Here’s videos from the last two bands from our Donewaiting.com Day show last week during SXSW.
First up, Austin’s Midgetmen:
Keep reading for Goes Cube. (more…)
Photo by kristianyeomans
MP3: Girl With 1 Eye by Florence and the Machine
Every year I come to SXSW hoping to find that one band that represents everything I love about both the festival and music in general. It’s a lofty goal, but I believe! The first year I came to SXSW I found that in the form of The Decemberists. This year it was Florence and the Machine.
I think I learned about her though an article in NYLON, I’m not sure. Anyway, I got to her BBC showcase early to get up front and what transpired over the next 40 minutes was the best time I had all week. Florence had a guitar player with her and she played the drums during one song, but mostly just sang and had one single drum on her side that she would occasionally hit. She had a great sense of humor to the whole event and a voice that would make even Darlene Love proud.
She ran through a set of covers (Cold War Kids, Beirut) and originals that really showcased her vocal range. And oh her lyrics! Whether it was singing about a woman whose eye she had to cut out (see mp3 above), or a bird she had to kill to stop talking, each song was just a delight to hear.
During the show she had mentioned that she was getting a bit hot and she said she was going to jump into the indoor fountain before her set was over. Of course everyone thought this was a joke, but she actually dove off the stage, grabbed a friend, and went into the water! Drenched, she came back to the microphone and finished her song. I’ll never forget this set. And thanks to Youtube, you can see this watery moment yourself:
According to the BBC, her first release was limited to 500 tapes and she’s currently working on a full length album. I am hoping she makes it out to the US for a tour, or at the very least for SXSW again so we can book her at our next donewaiting.com day show!
So many musicians just run through the motions when they’re onstage, it’s a joy to see someone actually putting on a show for the audience.
Here’s another song she performed at the event: (more…)
Duffy photo by Lorne Thomson
The last day started with a great breakfast at Progress Coffee with some friends. If I would have discovered this place earlier, I probably would have went every morning. So good, Austin, so good.
As mentioned on the Wumme, we started Saturday off at The Fader Fort with Dri, not D.R.I. as we thought it was gonna be. Oopst. Rookie mistake! Ah well. They were okay I guess but not memorable.
It was time to see Lykke Li. It was my first time seeing them, but for some it was their fifth time in 3 days. And I could understand why - her music and stage presence is infectious. I’m thinking that her career is going to get a big boost thanks to SXSW.
Left Fader for Filter where I caught the second half of Devotchka’s set. It seems every time I go to SXSW I never can see their entire performance. Ah well, what I saw was great as always. Up next was Grand Archives, a band that I didn’t know anything about but totally blew me away. They sort of reminded me a Wilco meets Beulah combination, and I hope to see them live again soon. I need to start looking into their recorded output…
After Grand Archives it was time for Seawolf, another band I really like, but I was starting to get a little loopy. It was time to head to the hotel and relax a little before the evening shows.
The evening began with my UK cousin Duffy at Stubb’s. I had been listening to her album for awhile now and was hoping that she would be able to pull it off live. And.. she did! I know people are going to want to peg her as the new Amy Winehouse, but I think there’s a lot more going on than just that.
It was time to go to the Barsuk showcase. Caught Jim Noir’s excellent set. I’d previously not paid much attention to Jim but I need to change that. Then it was time for Nada Surf, but unfortunately the sound at the rooftop of Maggie Mae’s was so terrible (not the band’s fault) that I left early.
My entire SXSW journey ended with Matt and Kim (mp3). Like I’ve siad when I’ve written about them in the past, it’s hard not to smile during the band’s entire set. A perfect way to end another great year at SXSW. Thanks, Austin, see you soon.
Here’s Catfish Haven performing at the Donewaiting.com Day Show during SXSW 2008.
ALSO FROM THE SHOW
Joseph Arthur
AA Bondy
Division Day
El Jesus de Magico
The Spinto Band
Here’s video of The Spinto Band performing at the Donewaiting.com Day Show during SXSW.
More videos of The Spinto Band here and here and here.
ALSO FROM THE SHOW
Joseph Arthur
AA Bondy
Division Day
El Jesus de Magico
Shout Out Louds photo by Chasing Fun
This is coming in late, and if you check more than one music website on the internet, you’re probably sick of this SXSW talk. But we’ve promised to end our coverage in 24 hours, so be patient and be understanding, and maybe download an mp3 or two.
Friday for me started out at the Filter party to see Shout Out Louds. This was the third time I’ve seen them, and probably the best performance of them all. Band is just amazing live, and the textures of their album really carry out during their performances. This is a band that I can never get sick of.
Then it was time for Los Campesinos!, a band that I was really looking forward to seeing at the festival. To be honest, until I saw this post on Brooklyn Vegan, I thought the band was some Mexican alt-rock band. Couldn’t be farther from the truth. Imagine the “Legal Man” side of Belle and Sebastian with a whole lot more pop and you’re almost in the ballpark. Two of the dudes played with their shirts off and I am pretty sure they had sun poisoning by the time their set was over. All for the love of rock… hope they come to Ohio..
Those were the only bands I saw in the afternoon. After that I was on the radio with Andyman for CD 101 in Columbus OH talking about SXSW. Slaybaugh came along, and I grabbed Adam Smith from CDR to join in on the adventure, too.
Evening started at the Big Shout Touring evening showcase with Ravens and Chimes (mp3). I described them as Arcade Fire meets Polyvinyl Records, if that means anything to anyone. I enjoyed their set, wish they sold their record at the show.
After them was The Builders and the Butchers (mp3). This was a band that I easily fell in love with, sounding like the music Devotchka might make if they lived in the Americana genre. I’ve been told that Chris Funk from the Decemberists has produced their new album, so I’m expecting big things from these guys.
From there I went to the WFMU show to see Carla Bozulich’s new band, Evangelista (mp3). Some sound problems early on seemed to upset Carla, but once the band got into a good groove it was a great blend of noise and melody. I need to pick up the album to hear what the band sounds like recorded.
I ended the night with two legends: J Mascis and Thurston Moore. A nice ending to another great day at SXSW.
Saturday
By the week’s end, my alcohol consumption was beginning to catch up with me. The day started out well enough with another freebie, but a PBR-sponsored show at the French Legation Museum ended up meaning only dollar beers. While that wasn’t entirely bad news, the beer line there soon grew too long to bother. And after scorching in the sun for a few hours, there was no choice but to seek refuge in the hotel instead of continuing the quest. When I did venture out again, as was generally the case the rest of the week, once the sun set so too did the free beer dry up.
Free beers: 1; Bought beers: 6 (2 of which were only $1)
Final total
Free beers: 16.5; Bought beers: 29
If I learned anything this week, it was that if you put music before beer at SXSW, you will most likely be buying most of your alcohol. I also learned that, judging by the response to this blog, that there are not as many people googling “free beer” as I thought.
Columbus OH’s El Jesus de Magico kicked things off at the Donewaiting.com Day Show during SXSW.
More El Jesus videos here and here and here.
ALSO FROM THE SHOW
Joseph Arthur
AA Bondy
Division Day
Here’s Division Day performing “Catch Your Death” at the Donewaiting.com Day Show during SXSW.
ALSO FROM THE SHOW
Joseph Arthur
AA Bondy
El Jesus de Magico
Here’s Joseph Arthur performing “When I Was Running Out of Time” at the Donewaiting.com Day Show during SXSW.
More Joseph Arthur videos from the show here and here.
ALSO FROM THE SHOW
AA Bondy
Division Day
El Jesus de Magico
Here’s AA Body performing “O The Vampyre” at the Donewaiting.com Day Show during SXSW.
More videos of AA Bondy at the show here and here.
ALSO FROM THE SHOW
Division Day
Joseph Arthur
El Jesus de Magico
I’m still a little out of it from the flight and the week, so the second part of my SXSW wrap up will come tomorrow. In the meantime, why don’t you people post up your reviews of SXSW. Things that were amazing, things that sucked, anything you want. Let’s hear it.
(and for those of you who are sick of the SXSW coverage, don’t worry! the light is at the end of the tunnel…)
I’ll let my wrist do all the talking. Confusion is a virtue in Tejas.
For another exhaustive dispatch from the trenches go to World of Wumme.
Friday
Friends, I am losing the war. Yesterday I failed to keep the free beer to bought beer ratio in check. I did, however, find a loophole: being bought beers by other people, which of course counts as free beer. So if you’d like to contribute to my worthy cause, feel free to buy me beer. I’ll be the only guy wearing a Maplewood t-shirt.
Free beer: 3; Bought beer: 10
Total
Free beer: 15.5 (again 6 of these were tallboys); Bought beer: 23
(Please remember these numbers are coming from an increasingly diminishing memory.)
Okay, first up: Florence and the Machine on Thursday so far has been by far the best thing I’ve seen so far. She deserves her own post and you can read that here.
Thursday started with a closed-door round table organized by SXSW with myself and a few fellow music bloggers. Like the World Bank, we made some decisions that will impact how everything is run for the next year. Well, not exactly, but it was good to just shoot the shit about blogs with some of my peers and favorite blogs.
Caught Sons and Daughters tear through a three song set for The Current. Great set although I didn’t realize it would be so short. I wanted more more more.
Saw Saul Williams (pictured above) at the Fader tent. Dude was on fire. I’ve not given his music a lot of attention, but that’s about to change. Dressed as Niggy Tardust, he killed the crowd. Soooooo good.
The evening started with the Body of War event at Stubb’s. This was an event for the documentary of the same name about the Iraq war and one soldier’s personal relationship with it. I was able to see Billy Bragg, singer from System of a Down, RX Bandits (who?), and when Ben Harper came on I knew it was time to leave. But Billy Bragg was great. Still relevant!
Then onto Florence and the Machine, and like I said, I’ll talk about her later. After that I went over to see Emmy the Great, as recommended to me by Frank at Chromewaves. With her band, Emmy put on a great set that showcased her honest lyrics and gift for the personal connection.
It was time to check out the Bon Iver hype. Would dude be good or not good? Well, I am here to tell you people of the internet that he and his band were really good. I will say, though, that the set started out slow for me but by the time it was all over, I was a fan. I’m looking forward to seeing him in an indoor venue, maybe a little more intimate (not too intimate, I imagine, as the band’s popularity is skyrocketing).
Hmm… what did I do after that?
I ended the night seeing The Raveonettes. I really love this band, but for some reason I haven’t picked up their new album yet. Their set was really good, everything you’d come to expect from the band. Great way to end the night.
