SxSW Day 2

Sxxpress Passes

Two years ago, SxSW introduced the Sxxpress pass. During this rollout, it was not very well advertised. Unfortunately this has changed.

When I arrived on this morning there were several hundred people in line, waiting for the booth to open. In years to come, it will be necessary to arrive early not only for parking, but for Sxxpress passes, too.

Panels

You Don't Have to Move, to Live Better

This was a talk by Majora Carter, a name fairly well known in Lefty circles. No surprises here, I don't see eye to eye with her on any of her political views. Basically, some of the ends proposed were noble, but I have a real problem with the means by which she proposed to attain them.

The Last Broadcast - Entertainment is Social, What's Next?

This was a fairly interesting talk on the future of Entertainment. Among the interesting things discussed were:

• The history of NBC, the first network. It was started by RCA as a vehicle to drive sales of radio hardware. There was some discussion that history is clearly repeating itself.
• An in depth discussion of TV downloading in Australia. Apparently, it doesn't have a great impact on sales of DVDs or digital sales. The downloading seems to be used by fans who are frustrated with Hollywood's propensity to release shows up to a year later in Australia, than they are released in the US.
• Quite a bit of the session was spent discussing the huge impact of Social Networks on Production, Funding, Advertising and Marketing of TV shows, and what new Business Models might emerge, as a result.

I found this session interesting and thought provoking. Clearly, we have reached the Tipping Point

Time Traveling: Interfaces for Geotemporal Visualization

This was a fantastic session, with live demos of a number of utilities for simultaneously displaying geographic changes over time. I walked away from this talk with a fairly long list of websites and software projects to investigate.

A Conversation with Todd Phillips

I really enjoyed this discussion with the director of several comedy blockbusters, including The Hangover and Old School. Todd has a great sense of humor, is a good story teller and is very entertaining. He talked at length about working with Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, and his love for setting up comedic situations that are uncomfortable.

The other great thing about this session, was the Interviewer, Elvis Mitchell. After 3 straight years of attending SxSWf, I can attest to the fact that Elvis is a fantastic film critic and writer, and is a very accomplished host.

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Films

Fightville

This film follows two amateur MMA fighters on a small local circuit, in Louisiana. Both fighters have aspirations of making it to the Big Leagues (like UFC or Strike Force). At the film's outset both fighters are headed towards the same goal. By the end of the picture however, their paths diverge.

I won't post any spoilers, but this film is very similar in look and feel, to the Mickey Rourke movie, The Wrestler. I enjoyed it, and would recommend it to other people.

It's About You

The film was directed and shot by a father and son duo, Kurt and Ian Markus. The father, Kurt is a photographer and brings those sensibilities to his first film, which was shot primarily on an old, handheld, 8mm camera.

The subject of the film is a recent John Cougar Mellencamp tour (with Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan). Kurt and John were long time friends, after some photo sessions back in the 80's. I'm not entirely clear who had the idea for this project (Kurt or John), but clearly Mellencamp endorsed it.

This film worked for me on several levels, and I would easily recommend this film to anyone (even if they weren't a Mellencamp fan). Of course, my favorite director is another photographer turned director. I think I liked Kurt's work because it was definitely Kubrick-esque.

The icing on the cake for this screening however, was the Q&A. Kurt and Ian announced that Mellencamp was in the building, and would be joining them on stage. This was one of the highlights of SxSWf for me.

Super

This film received a lot of buzz because of Rain Wilson. While I found the film generally enjoyable, it seemed like a me too or copycat of Kick Ass, which premiered at last year's festival.

The director James Gunn, and the other star, Ellen Page, joined Rain on stage for the Q&A. Several other cast members were present and in the audience.

SxSW Day 1

Film Recon

Getting to the Convention Center Early to secure parking, I decided to look over the film posters and make adjustments to my schedule, if needed.

I also walked around and took some shots of the downtown area, before the chaos started:

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Panels

Fireside Chat: Tim O'Reilly interviewed by Jason Calacanis

This was one of the best interview sessions that I have ever seen at SxSWi. Tim talked at length about how his publishing empire grew out of a his work as a technical writing contractor. A great talk for entrepreneurs and/or people who aspire to be one.

Google's Marissa Mayer Presents

Unlike the O'Reilly Interview, I found this session boring. The bulk of this talk was the presentation of Google applications that I had already used. Contrary to the TechCrunch claims, the were no Google product announcements, at the conference. I ended up leaving this talk early.

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Film

Page One: Inside the New York Times

This was my first film of the festival, unfortunately I was unable to watch it in its entirety. As luck would turn out, my brother's original flight was cancelled. He ended arriving 9 hours later than originally planned, so I had to go meet him. I am hoping that I will have an opportunity in the near future, to see the whole film.

This documentary is about the role newspapers and journalists in the new Internet world. It specifically covers how the Times broke the story about release of the initial videos from Iraq, by Wikileaks.

Taken By Storm: The Art of Storm Thorgorsen and Hipgnosis

This was an excellent documentary about Storm Thorgorsen, and his creative firm, Hipgnosis. This firm is iconic, having been the creative force behind the artwork for a staggering number of Classic Rock albums. His most famous design was for Pink Floyd's, Dark Side of the Moon.

The film covered Storm's entire career, and the eventual demise of Hipgnosis, as the CD replaced the Vinyl records in the 1980's. After the screening, the director, a camera man, and Storm himself were present for Q&A.

Little Deaths

This screening was an Anthology of three films, by three different directors:

• House and Home - Sean Hogan
• Mutant Tool - Andrew Parkinson
• Bitch - Simon Rumley

In hindsight, this screening was an unfortunate choice. Neither myself, my brother, nor his coworker found anything redeeming here. In fact, I look at it as 90 minutes of my life that I will never get back.

Prior to the screening, there was something truly bizarre. The theater manager came out dressed in a Dog suit, and lit a flash pot, while "Who Let the Dogs Out?" was playing. He then announced that in keeping with the theme of the movie, they were going to have a chugging contest, and asked for 4 volunteers in the audience.

When the gathered around the table, it was announced that they would be chugging Beef Stroganoff rather than beer. Afterwards, the general conclusion amongst my group was WTF?

Badge Pickup

For the last 7 years, I usually go downtown and pick my SxSW badge early. This also allows me to gather up the 3 schwag bags you get with a Platinum Badge.

Strangely, this year there was no schwag. Each bag contained a Directory, a Pocket Guide, and an Austin Chronicle. Apparently, they've made a real effort to cut down on the paper.

As always, I was in and out in no time.

Willie Nelson at the Moody Theater (aka. ACL Live)

Although I had recently seen Willie with Asleep at the Wheel, when I saw that he would be opening the new ACL Live venue, the Moody Theater, I had to get a ticket.

I arrived about an hour early, parked under City Hall, and walked across the street to the venue. While waiting for the doors to open, I snapped a few pictures. I must say, this is an impressive facility:

First Set

For the first set, Willie played with a 30 piece Orchestra. I've been unable to find a set list, but do remember the following songs:

• Crazy
• All the things you are
• You are always on my mind
• Georgia

Second Set

For the second set, Willie was accompanied by a 4 piece band. Going from memory, I can remember the following:

• Whiskey River
• Crazy (sans Orchestra)
• Momma don't let your boys grow up to be Cowboys
• Jambalaya (on the Bayou)
• Good Hearted Woman (Wayon Jennings cover)
• Hey Good Lookin' (Hank Williams cover)
• You are always on my mind

Of course, at the end of his show, Willie went around the stage, shaking hands, and signing memorabilia for at least 10 minutes. He is truly loved by the fans.

Post Show

In closing, I found this KVUE video clip on Willie's site.

RIP John Barry

There appears to be a streak underway, hopefully one that will break soon....

Famed movie soundtrack composer John Barry, passed away on January 30th. A quick look at the list on wikipedia or IMDB, gives you an idea of the magnitude of his career.

Of course, he will be remembered most for his iconic scoring of the James Bond movies.

RIP Gary Moore

Well another Rocker left this world much too early. More details here and elsewhere on the Intertubes.

RIP: Don Kirshner

I missed this news during the past week, about Don Kirshner. His resume is as thick as a phone book.

Older people may recognize the name from Saturday Night Live reruns, with Paul Schaffer spoofing him in several skits. Before MTV, and before I was old enough to drive, my first exposure to live music was three late night television shows:

• The Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack
• ABC's In Concert
• Don Kirshner's Rock Concert

Kirshner was actually part of the last two, and really brought Rock Music to Television. I look fondly back on that time, and miss that type of programming, which died back in 1990 with Night Music.

Here's a sample of Kirshner's show: Well apparently that video was pulled ;(

RIP: Gerry Rafferty

Damn! In addition to Mick Karn, it appears that well known Stealers Wheel founder, Gerry Rafferty also passed away today. Let's hope that this is last of this type of news for a while.

Although I will always associate his music with my teenage years, I will never forget the infamous scene from Quentin Tarantino's, Reservoir Dogs, where they used Stuck in the Middle with You.

RIP: Mick Karn

Fans of the Art Rock band, Japan, as well as David Sylvian, Kate Bush, David Torn, and Peter Murphy are most likely familiar with Cypriot born bassist, Andonis Michaelides, better know as, Mick Karn. Unfortunately, he finally left this plane today, after a protracted 6 month battle with cancer.

I was fortunate enough to have seen him perform once, during the mid 80's with Bill Bruford and David Torn, in support of the Cloud about Mercury album, at the Bottom Line, in New York. Before anyone comments, I am well aware that Tony Levin was the bassist on the album. Karn however, played at this particular live performance, and was outstanding.

A truly unique artist, he will be missed by many.

RIP: Billy Taylor

Once again during my Christmas vacation, a great Jazz pianist passed away. I missed this news, but Billy Taylor passed away this past Tuesday, at age 89. He was one of those very rare individuals who could both teach and do.

This post over at NPR will perhaps do some justice to a truly great musician, and Jazz's ultimate evangelist.

We knew this day would come, but it is still very sad news.

RIP: Captain Beefheart

Another great musical talent left this plane yesterday, Don Van Vilet. A name familiar to Zappa fans everywhere as Captain Beefheart. Short write-up here in Rolling Stone.

Ornette Coleman at Bass Concert Hall

Another Jazz Legend at Bass

Once again, I was able to see another Jazz legend at Bass Hall. I was very fortunate, since I had waited some time to get tickets. Luck intervened once again, and I ended up in the 4th row. Although I was not able to take pictures during the show, I snuck one of the stage beforehand.

The show was introduced by a friend of mine, Casey Monahan, Director of the Governor's Texas Music Office. He spoke at length, about several Texas artists, all hailing from Texas, and in particular, one school in Fort Worth, which gave us Ornette Coleman, and Dewey Redman, just to name a few.

I estimate that the show lasted about 70 or 80 minutes, with Ornette playing mainly Alto Sax, but also Trumpet and Violin on several occasions. His band was interesting in that it featured two bass players. The band lineup was as follows:

• Denardo Coleman - Ornette's son on Drums
• Al MacDowell - Electric Bass
• Tony Falanga - Upright Bass
• Mari Okubo - a Japanese Operatic Vocalist who joined the band on stage for one number

Al played a very guitar-like style on Electric Bass, sometimes playing barre chords and strumming. It was always in counterpoint to what the other bass player Tony, was playing on Upright. Throughout, the band allowed Ornette to freely solo, in his smooth melodic way.

As far as Ornette goes, if you're familiar with his work, you know that he was controversial in some Jazz circles. He ushered in a movement that although mistakenly called free jazz, was melodic, obviously Blues based, but discarded traditional BeBop harmony. (This reminds me, BTW, that it would probably be humorous to see if Miles ever did a Blindfold test for Ornette.)

I thoroughly enjoyed the show, but will admit to having a little difficultly with song featuring Mari on vocals. I particularly enjoyed one piece where Tony Falanga played Bach's Cello Suite No. 1, as Al and Ornette really went to town. I'm sure Johann Sebastian would have approved, had he been there. Last but not least, I was amazed how well Ornette played, since he is in his 80's now.

Bottom line: It was a great space in which to hear some great Jazz.

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FFF Fest - Day 2

Probably won't be getting a wristband next year

Although I went for about 5 hours after the Ravens game, there was nothing that really did anything for me at this festival. I held out some hope that Deerhunter might deliver, but I ended up being underwhelmed.

Here's a few shots from the last day.

Fun Fun Fun Fest - Day 1

This was my first Fun Fun Fun Fest, and I'm questioning whether I'll bother next year. I was already bummed because Devo was forced to cancel, after Bob Mothersbaugh's severe tendon injury a few weeks back. Of course, I should have known that the day may have been a let down after last night's stupendous show.

I arrived shortly before 2PM, to discover that the Willcall line was around the block and almost down to the 35 frontage road. Well over an hour later, I finally entered the grounds. As a result, I was not in a good mood.

I spent the next five hours, standing, inhaling dust and pollen, and listening to a lot of mediocre bands. I spent most of my time at the Orange stage, and found the bleed over from the Black Stage, with all the Metal and Thrash acts, to be particularly annoying. Hopefully, things will improve tomorrow. I will be going after the Ravens game and hope to catch Deerhunter, who opened for Porcupine Tree at Sunset Station, back in August.

Asleep at the Wheel's 40th Anniversary featuring Willie Nelson

Asleep at the Wheel

If Austin has music ambassadors, then they undoubtedly are Willie Nelson and Ray Benson, leader of the band, Asleep at the Wheel. The Wheel moved to Austin in 1974, at the request of Willie Nelson, and they helped create the Austin music scene. They were fixtures at Armadillo World Headquarters, and they were the very first act to appear on Austin City Limits. Since their arrival, nothing has ever been the same.

Last night's show was a 40th anniversary celebration of Ray's 9 time grammy award winning band. The featured guest was, of course, Willie Nelson. I hemmed and hawed for several days about whether to go to this show, or the kickoff night of Fun Fun Fun Fest, with Weird Al Yankovic. The prospect of seeing some roots music, and more importantly, a legend, won out some time late yesterday afternoon.

In addition to popping my cherry for seeing Willie live, this was my first show at the Long Center. I arrived at 7PM, and it's a good thing because the show started promptly at 7:30. As it turns out, the early start was needed since the show ended just after 11:00.

At 49 years of age, I felt like a spring chicken in this crowd, with most of the audience much better dressed than a normal Austin crowd. So, mixed in with the Austin Opera patrons, there was a smattering of dance-hall cowboys, and outlaw, biker types. Your typical Willie Nelson crowd in other words.

Set One

The first set went well over two hours, with Ray and his current fiddler, Jason Roberts (Ray's musical director?), being the only constants on stage. The set was subdivided into sections, for each decade of their career, with a video segue projected on a drop down screen.

Ray announced that over 45 musicians were present, who were either presently in the band, or were members in the past. Several times during the show, I counted over 30 musicians on stage, at the same time. At various points they had 5 pedal steel players, 6 fiddlers, a 6 piece horn section, and 6 different piano players on stage at the same time. Although unlike the others, the piano players had to time-share between 2 full concert grands.

The highlights for the first set for me, were the first decade band with Leon Perkins, and Lucky Oceans, and Floyd Domino. Leon's song writing extends far outside of the sphere of the Wheel, and it's amazing how many hits the man has under his belt. Ray was lamenting how many hits they had made for other artists.

Other highlights, were the section with Chris O'Connell, and a special appearance by Leon Rausch, an actual member of Bob Wills Texas Playboys, who must be in his 90's now.

Intermission

At intermission, the band invited the entire audience out to the patio for a group picture, and free beer. In addition, they had a table with about 7 posters, and they invited everyone present to sign them. I thought this was a great personal touch, and explains why so many people love Ray and his band.

Set Two

The last set was all Willie and the current members of the Wheel for the most part. They played a combination of Willie's hits, and a generous helping of the songs from Willie and the Wheel, an album that I love. Ray also mentioned that they were working a second Willie and the Wheel album, which he jokingly called WW2.

I don't know what else to say, other than I was awe struck by Willie. What a performer! There's something real and genuine about the man, that just oozes from the stage. This is something that you can't fake. Perhaps next year, I will go to his 4th of July picnic, rather than punt like I did this year.

In closing let me say, I will follow other sites and update a complete list of musicians, and a setlist, if either materializes. And despite the no photos policy, I managed to get one shot at the very end.

California Guitar Trio at FEFC and the One World Theater

I first saw all three members of CGT perform with Trey Gunn, and Robert Fripp as part of the League of Crafty Guitartists (LoCG) over 20 years ago, in Poughkeepsie, NY. I distinctly remember being blown away at that time. The dedication and discipline exhibited by all of the graduates of Fripp's Guitar Craft program, was astounding.

CGT emerged from the LoCG several years later, in 1991, and established themselves as a musical force. While it has been great fun to see this band through their entire career, it is even more fun to have had the opportunity to get to know these fantastic musicians on a personal level.

This past week, I had the pleasure to hear CGT perform three times, in support of their new album Andromeda. First, at a benefit show at the FEFC on Thursday night (10/21/2010). Then, two shows at the One World Theater on Sunday (10/24/2010).

FEFC

From my involvement with AMF, I have become friends with CGT's former road manager, Bruce. As a result, in the past I have been able to see Bert Lams' side project with Tom Griesgraber appear in a string of house concerts, last year. This time around, I was invited to a special benefit at FEFC.

The set list consisted of the following songs, and they played for almost 70 minutes:

• Cathedral Park
• Melrose Avenue
• Andromeda
• Bach Prelude in Circulation
• Walk Don't Run
• The Theme from HBO's John Adams Series
• Echoes
• Hazardous Z
• Classical Gas
• Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence Theme
• Portland Rain
• Chacarera
• Bach's Toccata and Fugue in Dm

Encore:

• The Marsh
• Bohemian Rhapsody

The acoustic treatment in this space was excellent, and I know that several people were blown away by their arrangement of Pink Floyd's, Echoes. The band said this was their Warm-up show. Let me just say, they didn't need too much warming up. They were already on top of everything.

One World Theater

The set list for both the early and late show were slightly different than FEFC, and of course featured some additional musicians. In particular, 4 percussionists from University of Texas Percussion Studio. Once again, there were 3 Vibraphones, but they added a Drum Set on stage. The 4 players cycled in during the first three songs, with the Drums only used on Melrose Avenue. As before, this added an extra layer of sound to this already dense performance.

On the first encore number, the combined group of guitarists and percussionist was also joined on stage by local artist and Berklee student, Suzanne Oleson on mandolin. I have also gotten to know the Suzanne's parents, who took some excellent shots and posted them on facebook.

• Cathedral Park
• Blockhead
• Andromeda
• Bach Prelude in Circulation
• Walk Don't Run
• The Theme from HBO's John Adams Series
• Echoes
• Hazardous Z
• Classical Gas
• Portland Rain
• Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence Theme - with the UT Percussion Studio
• Chacarera - with the UT Percussion Studio
• Bach's Toccata and Fugue in Dm

Encore:

• The Marsh - with the UT Percussion Studio, and Suzanne Oleson on Mandelin
• Melrose Avenue - with the UT Percussion Studio

I was unable to take a picture during the show, but here is one from afterwards at the Meet and Greet:

In closing, let me just say that the worst part will be having to wait another 12-18 months to see CGT back in Austin again!

Update

CGT has updated their site and now has pictures from the FEFC and the One World.

RIP: T Lavitz

Really sad news, T Lavitz, keyboardist extraordinaire passed away last Thursday. I had seen him perform too many times with the Dregs/Dixie Dregs at the Chance in Poughkeepsie, to count. Never got to see him with Jazz is Dead or Boston T Party, and missed seeing him with the Bluesbusters (they had someone sub'ing for him that night).

I'm speechless, and am off to go listen to Unsong Heroes and Boston T Party now.

ACL Festival 2010 - Day 3

Late Start

On this third and final day of ACL, I chose to watch my Ravens dismantle the Donkeys, first. So I arrived late at around 4PM.

Yeasayers

I don't remember too much about this band. They sounded alright.

Flaming Lips

I found these guys annoying like Gogol, and didn't bother to try and get close to the stage. In the picture below, you will notice the lead singer, Wayne Coyne, crowd surfing inside of a transparent bubble or ball.

Nora Jones

Nora was everything I expected, and I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to get a picture. I had just met up with my friend Ron, and was finding the extra 10K people to be very annoying.

I think the scheduler was a little brain dead. Having Nora right before the Eagles, insured that no one was able to move in that half of Zilker.

The Eagles

Well these guys are legends. Although I don't own a single Eagles album, FM Radio from 1978 on pretty much made certain that I knew every song in their catalog.

I had a great time, stayed for the whole set, and am embarrassed to admit that I found myself singing along with some of their songs. ( I did cry when Old Yeller died too, so there! ;)

One thing I did find interesting is that Joe Walsh chose to play several James Gang songs, and his most famous solo song, Life's been good to me so far. Don Henley also performed some solo material, but Glenn Frey did not. I found this setlist and it seems relatively accurate.

In conclusion, let me say that it was a lot better than Bob Dylan a few years back, but it felt like a State Fair or Six Flags show.

ACL Festival 2010 - Day 2

First Aid Kit

I arrived early again Saturday morning. I guess this is something that comes with old age ;) The first band I heard was a Swedish duo, First Aid Kit. They were fantastic vocalists, playing acoustic music. It was interesting, but a little slow and subdued for my taste. Nonetheless, they were both excellent performers.

Towards the end of their set, they had to deal with bleed-over from the AMD stage and the next act:

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Grace Potter is beautiful tall blonde with a great voice, who also plays Hammond Organ. With all that going for her, I wish she had better music. Perhaps I'm in the minority though, but I don't dig hearing covers of Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit. The rest of her set sounded like some 80's vintage Heart songs that didn't make the final cut for the album, and got left on the studio floor.

Pete Yorn

What can I say? Pete is fantastic, as is his band. He is an Austin favorite, and very clearly enjoys playing ACL.

the Gaslight Anthem, Manchester Orchestra and Kinky

I was unable to get acceptable pictures of these bands. I also ran into people I knew at both the Gaslight Anthem and Manchester Orchestra sets. The fact that I was engaged in conversation rather than listening, probably says something about my assessment of these bands.

I did find Kinky very interesting, however. There is a bit of buzz about them in Austin and other locales. I may have to check out one of their shows soon. They play an eclectic mix of Latin, Funk, Electronic and Dance music. They killed under the Pavilion formerly known as the WAMU.

Gogol Bordello

I met up with my friends, Ron and Alissa, and we trekked over to hear this band based upon a recommendation. I can sum them up this way: Take Frank Zappa and his band, lower the overall level of musicianship several fold, and make the humor a lot more annoying, and you have Gogol. Once per lifetime is enough for this crew.

Muse

After several aborted attempts, I was finally able to see Muse live. They very definitely killed during their set, and the crowd was rocking. Although they are often mentioned with Porcupine Tree, I don't see the connection there. They are most certainly not Prog.

The best description I can think of is that they are Depeche Mode with more guitar, and more upbeat lyrics. Rhythmically, they're kind of vanilla, with everything having a dance music kind of feel (which may explain the prevalence of female fans).

The leader of the band is Matthew Bellamy, and he is Muse. He is Freddy Mercury (with a similar incredible vocal range) and Tommy Morello (from Rage Against Machine) all rolled up into one. The other 3 members of the band (bass, drums and keys) could be easily replaced, without any impact.

Other notable things about their performance were the kick-ass light show. They do use a lot of sequencers in their show, but it's somewhat forgivable.

ACL Festival 2010 - Day 1

Kickoff

Unlike last year, I made it a point to get to Zilker a bit early. I managed to catch a few shots of the nearly empty grounds as I arrived. You knew it wasn't going to stay like this.

Givers

I worked my way over towards the AMD stage, but since I was about an hour early for the Wheel, I decided to catch the Givers. They are a rather young pop act from Louisiana. It was well performed, but I didn't find them particularly engaging.

Asleep at the Wheel

If there's one constant at the ACL Festival it's Asleep at the Wheel opening on the first day. To date there have been 9 ACL Festivals, and the Wheel has played every one of them.

They filled the air with favorites like Route 66, Miles and Miles of Texas and Hot Rod Lincoln. They also played a generous helping of songs from their last 2 CDs, including one of my favorites, the Bob Wills tribute recording, Willie and the Wheel.

I was disappointed to discover that the Wheel will be celebrating a 40th Anniversary Show at the Long Center, with Willie on Nov 5th. Unfortunately, it conflicts with Fun Fun Fun Fest. Will have to see if I can swizzle my schedule accordingly.

One thing I like about these early shows is that the crowd is still sparse, and it's easy to move around. As a result, I was able to walk all of the way up front to the rail in front of the stage, and get some shots of Ray and the band.

Donavon Frankenreiter

I was unfamiliar with this artist, but penciled it in after listening to the samples on the ACL site. This was a very tight band, and particularly liked what I heard the keyboard player doing. Donavon himself was a very good songwriter, and the music fit the mood for the great weather that we were experiencing.

Those Darlins

I caught 2 or 3 songs of this predominantly female band. They reminded me of the Ramones with a country twang.

Blues Traveler

Even though John Popper seems to have an endless supply of Blues Harps, I've never felt this band was particularly Bluesy. They played their basic Greatest Hits set. The highlight was local 15 year old fiddler, Ruby Jane, joining the band on stage to trade 4's and 8's with Popper.

Also of note, by mid-afternoon the closest I could manage to get to the stage was behind the sound booth. I had heard that this year, 10K additional tickets were sold. It was becoming apparent that is was a bit more crowded than normal. (As the weekend progressed, it got worse ;(

Kings Go Forth

This was a kick-ass 70's soul/funk band. I wish that I had gotten a reasonable picture of them.

Angus & Julie Stone

I was very pleasantly surprised by this act, and would rank them as one of the best of the festival. They are a brother and sister act from Sydney, Australia. Both are excellent vocalists, and Julia is multi-instrumentalist to boot.

I'll just say that at the completion of their set, I had music crush on Julia. Would love to hear more from this act, and I would recommend them to anyone.

Qbeta

A raucous Sicilian based band, that followed the King under the Clear Pavilion. Instead of Latin feel, it had a similar Sicilian influence. The crowd ate them up. I must say that I enjoyed them too.

Spoon

Local favorites Spoon, had one of the early evening headlining slots on the big AMD stage. I'm not sure I can say I saw Spoon, although I heard them. Basically, it was too much of a hassle to get close to the stage. I recognized many of the songs from the ACL taping I attended in July. I also noticed that my friend, Wayne Meyers was playing in their horn section again, on the big video monitors.

Sonic Youth

The extra 10K people were readily apparent, as it was exceedingly difficult to get close to several of the stages. I have several of Sonic Youth's CD in my collection (purchased after hearing Steve Reich talk about them), but I must confess that I don't really get them. Nothing about their performance at ACL changed anything for me.

Phish

I stayed for the first 40 minutes of Phish's set. Honestly, I'm not a Jam Band fan, and didn't become one during this show. They did do one reasonable cover of the Talking Heads' song, Cities.

Not being particularly engaged by Phish, I headed for the shuttles and listened to the Strokes as I waited in line.

It's that time of the year again

I cruised down to Zilker Park yesterday evening and picked up my wristband. Can't wait until Friday.

Porcupine Tree at Radio City Music Hall on 9/24/2010

New York Odyssey

Last spring, Porcupine Tree had announced that they would be playing two special shows at the end of the Incident tour, one in New York City at Radio City Music Hall, and the other in London, at the Royal Albert Hall. My friends, Ron and Alissa, and I immediately planned on going to the New York show.

Together, the 3 of us had seen 5 other stops on this tour in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. The first show at the Rams Head in Baltimore, had occurred 364 days prior to this finale. We found every one of these shows to have been outstanding. With the exception of the San Antonio show, they had all followed the same format, two sets, each an hour in duration. The first set consisting the Incident in its entirety, followed by a second set of songs randomly selected, from their other albums.

This show however, was advertised as a three hour affair, obviously it was going to be different.

My history with Radio City Music Hall

While living in the Tri-state area, I had seen several shows at Radio City. The last one being Rush on their Signals tour, with Marillion as the opener, on 4/8/1983. The acoustics there are exceptional, so I was anxious to see another show there, after 27 years. (Holy shit, am I that old?)

Pre-show

Tree's fan base has steadily grown, they're not a secret anymore. It was clear that it was a sell-out or close to it. There were quite a few people walking the streets with band t-shirts on. As we waited outside for the doors to open, we spotted Jordan Rudess and John Myung of Dream Theater, among the crowd.

On entering the hall, we visited the bar, then the merch table, and then quickly found our seats. They were in row 3, but it was actually 8 rows back because there were about 5 rows of seats in the Orchestra Pit. None the less, it was a great vantage point.

The Show

After reviewing the usual places for the set list, there was this link to a photo, from a site in the Netherlands. (BTW, they did not totally follow the list in the photo).

As you can see, there were 3 sets. The first was unique in that it was Unplugged. Everyone with the exception of John Wesley and Richard Barbieri were playing acoustic instruments, with Colin on Upright! Steven announced sometime after the second or third song that tonight was going to be different, and that we were going to hear the Old Shit. The first set was phenomenal.

There were short intermissions between the sets, and at the conclusion of the first, I turned around to get a look at the hall. I was surprised to discover that Living Colour bassist, Doug Wimbish was sitting right behind me with his daughter. I'm sure that I would have been able to bird-dog other famous musicians in the audience. I'm also sure that this says something about Porcupine Tree. They are very clearly held in high regard by other artists (but I already knew that ;)

I think that like most PT fans, I enjoyed the second set the most, and was glad to be reminded how much I enjoy songs like Even Less. I also loved the hearing Arriving Somewhere for the encore. This show was three hours of auditory bliss.

Other observations about the show

Even though we were in the eighth row, there is a slight upward grade to the Orchestra Pit seats. Since many of the people in the pit chose to stand during a large portion of the show, this detracted a bit from the viewing experience.

I also noticed that since we were directly under the house mains above, that the sound was a little strange. Previously, I had always sat about 3 quarters of the way back in the house, which made for much better acoustics.

Out of the 6 PT shows I have seen in the last year, this was 2nd best. There was something very special about the Baltimore show at the Ram's Head. My friends and I, as well as the fanzine, Carbon Nation, all agreed that something special happened that night.

However, I will remember this RCMH show vividly for years to come, and I appreciate the planning and forethought that Steven and band put into this performance. Right now, I have to say that Porcupine Tree is one of the best live bands out there.