Features | Festivals
SXSW 2007 -- Day Three: Tour Diary
By Andre Perry | 4 February 2008
Friday was the apex of our SXSW adventure, by far our most exciting and musically diverse day. The fun began around 1:30 P.M. when Craig and I were dropped off in front of Mohawks. On a whim we decided to walk in and check out the bands. Thunderbirds Are Now! were losing their minds on the outdoor stage. It was the first time either of us had seen this Detroit band and it was a pleasant surprise. Keyboardist Scott Allen was the ringleader of sorts, jumping up, down, and around the small stage while ripping out killer electro-synth riffs. After throwing back a couple of Bloody Marys and enjoying the Thunderbirds we walked inside to catch Sea Wolf. They were the perfect hangover band, mixing acoustic guitar strum, cello, and in-the-pocket Granddady-style drums. None of their songs stuck in my head -- perhaps less a reflection of the songs than the fact that I had seen so many bands in a short period of time -- but the overall effect was a pleasant wave of sound.
Leaving Mohawks, we took off down the street to check out the Yep Roc showcase. Halfway there we ran into an old friend of mine from California. She side-tracked us into the SPIN party at Stubbs and got us a couple of passes. We saw the end of Mew's set but spent most of our time rapping with the new CFO of SPIN magazine. He noted that the magazine was in trouble when his company recently bought it and that he was looking to revitalize it. For what it's worth, SPIN is looking to turn things around and kick the magazine back into gear, a feat it can certainly use. So good luck with that. And thanks for the free passes.
We bailed on Galactic and defected to the Yep Rock joint to watch Robyn Hitchcock play some of his new songs with Peter Buck. He told the crowd to "bear with [him] because all these songs sound the same." Nonetheless, he was intriguing and a great warm-up for Apples in Stereo (see Craig's interview with the band). Opening their set with a couple minutes of synth-intro, the Apples quickly kicked in with their tight psychedelic-pop flavor.
I left Craig halfway during the Apples set and snuck into the Beauty Bar for free whiskey and Cokes and a killer DJ set from MSTRKRFT. Their nasty house records had more people dancing than at the Rapture show a few days earlier. Then, our CMG team reunited at the SPIN party to see the Buzzcocks. They were old, quite amazing, and quite unafraid to rock the whole crowd to maximum effect. There was nothing cheesy or dated about their songs, and, in fact, the band was happy as hell; positive energy seeped into the audience; great show.
We took a quick break after the Buzzcocks meltdown to grab a beer with the fine folks from the newly revived Crawdaddy! magazine (the first rock magazine founded back in the sixties by Paul Williams). The magazine re-launches in May and is dedicated to rebirthing literate music writing. We're looking forward to them joining the music-writing fold.
After kicking it with the Crawdaddy peeps we caught up with Todd XXX of the Faint who talked up his band's new music (see forthcoming interview). Our night took an interesting turn when Craig decided it would be a good idea to sneak into the Good, the Bad, and the Queen show at Stubbs. Badge-less and without wristbands, we walked into the bar and crept down the stairs into the VIP section. Craig was quickly apprehended and kicked out. But as he was being taken down I slipped by security and glimpsed the beauty that was Andrew Bird's set. Bird, augmented by a guitarist and Martin Dosh on drums, wowed the packed audience with his delicate music.
Once again, the CMG team reunited at Emo's Annex (Record Collection Showcase) after the Walkmen's kind engineer waved us in. The Walkmen, whom we had interviewed only five days earlier, had some fresh news for us: singer, Hamilton Leithauser, told us how he had been wrongly detained in jail the previous night when the clerk at his hotel didn't believe he was actually staying there. After the clerk called the cops, Leithauser screamed at him, You've got the nnnnrrrve! Actually, that last part isn't true, but it would've been kind of cool. Leithauser confirmed that jail still sucks. Nonetheless, his band was on-point and brought killer rock-n-roll energy to the stage. Their new song, "I Lost You" continues to be a winner. We took off shortly after the Walkmen to get some sleep.
Friday was good.
Leaving Mohawks, we took off down the street to check out the Yep Roc showcase. Halfway there we ran into an old friend of mine from California. She side-tracked us into the SPIN party at Stubbs and got us a couple of passes. We saw the end of Mew's set but spent most of our time rapping with the new CFO of SPIN magazine. He noted that the magazine was in trouble when his company recently bought it and that he was looking to revitalize it. For what it's worth, SPIN is looking to turn things around and kick the magazine back into gear, a feat it can certainly use. So good luck with that. And thanks for the free passes.
We bailed on Galactic and defected to the Yep Rock joint to watch Robyn Hitchcock play some of his new songs with Peter Buck. He told the crowd to "bear with [him] because all these songs sound the same." Nonetheless, he was intriguing and a great warm-up for Apples in Stereo (see Craig's interview with the band). Opening their set with a couple minutes of synth-intro, the Apples quickly kicked in with their tight psychedelic-pop flavor.
I left Craig halfway during the Apples set and snuck into the Beauty Bar for free whiskey and Cokes and a killer DJ set from MSTRKRFT. Their nasty house records had more people dancing than at the Rapture show a few days earlier. Then, our CMG team reunited at the SPIN party to see the Buzzcocks. They were old, quite amazing, and quite unafraid to rock the whole crowd to maximum effect. There was nothing cheesy or dated about their songs, and, in fact, the band was happy as hell; positive energy seeped into the audience; great show.
We took a quick break after the Buzzcocks meltdown to grab a beer with the fine folks from the newly revived Crawdaddy! magazine (the first rock magazine founded back in the sixties by Paul Williams). The magazine re-launches in May and is dedicated to rebirthing literate music writing. We're looking forward to them joining the music-writing fold.
After kicking it with the Crawdaddy peeps we caught up with Todd XXX of the Faint who talked up his band's new music (see forthcoming interview). Our night took an interesting turn when Craig decided it would be a good idea to sneak into the Good, the Bad, and the Queen show at Stubbs. Badge-less and without wristbands, we walked into the bar and crept down the stairs into the VIP section. Craig was quickly apprehended and kicked out. But as he was being taken down I slipped by security and glimpsed the beauty that was Andrew Bird's set. Bird, augmented by a guitarist and Martin Dosh on drums, wowed the packed audience with his delicate music.
Once again, the CMG team reunited at Emo's Annex (Record Collection Showcase) after the Walkmen's kind engineer waved us in. The Walkmen, whom we had interviewed only five days earlier, had some fresh news for us: singer, Hamilton Leithauser, told us how he had been wrongly detained in jail the previous night when the clerk at his hotel didn't believe he was actually staying there. After the clerk called the cops, Leithauser screamed at him, You've got the nnnnrrrve! Actually, that last part isn't true, but it would've been kind of cool. Leithauser confirmed that jail still sucks. Nonetheless, his band was on-point and brought killer rock-n-roll energy to the stage. Their new song, "I Lost You" continues to be a winner. We took off shortly after the Walkmen to get some sleep.
Friday was good.