SXSW06
Well, it was lasted for 19
years..
This year marked the end of SXSW.
I'm not saying I didn't have a good time. Some of my usual objectives were met:
1. See a band that you have never heard of before, and get blown away - This year, it was Rachelle Van Zanten from deepest British Colombia. She strolled to the stage with a pretty guitar with flowers on in, wearing respectable clothing. She then proceeds to wring the guitars neck, forcing feedback through the amp as the slide makes the pretty little guitar growl and wail. We saw her first at Carolyn Mark's Hootnanny in the postage stamp patio at Headhunters Thursday afternoon. We ran into her later that day, when she was on her way to her Canadian artist gig in a tent behind the convention center. I don't think we were supposed to be there, since everyone else had a badge or was visibly Canadian. She said if anyone gave us a hard time, just say we were part of her crew.
2. See the Meat Purveyors at least once - Actually, twice. Once right before Ms. Van Zanten played, again at the usual spot at the Bloodshot BarBQ at the Yarddog. They're recording a new record, and played some new songs for the first time in public. It was good. As was their cover of Foreigner's "Hot Blooded."
3. Drink free beer. Pabst at the Yarddog. (PABST? WTF? I remember kegs of St. Arnolds, of Shiner, even Loan Star. It's a symptom of a syndrome I'll discuss later).
4. Perform amp sherpa duties. I hauled amps, although I think of myself less as the bass player's husband than the Assistant to the Traveling Road Manager. Good shows by the Casting Couch, and it only rained on two of them (the third was inside).
So, it wasn't so bad. Walking around Thursday, after hearing Carolyn Mark and about a dozen of her female friend perform the Elvis number "Flaming Star" Yma Sumac style, I was overwhelmed with a deja vu. Hey, I'm walking around downtown, seeing a band, moving on, having another beer, hearing another band. This is the way it used to be back when. A smorgasbord of rock and roll for sampling. Only in 2006 the sun is out and I don't have a wristband on.
Now, you have to perform the "take the day off work, stand in line for long time, pay too much and still don't get into the club" dance to even whiff a wristband. Even last year, I could walk up to Encore and snag one. Not this year.
Combine this with the revisionist history that SXSW folks have been spouting - that it was never really about unsigned bands, much. Always been about the music industry weasels. The W in SXSW - stands for weasel. Yeah. That's right. You local folks are lucky enough that we even take your $150 for your wristband, and let you hang out with the overly gelled coke snorting talking on the cell phone and punching the blackberry all the way through the gig and never shut up weasels. Cause it aint even about the bands, it's all about spring break for the weasels.
That's not quite how I remember it. It's not quite how the Statesman or KUT remembered it. As I recall, it used to be mostly unsigned bands, playing for weasels, but with the energetic, sometimes discriminating denizens of the Live Music Capital of the World providing background. Fans from all sorts of places would show up. You would never know who you'd hear, but you would hear something good that you never thought you'd hear before. There's still some of that around (as I described above), but, damn, do the Arctic Monkeys or the Beastie Boys really need to showcase their talents for the industry?
So, for next year, I think they should eliminate wristbands entirely. Badges only, to certified weasels with two forms of photo ID. And move it to Dallas. Have 'em all play one after another on a high school gym circuit. They've got better cowboy hat & boot boutiques up there. Really.
On a less pissed off note, here are some snaps of the highlights (iblogger is going to make of mess of the pictures, so check out my flickr site for more):
Casting Couch at Austin Mopeds
Casting Couch at Spiderhouse
Meat Purveyors getting raptured
The Handsome Charlies (Handsome Charlie Sam sang a song about Julie's socks)
The amazing Rachelle Van Zanten
More amazing Meat Purveyors at Headhunters
Carolyn Mark & her Choir
and Elizabeth McQueen and the Firebrands
I'm not saying I didn't have a good time. Some of my usual objectives were met:
1. See a band that you have never heard of before, and get blown away - This year, it was Rachelle Van Zanten from deepest British Colombia. She strolled to the stage with a pretty guitar with flowers on in, wearing respectable clothing. She then proceeds to wring the guitars neck, forcing feedback through the amp as the slide makes the pretty little guitar growl and wail. We saw her first at Carolyn Mark's Hootnanny in the postage stamp patio at Headhunters Thursday afternoon. We ran into her later that day, when she was on her way to her Canadian artist gig in a tent behind the convention center. I don't think we were supposed to be there, since everyone else had a badge or was visibly Canadian. She said if anyone gave us a hard time, just say we were part of her crew.
2. See the Meat Purveyors at least once - Actually, twice. Once right before Ms. Van Zanten played, again at the usual spot at the Bloodshot BarBQ at the Yarddog. They're recording a new record, and played some new songs for the first time in public. It was good. As was their cover of Foreigner's "Hot Blooded."
3. Drink free beer. Pabst at the Yarddog. (PABST? WTF? I remember kegs of St. Arnolds, of Shiner, even Loan Star. It's a symptom of a syndrome I'll discuss later).
4. Perform amp sherpa duties. I hauled amps, although I think of myself less as the bass player's husband than the Assistant to the Traveling Road Manager. Good shows by the Casting Couch, and it only rained on two of them (the third was inside).
So, it wasn't so bad. Walking around Thursday, after hearing Carolyn Mark and about a dozen of her female friend perform the Elvis number "Flaming Star" Yma Sumac style, I was overwhelmed with a deja vu. Hey, I'm walking around downtown, seeing a band, moving on, having another beer, hearing another band. This is the way it used to be back when. A smorgasbord of rock and roll for sampling. Only in 2006 the sun is out and I don't have a wristband on.
Now, you have to perform the "take the day off work, stand in line for long time, pay too much and still don't get into the club" dance to even whiff a wristband. Even last year, I could walk up to Encore and snag one. Not this year.
Combine this with the revisionist history that SXSW folks have been spouting - that it was never really about unsigned bands, much. Always been about the music industry weasels. The W in SXSW - stands for weasel. Yeah. That's right. You local folks are lucky enough that we even take your $150 for your wristband, and let you hang out with the overly gelled coke snorting talking on the cell phone and punching the blackberry all the way through the gig and never shut up weasels. Cause it aint even about the bands, it's all about spring break for the weasels.
That's not quite how I remember it. It's not quite how the Statesman or KUT remembered it. As I recall, it used to be mostly unsigned bands, playing for weasels, but with the energetic, sometimes discriminating denizens of the Live Music Capital of the World providing background. Fans from all sorts of places would show up. You would never know who you'd hear, but you would hear something good that you never thought you'd hear before. There's still some of that around (as I described above), but, damn, do the Arctic Monkeys or the Beastie Boys really need to showcase their talents for the industry?
So, for next year, I think they should eliminate wristbands entirely. Badges only, to certified weasels with two forms of photo ID. And move it to Dallas. Have 'em all play one after another on a high school gym circuit. They've got better cowboy hat & boot boutiques up there. Really.
On a less pissed off note, here are some snaps of the highlights (iblogger is going to make of mess of the pictures, so check out my flickr site for more):
Casting Couch at Austin Mopeds
Casting Couch at Spiderhouse
Meat Purveyors getting raptured
The Handsome Charlies (Handsome Charlie Sam sang a song about Julie's socks)
The amazing Rachelle Van Zanten
More amazing Meat Purveyors at Headhunters
Carolyn Mark & her Choir
and Elizabeth McQueen and the Firebrands
Posted: Fri - March 17, 2006 at 09:17 PM |
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Published On: Mar 20, 2006 09:17 PM
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Published On: Mar 20, 2006 09:17 PM