitude to Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers but with gorgeous harmonies and lovely acoustic folk melodies, they can definitely stand their own ground. Their debut record may not do justice in showing how solid they are.
On the outside stage, CR Smith, who hails from Montana – a “state and everything” he explains – makes the most of his opportunity for winning an HGTV/Paste contest to find their new theme song. Using one of the laptops that Rev. Peyton preached against, they offer up some standard but solid indie rock that leans toward the pop side of things. He may have revealed too much with a soft piano-accompanied cover of Bon Jovi’s Livin On A Prayer. If this is the HGTV band, why didn’t freecreditscore.com, which is an SXSW sponsor, bring down the freecreditscore.com band? I suspect I would have gone to see them.
Guards, who bill themselves from New York City as opposed to the supposedly hipper southern borough, rev up the main stage with a slew of hard-charging garage rockers. They finish with a notably lengthy garage-industrial-psych rock jam that may have drifted in The Doors for a bit. (Whether that turns out to be a compliment or not is in the eye of the reader). Guards provides a nice appetizer to Foxygen, the L.A. based group that might possibly be the hottest band in Austin this week. For a 2 p.m. set, the main stage at Stage at 6th is packed. Even for a midnight set, Stage at 6th is packed. In dress and stage presence, Foxygen sells the psychedelic-hippie image with perfection and Sam France took On The Mountain to the streets, barking the chorus while hanging out the window overlooking 6th Street. Their set featured much of their latest album and much of what I thought of their set would echo what I wrote in the last Hitting The Trunk Road. So rather than cut and paste, why not just check it out on your own.
[The Lone Bellow Photo by @pastemagazine]
In between the two, Easter Island, from Athens, Georgia, offer up pleasing walls of guitar scree on the patio stage. They contrast with Mac DeMarco, who I suspect I will see more of because I have legs and he is playing everywhere this week. (I dub this the SXSW Rocco DeLuca man of the week for reasons I think only I would understand). To distract you from this non-sequitur, perhaps we link to Kiefer Sutherland tackling a Christmas tree as a form of explanation. That clip might also correlate with DeMarco. Mid-afternoon may be the wrong time to see him as he seems to be awesomely insane. After finishing the set belting out a song like he’s Al Green. I’m convinced of DeMarco’s awesomeness.
On the main stage Dawes does Dawes like things before an even-more-packed then-for-Foxygen crowd. Sadly, this means they provided backing music for a CW show, albeit quality backing music.
[Dawes Photo by @stevehargrave]
It turns out Red Hook was running a heroin promotion. The first taste was free but if you want more, they jack the price up to $4. Unconscionable, I tell you! Unconscionable! Back to Lone Star – which are also $4 so this rant is of questionable merit. Perhaps I should lay off the lunch beers?
The Allah-Las played a great set that touched on surf guitars and the coolness of Link Wray. Matthew E. White came the closest to the dreaded jamband motif while turning the mellowness of the material from Big Inner into compelling workouts. White, especially with that rhythm section, may have a lot to say going forward.
Marnie Stern let everyone know how cool it would be if Cameron Diaz could shred on guitar. She’s blonde now for those that care about such things. She also came to closest to rocking out with her cock out by unbuckling her shorts and unbuttoning her shorts near the end of the set in a reverse gender version of the availability dance. Someone missed their chance to mate with Marnie Stern this afternoon.
The Shout Out Louds closed out the showcase with a fine set, yet it paled in comparison to those that came before.
Over at the Fader Fort, well separated from downtown Austin, there’s a world separate to itself. Slightly reminiscent of Bartertown after Mel Gibson esposes Tina Turner, there’s booths, couches and lots of exposed dirt. There’s also Sky Ferreira, who seems to be the latest Mouseketeer trying to make it in the adult world.
After confirming that the freecreditscore.com band would not be playing their showcase at the IFC Crossroads House, which was an incredible dump with great swag, its back to Stage at 6th for The Field Report. However, out on the patio, a rapper by the name of Lush Life makes an early entry into the “is it crap or is it genius” sweepstakes. It’s just too tough to tell.
The Field Report proves too intense/too boring. Back over at the Hype Hotel, a heated argument over whether Twin Peaks or The Orwells are on stage is resolved by learning it’s Calvin Love. He’s electronic-y. With the stages running late, a dash back over to Viceland finds that they’ve moved the entire stage space indoors from last night. Merchandise, from Tampa, Florida put on a fabulous half hour of straightforward, indie/modern rock heavy on guitars and drums. However, introducing a saxophone for the last fifteen minutes of their set switched the tone towards avant-garde-ish rock. Compelling enough, it made the set feel interminable by its end.
[Calvin Love Photo by @seagate]
Making sure that there was no chance of getting into the NPR showcase, its over to the Parish Underground where Pujol is holding court. Revving up old-school Rolling Stone licks until they’re nearly unrecognizable, Pujol serve up kick-ass punk rock in short punchy doses. The force and volume are nearly too much for the modestly sized venue. Upstairs, at The Parish, Ex-Cops amble through an easygoing, dreamy set that borrowed as much from Maxine Nightingale as it did from the synths of the Eighties.
Beauty Bar is now called Holy Mountain and has literally become a darker venue. On the outdoor stage, The Coathangers, an all-female punk quartet, bash out high speed chords while shouting, oftentimes in-comprehensively over the din. It’s raucous and noisy but not without its charms. It’s somewhat quieter inside where Waxahatchee, Katie Crutchfield’s project, has mustered a significant crowd. On her latest, Crutchfield joins the ranks of female singer-songwriters that captivate the listener by bearing their soul with unflinching frankness and honesty. Like the Morrissettes and Phairs before her, Crutchfield offers proclamations that she has no desire to be your girlfriend and will not do what you want to her because, well, she doesn’t need a reason. In covering Paul Simon’s The Boy In The Bubble, Crutchfield sings about every generation throwing a hero up the pop charts. It seems that every generation also has a Liz Phair sitting in their bedroom cranking out extremely emotional songs over simply constructed guitar riffs. Let’s be grateful that that is so.
The night concludes at the IFC Crossroads House which despite its comforts (couches!!) is quite an ill-conceived concert space. With a stage even with or possibly slightly below the audience, there were very few that got to see The Divine Fits. Hearing them was no problem whatsoever and they sounded terrific. When musicians that understand rock and roll try to make great dance music, tremendous things happen.
