SXSW 2009

posted Apr 4, 08:37 PM by Rick Webb

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Bands: Bob Schneider and the Lonelyland w/The Fireants, The Dicks with David Yow, Vetiver, Circle Jerks, Sleepy Sun, Peter, Bjorn and John, Juliette and the New Romatiques, Echo and the Bunnymen, Kid Congo Powers, I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness, Shepard Fairey, Monotonix, Republic Tigers, Peter Murphy, No Age, Baptist Generals, Red Red Meat, Meat Puppets, Phosphorescent, Foreign Born, Kenan Bell, Bassnector with A-Trak, Jane’s Addiction, Silversun Pickups, Metallica, Tricky, Glassvegas, Primal Scream, Octopus Project, Lou Barlow, Morning After Girls, Longview, Crystal Method, Wayne Kramer, MSTRKRFT, Quaff

Wednesday, March 18: – Got up LATE. Laid around the hotel. Did work. Eventually went to Casino El Camino to meet Megan, Charlotte, Emma, Tara, and whats-his-name. Drank a lot of beer. Ran into a dude who made a calendar of pictures of cranes (the building kind) and I thought it was so adorable I bought a copy. Eventually Emma and I pedicabbed to the Austin Music Hall to see David Yow play with the Dicks. Turned out we went to the Austin Music Awards Show so everything was behind schedule. Saw some of Bob Schneider and Lonelyland w/The Fireants and then a lot of the awards show and then finally The Dicks w/David Yow and that was good – weird gay punk. I liked it. Then another pedicab to Emo’s and Emo’s Jr where we saw Vetiver, and then some of the Circle Jerks and then some of Sleepy Sun who were very interesting in their weirdness. Then we went to Vice to try and see Glasvegas but they were late so we saw a very ramshackle, stripped down Peter, Bjorn and John, which was strange and the place was too hot and I couldn’t find my friend Austin so we left and went back to Emo’s to see Juliette Lewis and the New Romantiques, who were better than the licks but still kinda boring, though the last song was good and Juliette is really a born performer. Then Echo and the Bunnymen which was a weird thing to see at Emo’s and they didn’t seem really into it but Emma hasn’t seen them a million times like me and she liked it so they probably delivered. Then inside for Kid Congo Powers who was actually kinda awesome.

So this is where it gets kind of weird. My friend Nussy basically pulls up and offers me and Emma a ride in this giant stretch white limo, and off we go to the Red Bull Moon Tower after party, since his friend, who also owns the limo, owns the place where the party is happening and did all the lights, stage, etc. The place looks beautiful and we roll VIP. We caught I love you but I’ve chosen darkness who I love love love, then Shepard Fairey DJing, which was a great song selection and whole songs but not particularly overly skilled at DJing, then Monotonix who were INSANE and played in the crowd and things went crazy (photos and a good writeup here) and then The Republic Tigers again, who I really like now I think. I gotta check ‘em out on recorded medium next.

The limo, after some good driving around, dropped us off at our hotel around 5AM. Ha.

Thursday, March 19 – Good breakfast at Manuels. I love that place but i probably shouldn’t say that cuz I like how it’s never crowded. Then some work at the hotel and the rock begins at 7PM with Peter Murphy at Elysium. It’s all new stuff, but the dude’s hilarious (“does anyone have any questions for the grandfather of goth?”) I’d have loved to have stayed for Blue Aeroplanes but we shoot for another 7 Hour show and head over to Radio Room for No Age, who are awesome but started early so we only caught about half of, and then The Baptist Generals, who I liked in their Neutral Milk Hotel meets Fleet Foxesness, except about 1/5th as good as that implies. Then we saw a little of Red Red Meat which was a fun time machine activity that was keeping in the good theme of this southby (my theory is that this was SXSW 1991 all over again) and then over to Stubb’s for The Meat Puppets, and then to the Mohawk for Phosphorescent and Foreign Born. Phosphorescent were awesome, Foreign Born not so much. We were working our way up Red River to get to the Playboy/C3 Presents party, and we did, and OMG. Okay first ban Kev and something. Um. Lemme look it up. Kenan Bell. Then an AWESOME DJ named Bassnectar who ROCKED IT. Occasionally he brought out an MC Apparently named A Trak. But really nothing could you prepare for the awesomeness of Jane’s Addiction, who have reformed with the original lineup, and want you to know they are really into the original Janes’s Addiction. They opened with Three Days, which really set the tone of awesomeness, then plowed through Ain’t No Right, Whores, Standing in the Shower Thinking, Ted, Just Admit It, Been Caught Stealing, Had a Dad, Mountain Song, Ocean Size, Stop! The last three were total and utter perfection. And you know how many bands I see. I haven’t even thought about Jane’s in a decade, but they were my first show, and they fucking ROCKED. YES. WOOOO! Oh and I still have hearing loss 20 days later. Great.

Friday, March 20 – after two days of late nights, I needed sleep, and I needed to do some work. So I didn’t roll out of the house until kind of late, and I made my way to Stubb’s for the Guitar Hero:Metallica Edition party, and caught Silversun Pickups who were great, but man it’s hard to open for… omg surprise! METALLICA. Yeah, that ruled. RAWWWWWK. Ashley would have hated it. Ha. But it was great. Then to Aces to try and see The Airborne Toxic Event, but it was packed and I could only see a smidge of them through the window so that doesn’t count. Then to the Austin Music Hall for Tricky who RULED and OMG I wish I could see him again on this tour but I missed the SF show but man he is still awesome. And then to La Zona Rosa for Glasvegas who were great and then my most anticipated band of the festival Primal Scream who TOTALLY RULED. OMG. Opened with Kill All Hippies, played Miss Lucifer, Higher than the Sun, Deep Hit of Morning Sun, Shoot Speed Kill Light, Swastika Eyes, Moving on Up, Get Your Rocks Off, Accellerator, Country Girl. Basically everything but Loaded. But it RULED. I was so happy. OMG OMG OMG More please. But apparently they can’t play long tours cuz they are drug addicts. Or so the E Street band says. Ha.

Saturday, March 21 – breakfast at Hickory Street – I forgot about that place but it does the job. Then puttering during the day then dinner with Megan, Woody, Charlotte and Emma. Then to the Rock. First Emo’s for The Octopus Project who I had never seen and man they were great! Very weird and arty. Then to the Parish for Lou Barlow w/Imaad Wasif and that was AWESOME. I love love love his last album, Emoh, and he played three songs from it, as well as some folk implosion stuff and some new stuff from his upcoming Merge album and that would rule. I am ready. Then we had some time to kill so we picked a band with a good name on the way to where we wanted to go and ended up at Pangea for The Morning After Girls who were not girls but rather awesome australian post rock meets the bad seeds and actually pretty much lived up to that awesome premise. Then to Cedar Street for longview who were really really good and not what i expected at all and I gotta remember to look them up and give them another listen and then to La Zona Rosa for The Crystal Method who were straight up big beat techno, and then to Maggie Mae’s to try and see Wayne Kramer but we literally saw one song because he went on early and we ran into my friend Adrienne from LA on the walk. Then to Radio Room to try and see MSTRKRFT but there was a giant crowd at the door and they made you go in the back, LAME, and even though there was probably room in the courtyard for us badged types, you couldn’t actually get to the door. OOPS. So we gave up and went to Elysium and ended SXSW music at Japan Rocks night which was HILARIOUS and we caught the last bit of Asakusa Jinta and then Quaff who were HILARIOUS and a perfect ending. When in doubt at south-by, go somewhere different and off the path, and it will rock. Rewarding.

Sunday, March 22 – AUS – SFO. Got up, got breakfast, and watched all three hours of the BSG finale, which RULED. Got on the plane and watched it again. Came home and started playing mad catch up with work.

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