Rush at the Frank Erwin Center

Over a year ago, every rocker's favorite Canucks, announced a tour where they would be playing their most celebrated album, Moving Pictures, in its entirety. I had known about this show for months, but was a bit put off by the ticket prices, and the venue, the Erwin Center.

I guess the show wasn't sold out by Sunday morning, so one of my friends had diligently waited for the late tickets to go on sale. I got a call around 1:30PM, as they were waiting to a purchase a group of seats 10 rows off of stage left, at stage height. It appears that the late bird gets the worm every now and then, too.

My friends and I arrived at the arena, just in time to take our seats. The show started fairly close to the advertised 7:30PM time. Rush had prepared a somewhat humorous video to introduce the show. In the film, Alex, Neil and Geddy appeared as characters in the film, watching a band playing various arrangements of Spirit of the Radio in various genres, including Polka, and Country. A clock was used to set up a time travel motif.

Very cleverly, flash-pots went off, and the band segued almost seamlessly from the video, to playing Spirit of the Radio, live on stage, right as the clock advanced to the current day. This kicked off the first of two sets, lasting approximately an hour each, with a 15 minute intermission between them.

I was not surprised to see that the setlist for this show was available by 7:00AM in the morning. I was surprised however, at how good the sound was, particularly sitting on one side of the stage.

This show was pretty much what I expected. Their musicianship is still first rate. The only minor criticism I could make is that Geddy is no longer able to reliably hit the high notes vocally, that he is famous for.

I took a few pictures, but even from this advantageous viewpoint, the iPhone was not really up to the task of taking photos in this lighting.

Which One's Pink?

I had noticed the ads for this show in the Chronicle a while ago, but didn't take any action. The band was a selection of local Austin, all-stars, and included my friend, Ulrich Ellison. Having recently purchased tickets for a Return to Forever show in September, with a bunch of Prog/Fusion fan friends, one of them just happened to mention, Hey, any of you interested in going to that Pink Floyd tribute show, this Saturday? Five of us said yes, and convened at the Ginger Man before the show.

It's a good thing that I went to this show. Having dilly-dallied a month ago, I had missed an opportunity to see the opening of the Fusebox Festival at the Seaholm. As it turned out, this was the last chance, as the City of Austin is beginning a multi-year, redevelopment project.

Arrival

When we arrived around 6:30PM, I was surprised to see that the stage was outside. It was a bit hot until the sun went down. During the After-Party, hindsight proved this to be the best choice. It would have been sweltering inside.

For contrast, I took these pictures of the plant's trademark smokestacks. Shortly after we claimed our seats.

Moving Matter

The show opened with a Jam Band, Moving Matter. They were good, but I'm just not that much of a Jam Band fan. They played for about an hour.

While the openers played, I ran into a few people I knew. One of them was Damon Lange from Nomad Sound. After talking to him a few minutes, I noticed that there were some additional speakers on tripods, behind the audience, as he was walking back to the mixing board.

Which One's Pink?

The main act, played two sets. The first set opened with Shine on you Crazy Diamond (Part 1) and then quickly went into the songs from the first part of the Wall, starting with In the Flesh? and ending with Goodbye Blue Sky.

This was really well done, and there were several surprises. For starters, the side-channel speakers I had noticed earlier, were used for surround-sound effects. The audience was swimming in a lake of sound, making it sound as if there were really helicopters descending as the Wall played. The other surprise was that they actually had a group of small school children as a small choir for Another Brick in the Wall.

There were 7 or 8 different vocalists during the show including Tony Scalzo from Fastball, Teal Collins Zee from the Mother Truckers, and the very impressive, Akina Adderly. All of the vocalists delivered great performances.

At the beginning of the second set, I took this second picture of the stacks. Throughout the show, lighting was projected on to the stacks to great effect, while the music played.

Here's a quick run-down of the songs that I can remember, in no particular order:

• Meddle - One of these Days, and maybe San Tropez
• Wish You Were Here - Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Have A Cigar, Wish You Were Here
• Dark Side of the Moon - Speak To Me/Breathe through Money, Eclipse
• Animals - Pigs (Three Different Ones), Sheep
• The Wall - In the Flesh? through Goodbye Blue Sky, Young Lust, Comfortably Numb
• Division Bell - Keep Talking

I'm sure I've forgotten some already. I must say however, that this show was very well done.

After-Party

At the beginning of the second set, they announced that there was going to be an After Party, and that everyone would get to see the inside of the Seaholm. This was a fun way to close out the evening, but as I said earlier, thankfully the show was outside.

Bottom line: It was great night of music, under the stars.

Tu at the One World Theater

Being a huge Krim-head, I immediately bought a ticket to this show when I saw it on the One World calendar.   I was confused however, while purchasing tickets to see  that there were two types of GA tickets for the show.   This was the first time that the One World was having a Club Night show.   Tables were set up in the area in front of the stage, rather than the normal folding chairs.


Tu, in case you aren't aware, is a duet featuring two King Crimson alumni, Pat Mastelotto on drums and percussion, and Trey Gunn, on Warr guitar, a touch guitar instrument similar to a Chapman Stick.   This show also featured vocalist, Chrysta Bell, a singer who fronted the now defunct, Austin band, 8 1/2 Souvenirs, as a special guest.


For the first portion of the show, Pat and Trey played instrumentals.   In general, I find it difficult to remember the titles of their instrumental songs, but I did recognize that they played Absinthe, a song they usually play with their trio, KTu.


Like Porcupine Tree, Tu is also very multi-media savvy and synchronizes their music with some really impressive and artistic video.   After 2 or 3 songs, Trey introduced himself and Pat and commented on the fact that they usually didn't get to play in such a nice sounding room.


After the first hour, Chrsyta joined Tu on stage.   She has a very powerful voice, and played several numbers including a song that she had co-written with film director, David Lynch.   The group was also joined on stage for one song, by a keyboardist, who was also video taping the show.


For the encore, Tu first played an instrumental number, and then were rejoined on stage by Chrysta.   For the final number, the band began playing the very recognizable King Crimson song, Starless.   The crowd erupted into applause.


This last number was actually a medley starting with Starless, and going into 21st Century Schizoid Man, before returning to Starless.   I can only hope that a recording of this will be available at some time.


After the show, Trey, Pat and Chrysta were all available for a meet and greet.   It was a great night of music.

Update

Trey Gunn has posted about the Austin and Dallas shows, and included some video on his blog, here.

Heart at the Moody Theater

They say the first step, is admitting you have a problem.

Reading this blog, you'll may notice that I have spent quite a bit of time at the Moody Theater in the past 11 days. Since it opened in February, I have already been to 6 shows at ACL Live. As the Central Scrutinizer would note, Once again, we see music causing big trouble.

At the last minute, 1AM after the Jeff Beck show to be exact, I decided that I needed to get in touch with my inner couger and purchased a ticket to see Heart. As luck would have it, I was able to obtain a Mezzanine seat. So, I have hit for the cycle at the Moody, having now sat on all 3 of its levels.

This was a bucket list show for me. I grew up hearing the Wilson sisters, and figured I should see them at least once in my lifetime.
Riding down with my friends Ron and Alissa, we headed over to theater, after dinner at Jo's. On arriving, it appeared that the show was a sellout. The opening act, Electric Touch, started promptly at 8PM. They were good, but I'm not sure I would run out to go see them again.
Heart eventually took the stage at around 9:15 PM, with some sort of Celtic drone going on in the background. Their recent band lineup consists of the following musicians:

• Ben Smith - Drums
• Craig Bartock - Guitar
• Debbie Shair - Keyboards, synthesizers
• Kristian Attard - Electric bass guitar

I didn't realize until I consulted wikipedia, that the band will be celebrating their 40th anniversary in just 2 years, 2013. If you know the band, you'll know that Ann and Nancy themselves, are the only original and constant members of the band. In everyone's mind, Ann and Nancy Wilson and Heart are synonymous.

The show was as I expected. The Wilsons are still able to perform and sound just as good now, as they always have. The setlist was similar to this one posted on setlist.fm, with the exception that I can recall, being that they played 2 Zeppelin covers during the first encore, and did not play Love Reign O'er Me.

Here's a few pictures that I took. You can see some additional photos over at the ACL Live site.

A Retro Moment

The coupe de grace for me was seeing someone actually lifting a lighter, calling for the encore.

Jeff Beck and the Imelda May Band at the Moody Theater

Several months ago, Jeff performed a tribute show for the late Les Paul, at the Iridium, in NYC. The artists that night included smoking vocalist, Imelda May and her band, Trombone Shorty, and Brian Setzer. The whole thing was broadcast on PBS, as a special, and it was fantastic.

Jeff Beck demonstrated an uncanny ability to genre hop into this Les Paul and Mary Ford material. It was a treat to see him checking in with some amazing performances on something other than a Jackson Strat (not that there's anything wrong with that). Anyway, I had never seen him play a hollow body, nor any of the amazing array of vintage Gibson and Gretsch guitars that he pulled out for that show.

During the interview segues, it was obvious that Jeff was a huge Les Paul fan growing up, and he was very animated and enthusiastic about the music. I watched the show several times, and was convinced that I would never get to see something like this live.

After the broadcast, I pre-ordered the DVD and CD of the show. They have since arrived, and I am still enjoying both (even after repeated watchings or listenings).

When they posted the opening schedule for the Moody/ACL Live earlier this year, I immediately locked my eyes on this show. It was in fact the first ticket I bought for the venue, even though it ended up being the fifth show I have seen there. I'm very glad I acted fast, because I was able to score a 2nd row seat.

I got there early and parked myself in my seat, not willing to miss one second. There was no opener , so things kicked off promptly at 8PM. (I pity any act that would have attempted to open for this show)

The format was very similar to the PBS special, minus Shorty and Brian. The band consisted of Jeff and Imelda May's band:

• Darrel Higham - guitar and vocals
  
• Al Gare - Bass
  
• Stephen Rushton - Drums
  
• Dave Priseman - Trumpet
  
• Leo Green - Tenor Sax
  
• Blue Lou Marini - Baritone Sax

Special mention needs to be made of Darrel, because he is also an amazing vocalist and performer. He in fact opens the show, and sang quite a few numbers before Imelda appeared on stage for the first time. He is equally as charismatic.

Once she was present, things really took off. Imelda is a very strong singer and has an incredible stage presence. I should also mention that she sings along to a recording of her own voice for quite a few songs, so that it is self-harmonized. This worked surprisingly well, but I would still have preferred to see her with some real backing vocalists.

I believe they played for over 2 hours, and while I tried to keep track of the setlist, the songs were going by too quickly to accomplish this. I believe that this setlist from a few weeks ago, is fairly close to the one for this show.

This show was everything I had hoped for and more. Jeff was clearly enjoying playing the music of one of his idols, and was incredible to watch. My only regret was not bringing a real camera. These cell phone pictures are the best that I could manage, given the lighting:

In closing, I had heard that Jeff would be heading immediately for LA to do the Tonight Show, later in the week, and then American Idol, where he would be performing with each of the finalists. (Normally, I'm not much of an Idol fan, but in this case I will be making an exception).

Update

The ACL Live sight has some additional photos here.

Austin Music People Launch at the Moody Theater

So I had the opportunity to go to the Austin Music People (AMP) launch at the Moody Theater, this past Thursday. A fun event, I'm hoping that AMP has more legs than Save Austin Music did ;).

The GA tickets were relatively cheap, and the lineup was fairly impressive. It included:

• The Bright Light Social Hour
• The Coveters
• Bavu Blakes
• Brownout!
• Alejandro Escovedo
• Court Yard Hounds
• Blue October
• Ghostland Observatory

I arrived late, and went on to the floor even though I had the more expensive balcony seats. I heard Bavu Blakes, Brownout, Alejandro, CYH, and the 1st song of Blue October's set. The sets were short, not really long enough to let the sound guy tweak the PA properly.

My only complaint was that the theater was totally sold-out, and they would not let me reenter the floor area, after taking a leak. A fun night regardless!

Brownout! (Groupo Fantasma's alter ego)

Alejandro Escovedo

The Dixie Chicks minus one (aka. Court Yard Hounds)

Update

Some photos from the ACL Live site.

Devo at the Moody Theater (ACL Live)

The Past

Right as I entered high school in 1976, the music world was being set on its ear. Album Oriented Rock (AOR) had dominated popular music for the first half of the decade. Once considered the music of rebellion however, Rock was becoming very commercialized and was now viewed as Main Stream.

Around 1975, something strange started bubbling to the surface. Popular music was bifurcating into two distinct poles. Two parallel rebellions were underway, against the status quo:

• Disco represented a resurgence of dance music with heavy Latin, Funk, and Afro-cuban influences. It originated in the urban, black, latin, and gay dance clubs of New York City. The Disco scene was opulent and hedonistic.
• Punk stood on the opposite end of the spectrum. It represented a return to Rock's garage roots. Simultaneously emerging from New York City and London, Punk held an anarchistic and nihilistic attitude; it evangelized a strong DIY ethos.

Of course, when this started happening, it was very important to pick a side. I felt more kinship with the Punkers.

Unfortunately, broadcast radio was not the best vehicle to listen to or discover new Punk bands. There were other venues, however. One of these was the then, still relatively young TV show, Saturday Night Live (SNL).

SNL had a musical guest every week, emphasized new artists, and had assumed the role of taste maker. Acts like Elvis Costello, and the Talking Heads, received a big boost after appearing on the show.

Most people my age, watched SNL religiously. However, even with all of this new music, nothing prepared me for the show that aired on October 14, 1978. On that night, Devo appeared on national television.

For the first segment of the show, Devo opened with their brilliant cover of Satisfaction. Ironically, the Rolling Stones were the musical guests, the prior week. For the second segment they showed a clip from their video, the Truth about De-evolution, then played Jocko Homo.

Of course, this was an amazing spectacle, clearly there was something subversive going on with this band. The following Monday at school, there were two reactions:

• WTF was that? - held by most of my classmates.
• I think we found our boys - held by me and my friends who were bummed about the Pistols falling apart.

It was only a short time later that all of us had a copy of Are We Not Men, We Are Devo and were wearing out the vinyl. As luck would have it, a few weeks later, tickets went on sale were for a show in Baltimore. I can honestly say that I will remember that first Devo show, as long as I live. All in all, I saw the band on every tour, for their next 3 albums:

• 12/29/78 - Painter's Mill Music Fair, Owings Mills, MD - they opened the show with 15 minutes of video, and Bob 1 had his wireless 2x4 guitar. (3 years before MTV!)
• 07/27/80 - Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD - an absolutely hilarious show, with Devo Muzak playing over the PA, as we entered the pavilion.
• 10/31/81 - Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY - a truly bizarre show on Halloween in NYC. The perfect counterweight to the Zappa show over at the Palladium, the same night. They wore plastic JFK hairdos, played all synthesizers, and performed most of the show on treadmills. (Ok Go - just a bunch of ripoffs. Devo's choreography was much better in 1981!)

The members of Devo by the way were Art Students who met at Kent State. And yes, they were there during the National Guard Incident. Their intent with Devo was to make video art. It should be no surprise then, that they were perfect for MTV.

They finally have their hit Whip It, when things start unraveling. Two more albums later, they changed drummers, and eventually broke up. Things stayed stagnant for 25 years. Post-breakup, lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh, had the only success, writing and producing music for TV and movies.

Fast forward to 2009. Rumors of Devo reforming were swirling around, when I discovered that they would be interviewed and perform at SxSW that year. During the interview, I discovered that Austin was swimming with Devo fans, and that there were two tribute bands in town. Attending their show at the Austin Music Hall restoked my interest in all of the Punk bands, that I used to listen to in my past.

I was supposed to have also seen the Spudboys from Akron, at Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010. But, guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh had nearly severed his thumb tendon the day before the show, and they cancelled. Which eventually led to the present day, and this show, at ACL Live.

The Opening Act - Octopus Project

For openers, Devo selected Austin Electronic Act, Octopus Project. I have seen them several times before, I can't say they're my cup of tea. I think that lack of vocals is a deal killer for me, with this band.

None the less, they are generally entertaining, and one of the band members is fairly accomplished on the Theremin.

DEVO

When Devo finally hit the stage, it was like a flashback to 33 years ago. You can see the setlist here. There was a good amount of material from Are We Not Men, and Duty Now for the Future.

The big surprises for me, were that they dared to play Mongoloid in this PC era, and Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA. I would have loved to have heard Gut Feeling, Come Back Johnny, and Space Junk, but it was not to be.

Here are some pictures I took with the phone. It doesn't do to well in this lighting.

Last but not least, no Devo show would be complete with the Spuds in the pit sporting their Blue and Red Energy Domes.

Needless to say, I've had the earbuds full of Devo for the past week.

Update

Here's some photos from the ACL Live site.

RIP: Joseph William Pinetop Perkins

Legendary blues pianist, Pinetop Perkins, passed away today at age 97. I was fortunate enough to have seen him play multiple times at Antones. He had been living in Austin for several years.

This moment is particularly surreal for me, however. This past Saturday night, I was at a SxSW showcase, for another legendary blues player, Bobby Rush. As a surprise, some people quietly moved Pinetop in his wheelchair, through the crowd, and parked him in the front row.

Bobby Rush's face lit up, he was delighted to see Pinetop, acknowledging him, and leading the crowd in a very loud round of applause. I distinctly remember thinking to myself that I should go see Pinetop a few more times, before the inevitable happened. He seemed to be in very good spirits as they wheeled him out of the 18th floor, at the conclusion of the show. Unfortunately, the inevitable did happen less than 48 hours later.

This is sad news on multiple levels.

SxSW BBQ - Day 10

Closure

My friend Frank says that the good thing about the Sunday BBQ and Softball Tourney, is that it gives you closure. It let's you wind down a bit, and let's you get mentally prepped, because you know it's going to suck going back to work on Monday. Of course, I also figure that I already paid for the food, so I might as well go eat it.

So, for the second year in a row, I attended the BBQ. I also flirted with the idea to go see the handful of shows at Emos later that night, but then sanity (and the need to catch up on sleep) prevailed.

Only 355 days or so to go until SxSW 2012.

SxSW Day 9

Panels

KUT Morning Show on the Hilton Stage - The Monahans

Ok, I broke my self imposed rule about trying not to see Austin based acts. In my defense, it's hard to walk by the day stage at the Hilton and not stop for a listen, on your way in, in the morning.

Vinyl Records 3.0 Challenges and Rewards

Another vinyl panel. Vinyl is surprisingly big, and records are selling. It's an amazing story, and it will interesting to see how this plays out over the next few years.

And On Piano... Nicky Hopkins

This panel arranged by biographer, Julian Dawson, talked about the life and music of the late, Nicky Hopkins. Nicky's volume of work was staggering. He was a legendary touring and session player, and a formidable composer/arranger.

The panel also included other friends that had known him, and two other pianists that had shared the same sideman chair, with the Rolling Stones, Ian McLagan, and Chuck Leavell.

It was delightful to here all of the stories about Nicky, and I promptly ordered a copy of Dawson's biography from Amazon. The icing on the cake however, was having Julian Dawson and Chuck Leavell play No Expectations, a song written by Nicky Hopkins, but credited to Jagger and Richards at the end. It's always great to have someone perform at a panel.

SxSW Interview: John Popper

This was another fantastic interview. While not a huge Blues Traveler fan, John and the other panelists encouraged the crowd to all move up front, and get close, so they could make eye contact.

What resulted, was a very intimate setting. I left with a newfound respect for Popper as an artist, and really enjoyed this session, as well.

SxSW Interview: Bobby Rush

My last panel of SxSW, and it was a great one, legendary bluesman, Bobby Rush.

The time went by very quickly, and I was fully engaged in this session. It was fascinating to hear Bobby's life stories, since they span an era of great change in the US. Bobby played with Muddy Waters and was known as the King of the Chitterling circuit. Looking at him today, you would never guess how old he was.

This was a great session, with added benefit that I would be getting to see him play, later in the night.

Parties

Unfortunately, in addition to cash bars, they no longer hand out party invitation envelopes in the swag bags. As a result, you have to send an RSVP in some cases, or you don't get in. Even with a badge.

Doh!

Music

Galaxy Express

I saw this band playing on the patio of what used to be the Habana, but is now called the Easy Tiger(?). They were a somewhat interesting garage rock band. Unfortunately, I came in during the last song of their set.

NEema

I then sauntered over to the Hilton, to check at the Day Stage. Neema was playing, I'm not sure if this was the female lead singer's name, or the name of the band.

In either case, she had a great voice, and the musicianship was first rate.

Erin McLaughlin

Back to St. David's to hear a very enchanting singer/songwriter named Erin McLaughlin.

Agnes Obel

Continuing my stay at St. David's, the next artist Agnes Obel was singer/pianist from the Netherlands, accompanied by a Cellist. Another fantastic set. No photos, because the venue people were cracking down.

Silje Nes

Staying at St. David's, I walked down the hallway to Bethel Hall, to catch experimental Norwegian artist, Silje Nes. Silje played a strat, and was accompanied by a bassist and percussionist.

While the music was very avant-garde and experimental, it was very enjoyable.

Amanda Shires

Since I had arrived early to the Hilton Garden to see Bobby Rush, I decided to quickly check out the Hilton Creek venue, downstairs. Amanda Shires was an alt-country act, that was listenable enough. I caught the last two songs of her set.

Bobby Rush

This was another amazing set. Bobby Rush held a packed house on the 18th Floor of the Hilton Garden, in the palm of his hand, singing and playing solo. No backing band. It was a very special night of blues.

The Soundtrack of Our Lives

After Bobby Rush's set, I quickly turned around and returned to St. David's to join my friends Ron and Alissa, for Swedish, psychedelic band, the Soundtrack of Our Lives. Several people were surprised however, that the band had decided to play acoustic.

I enjoyed this set, and have made a note to check out more of their music in the near future.

The Rods

From St. David's, my friends and I walked down 7th street to see the Rods. They were the closet thing to Spinal Tap, that I have seen at any SxSW. They were entertaining, but I'm not sure I would want to pay to see them headlining, to be honest. The novelty wears off after one listen.

Back to the 18th Floor

For the last showcase of SxSWm, I returned to the 18th floor. When up there during SxSW, I always try to get some pictures of Austin at night from the elevated viewpoint.

Homemade Jamz Blues Band

The last band I saw of the festival was the Homemade Jamz Blues Band. The band consists of a father, his 2 sons, and daughter, all from the Hill Country in Mississippi. Dad sings and plays harp, the eldest son plays guitar, the younger son plays bass, and the daughter plays drums. In addition, the guitar, a double neck, and bass, are custom made by the father, out of racing muffler.

Let me just say, these guys were smoking. The guitar playing son sounds like a cross between Stevie Ray Vaughan and Buddy Guy, and his daughter plays drums like Cindy Blackman. What a way to finish the festival.

SxSW Day 8

Panels

SxSW Interview: Yoko Ono

Couldn't miss this interview. It was unusual in that the session began with a 15 minute video about Yoko's life. It wasn't clear whether it was self-produced or not.

Yoko spent a lot of time talking about her life, latest causes, and the situation in Japan. It seemed to go by very quickly, I will probably take the chance to rewatch the video when it is posted by SxSW.

Mastering Vinyl, Hear All About It

This was undoubtedly one of the best technical music panels that I have ever attended. The panel consisted of aficionado Michael Fremer, who produced a fantastic documentary about vinyl records are mastered and produced, and two legends, Doug Sax and Bob Ludwig. If you own any vinyl, it is more than likely that several albums have been mastered by one of these two gentlemen.

Lot's of good information from this talk, and I am relatively sure that I will want to obtain a copy of Fremer's DVD, after seeing excerpts. Furthermore, I will be getting a new cartridge and bring my turntable and vinyl out of storage. Back to the future!

Get Band Business Doing Smart

This panel featured the always entertaining Martin Atkins, and Hillel Frankel (who I believe may be Martin's agent). The premise was a mock debate, in order to discuss Atkin's guerilla marketing strategies for music.

Martin never disappoints, and I really appreciate what he is giving back to the world of Music.

Bobby Long

I'm having a difficult time remembering the next 3 day stage acts. I do remember that I enjoyed listening.

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper

Caitlin Rose

Random Shot of ACC during SxSWm

Parties

Dutch Impact

Another party, another cash bar (handled by the same caterer). Oh well, the good ole days of free food and booze are over I guess.

I stayed for one set, a band named Black Atlantic. They were good, not great, and not as interesting as the Canadian band from yesterday.

Hilton Stage - Brooke Fraser

A very nice, mellow singer/songwriter type with a backing band. Incredible voice.

Showcases

Boy & Bear

This was a great Pop/Rock band from Australia. Another Handicapping panel suggestion, and another winner. The crowd at Buffalo Billiards agreed.

Dirty Beaches

So this was the first stinker. I stayed for exactly half of the first song, and left wondering how this person was able to get a showcase.

Keepaway

I decided to head over to Cedar Street. As I got there, the crowd seemed unusually sparse. After hearing Keepaway, I understood why. Strike two.

Birds & Batteries

I then walked over to the Tap Room, and finally found a band that was tolerable. I wasn't blown away by this act, but found them listenable (and avoided a strike out).

Leslie Stevens and the Badgers

I decided to stay put, just in case. The next act Leslie Stevens, was a female Country/Americana singer from Southern California. She had a pedal steel player, and some members of the band, Paperclip, joined her on stage for a few songs.

Oberhofer

I then returned to Kiss & Fly for Oberhofer, another Handicapping panel recommendation. I found them listenable, but not engaging.

Lanterns on the Lake

This was a very interesting Cinematic, post-pop band from NE England. They played a mix of acoustic and electric instruments, and sounded very good in the Central Presbyterian Church. This was only showcase I saw at this venue, BTW.

Amy Speace

Not being able to get enough of St. David's, I returned there and checked out this country singer, Amy Speace. She was an accomplished singer, but this music seemed very pedestrian to me.

Mother Mother

I had picked out this band from an iTunes or Amazon sampler for SxSW. The band executed just fine, but the venue, Swan Dive, sucked.

If there is one complaint I have about SxSWm, it's the temporary use of these Dance Clubs as live music venues. What was particularly annoying about this place, was their insistance on playing House Music at loud volumes, while the band was trying to do a sound check. The results when the band started playing were as expected. I really wanted to go throttle the DJ.

In all reality, I can't imagine setting foot in this club at any other time. I'm hoping there will be a pendulum swing back towards live music, in the next decade, putting these dance clubs and the choke-and-puke bars out of business. (I can hope, at least!)

Ron Sexsmith

This was another SxSWm highlight for me. I got see an entire set of Ron Sexsmith with his backing band. Outstanding!