A Giant Dog Cover Arcade Fire

A Giant Dog at The Saint back in July

Neon Bible

I spent about a year from the end of 2004 through 2005 with Arcade Fire's Funeral in my car's CD player. 3 years later, the band released the follow-up, Neon Bible; and, ever since, I've gone back and forth between those two albums as my favorite Arcade Fire record. Neon Bible definitely contains some of my favorite Arcade Fire songs like "Keep the Car Running," "(Antichrist Television Blues)," and "Intervention."

The stuff I listen to has changed a bit over the last 10 or 12 years. And, maybe, I've drifted away a bit from those Arcade Fire records. One of the bands I encountered and fell in love with over that time is A Giant Dog. Like Funeral and Neon Bible, the last two A Giant Dog albums (the excellent Pile and Toy) came out on Merge Records. As part of the label's 30th anniversary celebration, A Giant Dog recorded a full-album cover of Neon Bible. Subscribers to Merge's 30th anniversary vinyl series (a group that includes yours truly) received their copies on purple, marble vinyl earlier this week. At midnight on September 20th, the rest of the world will be able to stream the album in full.

In a press release, A Giant Dog lead singer Sabrina Ellis says, "Recording a cover album, we felt like actors in a movie. Taking someone else's lines and embodying those emotions, and expressing those ideas through our own selves, made us portals of human expression… and that's why the album artwork is an open butthole.*

*The awesome butthole artwork was conceived by our drummer Danny and made possible by our friend Jennine Turow."

I hadn't spun or pressed play or whatever on Neon Bible in a long time. A Giant Dog imbue this classic with their inimitable, all-out, soul-baring, heart-filling style. They take something that I -- a lot of us, probably -- know backwards and forwards and give it a fresh edge and vitality.

Check out A Giant Dog's take on "Intervention," and stream their whole cover of Neon Bible at midnight from wherever you like to do that sort of thing.

North Carolina to New Jersey. Not Much Sleep.

Superchunk at Merge 30

Merge 30 / A Giant Dog

"Was it what you wanted?" Gloree asked me during the wee hours of Tuesday morning after we'd just witnessed A Giant Dog, Dentist, and her band -- The RockNRoll Hi-Fives -- play a sold-out Saint in Asbury Park. Little Dickman and I had put together what, for me, was the show of a lifetime.

I sat there, my t-shirt drooping under the weight of my sweat, and said, "The bands are happy. The venue is happy..."

"NO!" Gloree said. "Was it what YOU wanted?"

"Yeah..." I said as an irrepressible smile came across my face. "More."

Back up a bit.

Monday's show was just the topper to six days of shows, friendship, and good times. Last Wednesday, I headed down to Carrboro, North Carolina for Merge Records' 30th anniversary festival. The RockNRoll Hi-Fives put me up in their new home for the whole weekend. We went to all the shows together. We played in the Merge 30 kickball game. Then, we met up back in Jersey for the rock and roll oven of peace and love that was the show at The Saint.

I could write a book-length review of the whole Merge 30 festival / Saint show. This is the Internet, though; so nobody really wants that. But I'll give some notes and observations.

Wednesday

Mac McCaughan welcomes the crowd to Merge 30.

Beautiful show at the lovely Carolina Theatre in Durham featuring The Mountain Goats, Hiss Golden Messenger, and H.C. McEntire. The always gracious press team at Merge got me a last-minute photo pass so that I could shoot from the pit in front of the stage. The chorus to The Mountain Goats' "This Year" -- "I'm gonna make it through this year if it kills me" -- has become a sort of mantra to me.

H.C. McIntyre

Hiss Golden Messenger

The Mountain Goats

Ran into Titus Andronicus at the after-party at Motorco. That was a theme of the weekend. Artists were out and about among the crowds, accessible, and just as into everything as everyone else in attendance. Escape-ism and The Rock*A*Teens played that one. I was in a Rock*A*Teens cover band with Gentleman Jim Norton for about 2 weeks a few years ago.

Escape-ism

The Rock*A*Teens

Thursday

Laura Ballance kicking off Night 2

Things moved to Carrboro's Cat's Cradle for the remainder of the fest. There's a big main room and a smaller back room. Since I always need to get and maintain a "good spot" for photos, I made the executive decision to cover the main room only. Regrets? Well, obviously, missing all the acts in the back room (like Will Butler, Telekenisis, Torres, Spider Bags, Mike Krol, and more) and missing out on the opportunity to schmooze with artists in the courtyard between the venues. Oh, well. That's the cost of doing a job that nobody ever really asked you to do.

I love Swearin', and I don't think I've seen them since a Shellshag release show at Maxwell's about 6 years ago. I was texting pics and video of Lambchop's set to Lambchop superfan, Renee Maskin, back in Jersey. New Merge signees, Sacred Paws, turned in a stand-out set of globally-influenced pop. I started going pretty hard during Fucked Up's set. Lead singer Damian Abraham is simultaneously intimidating and super-sweet. Once they got into selections from David Comes to Life, I lost my shit.

Swearin'

Lambchop

Sacred Paws

Fucked Up

Superchunk were otherworldly. The main set consisted of a song off of each Superchunk release in chronological order. Sabrina Ellis (more on Sabrina later) joined the band to sing her part on "Break the Glass." Damian came back during the encore for "Our Work Is Done" and stuck around, joined by Swearin's Allison Crutchfield, for "Slack Motherfucker." I was screaming into Damian's mic along with the rest of the people up front.

Superchunk and Sabrina Ellis

Superchunk, Damian, Allison

Superchunk

Friday

Kickss Golden Messenger w Andy the Grumpire

Friday afternoon was the Kicknic, organized and emceed by Jersey City's Dancing Tony. 3/4ths of The RockNRoll Hi-Fives and I were on Kickss Golden Messenger, while Evren kicked for the Ballfield Dogs. Kickss Golden Messenger won with a walk-off basekick by yours truly in the bottom of the 5th. By now, I could barely walk.

Friday in the main room started in mellow fashion with William Tyler's intricate and beautiful guitar work. He went electric -- and actually sang -- on a cover of East River Pipe's "Make a Deal with the City." Merge honcho / Superchunk guitarist and vocalist, Mac McCaughan, joined Tyler for the final piece.

William Tyler and Mac McCaughan

Imperial Teen had reunited from various points on the map to play only their second show in over two years and brought the fun.

Imperial Teen

This was the evening I was most looking forward to as it featured both A Giant Dog and Titus Andronicus. I've gone through the last couple of years with this giant, gaping hole somewhere inside me; and both of these bands are able to fill in all that space and get me a little bit (ok, a lot bit) outside myself when they play.

A Giant Dog's Sabrina Ellis lays it all out there, and -- even though I did snap hundreds of pictures during their set -- I found myself just absorbing it all during a few moments. I thought, "Geez. For a photographer, I have my eyes closed an awful lot."

A Giant Dog

A Giant Dog

Titus Andronicus played a set that consisted exclusively of their releases with Merge. That meant no The Airing of Grievances, The Monitor, or Local Business. It also meant that they closed out the set (before covering "I Wanna Be Sedated," that is) with the suite of "Mr. E. Mann," "Fired Up," and "Dimed Out" from The Most Lamentable Tragedy, which is one of my favorite and, for me, one of the most cathartic live music things ever. 

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus

Oh, I also don't want to forget to mention the mesmerizing set from Wye Oak right between A Giant Dog and Titus Andronicus.

Wye Oak

Saturday

The Spinanes

Merge held a free day party on Saturday. We bopped in and out and caught Joyero and the highly-anticipated closing set from The Spinanes. Destroyer's Dan Bejar, Lambchop's Kurt Wagner, all of Superchunk, and other artists were among the crowd.

Joyero

Saturday night was interesting. There were intimate -- And, really, even in the large space of the main room, they felt intimate. -- acoustic sets from Destroyer and longtime CDM favorite Waxahatchee. The crowd was respectful and attentive for both. Katie Crutchfield brought Mary Lattimore out for a few songs to accompany her on harp.

Destroyer

Waxahatchee w Mary Lattimore

Washington DC's Gauche are another recent signee that took advantage of the opportunity to impress. Defiant and danceable post-punk. The revelation of the festival for me was Nigeria's / UK's Ibibio Sound Machine. The crowd went apeshit. Frontwoman Eno Williams sings in both English and the Nigerian language Ibibio. Williams was visibly moved by the crowd's response to the set.

Gauche

Ibibio Sound Machine

Ex Hex closed out the festival. They've added bassist Michelle Mae which allows Betsy Wright to join Mary Timony on guitar. The new setup really works. And the hard rock riffs, high kicks, and sweet harmonies with Laura Harris are all still there.

Ex Hex

Ex Hex

Sunday

Flew home. Went to watch CoolDaughter #1 swim the 100m breastroke in the Junior Olympic finals. She finished 8th even though she was recovering from a mean stomach bug.

Monday

When Chris Dickman and I confirmed that we'd booked A Giant Dog for The Saint a few months back, I was incredulous. I knew immediately that I wanted Dentist and The RockNRoll Hi-Fives on the bill. When that all came together, it was like a dream come true.

We busted our asses promoting this one, and damned if we didn't sell out The Saint on a Monday night. The crowd arrived and packed the place out early. The RockNRoll Hi-Fives and Dentist played to a basically full house. CoolMom came out!

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

Dentist

Dentist

Once again, A Giant Dog gave us everything; and I greedily ate it up. I can't thank them enough for what they do. From the first seconds of their set to the end, when Sabrina was crawling along The Saint's bar, it was literal and figurative heat. It was sweat and wild abandon. Beautiful.

A Giant Dog

A Giant Dog

A Giant Dog

So, was Monday night what I wanted? The whole damn six days was what I wanted and what I needed. And I'm gonna keep heading out there, looking for it, trying to make it happen as long as I'm able.

I'm uploading the many hundreds of pics from the last week to Flickr as we speak.

SXSW 2019, Day 6 w Lee Bains, Annabelle Chairlegs, Viagra Boys, Pip Blom, Lunar Vacation, Tallies, Bambara, and A Giant Dog

A Giant Dog

Sleep When Dead

I woke up in the wee hours of Saturday morning and noticed a figure looming in the dark. "Bye, Jimmy." It was Chris Dickman heading out for his early flight back to Jersey. I'd be on my own for the day.

I had one goal for Saturday. That was to make it to A Giant Dog's midnight set at Cheer Up Charlies. This would be easier said than done as a week's worth of sleeping four hours per night was starting to catch up with me. In previous years, I generally took it easy on Saturday nights, turning in early following some shows during the day. But this would be A Giant Dog's first set of the week, and I would kick myself if I left Austin without seeing them on their home turf.

I made myself a Texas-shaped waffle in the hotel breakfast area and walked downtown. Joe Steinhardt from Don Giovanni Records messaged me that Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires would be hitting the stage at The Side Bar at 1pm. After a more than serviceable couple of slices at Austin's Hoboken Pie, I headed over there to catch the set.

It was the Athens in Austin Day Party, so the bill was filled with Georgia bands. I walked in during the end of the set from The Artisanals on the outside stage. Then, I headed into the darkness of the bar for Lee Bains's set. I'd been trying to hook up with the Glory Fires all week long, and I was happy to run into them finally on the last day. The sun streamed through the big front windows in the bar making taking pictures a challenge.

The Artisanals

The Glory Fires did their usual wild set with Bains moving throughout the crowd and handing his guitar and mic off to eager participants in the audience. After that, I dipped back outside for the last half of the last song from Nashville's Katie Schecter. Back inside for a quiet set from Athens's own Thayer Sarrano. Sarrano performed as a duo with a drummer who also handled some bass duties. I dug her set which had kind of a Mazzy Star vibe.

Lee Bains

Katie Schecter

Thayer Sarrano

Austin, like many cities and towns across the country, has been overrun by dockless shareable scooters and bikes. I never could bring my 49-year-old, relatively uncoordinated self to scoot anywhere; but I do love cycling. I borrowed an electric-assisted bike and was over at Hotel Vegas in a flash.

There, I caught the tail end of the set from Austin punk band, Late, on one half of the patio stage. I slid over to the other half and waited with a whole bunch of people for Stockholm's Viagra Boys. I'd been hearing a bunch about them over the course of the week. Post-punk performance art. Songs like "Can't Get It Up" and "Sports" take down bro-y masculinity with the boys staying in character the whole time.

Late

Viagra Boys

Back over to Patio Stage 2 for Austin psychedelic dream rock band, Annabelle Chairlegs. I wrote about them a few years ago. They played Asbury last year, I think. Rosi really dug them on her first day in Austin. This was my first time seeing them, and they rocked.

Annabelle Chairlegs

Joe from Jersey City had been talking up Amsterdam's Pip Blom (the name of both the band and their lead singer) all week. I saw that they were playing the third outdoor stage at Hotel Vegas, and I decided I had to see what he was on about. He was right. High-energy, gritty garage pop. One of my favorite acts of the festival.

Pip Blom

I grabbed another bike back to my hotel. The motor really helped with the giant hill I had to climb multiple times during the week. Why didn't I do this sooner?

Anyway...

Rest time, then one, final stop at Torchy's Tacos to fuel up for the evening ahead.

I walked over to Las Perlas on 7th to catch another set from Toronto's mesmerizing Tallies (one of only 3 bands I saw more than once, the others being The Beths and Dentist). I walked in just in time to hear Atlanta's Lunar Vacation. The young band call what they do "pool rock." It sits somewhere on the dream pop spectrum. Nice. Tallies absolutely slayed again.

Lunar Vacation

Tallies

By now, it was almost 11; and I knew I would make it. I hoofed it over to Cheer Up Charlies and posted up at the front of the stage just as Brooklyn's Bambara were setting up. I'd seen their name on various bills throughout the day, but I'd be catching their final set. Their guitarist noticed my Mets cap as he went over to set up his pedal board, and we had a nice conversation about the 2019 NL East outlook.

Bambara play eerie, gothic, western / southern-inspired punk. Vocalist Reid Bateh throws himself into the performance without regard for his own personal safety, swinging and slamming the mic stand and falling off the edge of the stage into the crowd. It was a wild set.

Bambara

As A Giant Dog took the stage, lead singer Sabrina Ellis gave me and some of the other people in the front row a nod of acknowledgement. They opened the set just as the clock struck midnight with, appropriately, "Sleep When Dead." At one point, during "Lucky Ponderosa," Ellis kicked a drink; and it splashed over a woman's camera. Ellis apologized, mugged for a few shots, and then picked the camera up and licked it clean.

A Giant Dog

I have a soft spot in my heart for A Giant Dog for a number of personal reasons. But I do think they might just be the best rock and roll band in these United States right now. They brought it for the duration of their 40-minute set on Saturday night.

When they were done, so was I. I wanted to stay for the 1 AM set from Har Mar Superstar, but I was outta gas. I trudged back up the hill, got into my room, and crashed on the bed in my clothes, my camera bag next to me.

Every year after South By Southwest, I have mixed feelings. It's a long week away from family, and I do get lonely at times. I run myself into the ground taking pictures and trying to kick out posts; and I'm never really sure who is paying attention. I wonder if I'm making any connections or doing anything really to grow the site.

But I'll tell you something. When I'm down in it, getting jostled around, taking pictures, and screaming along with my favorite band, there really isn't any place I'd rather be.