BITE ME! South By Southwest '05 Live

SXSW Austin Texas

Austin during South by Southwest is the craziest town on earth -- for 5 days every year it turns into party central, music literally spews out of every window, car park, tent and shed around town. You can walk just a few blocks and in that time see every musical style imaginable, drummers play right next to open windows, guitarists are realizing their rock dreams near fire exits, stages are often tiny, lines to get in are often huge.

The first night then and we are off and running, first music I find is a band, well a duo called Nizlopi, who came all the way from a town near my birth in England. Imagine if you will a jazzy/ soul version of Mike Skinner from The Streets with a double bass player beat-boxing all the way through. It was actually more enjoyable than that sounded.

After this opener I went to Buffalo Billiards to get in line for Ray Lamontagne, but was initially surprised to hear he had cancelled, but then thrilled to hear that Tom McRae had stepped in to fill his slot. Now if you’ve read my review of his last album Just Like Blood then you will already know I love Tom's darker take on the world. Here, he impressed the large crowd of people who were expecting someone else, no small feat as expectation for Ray ran so high. Stripped down to just himself on acoustic and his cellist Oli Kraus who plays through simple but arresting effects, the pair performed a great set that ensured the hairs stood up on the back of everyone’s neck. He has a knack of shutting a room up, and even here in a noisy industry filled bar he did just that. The spontaneity of the gig made it an early highlight. It’s in his voice, at times he sounds as sweet as a choirboy, and he teams it with sinister lyrics that do not fail to impress. When he sang "if songs could kill, this one’s for you" I swear I heard gasps in reply to the bitter sentiment. As I said, dark. We were treated to a couple of songs from a new album apparently coming soon, "Silent Boulevard" stood out strongly and had me excited to hear the recorded version. Stirring stuff.

After that I was in the mood for some ROCK so I went to an outside stage called the Emo's Annexe and catch a great band called The Valley Arena. These guys from Long Beach play tight, well crafted songs in the vein of Thursday or Cursive, the vocalist/guitarist Warren has a strong voice and delivers his words passionately. The other players throw themselves around the stage as they send out agitated and mature rhythms, and the shapes bassist Michael makes it have to be seen to be believed. I came away feeling sure I’m gonna be hearing a lot more of these guys soon, they are gagging for exposure and seemed destined for success, this much emotion surely cannot fail. Go to their website, www.thevalleyarena.com for details.

Some venues seem more popular and conduct more of a buzz than others. One club that had an enormous buzz was The Parish, a place with a reportedly awesome sound system and the next night was also the venue for The Merge Records showcase with special guests at 1am. Rumors abound that Dinosaur Jr. have reformed and are playing tonight, for once the rumors here turned out to be true....almost The gear was set up on stage, but apparently flights were missed, c'mon man that’s a poor excuse, but no matter there's tons more fun to be had.

So instead I cross the road to Soho Lounge to see Irish band Bell X1, who play to a packed upstairs room and I bump into Ash singer Tim who says they are playing later in the week. If you like Talking Heads then you will really enjoy Bell X1 but thankfully unlike so many bands I get to see here that’s not the extent of their arsenal. They also do the emotive brooding rock thing, one song sounds like listening to the whole of The Bends from Radiohead in just four minutes.

Speaking of UK bands I also got to see the great British band Embrace on 3 count ‘em 3 occasions over the week, the first time was across from my hotel at the BPI tented party thingy, I was given a bag with an album in in, on vinyl of all things, like a dork I left it in my room as I left and hurriedly packed to catch my flight home, I’m told they only made a thousand of ‘em, bugger I could’ve Ebay'd that. Back to Embrace, this show the guys played as a trio, just singer Danny McNamara, his brother Richard on guitar and the piano of Mickey Dale they play a short acoustic set but still managed to get their anthemic rock sound across to an appreciative crowd. The next time I saw them they were a full band plugged in and including a magnificent drummer who played with such power that bits of wood flew from his sticks. The anthems hit home even more at this show, none more so than the new single "Ashes" which is lush with a gorgeous chorus. I felt so privileged to hear the arena sized UK hit "All You Good Good People" in such close quarters. Comparisons with Coldplay are both obvious and many but instead of Chris Martin’s loony dancing, Danny exudes a quiet confident manner especially when he seems to look right into the eyes of everyone watching him.

Like the NIN video for "Closer" when I try to recall anything that happened later that night, I just see "scene missing". Forgive my blurriness, but 20 free Bacardi and cranberries will do that to a guy, I remember meeting The Aqua Teen Hunger Force on the street, Meatwad gave me a button after I nearly knocked the poor guy over in my excitement. I have a vague memory of seeing a Japanese band whose drummer was bollock naked, speaking of Japanese drummers, whilst waiting for pizza I overheard a tale of a band whose drummer crowd surfed out whilst still playing his kit. Told you it was crazy. I think I saw a bit of the duo Death from Above 1979, but again its pretty fuzzy.

When you have soooo much to choose from spread over such a large area then you'll inevitably miss some stuff, I am only one man after all. Kasabian for instance who only played once, were reportedly great and somehow I managed to miss Bloc Party eight times! I could’ve caught them at 2am on the final night but I had to get up at 5am to catch my flight as it was, plus I plum forgot to pack my shit up, anyway the reports I got were generally of the hhmm okay variety. A band I was disappointed by was Dogs Die in Hot Cars who despite having THE best name in rock, annoyed me immensely, the best I can say is Dexy’s Midnight Runners without the overalls, didn’t need that then, surely don’t need it now. [I’m bummed – I love the name too. –J]

Saturday, and its all about the Take Action Party at Emo's. This was a great way to spend an afternoon spread across three stages, like a mini Warped tour. Here I get to enjoy the Sugarcult type stylings of Mae who put on a powerful show to a very healthy hardcore following, news is they are supporting Coheed and Cambria in the UK soon which I think will work very well. After a couple of beers I am torn between seeing Rufio do their punk pop bounce in the main room and checking out The Hold Steady who I only know about because I bumped into their show after sneaking into the Spin party at Stubbs the day before in an attempt to snag some free bbq, Imagine a loud as hell punk bar band with a great singer who seems to be in his own world but more than welcomes you into it, couple that with screaming bluesy slide guitar and top it off with great non cheesy keyboards, a solid rock band, loved em. Go to www.theholdsteady.com and download "The Swish".

Then its time to see a band I was aware of These Arms Are Snakes from Seattle. Now let me tell you these guys straight off blew my head from it’s neck, the lead screamer Steve is possessed pure and simple, this show was fuckin’ A. Coming on like a punked up version of The Liars the danceable rhythms exploding from the P.A., the drums connecting with your spine and forcing you to move your ass. Towards the end of the set I noticed they had managed to crack the clouds open and it started pissing down with rain. Loved them so much I got soaked buying a t-shirt.

Then I crossed the road to try and see Eyeball Records’ Murder By Death but unfortunately it seemed as though half of Austin also had and Emo's was over capacity, as the storm outside got bigger, so wristband or badge holders, unless you are in Murder By Death, you’re not getting in. I heard a song or two from the doorway but have to reserve judgment for another time I think, I like the CD though.

So back across the road I go to see Isis, who frankly friggin’ scared me, they began with a recurring riff like you were tied underneath a train and continued to perform their brand of heavy as hell melodic sludge as everyone around me slowly bobbed their heads in unison. Mainly instrumental, they weaved some interesting patterns but the Metallica-esque vocals didn’t sit well with my Mexican breakfast. That said if you like Static X then I’ve found your new favorite band. After that I stumble back to my hotel freezing cold and sneezing loving Take Action for putting on such a cool bill. www.takeaction.com

I spy Robert Plant in the lobby, pretty rad, he looks awesome by the way, a living legend. Try to be cool and not ask to pose with him for a photo, still regretting that. Same lobby that night Jerry Hall was slouched in a chair, not quite so much a legend, memory card full.

Queens Of The Stone Age, The DKNY party, on stage 2am, somewhere in the middle of nowhere on a big airfield. I have an idea, let’s rent an aircraft hangar where people have to travel to us, there’s a thousand bands on a thousand stages within walking distance of everyone’s hotel rooms so it has to be big, special, people have to WANT to come to this, the answer QOTSA. Invite around 3000 people and just rock it. Josh Homme from the huge smoke filled stage senses the celebratory atmosphere "This is cool we used to play a lot of parties" as he towers above us looking like a brick shed in a red t-shirt and scans the heaving drunk soup of people on the floor.

Electricity is in the air, this was indeed the big party to end all big parties, a free bar for that many people, come on it could be nothing less. Opened up by The Bravery, by the time I got to the middle of nowhere the Queens were in full swing and the sound was enormous, rattling anything within a few miles as the desert rock reverberated inside and outside the giant hangar, whilst the light show threatened to blind every one of us. This was definitely a big deal, "Monsters in the Parasol" shreds as does "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" prior to the cowbell driven frenzy of new single "Little Sister". DKNY certainly got their money’s worth though as the band played into the early morning. I decided to be sensible (don’t ask me how after I started drinking at 9am that day!) after a long day of rocking out I left before 3000 people tried to get a cab back into the city, tales of taxi rank brawls followed me the next day. I also heard that one time Queen and Screaming Tree Mark Lanagan joined the band for a few songs, of course I kicked myself for not staying longer, but I'd probably still be waiting to get back to my room now if I had.

Buzz of the week -- Later in the hotel lobby I hear of a party on the twelth floor, all but pass out on a table in someone’s room, does nobody ever sleep here?

On the final night at almost 2am after drinking a final Jack and Coke on a stool shaped like a saddle, I follow friends to see Daniel Johnston finish his set, equal parts freakish and fascinating, his sweet voice cracking above his plinking piano delivered as though you were watching Brian Wilson in a tiny room, I honestly don’t think I could’ve found a more fitting ending to the week.

So ends my personal highlights of SXSW, the greatest music festival on earth, I laughed, I cried, I passed out but surprisingly I never threw up, my ears still ring and my feet still throb but above all I had more fun than should be allowed. I cannot wait until next year and I recommend anyone who feels music to come out to this, just don't steal my hotel room. -Glen