SXSW Day 2 w/ The Dickmans, Superchunk, White Reaper, Ringo Deathstarr, Sweet Spirit, Nobunny, and More, 3/13/18

White Reaper

A Sprint Not a Marathon

Yesterday was a busy day. Chris and Amy Dickman picked me up at around 11:30am, and we headed over to Kerbey Lane for brunch. Now that I think about it, that omelet may have been my first actual meal since Sunday night. It hit the spot.

We lingered over that and took a leisurely drive around town before arriving at Waterloo records at around 2pm for Superchunk's 3pm in-store. We were right up front for the intimate acoustic set from the band. They played several selections from this year's excellent What a Time to Be Alive including "Break the Glass," for which they were joined by A Giant Dog's / Sweet Spirit's Sabrina Ellis. They also included "Sick to Move" from their recently re-released debut LP.

Superchunk w/ Sabrina Ellis

From there, we headed over to Historic Scoot Inn for sets from Philly's Mt. Joy and Louisville greats White Reaper. Mt. Joy do folk-infused indie rock, and White Reaper do high-octane garage pop. Both bands had avid fans in the crowd. During White Reaper's set, beer cans were flying; and Chris and Amy were bopping.

Mt. Joy

White Reaper

We drove over to Hotel Vegas to check out the evening's set times and used the hour we had before Ringo Deathstarr would take the stage to grab a burger from P. Terry's Burger Stand. After wolfing those down in the car, it was back to Hotel Vegas.

Ringo Deathstarr went on just after we walked in and blew me away. I'm a shoegaze fan, and they do it so well. The band were working out some new songs and everything sounded great.

Ringo Deathstarr

Hotel Vegas was running three stages: the outdoor Patio Stage, the indoor Hotel Vegas Stage, and the indoor stage at Volstead Lounge. We squished into Volstead for a set from Tall Juan. That was a party. Tall Juan encouraged everyone to dance and sing along without worrying what anyone thought, and most of the crowd took his advice.

Tall Juan

Then, it was a bit of wandering around to catch some of the country bands playing inside on the Hotel Vegas side and Yonatan Gat with a drum circle on the dusty ground in front of the outside stage. Volstead was running a good 45 minutes behind; but, at around 10pm, local psych-rockers, Hidden Ritual, finally took the stage and shook the small space.

It was back out into the dust for what would be my final two acts of the evening. Sweet Spirit includes most of the members of A Giant Dog. They trade that band's glam punk for something a little more soulful. Sabrina Ellis is still able to command a crowd no matter the genre. The crowd was a lot less violent than they were for A Giant Dog the previous night, but they were no less enthusiastic.

Sweet Spirit

The craziness came when Nobunny took the stage at around midnight. I made it through a song or two up front before things got too wild. Nobunny played as a relentless power trio on Tuesday but promised more band members for the sets they'll be playing at Hotel Vegas throughout the week.

Guy who kept crowd surfing to Nobunny.

Nobunny

So that was yesterday. Non-stop and pretty bananas. I may slow it down a little bit before tonight and try to take in a few conference sessions. Gotta pace myself. We'll see what happens.

CoolDad Does Austin: SXSW Day 2

Downtown Boys cannot be stopped.

Cheer Up Charlie's, Little Dickman Records, NOBUNNY

After my experience of getting shut out of shows I wanted to see on Tuesday night, I made it a point to arrive early for the AD HOC Magazine Day Party at Cheer Up Charlie's. The show featured a full slate of bands I wanted to see at the festival, so I could park myself in one spot and check acts off of my list.

There was no crowd when I arrived, and I got to check out both Surfbort and Wall on the inside stage. Both bands are from New York. Surfbort is more hardcore punk, while Wall is kind of post-punk in the vein of Priests. I enjoyed both sets, but Wall kind of blew me away.

The outside stage featured All Dogs, Frankie Cosmos, Waxahatchee, Dilly Dally, Downtown Boys, and White Lung. Every single one of those was an act I came to see, and every single one of those were fantastic in the hot sun yesterday. All Dogs were just as good as I remembered them from seeing them at Asbury Lanes in the summer; and Dilly Dally lived up to everything I'd heard about them. Drawing on influences like Pixies and Hole, Toronto's Dilly Dally became a new obsession of mine.

Frankie Cosmos played as a duo; and Greta Kline charmed her way through some technical difficulties, guitar tuning issues, and forgetting some lyrics once or twice. It was still an enjoyable and relatable set. Waxahatchee (Katie Crutchfield) played solo and fought the din of a competing show across the street. She managed to hold everyone's attention with her singular voice.

Downtown Boys' passion once again had me choking up in the front row as singer Victoria Ruiz stalked around the edge of the stage delivering impassioned speeches about empowerment and injustice. Every one of their shows is like a political rally and it's hard not to get swept up. White Lung brought their new sound and new songs. Lead singer Mish Way was a commanding presence, and the band appear to be onto something cool with their new record.

I hadn't eaten a damn thing all day, so I made my way back to my hotel to clean up and fuel up before heading to Carousel Lounge for Little Dickman Records' Rock Or Die III party featuring Sharkmuffin, T.V. Tramps, Dentist, Darkwing, and Fruit and Flowers. It was another good night of hanging with some friends from back home, and all the bands got good reactions from the crowd.

It was an early show; so, after some In and Out Burger, Chris from Little Dickman and I headed downtown to catch NOBUNNY close out Hotel Vegas for the evening. That was a wild, wild set. Constant stage diving, beer cans flying through the air, and just a continuous barrage from the band. Thanks to Chris for dragging me to that one. I probably would have missed it left to my own devices.

Time to make my way back downtown for some more day party action. Until next time.