a u t o p i a

SXSW 2006 music coverage: Saturday Finale.

I decided not to take any band photos today, which turns out to be a huge mistake later in the evening. After three solid days of little-to-no sleep and lots of free booze I just wanted to try and enjoy some music. Phase one: I get to Mother Egan's Irish Pub way down on 6th street to see Plus/Minus. They plow through several songs from Holding Patterns and I'm a very happy camper. They easily have one of the best live guitar sounds without relying on the use of heavy effects, I wish they would tour more. I catch half of their set and leave to try and go see Adam Franklin (Swervedriver) with his backing band Canada's Sianspheric, this gets weird.

Possibly one of the most crazy and uncomfortable implosions of live music I've ever witnessed. Sadly, Sianspheric's drummer is wasted! He can barely play through a song or even keep his balance on the drum stool. After the second try the guitarist/singer launches his guitar at the drummer in angst and frustration. Why would a band come all the way down to Austin from Canada to blow a great opportunity? I don't know either. This band is done.

Adam Franklin is completely forgettable and can't remember how to play some of his songs, I'm leaving. I head over to Cream Vintage by the University and can't find Ice Cream Man. That's because I missed him at yesterdays show in the exact same place! Damn. So I'm at the showcase behind the shop and there's a very cool outdoor vibe with free beer and a brilliant set by We Are Scientists. We are Scientists are one of those bands I pre-judged because of the whole new-wave/garage rock revival fad that I'm completely tired of. But this band is so amazing and good. I bought their CD yesterday.

After trying to hail a cab for 30 minutes I make it on over to the Secretly Canadian showcase at Emo's Annex to catch the mighty Richard Swift and The Sons of National Freedom and a host of other awesome bands (Swearing at Motorists, Pink Mountaintops, Okerkill River, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness...). Swearing at Motorists are a two-piece rock collage with some very cool songs, I dug it. Richard Swift and The Sons of National Freedom are so talented. They sound like old-skool Elton John mixed with the Doves "Black and White Town" fever. During his song "Atlantic Ocean" members of Earlimart, Okerkill River, and Great Northern get up onstage and join the band like it's dance party USA! Again, why didn't I bring my fucking camera!?!

I'm almost late to the Jade Tree showcase across the street at Emo's. One of my favorite bands of the year is playing, Seattle's Ester Drang. As I walk out of Emo's Annex I notice the badge line is already 100 people deep, maybe I should have stayed? Ester Drang put on one of the best performances of the festival. They play at least 5 songs from Rocinate and I'm completely stoked on how smooth their songs come across with all the massive sounds and instrumentation on their latest record. They pulled it off nicely.

It's almost 1 am, last chance to catch a band. I take the advice from my friends, which turns out to be a monumental mistake, and head over to Exodus to see The Charlatans. Boring and crowded with lots of weird middle-aged men cruising around. Tim Burgess can't sing a lick tonight to save his life. It sounded like he had a cold or lost his voice over the past couple of days. I should've checked out The Pretenders or The Juan Maclean instead.

It's pouring rain and we're trying to get to the annual VICE party at some crazy location (BTW, Sean is the coolest guy in the world and without him SXSW would never be the same without him). We get their just in time for Wolfmother and they blow our minds. There's a band after them called Tres Hombres (ZZ Top cover band) who should have headlined yawn-fest 2006 instead. Do you know the ZZ Top back catalog? Me neither.

We're tired, it's 4am, and I'm hungry. It's time to cap off the night at Katz's 24-Hour Diner then head to the hotel. I don't have a flight until 6 pm the next day so I'm feeling pretty good about tomorrow.

I wake up and the town's wet, empty, and calm. As I walk down Red River it's everyone's making a last ditch effort to eat at Stubb's BBQ so the line is ridiculous. I walk over to Casino El Camino and feast on a juicy 'KC Burger' and watch There's Something About Mary on the telly, I forgot how funny Matt Dillon was.

SXSW was awesome and more tiring than ever. I feel like there was more of an L.A. presence than ever before but it turned out pretty well.

My recommendations for next year: Buy a Badge, drink less during the day, eat at Casino El Camino and The Best Wurst (of course) on 6th street, Katz's is a great late-night diner option instead of the plastic breakfast at IHOP. The Badge was a successful tool this year while many wristbands, including band members, got stiffed. It's only gonna get more complicated for wristbands holders next year so save up and buy a badge.

Bands I missed because of schedule conflicts, but would have loved to see: Ted Leo, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, What Made Milwaukee Famous, The Flaming Lips, The Beastie Boys, Helen Stellar, Hot Chip, and The Black Heart Procession.

-all photos by Scott McDonald.

SXSW 2006 music coverage: Day 3

It's Friday already and I'm feeling great after a full night of rest and relaxation. We head to the SPIN Magazine day party at Stubbs to see The Cribs and The Go! Team. The Cribs go on first and are relatively good, a C+ band. My only problem with The Cribs is that too many acts like this keep regurgitating that 80's new wave sound with the typical garage-rock strum patterns that are reminiscent of about 90% of the "popular" bands right now, Ugh! There's not much real emotion in it other than some shouting and moving around on stage, I like to call that "entertainment" or "stage presence".

P.S. Throwing down the mic after your last song is dumb.

The Go! Team are still amazing. They vibrate, dance, and rock their way into your heart. If anyone in the audience was still feeling the weariness from the night before this set was the wake-up call to get up and move! You can't stop the positivity that this band generates, they should create a Saturday morning cartoon after these cats.

Off to the Insound party across the street at Club De Ville. Ever been in a line of 30+ guys waiting for one bathroom? Very painful and slower than you'd think. Insound has been throwing this shindig for years and desperately needs to add a couple stalls near the gates. Enough of that. I caught some great sets by Serena Maneesh, Pink Mountaintops, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. By the time Pink Mountaintops go on it's incredibly packed, clearly people need to see CYHSY finish off the party more than anything in the world. This makes it impossible to get any decent photos of the band because it's so damn crowded. The Insound par-tay has free Shiner Bock and is co-sponsored by Anthem, one of the best mags out there. So I foolishly consume way too much free beer at this point, and it's only 4 pm. Thanks Shiner Bock!

The Kemado showcase features one of the greatest bands of this decade, Dungen. This was a last-minute jaunt for them so I was appreciative and excited to see them again. Gustav got a haircut. It's still long, but there's less of the Robert Plant effect when he starts rocking out and shaking his head all over the place. Dungen rule.

Thanks to my imaginary friends at Red Bull I got some serious energy left after drinking several cans of heart-pumping bliss to catch Tapes 'n Tapes. The opener is a guy named Robert Forest. He's from Germany and made the first Polvo reference of 2006 therefore I love him like a brother. He's basically one guy jumping around onstage in front of a laptop with techno jams emanating through the speakers. Simple, effective, and fun, the crowd is loving it and so am I! Tapes 'n Tapes are a great indie-rock band and I'm surprised the place doesn't have a line stretching across the city, maybe because it's 1:30 am? They played several tracks from The Loon and everyone was happy.

It's amazing that I'm motivated to see another band with no food or nap all day. We run over to Stubb's to catch London's The Magic Numbers but we miss them and are left with the final band of the evening, the adult contemporary rock of Snow Patrol. They're not too bad really. I don't have a single purchase from these guys and they rock pretty hard in a live setting, good work. The taco stand on Red River is calling my name. I'm visualizing three tacos and possibly eight bottles of water before I hit the sack. Tomorrow's the finale, I can't believe it went by so fast.

-all photos by Scott McDonald

SXSW 2006 music coverage: Day 2

Thursday starts off with the juiciest burger in town, Casino El Camino. The wait is about an hour for each order and it's totally worth it. I then head over to Emo's for the Polyvinyl/Kork Agency showcase to see Norway's Serena Maneesh. The band, and maybe it's just the sound guy, take forever to dial in their sounds and vocal effects. Meanwhile singer/guitarist Emil Nikolaisen carefully drapes himself in rubies, sashes, and a Fender Jazzmaster. The bass player is about 6' 3" and looks incredibly tough and angular at first glance, but more child-like and striking as the set moves on. I've never seen a bass player with so much physical presence. Serena Maneesh are a rock 'n roll version of My Bloody Valentine's Isn't Anything. They add layers upon layers of distortion and play a good set, impressive.

The effects of last night's brain soaking are wearing off. I go get a quick filling from Capitol's newest signees SOUNDteam at the Village Voice Party. This is quite an industry affair and takes place at La Zona Rosa. Free Shiner Bock? Okeedokee. SOUNDteam are bouncy and consistent, and I swear that kid on the Moog looks like Conan O' Brien's long lost little brother. I love this band the more I see them.

While everyone and their mom is to trying to catch Morrissey I walk over to Buffalo Billiards for the Big Shot Touring night, which easily has the strongest bill of bands during the entire festival (Nethers, Earlimart, Mazarin, The Tyde, SOUNDteam, and The Cloud Room). Earlimart have been hard at work in the studio and play us a handful of new tunes. They're more rocking and noisy than their past effort Treble & Tremble, a very solid set. Mazarin and The Tyde play knock out sets as well. The former with their Lilys-inspired noise-pop and the latter with hits like "Crystal Canyons" and "Go Ask Yer Dad". It's time to move on.

Eternal is packed to the gills with a badge line bending around the corner, I can wait until tomorrow to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. It's almost 1am and the pickin's are getting slimmer by the second. After a juicy Bratwurst from the Best Wurst stand I chomp on over to Emo's Annex for the Kill Rock Stars/5RC showcase. Headliners The Gossip have a huge and loyal following. Their fans are so happy, positive, and ready to dance off the past 8 hours of beer and alcohol. It was a highly entertaining and rock-solid performance from one of Portland's finest bands. Time to get some much needed rest and prepare for what turns out to be the monster of all day parties; Insound/Anthem Magazine at Club De Ville.

-all photos by Scott McDonald

SXSW 2006 music coverage: Day 1

I arrived at Stubbs for the Matador Records showcase on Wednesday night, turns out it wasn't as great as I expected. Jennifer O' Conner and Brightblack Morning Night were lackluster, basically a couple of dull bands that reminded of The Spinannes. Belle & Sebastian were tight and groovy but managed to play almost every song I didn't want to hear. This band has hits, fast-paced and danceable hits. If their set managed to make more people move I would've stayed all night. I don't have the patience or time to wait and see if The New Pornographers and Mogwai will be worth waiting for. It's the first night in 4 years where I can actually say that Stubbs was boring. After a couple of beers I head on over to see one of the musical highlights of the year, Belong from New Orleans.

Belong, coupled with a great opening set from Rachel Goldstar (Experimental Aircraft), capped off the Clairecords/Tonevendor showcase at Habana Calle 6. Belong were tonight's kings. They played churning and dense guitar build-ups with samples and keyboards. They are a head-music type of band and keep you engaged because of their sonic intensity. The backdrop was spooky and futuristic thanks to the mesmerizing light/film show. They created some of the most beautiful guitar noise I've ever heard, awesome.

I try to catch a danceable pop moment from Detroit's Saturday Looks Good To Me, who were amazing at last year's event, at Emo's around 1:15 am. They sounded tired, weary, and sparse, probably because they were missing two members? I felt bad for them but got over it quickly and left because the back room featured And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. Of course they were loud, pulverizing, and are just one band in a group of musical hometown heroes that make the festival worthwhile. They spent an hour blowing people away with guitar wash and noise. I'm too faded at this point, must get food!

Rappolo's on 6th is your basic, late-night, edible pizza. It does the job well and I walk back to the hotel happy. Thursday and Friday turn out to be amazing. More on that later.

-all photos by Scott McDonald.