New Wave Outpost Forum

Here's my take, I'm sure Blir will post his and have even better pictures to share.


[b]The Good The Bad and The Rest:[/b]

[b]Great:[/b] Devo, by far was the highlight. See review and pictures here:http://nwoutpost.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=26227

[b]Great:[/b] My second favorite show was The Hold Steady at Red 7. The place was packed, they totally rocked, the crowd was way into it. Memorable.
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[b]Great:[/b] Airborne Toxic Event at Bat Bar, the nicest venue to see a show, the sound is amazing and we were front row dead center as they blew the roof off, ripping through a set with just about everything off their debut album. Polished and extremely captivating.
Unfortunately, it was filmed live for Direct TV so no pictures.

[b]Great:[/b] The Whip from Manchester, England just tore it up, the crowd was bouncing along from the first note and even though I had never heard of them before this, they sold me with their upbeat techno rock dance blend. Bonus points for having Seth Rogen in the band.
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[b]Very Good:[/b] Echo & The Bunnymen's set at Emo's was excellent, Ian wearing his True Religion Jeans and Banana Republic peacoat and mumbling banter between songs was fun to see as they played The Cutter, Dancing Horses, Lips Like Sugar, etc.
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[b]Very Good:[/b] Circle Jerks at Emo's was just classic, they shredded through all the old hits and had the crowd slam dancing throughout. Keith even saved a kid from getting pummeled by Security as he took the Set List off the stage a couple songs prematurely.
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[b]Good:[/b] White Lies at Cedar Street was cool. Great Big vocals impressed. I wish the set was longer.

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[b]Good:[/b] Late Of The Pier were about as young a group as I've seen and they had a quirky sound and great stage presence, well beyond their years and a small fight erupted at the end when they were cut 1 song short due to time.

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[b]Good:[/b] Wild Light at Cedar Street were really good, I hadn't heard of them before either but I picked up their latest as soon as I got back.
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[b]Good:[/b] Glasvegas were much better than I expected, I enjoyed them live much better than on disc, they still need to mix in a chorus once in awhile.
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[b]Good:[/b] School Of Seven Bells- maybe I was mesmerized by their singer, nothing great but enjoyable.
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[b]Good:[/b] Future Of The Left were my first show at this years festival and they set the stage with a sonic assault that was ear-splitting. I'll definitely be checking them out more.

[b]Bad:[/b] Juliette Lewis, the actress, was absolutely terrible. Too many people are telling her she can sing and I didn't need to see her sequined skank shack so closely (hey, we were getting ready to see Echo) as she lept offstage and I was obligated to reach up so my head didn't get smashed in, although, her 63 pounds probably wouldn't have done much damage. Best comment heard that night when Juliette said "We have a couple more songs for you" and someone in the crowd yelled without pause "You've got to be kidding me!!!" to the delight of the crowd. Hilarious.

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[b]Bad:[/b] Stardeath and White Rabbit- that's one group but twice the suckage. Stupid name, terribly dressed, ridiculous sound. Who knows, maybe they'll turn out to be the next Led Zeppelin but I don't need their tired rock sound and goofy cover of Madonna's Borderline in some Psychedelic metal freak-out. Warner Brothers have signed these guys, just proving how out of touch they are with the music scene.


[b]Bad:[/b] Iglu & Hartly- maybe it was late and I was tired but these guys mix their energetic dance beats with weak rap that absolutely ruins every song. Looking like Winger didn't help. No Thanks. Funny side note, they had people giving out t-shirts on 6th Street for free, which we did get one after waiting in line with the homeless people who were truly excited getting a fresh clean t-shirt.

[b]The Rest:[/b]

[b]H.R. Band[/b]- The legendary H.R, lead singer of punk greats Bad Brains, resembling Samuel L. Jackson in his role in Caveman's Valentine, led his band through a wide range of genre bending Blues, Rock, Reggae and finished off with the all-time classic punk single by Bad Brains, “Pay To Cum”. I'm glad I got to witness that. This dude just exudes “Cool”.
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[b]Pains Of Being Pure At Heart[/b], one of the biggest buzz bands was disappointing. No stage presence and sound wasn't good, I'll stick with the CD.

[b]Lucero[/b]- were on before The Hold Steady and were similar in their rock stylings with a little more country flavor but the large crowd was definitely into these guys.

[b]Gallows[/b] – Hardcore punkers with a huge following, the singer and guitarist played down in the crowd.

[b]Razorlight[/b]- I think these guys played a 4 song set which was disappointing but they were nothing special live.
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[b]Datarock[/b]- nothing unique about these guys, matching red sweatsuits and some dance beats did nothing for me.

[b]Tricky[/b]- Apparently, turning your back to the crowd and smoking pot every other song to low key beats and vocals not very loud is trippy to some. Not impressed.


[b]Misses:[/b]

Jane's Addiction reunion, apparently they played nothing after 1990. Would have liked to see them.

Echo at Bat Bar. Dinosaur Jr., Meat Puppets, Grant Hart, Greeley Estates, Dear & The Headlights, New York Dolls, Peter Murphy, The Thermals, We Were Promised Jet Packs, The Hold Steady's other two shows.


I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff. Also rode the shuttle from the hotel to the airport with Minneapolis band Catch Penny. Not familiar with their music but these guys were heading to Iraq the next day to play a tour over there for the troops. Major props to them, a nice group of guys.

Finally, a special thanks to [b]Blir[/b] for another epic time in Austin. The third year in a row and now I can't imagine missing it.

Hahahah! I started posting to the old thread in a similar rating style. Deleted and reposted here...


Here's my attempt at a wrap-up of SXSW 2009. As usual, it's often as much a story of what you miss as what you catch. It was a bit of a weird year in that there were SO MANY bands worth checking out, yet I don't know if any were one's that I was so crazy for that I wanted to catch every showcase they played. That was last year, seeing 7 shows with either British Sea Power or Shout Out Louds. That made 2008 SXSW completely epic for me. There was only one band that I saw even twice this year. Overall though, there were more good bands in 2009 and even more conflicts as a result.

Looking back, it kills me (as it does every year) to think of all the acts I missed: The Decemberists, Courteeners, Passion Pit, Booka Shade, Pete Tong, Crystal Stilts, Grizzly Bear, Crystal Method, etc. I didn't catch a single one of the fairly large bands like Primal Scream or Dinosaur Jr...always something else to see. I don't even want to know if We Were Promised Jetpacks were any good because so many indie acquaintances seemed to have them on their must-see list. I kept missing them though. I don't even know what they sound like, but I'm still kinda bummed I missed them.

Then there's the insane surprise acts that popped up this year like in no other. I thought it was big news that Peter Murphy would be playing Elysium on Thursday...awesome...except we had to get to Airborne Toxic Event at about the same time. Then we hear that Janes Addiction is doing a reunion gig...at some Playboy event. Right, like we're getting into that! The biggest buzz was surrounding the debut party for Guitar Hero Metallica, possibly featuring...tadah...Metallica!!! And sure enough, they showed up and did a whole gig. Holy shit. That was a zoo I couldn't deal with...and miss Devo either. Then for Saturday, Kanye West shows up?? Ridiculous.

Here's who I did catch. I'm sure there are some small bands we caught briefly that I've forgotten. Ranked from most to least favorite in case you ever wonder about catching them:

01. Devo @ Austin Music Hall - The best gig of the festival by far. Really surprised me. Separate thread posted to fully attest to that.

02. Echo & the Bunnymen @ Bat Bar - If it wasn't for Devo, this would have been the gig of the festival. I had never heard Mac in such great form. That obviously owed partly to the perfect sound at the Bat Bar. Whatever the case, this rivaled them at Radio City with the full orchestra - I honestly kid you not. I was almost delirious at how great this gig was. Incredible Mac vocals on Seven Seas and perfect Sargent strumming on The Cutter and Killing Moon. Too bad no pictures during filming.

03. Airborne Toxic Event @ Bat Bar - The Bat Bar is the festival's official television stage, with bands being broadcasted live on DirecTV. It's therefore got perfect sound, lighting, and not lastly, punctuality - an awesome combo at a long festival. Toxic Event were truly awesome in this setting. Forget the jeers about being a bit plastic, too fastidious, etc. They're a really fun live band, and they sounded amazingly professional for such a young outfit.

04. Echo & the Bunnymen @ Emo's - Not as great a sound as at Bat Bar but incredible to be right under Mac's mic with Will just feet away as well. The intimate setting was very special, even if it took Mac about half the set to warm up:
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05. Silversun Pickups @ Antone's - These guys weren't on my radar despite hearing them talked about the past couple of years. They turned out to be really great live. They followed Duke Spirit and I was just about to pack it in at midnight Saturday when the former thanked the Pickups for inviting them to open. My whole body was wracked with pain from four days of the festival but I decided to stick it out for one more hour. It paid off. Really entertaining straight-up indie rock band.

06. The Duke Spirit @ Antone's - I loved them in NYC before Christmas and happily looked to catch them again here. I think they're great performers and they didn't disappoint.

07. White Lies @ Cedar Street - It's startling to think that you're gonna see the band with the #1 album in the UK right now in a tiny venue, and they show up on stage, and they're just really young kids! The dude has an AMAZING voice for a 20 year old. They'll need to do more good stuff, but I hope people cut them some slack and realize who and what they are right now - just kids.
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08. Glasvegas @ Mohawk - The lead guy's freakish similarity to Strummer is a real trip live. They put on a great show that more than makes up for their albums lack of diversity IMHO.
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09. H.R. Band @ Emo's - Fantastic treat to see HR Hudson of Bad Brains! A bit of history really. They actually finished with a Bad Brains song but can't remember which now.
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10. Circle Jerks @ Emo's - Lots of fun. Still huge energy. Forgot how much I enjoyed Beverly Hills, Coup d'Etat, I Wanna Destroy You cover, etc.
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11. The Whip @ Cedar Street - Most pleasant surprise of the festival for me. Just a ridiculously fun indie electro rock band with some Happy Mondays thrown in…plus a hot hot drummer with ridiculous energy.
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12. Future of the Left @ Maggie Mae's - This 3-piece rocked very very hard. Think a bit of young Henry Rollins, maybe more rock, less punk, dash of early Beastie Boys funkiness.

13. Dieselboy @ La Zona Rosa - This San Fran-based DJ is a Drum & Bass essential, and it was fun being able to finally catch him…if only for half a show before I ran to catch another gig.

14. Ra Ra Riot @ Maggie Mae's - Weird afternoon showcase sponsored by, um, Rachel Ray of all people! Really fun though and melodic. Lovely girls on strings. Won't save the world but as enjoyable as I remember them being from before. Played on adjacent stage with New York Dolls, so I caught half of each. Kinda schizophrenic combo.

15. The Whip @ La Zona Rosa - I decided to catch some more electro-funky-dancy stuff since I'd missed Pete Tong, Booka Shade and friends earlier in the week. This was the second Whip show of the week. Some of the initial novelty had worn off since first time. Still lots of fun but not as much so as the first time.

16. Tricky @ AMH - I like Tricky so I liked this gig okay. I had to really concentrate though that this was a swirling, trippy Tricky gig that was dumped right in front of Devo. Two totally different acts. Tricky necessitates getting into a tripped-out mood to enjoy…can't really do that a) without more drugs and b) knowing you're gonna want to get up for Devo immediately after.
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17. New York Dolls @ Maggie Mae's - As energetic as I remembered them from a couple of years ago. Kind of a one-trick pony though in that I was real eager to see the legendary Dolls the first time...they were, um, legendary! But by the second time, I had been there and done that.

18. Explosions in the Sky @ Auditorium Shores - They sounded really good, but there may have been some vibe similar to Tricky going on here. They're the kind of band you have to sink into rather than hear in passing on the way to something else…and I had to get to something else, so couldn't really sink into them.

19. School of Seven Bells @ Mohawk - I don't think the girls knew what to make of the daylight setting. They were real fun opening for M83 at night, full of swirly beats and guitars, but they looked limp and out of place in the day. Still the hottest singing girl twins that I know (better than the Watson Twins).
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20. Late of the Pier @ Cedar Street - They were good I guess. Just something about them annoyed the fuck out of me though. Maybe they seemed too confident that they were just so goddamned hip and knowing and clever. You weren't you twerps. I'll prolly give 'em another chance though.

21. Moriarty @ The Driskill - I'd met this whole gang on the flight to Austin, so I decided to take a flyer on their folk-cabaret. Not a genre I'd normaly be into obviously, but I thought it'd be a good break from all the indie wonks. I think my attraction partly had to do with chatting up their lovely French band manager on the three-hour flight over. I got a classic cheek-&-cheek kiss when I saw her again at the gig, but that the highpoint of my reaction to them - I guess folk-cabaret is not for me.

22. The Mae Shi @ Maggie Mae's - A bit too much yelling on this noise rock led me to go drink drink beer at the back of the rooftop setting overlooking 6th Street.

23. Lucero @ Red7 - Alt-country rockers that I could only tolerate a bit before I wigged and bailed on the clausterphobic over-capacity crowd.

24. Cage the Elephant @ Antone's - Only reason I caught these guys was that I sprinted from my failed attempt at trying to like french folk cabaret music to Antones to catch The Duke Spirit. Annoying bar rock - I could have taken my time.

25. Gallows @ Emo's - Too hardcore for me.

26. Wild Light @ Cedar Street - Can't remember a thing about them. They're like the amnesia of bands. It was hot and early afternoon and I needed beer and a sit.

27. Razorlight @ Cedar Street - Okay, worse than being an amnesia band. Wow, there could not be a more boring band that is this well known (relatively) and has three albums. I'd say don't bother with a fourth.

28. Datarock @ Austin Music Hall - They're not Devo. They got the [i]geek[/i] part down but missed the [i]good[/i] part.

29. Stardeath & White Dwarves @ Austin Music Hall - Was kinda mandatory while waiting for Devo. Basically a confused jumble of prog rock with some shit from the kitchen sink. I yelled "more cowbell" at them, and that's pretty much the most fun I had during this gig.

30. Iglu & Hartley @ La Zona Rosa - Couldn't make it over to La Zona Rosa in time for Tori Amos - my feet just gave out and I needed to rest and eat...and drink. So what awaited us was this fucking drek. Christ, who the hell scheduled this shit?

31. Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Red7 - WORST letdown of the festival. Had high hopes that these kids would be indie pop banner-carriers who might possibly spark some melodious magic like Shout Out Louds did last year. Nope. They just have NOTHING live. Singer has NO voice. The Asian chick has NO purpose. Pathetic. No they're not worse than some of the names above, but the sheer disappointment drops them this low.

32. Cannabinoids & Eryhak Badhu @ Auditorium Shores - This was at the more-traditional festival grounds across the river. Too many people and too shitty a band to have to wade through to get to Explosions in the Sky. They were really pissing me off with how bad they were, just enough to supplant Pains of Being Horse Shit. AND they were late! Fuckers.

33. Juliette & the New Romantics @ Emo's - Yeah, Juliette Lewis has a band. You can imagine the rest. The most heinously bad scheduling I've ever seen at SXSW. This no-talent waste inbetween Circle Jerks and Echo?! I wanted to strangle her. I think it also caused me some temporary Tourret's Syndrome - I kept yelling out "cunt", "whore", or even "cuntwhore" periodically and inexplicably for the next few days. Awful, awful, awful.

But a good SXSW overall and as always, a pleasure hanging with Coop as well as new-found acquaintances A, E, T, and R. I do hope that I can finally convince some other folks to make it down. It really is like a music pilgrimage.

COOL !

Thanks for all the pictures and detailed posting, you two, of this incredible event. That's amazing to get so many bands together in ONE place. Looks like you saw some fantastic bands and heard some terrific music.

p.s. Juliette Lewis ?!? Seriously ?!? Her "singing" and "music" sucks.

Good reviews guys, kind of helps who I might want to see as they blow through beantown.

Well TB, Friendly Fires and White Lies are at The Dise this coming Sunday. The former have been compared to New Order and the latter to Joy Division. How could you go wrong?! [8D]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Blir[/i]
<br>Well TB, Friendly Fires and White Lies are at The Dise this coming Sunday. The former have been compared to New Order and the latter to Joy Division. How could you go wrong?! [8D]
[/quote]


I spotted that show,and I think it's Saturday, I may have to get out of a family obligation for that one.