SXSW 2008

posted Mar 22, 05:14 PM by Rick Webb

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All right! Let’s wrap this thing up. Some Rock blogger I am – I’m like a week late on my blog update. Such are the travails of a blogger with a busy job, I guess.

ANYWAY, SXSW Music. Year 4 or 5? Basically, it was the same. A continuation of last year’s battles between SXSW and the parties around it seemed to be a continuing trend. I believe some sort of grand bargain is really in order here. I can see both sides of it. For instance, I am continually bullshit about the Fader Fort, and it’s impossible lines and acts that aren’t playing SXSW and the fact that my platinum pass won’t get me in there, for my $1,000 or whatever the fuck. But at the same time, I can totally see why the festival needs things like Mess With Texas, and I can totally see why the Breeders took a paying gig @ Mess With Texas instead of a SXSW slot, for no money. And a telling quote by a JetBlue marketing exec in the WSJ – “Attendees don’t know the difference between official and unofficial events” – pretty much exemplifies the concerns of the SXSW organizers.

Still, though SXSW needs to recognize that the event is more than an industry confab. And indeed, the quality of the industry confab would probably be improved dramatically if there were some arrangement with the day and free show organizers to handle the public while SXSW focuses on the industry.

A few small things were done this year – more or less under the radar but telling – that indicates some of this might be possible in the future. Firsts, many popular bands played more than one official showcase show. A Place to Bury Strangers, for example, had a few, as did other bands. This is a small thing, but it does indicate n acceptance of reality a bit by the SXSW organizers that some bands are going to play more than once, and demand maybe larger than one show can accommodate. This was originally, I feel, how the day shows and free shows got off the ground – because WAY more people wanted to see a band than could. It’s nice to see SXSW finally – in a small and belated way – recognizing that. It DOES however, set a good groundwork for some sort of grand bargain where there are free shows for the public, every band playing at least one showcase that the platinum passes can get into, and maybe a few paid shows, day, shows, etc.

The second thing that seems to have happened is that forces in the city have coalesced a bit to allow the off-festival parties – day, night and after hours – to go forward. SXSW was a bit dodgy last year, probably, for shutting them down or causing them to be shut down on safety grounds – if they cared so much about safety, they would have told these places in advance to go legit. Those tactics really only work once, though, and this year the Ticketmaster lounge, red bull lounge, fader fort, and the vice and C-3 Presents/Playboy parties were all unmolested, as was the IHEARTCOMIX party, aside from times the cops would enforce more than reasonable 1-in/1-out rules.

As a platinum consumer, I had absolutely no problem getting into anything official that I wanted – including big name shows like REM. I didn’t even TRY to go to the Fader Fort this year – I cannot stand that line.

From the viewpoint of the average consumer, though, I think the Fader Fort is pretty cool – it lets people exchange time for money. You RSVP, you wait in a hellacious line, and then you’re treated like a VIP (which you’re really not, but still, it’s cool), and get a bit of the cool experience.

The whole thing would be AWESOME if the Fader Fort didn’t have bands you couldn’t see anywhere else. I understand where they’re coming from, but it’s annoying. The schedule is impossible to find, I have to spend all this time on the internet figuring out the RSVP and, worst, I have to actually read or sign up for Fader. Ew. I’m sure many people are psyched about the free gift of music and love fader for it, but man, I hate them.

Especially contrasted with Filter, who’s Cedar Street party each year is awesome. Yeah, RSVPing works, but so does a badge, and that’s great. There seem to be a ton of day parties like that – free if you RSVP, and free with a badge. That is perfect. Both needs are addressed.

Then there’s the large, public, sponsored events: the biggest, of course, was Mess With Texas, but I’d say the Onion party and the PItchfork party at Emo’s sort of fall into this category as well. These are awesome. Wait in a line, see some awesome band. I love them. Saw a lot of awesome shit at all three of these this year, as in past years.

SO, Grand bargain propositions:

  1. VIP and elite after hours things like Red Bull and Ticketmaster should be left alone to do whatever they want
  2. SXSW will provide sponsorship, listing, and promotional consideration to day events that take badges
  3. The more free day events the better
  4. All daytime events should either be one of the following:
    1. free to all, and comprised completely of bands that are playing official showcases (ie the onion)
    2. have non-SXSW bands but be free with tons of room and no lines (ie Mess With Texas)
    3. have non-SXSW bands but be free with RSVP or Badge
    4. have non-SXSW bands but have advance ticket sales

I think that would pretty much do it. Go for it!

So, the festival itself.

I met a lot of people in the music industry. I met music website owners and bloggers and musicians and booking agents and internet people who work for booking agents and internet people who work for recording artists and people who sell tickets for venues and photographers and mastering engineers and bookers and club owners and and and… but I only met one sole person who worked at a record label.

The record industry is dead. Long live the music industry.

The music industry is fine.

The Bands: Til We’re Blue or Destroy (two times), Freezepop, Wedding Present, FREE SOL, Kid Beyond, Yeasayer, Lemonheads, Naked Raygun, Georgie James, The Stills, Shout Out Louds (Twice), Phosphorescent, Secret Shine, Bildmeister, Caleb Engstrom, Magnolia Summer, Soiled Mattress and the Springs, Boys in a Band, Working for a Nuclear Free City, Totally Michael, HEARTSREVOLUTION, Bon Iver, Mark Kozelek, MGMT, Moby, Justice, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Blitzen Trapper, British Sea Power, Jason Collett, Coconut Coolouts, Make Model, Crystal Castles, The Dodos, Grand Archives, Handsome Furs, Half Japanese, Beat Union, Headlights, Tilly and The Wall, A Place to Bury Strangers, Chromeo, Pissed Jeans, Two Gallants, Atlas Sound, Most Serene Republic, The Raveonettes, James Yuill, The Teeth, SYME, Soundtrack of our Li ves, The Slits, Jay Retarded, Dark Meat

*During Interactive… **Till We’re Blue or Destroy* – Still the best band in austin. Still awesome. Still needs to become huge.
Freezepop – So awesome they finally got to SXSW. I saw three shows of theirs, all went well. The Showcase was solid, and people loved them.

Wednesday….
The Wedding Present – For some reason he only had half his band – and he was clearly embarrassed about it. He plowed through, though, and played some awesome songs – he played “Suck” and, really, what more do you want out of life? He should really learn that America loves Seamonsters the best, but he played some of the old hits too – that England loves: “My Favorite Dress,” “Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?” etc. Still a good time.
Free Sol – Rap Rock, well done, very well done, LOTS of gear, live guitarist.
Kid Beyond – I have no recollection of this at all
Yeasayer – Best new band of the festival. As awesome live as you could imagine from their album. I hope this conference breaks them.
Lemonheads – Only caught one song since I’m seeing them in a week or two, but yeah, man, It’s a Shame About Ray. Lots of people watching them, which was nice.
Naked Raygun – Made me feel 18 again. From the looks of it, made them feel 18 again too. I love seeing old punk bands. These guys were of the Pegboy ilk – kind of bemused and giddy about it all.

Then we tried to go to REM but they wouldn’t let us because I had a camera, so Emma and I went back to the Ticketmaster lounge, which a client had gotten me into earlier that day. That was awesome. It was the sophisticated adult lounge I had been longing for – complete with awesome dancing to a good DJ, and waiters who brought us Stubbs BBQ and french fries. Excellent way to end the night.

Thursday….
Georgie James – From what I remember, it was not my cup of tea
The Stills – First album is still the best. Early signs on third album are moderate – not as murky as the second, but pretty bland rock potentially. Holding out on a final decision until I hear it.
The Shout Out Louds – Awesome. I love scandanavians. They’re this year’s Loney Dear
Phosphorescent – Loved it, but rocking time was not the time to see a NEW mellow indie band. Once I know them, I’m sure I’d love it live but I felt a little disengaged. Made a mental note to dig into them more, however
Secret Shine – Awesome shoegaze but man they sing out of tune
Bildmeister – Tight angry post rock meets loud shoegaze. I liked it.
Caeb Engstrom – Boring Folk
Magnolia Summer – Ditto, but slightly more competent and lush
Soiled Mattress and the Springs – YES. I don’t know anything about this band but they were AWESOME. Reminded me of an angry evil Smashing Orange. I need to investigate them more.
Boys in a Band – as fun, infectious and ridiculous as they were at Iceland Airwaves, and even funnier banter as they made fun of Texas. The Faroe Islands’ answer to the Birthday Party
Working for a Nuclear Free City – Um… AWESOME? How did I not know about this awesome post rock band? When I was texting Jon Whitney to tell him that his APTBS was cleaning up SXSW, he asked if I had seen Working For a Nuclear Free City yet, as if I should know who they were. It was luck I could say yes. But… man, they were awesome. Best post rock potential band yet.
Totally Michael – Um. Totally hilarious. WTF. Geekiest of the white geek rappers yet. Cracked me up.
Heartsrevolution – Good from what i remember. But not my cup of tea.
Bon Iver – Awesome. Awesome. I need to listen to this a milion times.
Mark Kozelek – I’m growing tired of this schtick of his. The one guitar, one key, all songs completely reworked, refusing to play very much that we know and love, and if he does (he played “Rock and Roll Singer, for example”), he changes the music so much it’s unrecognizeable. I loved that when he first started – like his Star Spangled Banner and Shock me – but now that he’s doing it to his songs… eh. Even this I loved like three years ago, but… it’s time for the next evolution of Mark Kozelek. My vote is he becomes a straight up folk singer and plays his songs in the keys they were written.

Playboy party, which was a fun VIP style event that C 3 Presents got me into.
MGMT – Awesome. Way more rock than I thought they’d be. To the point that I wasnt paying attention because I didn’t realize it was them. I was busy getting free jack daniels, eating free BBQ and looking at playboy bunnies.
Moby – Pretty solid DJ set I have to admit. I haven’t seen him DJ in like.. um… I dunno, 15 years? I figured he didn’t really do it anymore. but he does. And it was good. He ended with Paradise City which was pretty great.
Justice – Good but not great. Severely improved with the presence of dancing playboy bunnies and giant chipmunks. It would have been nice if they played their hits.

Friday….
Fleet Foxes – Awesome beard rock. Better than Grand Archives, not as weird as Akron/Family. Solid.
Blitzen Trapper – Eh. Nothing stuck for me. I’ll have to reinvestigate.
British Sea Power – Awesome, but the first album is still the best. Man they’re good. Man I love them.
Jason Collett – Solid and a decent addition to the BSS solo spectrum but now Kevin Drew.
Coconut Coolouts – Fun but not in fruit costumes, which was very confusing for those trying to identify Lele’s new husband
Make Model – Good spacerocky, but a bit atonal for me in places
Crystal Castles – Awesome! Atari Teenage Riot’s adolescent kids. Perhaps take themselves a smidge too seriously, but hey, so did ATR.
The Dodos – Lots of percussion. I remember liking it a lot at the time but remember very little of it.
Grand Archives – Good but didn’t live up to the hype for me. Got a LOT better as it went on. I need to investigate more.
Handsome Furs – Solid. Post Rock. yes post rock was well represented. I’d see them again.
Half Japanese – Needed to happen once in my life and it was pretty much exactly what one expected, with Ira from Yo La Tengo on sax adding to the absurdity.
Beat Union – These guys were awesome! LIke Black Rebel Motorcycle Club meets OK Computer. I would totally go see them again. If I remember.
Headlights – Awesome, as always. Man, they’re great.
Tily and the Wall – I was soooo tired but their infections Abba-esque songs and tap dancing really woke me up. Yay!

Saturday….
A Place to Bury Strangers – Awesome. Scary. Loud. Fast. Better and better every time. Weird to see them in the day time (I saw them again last night in the dark and it makes a difference) but as solid as can be.
Chromeo – Not my cup of tea, and ripping off Freezepop to boot. And thought they deserved an encore? huh.
Pissed Jeans – RAWWWWKKK!!!
Two Gallants – Chin stroking folkiness
Atlas Sound – Pretty awesome lush big sound, but we saw them at Mess With Texas, outside, which was a little weird. Still solid, though, and I’m glad we made it.
Most Serene Republic – Not as awesome as their albums. I didn’t like the lead singer. They should fire him and let the chick playing guitar take over.
The Raveonettes – WAYY better than they used to be. I’m totally into them now.
James Yuill – Yeah I liked them. More of that two people who can’t really play doing a duo with a sequencer thing, but there was something geekily good about them.
The Teeth – Reminded me of the Rembrandts.
SYME – Swedish space rock. Awesome in that they were Swedish Space rock, but not like amazingly Mogwai or something.
Soundtrack of Our Lives – took too long to come on, but they 3 songs we saw were absurdly great and funny and big rock and oasis meets spce rock meets spinal tap. ShoeLOLling
The Slits – Exactly how you’d expect the slits to Sound live.

The Vice After party, which Cameron deftly got us VIP wristbands to:
Jay Retarded – Big Rock. Decent.
Dark Meat – the single craziest band of the festival. 20 half naked insane people doing an arcade fire kind of thing mixed with bad acid, altamont, a circus and a parade all in one. Confetti. Glow sticks. Bouncing balls. Horns, guitars, I don’t even know. Last band of the festival and a perfect ending. Also hilarious seeing Carl from Great Scott pop out of the crowd completely astounded.

Best thing about the Vice afterparty. Fucked up played, and apparently the lead singer cut himself on the cheek after one song. Cameron comes back to the VIP area and is ranting and raving “dude, what the hell. Your band is called FUCKED UP and you’re a PUNK BAND and you quit playing after one song cuz you got a boo boo?” And the guy was standing right behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. Ha. Yeah dude, pick a fight when you just wussed out of playing a show.

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