SXSW Day 6 w/ The Gloomies, Dentist, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Fruit & Flowers, BOYTOY, Sharkmuffin, Kino Kimino, High Waisted, Honduras, A Giant Dog, and Roky Erickson, 3/17/18

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.

The Gloomies

Dentist

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.

Fruit & Flowers

BOYTOY

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.

Kino Kimino

High Waisted

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.

A Giant Dog

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.

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.

SXSW Days 4 & 5 w/ Common Holly, Little Dickman Records, Pujol, The Wedding Present, Sunflower Bean, Nikki Lane, The Frights, Starcrawler, and more, 3/15-3/16/18

Starcrawler

"C'mon You Dads!"

Yesterday got away from me a little bit. My alarm went off, and I kind of just sat and stared into space in my hotel room before deciding that it was time to venture out and get some coffee. I planned on taking it kind of easy, since we have our big show today with a 10am load-in. Things didn't go quite as planned.

Back up a little first.

I spent Thursday morning getting the show listings and my daily recap together; and, before I knew it, it was 12:30. I gathered up my stuff and walked the few blocks over to Sidewinder where I caught Montreal's Common Holly. The project of Brigitte Naggar, Common Holly make intense, personal music in the vein of someone like Mitski. It's amazing how early 1pm feels when you're spreading yourself thin. Naggar commiserated a bit with the audience, "Who's tired?"

After that set, I caught Snail Mail on the Sidewinder outside stage, and I could see why the band really seem to be striking a chord with people.

In my quest to take it kind of easy, I decided that I'd go sit in on a "Writing About Music Panel" that featured Ryan Schreiber (Pitchfork), Marcus Moore (Bandcamp), Puja Patel (SPIN), Chris Mench (Genius), and Andy Cohn (The Fader). It touched on a lot of things I think about a lot, like criticism vs curation and writing about emerging artists. Time well-spent.

It was already late afternoon at this point, and I figured that some time with friends over at Little Dickman's Hard Luck Lounge showcase would be nice. They had a great line-up there, and I managed to catch Stuyedeyed, Grim Streaker, Dentist, Pink Mexico, Ex-Girlfriends, and Gustaf. I'd seen all of them before back home with the exception of Gustaf. Fronted by Lydia Gammill and featuring members of Sharkmuffin, Ex-Girlfriends, and The Big Drops, Gustaf is a wild experience of dance music, poetry, and Tarra Thiessen's voice through some kind of distortion pedal or vocoder. It has to be seen to be understood.

I headed back into town from there where I sat in my hotel room for an hour or so before working up the energy to catch late sets from Nashville's Pujol (Valhalla) and the "semi-legendary" Wedding Present (7 Grand). I've loved Daniel Pujol's garage-y, southern tinged, punk rock since seeing Pujol open for Screaming Females a few years ago. The band have been busy working on some new songs, apparently, and the ones they did on Thursday have me looking forward to the new record. The Wedding Present have been at it for around 30 years now, and their jangly post-punk has been a huge influence on lots of the music that I love. For a good portion of their 35-minute or so set, I just closed my eyes and soaked it in.

Somehow, it was now around 1am already; so I trudged back to my hotel room where I vowed that the next day would be focused on re-charging. It started off that way. I enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast and slowly strolled over to the Convention Center where I caught the noon set from Sunflower Bean. The band have a kind of a 70s, psychedelic pop vibe anchored by singer Julia Cumming's voice. I'll say it again. While the Convention Center feels like a big conference room, the sound is miles ahead of much of what you hear around SXSW.

I walked back over to the Cedar St. Courtyard for a quick set from Philly's Hop Along. Singer / songwriter / guitarist, Frances Quinlan, is even more amazing live than on the band's records. So glad I didn't miss them.

Back over to Austin Convention Center for the tail-end of the set from Natalie Prass and the full set from Nashville country music badass, Nikki Lane. I texted the Dickmans, and we met over at Cheer Up Charlie's for California surf punks, The Frights. Following that, we met up with our buds Matt Chrystal and Joe Stalker, and headed over to catch another set from Gustaf. It ended up being the most weirdly wonderful set of SXSW so far.

Gustaf had a gig at The Big Easy, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and bar specializing in Cajun-style food. Seeing Gustaf do their thing and interact with the stunned and confused crowd, most of whom were just there to pick up their dinner, will be THE memory of SXSW 2018 for me.

Dinner at Kerbey Lane and then the Dickmans dropped us off at Barracuda downtown where I caught Spanish surf punks Kings of the Beach, another super-intense set from Grim Streaker, The Wedding Present, Public Access TV, and Starcrawler. The sets alternated between the indoor and outdoor "stages," but all the bands played on the floor like we were at a basement show.

Hinds were on-hand going bananas to the NYC garage pop of Public Access TV, and Starcrawler were everything they'd been built up to be for me. At one point, guitarist Henri Cash chastised us, "Hey! I thought this was a pit party, not a room full of boring dweebs." Singer Arrow de Wilde stalked around the stage like the scary girl from The Ring, spitting water, tossing personal belongings from people's backpacks, and taking her wireless mic all through the venue. She tried to whip up the crowd of SXSW badge holders, screaming, "C'mon you dads!" Catching a set just inches away from the band like that isn't something any of us will be doing for much longer.

After midnight and I'd been out since about 10am. Oh, well. 9 bands at our show today and then hopes of running over to the big MGM outdoor stage to close things out (for me, anyway) with A Giant Dog and Roky Erickson. Sorry for the lack of pics today, but I have to be at our show in like 45 minutes, and I'm way behind on my editing. You can always follow me on Instagram.

SXSW Day 3 w/ Hinds, Bat Fangs, Wye Oak, Ruby Boots, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, Panels from Superchunk, Steve Albini & Kim Deal, and more, 3/14/18

Steve Albini & Kim Deal

All Official and Whatnot

I've spent lots of time during my previous trips to SXSW at unofficial shows and showcases. There will be plenty of that this year, too; but, yesterday, I decided to take it a little bit easy and do some stuff around the Convention Center during the day. My plan was to sit in a lot of chairs all day and then take in some bands in the evening.

Tuesday's shenanigans kind of wore me out. The crew from Dentist and I had some slumber party hangs that night and then went our separate ways in the morning. They headed out for an interview, and I went to the Convention Center to check out the "Featured Discussion" with Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan of Superchunk / Merge Records. The pair discussed running an independent record label in the era of the Internet (which, according to McCaughan, "Has ruined everything with a few exceptions"), their thoughts on "getting political" as artists, Ballance's thoughts on running for office, and quite a bit more. It was a really interesting discussion and the words "disrupt" or "blockchain" didn't even come up until the Q&A session, which must be some kind of record for SXSW 2018.

Laura & Mac

After that it was time for some barbecue from the really quite good Iron Works Barbecue around the corner from the Convention Center. I manage to eat there every year, and it is solid.

I made it back in time for Wye Oak's set on the "Radio Day Stage" inside the Convention Center. In three years, I've never seen a band there; and, while it does kind of feel like a huge conference room, hearing Wye Oak fully sound-checked and coming through a great system was a real treat. Plus chairs.

Wye Oak

Then, I hoofed it down 4th Street to the Cedar Street Courtyard (more like an alley, really, but still cool) for Hinds' set at FLOODFest. I really do love this Spanish four-piece. Jangly, messy garage pop and they have a total blast. They just make everyone happy, you know?

Hinds

Anyway.

It was back to the mothership for a packed out "Conversation with Steve Albini and Kim Deal." Albini opened that by saying that Kim Deal is one of his favorite people to work with, one of those people for whom he'll say yes before even knowing the details of the request. "And that's how I ended up here, a place where I swore I'd never set foot as long as I lived."

Their talk was engaging, and I'm really glad I made the time for it. I'm also glad that I got up the nerve to walk up front when it was done to tell Kim Deal how much I love the new Breeders' record, All Nerve.

After some re-charging at the hotel, I headed over to Barracuda to catch the set from DC's Bat Fangs. It was just pure rock, delivered with all the big guitar solos and high kicking energy that comes through on the band's self-titled album. So much fun.

Bat Fangs

Call a Lyft. Head over to the Continental Club for some country music at the Bloodshot Records showcase. Sets from Ruby Boots and Sarah Shook and The Disarmers as well as a meetup with our good bud, Matt Chrystal.

Ruby Boots

Ruby Boots blew us both away. The Nashville via Perth, Australia singer / songwriter was backed by a band that brought a real edge to her live performance. Sarah Shook is simply brilliant, an honest voice with a real gift for writing songs about whiskey, broken relationships, and being a general fuck-up that you can't help but sing along to.

Sarah Shook

That was it for me. Three more days to go. I got this.

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.

SXSW Day 1 w/ Field Report, Shamir, Bully, Trouble In The Streets, and A Giant Dog, 3/12/18

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

SXSW 2018 Pre-Gaming: Spotify Playlist

We've got Alabama's Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires at our Rock or Die Day Party on 3/17 in Austin.

The Best Laid Plans

Next Monday, I'll be heading down to Austin for my third year at South By Southwest. I hear all the criticisms of the festival as being a corporate shitshow, and I get some of that I guess. But, as a consumer of music, I've enjoyed both of my past trips immensely.

The amount of stuff available to badge holders is overwhelming; and, last year, I dipped my toe into the water of attending a few sessions. My goals for this year include doing a little more of that, finding all this free food and drink that everyone talks about, and seeing as many of the acts on this playlist that I can. I'm there to hear live music, after all.

This year's SXSW playlist includes lots of our friends like Dentist, Sharkmuffin, High Waisted, Fruit & Flowers, Kino Kimino, BOYTOY, Overlake, and more. It's got songs from Superchunk, Bully, Hinds, Low Cut Connie, Quiet Slang, A Giant Dog. I mean, there are 55 songs on here. If I manage to catch sets from every band on here, I'll be amazed. But I can dream.

There may be some overlap with the awesome playlist that Little Dickman Records put out last week, and that's understandable. Together, along with The Garden State Beard and Mustache Society, we're hosting a free day party at Valhalla in the heart of downtown Austin on St. Paddy's Day. Every band on that show is here. If you're in town, come by and say hello to us. If you won't be making it this year, enjoy checking out some of these artists.