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| A Giant Dog on the big stage. |
Rock Or Die
Saturday was the big day of our "Rock Or Die V" showcase. Little Dickman Records, The Garden State Beard & Mustache Society, and I worked on it together; and we held the show at Valhalla Tavern right in the thick of it on 7th and Red River St. The line-up was chock full of friends and favorites with The Gloomies, Dentist, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Fruit & Flowers, BOYTOY, Sharkmuffin, Kino Kimino, High Waisted, and Honduras. All of these bands were super-busy throughout the week, and it was great to be able to get them all for our show.
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| The Gloomies |
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| Dentist |
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| Lee Bains & Tim Kerr |
As for the show, what can I say? With the amazing folks on stage and in the crowd, it was a beautiful day. The Gloomies won me over during their 11:30 time slot, their Southern California vibe a perfect start to the day. Dentist's Emily Bornemann took a pretty serious spill following one of the band's shows on the way down to SXSW, but she played all of Dentist's showcases -- including Saturday's -- like a trooper. Except for the Band-Aid on her chin, you would never have known she was injured. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires played at around 1pm with all of the abandon and passion that you'd expect to see in a packed room on a Saturday night. High Waisted have a new line-up, and brought a rainbow of color to the darkened bar. As Honduras were finishing up their set, a group of us bounced along with the music while cheering CoolDaughter #1 on in her 200 yard breaststroke final as I livestreamed it on my phone. Everyone else was, without exaggeration, fantastic, ripping through 25-minute sets and leaving us all wanting more.
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| Fruit & Flowers |
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| BOYTOY |
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| Sharkmuffin |
And this is the kind of stuff I live for. Lee Bains or Kim Talon (Kino Kimino) bringing their guitar down into the crowd to play a bit in the scrum. Tarra Thiessen asking us all "Are you still having FUN at SXSW??" during Sharkmuffin's "Fun Stuff." The crowd screaming for more from BOYTOY or Fruit & Flowers as the house music came up.
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| Kino Kimino |
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| High Waisted |
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| Honduras |
Almost as important, the show ran on time; and everyone was able to get to their next gig. After packing up and loading out, a bunch of us -- the Dickmans, Matt Beardo, Joe Stalker, the guys from Dentist, and I -- headed over to the big, outdoor stage for A Giant Dog and Roky Erickson. The stage was set up in a vast green space next to Austin's Lady Bird Lake. The photo pit was huge, and that left a giant space between the audience and the main stage.
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| A Giant Dog |
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| A Giant Dog |
A Giant Dog played their set and were maaaaaybe slightly more subdued than they were at Hotel Vegas on Monday. They didn't censor themselves at all for the family audience, which was welcome (by me, anyway); and they owned the big stage.
This got me thinking, though. The show was such a stark contrast from the show we just threw at Valhalla and even from A Giant Dog's own set earlier in the week. I missed being thrown around by the crowd at Hotel Vegas as the dust flew up from the ground and as Sabrina Ellis or Andrew Cashen got right in my face. I missed the connection you feel with the band and the audience in those close quarters.
This is no knock on A Giant Dog. Their songs are more than strong enough to bridge much of the divide created by the big stage. And they deserve to be playing the biggest stages in the world. They are that good. But the contrast made me understand what it is I love about going to shows. It's the music, sure. But it's also the shared, communal experience of living those moments -- an experience that doesn't really happen for me when the band is several yards away and several feet above my head. (Aside: I realized that I'm not as comfortable shooting those kinds of shows either.)
Anyway.
Following A Giant Dog's set, we hiked around the grounds in search of some food. I hadn't eaten anything all day. We got back in time for the set by psych-rock pioneer, Roky Erickson. Both times I've seen him, the experience has reminded me of seeing Brian Wilson in recent years. Neither is the same as they were when they were younger (Who is?), but they are surrounded by a band that seems to know all of their idiosyncrasies. And the chance to hear classic songs ("Night of the Vampire," "Don't Shake Me Lucifer") performed by the person who created them is a chance I never like to miss.
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| Roky Erickson |
There was a lot more stuff going on late into Saturday night and into the wee hours of Sunday morning, but I had walked / stood / bopped / bounced / taken pictures about as much as I could for the week. My flight was at noon the next day (Which, in SXSW time, might as well be 6am), so I went back to the hotel to pack and get some rest.
And so my third year at SXSW drew to a close. As I've said before, if I were better at this music website thing, I probably would have had a bunch of artist interviews or photoshoots or whatever; but I'm first and foremost a fan. I pretty much just went to shows and took it all in. There were bands I missed for one reason or another (A Place To Bury Strangers, METZ), and I had some pangs of FOMO as I watched the Instagram feeds of my friends who stayed through Sunday for the "hangover parties;" but this was my most rewarding year in Austin. By now you know that I'm all about shared experiences, and there's just something so cool about being away from home and sharing this experience with friends. I hope I can do it again next year.
I've got a ton of pictures to edit, so keep your eyes peeled for a few big photo blasts in the coming days. For the most part, though, it will be back to our regularly-scheduled programming.
