SXSW 2010 - A Music Diary
DAY THREE - 18/3/2010
Another relatively early start and after breakfast again at Katz's, becoming a regular now, off to, surprisingly Latitude 30 and the Yorkshire Party, a good bash and free bar and staple sustenance in the form of Yorkshire biscuits!
Arrived halfway through the set of Middleman, (http://www.myspace.com/middlemanpop) a four piece hip-hop type band from Leeds. Comparisons with The Streets could be levied, although lively, not quite as good as Mike Skinner and co. but entertaining and would not be surprised to see them get more publicity and grow in stature. They were followed by the delightful Slow Club (http://www.myspace.com/slowclub) a girl/boy alternative indie duo, Rebecca Taylor on drums and Charles Watson on guitar combines well with excellent vocals. Next up The Crookes (http://www.myspace.com/thecrookesmusic) a four piece acoustic indie folk band, playing catchy numbers finishing up in amongst the audience with nothing more than a single acoustic guitar and performed a good audience participation song which nailed the audience. A good move and this increased their likeability factor. So how was the next band going to follow that? Grammatics (http://www.myspace.com/grammatics) a four piece electro ghettotech band with another Cellist!, well they did not, after three songs it was time to make a move and 
hot tail it to the West Tent and the GHS Strings Party for some lively Girls, Guns And Glory (http://www.myspace.com/girlsgunsandglory) another four piece country rock & roll, roots music band. Great stuff! Not much doing after this, so off up town to the Israeli Party where surprisingly, there were no bands, however in true Israeli hospitality, the free food buffet was the best yet with a great Middle Eastern spread and a free bar in an open air rooftop terrace building. A great opportunity to chill for an hour and take stock of the festival thus far, a great way for the group of assembled music fans to recharge their batteries for the remainder of the day.
Once done, off to the Scoot Inn on the outskirts of Austin City to see the excellent Holy F*ck, (http://www.myspace.com/holyfuck) a seasoned four piece Canadian heavy experimental electro band. Superb, great entertainment and a good open air venue.
After an aborted attempt to get into the Dickies party to see Delta Spirit due to over subscription and a queue far too long to bother with, it was back to the West Tent for the New Zealand party to see the likeable Ruby Suns (http://www.myspace.com/therubysuns) a three piece Kiwi melodic, emotronic band with wonderful vocal harmonies.
Next up the huge Austin City Hall venue where a large crowd was gathering to see the Stone Temple Pilots, however, this was a filler slot and so the only band seen was the warm up set from The Colour Turning (http://www.myspace.com/thecolorturning) and indie electro rock polished outfit from LA. Very enjoyable, but sorry Pilot's La Zona Rosa venue is calling. Whilst the intention was to see The 88, the schedule at the venue was overrunning by an hour and so first up was John Hiatt (http://www.myspace.com/johnhiatt) a famous American country blues/rock band had to be sat through. The Americana heartland music grew in it's understanding how this has such appeal with a huge following across the USA and beyond as the foot tapping and smiles were abundant in the large assembled crowd. The 88 (http://www.myspace.com/the88) a four piece rock/pop band then followed with a superb set combining a young Hank Marvin and Elvis Costello combo front man in Keith Slettedahl. The music was equally combined with up tempo modern day Shadows riffs. Really good stuff.
Next up off to the intimate Prague venue to see a surprising set from a alternative punk band called The Batusis formed from the original members of The Dead Boys (Cheetah Chrome) & New York Dolls founder Sylvain Sylvain. They played a fast paced loud set including the amazing Sonic Reducer. The Batusis debut EP is released in May 2010. What a treat this was, a real find. Now what could the next band do to upstage this, the very entertaining Jim Jones Revue (http://www.myspace.com/thejimjonesrevue) a five piece lively alternative raw rock & roll band. This was loud, very loud and had the small packed crowd going wild. The first gig requiring the insertion of ear plugs due to the pain of standing next to the speakers. Hard to say for sure, but probably the best two gigs so far, especially for the sheer energy and buzz endured.
A final fling to Buffalo Billiards venue to catch the Broken Records (http://www.myspace.com/brokenrecordsedinburgh) and yet another cellist! A moderate rock folk medley, nice, pleasant and just what the doctor ordered after the ear bashing from the Prague venue. End of the night and end of Day Two.
DAY FOUR - 19/3/2010
First up the narrow but lively, BD Riley's for an RSVP Irish breakfast party & yet more Guinness before midday! Anyone would think this was a Rugby tour! Anyhow, first on the agenda, The Lost Brothers (http://www.myspace.com/thelostbrothersmusic) a pleasant Irish country folk band who played away whilst we shared adjacent tables to the next band who were also tucking into the complimentary food. Sure enough, once sated, up popped the excellent and lively The Mighty Stef (http://www.myspace.com/themightystefband) an Irish country soul band with superb vocals from Stefan Murphy.
BD Riley's done, so off for a short trip to see what was happening across the road in Latitude 30 and caught the end of the set from Colin MacIntyre (http://www.myspace.com/colinmacintyre) a solo artist who sounds like Ryan Adams, very good.
A temporary breather away from the music and a quick visit to the Austin Conference Center for the Flatstock Poster Exhibition for browse. Same as last year, very good, creative posters, but quite expensive and clearly a much bigger market in the US than Europe.
Not having any particular plans, the West Tent on Brush Square caught the eye as music was blaring out from the lively Barbados Party. What do know, access no problem and lots of flowing rum and coke! The sun beating down at this stage, a very pleasant 75 degrees, a cold drink and some very pleasant Hip-hop band playing called Nexcyx, (http://www.myspace.com/nexcyx) a band that has potential to reach the mass Market to match the other successful export from Barbados - Rhianna.
They were followed by Shane Forester (http://www.myspace.com/shaneforrester) a solo pop rock artist electric guitarist, most enjoyable or was it the Rum!
Rubytech (http://www.myspace.com/rubytech) up next, but wait, oh dear, a rapper, however, actually not too bad, if you like that sort of thing, not mainstream, quite lyrical and tuneful.
Okay a nice short virtual trip to the Caribbean, but time to find the rest of the party and hook up at the Sonicbids party at Maggie Mae's. Having got in with no problem with acts both upstairs on the rooftop venue as well as downstairs, we opted to see Cosmo Jarvis (http://www.myspace.com/cosmojarvis) an indie pop band with a talented musician and front lead singer Cosmo Jarvis, some tracks sounded similar to music by Paolo Nutini. Cosmo played multiple guitars, changing for each song including a beautiful Tudor Mandolin and even a recorder. A good call and even though he had a tough time with the sound in the venue, this was a good gig. Now for upstairs to Maggie Mae's Rooftop to see Jets Overhead (http://www.myspace.com/jetsoverhead) a psychedelic indie rock band who were good and would see definitely want to see again.
The draw of the Rum was too much for one member of the party, so it was back to the Barbados Party again and another set by the now familiar Nexcyx with even a rendition of a Lady Gaga song.
Okay, enough was enough of this very nice hip-hop music, there was a hankering for some loud raw punk music, so a quick scan through the various parties and the consensus was the MWT (Mess With Texas) party, so a trek downtown and across to the adjacent field to Fader Fort and which required queuing for short while to get into the North Field to see members of the Circle Jerks & Redd Kross, (http://www.myspace.com/circlejerx , http://www.myspace.com/reddkross) a fine punk set ahead of the real reason for attending which was to see The Bronx, an established US punk band from LA. Really good set even though it was extremely hot and exposed in an open field. Great, there was a need for some more of this fast paced music having spent most of the day with 'nice' music so quickly down to the South Field to see the Jim Jones Revue, brilliant although there were some technical problems where lead singer Jim Jones was getting electrocuted each time he played his guitar and touched the mike, to add to this he was starting lose his voice, but they did a great job, especially the fantastic Elliot Mortimer on keyboard. Brilliant.
The full party then headed back uptown towards the hotel, to have a quick bite to eat at Frank & Angie's pizza restaurant. A much needed sit down. A quick visit to the hotel and then back downtown to the Beauty Bar to see the very good Band of Skulls (http://www.myspace.com/bandofskulls) a three piece indie rock band who sound like the Dead Weather, an excellent venue & fantastic lead guitarist. A must see band from Southampton.
Next up to the Wave venue to see the Gin Riots (http://www.myspace.com/theginriots) an indie new wave band who were quite good but took an age setting up and the venue was a poor as had been experienced. A small stage at the back of the bar in a narrow venue with a restaurant somewhere, probably upstairs and the whole place was filled with food smells not to mention the distinct lack of aircon. So this was cut short to call it an early night. Not bad though, having seen 13 bands in one day!