popwreckoning

Monday 4:37 p.m.
I know I’m going to forget something. I always do. Regardless of the fact that I’ve managed to fill the entire backseat and trunk of the beat up mercury cougar waiting in the driveway, I’m certain that once I get past that “Welcome to Texas” sign, something will dawn on me. I’ll have 15 different vintage shirts, but no laptop cord. Ugh.

It’s not as though I haven’t made checklists. Hell, I have been waist deep in South by Southwest– planning and reevaluating with Dayna, president of Big Picture Media, since mid-December. The festival itself is still more than 24 hours from reality for me, but I couldn’t be more ready for it to be over. Well, in theory at least.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Well, I’m not complaining much.

I understand that I’m blessed to be in the position I am. As a music journalist, I get to see the industry in a way many casual fans never will. I’m lucky to do so and am certainly not implying I’d rather be staying home in Kansas City. However, I am ready for the prep work to end. I’m whole-heartedly looking forward to moving past the rsvping, showcase planning and alignment, beyond the backlining and sound check arrangements, to the moment where the lights go down at the PureVolume House and seeing Neko Case and Jakob Dylan remind me there is a reason I jump through these hoops.

Super early Tuesday 12:43 a.m.
I can’t begin to imagine how bands do this for a living. I’m two hours and three red bulls into my tri-state venture to Austin, Texas, home of South by Southwest and boredom has already begun to settle in. Southeast Kansas is truly the epitome of nothingness.

I can’t believe that I came from here. Tulsa, Oklahoma: 88 miles.

Tuesday 4:50 a.m.
Upon the realization that I have to pay a two dollar toll to get off Highway 75 to pee, resulting in my paying a seventy-five cent toll to get back on, I stop downing Red Bull like it’s water. While this stops the endless nagging need to find the nearest Kum and Go gas station restroom, it also results in my body’s realization that it desires sleep. After forty-five minutes of questioning its decision-making processes, I concede.

Tuesday 11:00 a.m.
As I wander around McAlester, Oklahoma in search of a mocha that hasn’t be created by running hot water through processed powder, the realization dawns on me that almost every Oklahoma town looks alarmingly similar. It almost seems like there is a unified checklist required to become a township, similar to the way that Johnson County communities in Kansas require your grass remain at a certain length or your house a certain color. Here however, the rules seem drastically different. For example, every town seems required to have at least one casino and bingo hall. Secondly, every town must have a parking lot full of vintage mustangs. The places provided to eat also all to be very sneaky. The Whataburger we thought we’d located turned out to be a Watsonburger. Must be a fluke, right? Nope. The corner Waffle House was a Waffle Shoppe. No deal. I’ll wait until Dallas.

Tuesday 12:23 p.m.
Oops. 67 in a 55. Hello 145 dollar speeding ticket. Goodbye coffee fund.

Tuesday 2:36 p.m.
After watching cars zoom past me in excess of 200 miles per hour in the Diamond Lane to my left, I come to the realization that there are enough persons in my car to drive in that lane. I had previous thought I needed three bodies, when I in fact needed only two. Huzzah! In hopes that this will answer my prayers for an end to the Dallas gridlock traffic, I weave around the cones and step on the gas hitting 75 for the first time in two hours. This lasts roughly, 45 seconds before the carpool lane also comes to a dead stop, where we’ll sit for another 25 minutes.

Tuesday 5:40 p.m.
Hello, Austin!

Tuesday 6:10 p.m.
I check into the studio apartment that will be my home for the next 7 days. I must confess, I’m almost willing to not leave. The couch in the living room is rather comfy and will serve as a nice late night resting place to write reviews from. There is also a nice balcony overlooking I-35 South, which has now become cluttered with future concert goers.

However, half begrudgingly, I grab a quick shower and a plate of tortilla soup before joining them on the road to downtown.

Tuesday 8:12 p.m.
I arrive at the Austin Convention Center to grab my press credentials to the surprise of no line. I’m kind of okay with this considering the previous year’s wait of four hours to get our badges. A quick shift to the left got me to the camera check in, where my Nikon D90 found itself tagged and cleared for venue use. With that, we’re all set. Sxsw 2010 is go.

I cross Trinity Street and walk toward 6th, making my way to the PureVolume House. Here, I catch Joshua James, Johnny Flynn and Jakob Dylan and Three Legs (which consists of Neko Case). Before pushing my way through roughly 500 people to an area accessible to the stage for cameras, I grabbed one of my free complimentary drink.

Wednesday 12:30 a.m.
After grabbing some Toni’s Pizza and Boone’s Farm wine from the Walgreens down the street, I headed back towards my hotel room to crank out the reviews from the prior day.

Look for Part 2 of Joshua’s SXSW blog soon…

Looking back, I learned a few things from my time in Austin, Texas as a rookie journalist at South by Southwest in 2009. After standing in line for roughly four hours last year, I arrived in Austin early, hoping to get all the paperwork and non-specifics out of the way. Dodging the Wednesday crowd really seemed to help, as I got my band and photo creds in ten minutes, leaving time to make my way over to pick up my entrance pass to the Purevolume House to catch a few bands.

By the time I got into the venue, Joshua James was finishing up his set. I shuffled through the drink line for a water before making my way to the front to set up for Johnny Flynn‘s 10:00 p.m. time slot.

Flynn and company had literally just stepped off the runway of Austin’s International airport and onto the stage of the venue for this set. It honestly doesn’t get more rough than that. Hailing from London, their bodies were left shaking off the feeling of jet lag equaling a 4 a.m. start time. Regardless of fatigue, the guys stayed the course, presenting me with a quality jumping off point for my 2010 SXSW.

Somewhere between Ryan Adams and The Swell Season, Flynn’s set showed his diversity as he wielded multiple duties between acoustic guitar, mandolin, trumpet, vocals and charm. With sweet alt. country songs and lyrics written with talent and depth, I expect big things from Flynn. I walked away from the stage a fan. I honestly plan on catching them again before I leave Austin, this time with all of their energy intact.

Following Flynn, Jakob Dylan of both Wallflowers and solo fame was set to take stage. Ironically, Dylan happened to also be the first band I caught at Austin City Limits in 2009. However, this time around his cast would be a little different. His band, Three Legs which features Neko Case, would be playing for the first time in front of a crowd. It doesn’t get much more exciting than that.

However, it does lead a person to wonder how anyone managed to get Neko Case to stand in the shadows of a project. With a presence on stage that borders on being bold and commands attention I think there are a number of musical personalities who would shy away from sharing the stage with Case. They might worry about the spotlight shifting slightly to stage left. However, in this situation, the combination would work flawlessly. Dylan shows his humility playing with a star that might honestly be a bigger name than he, while Case stands calmly by his side, performing her role as one of the legs of the band instead of trying to be the spine.

That spine is Dylan. Of all his projects, this one is the strongest. His voice is mature and wise, reminding me at times of the protest singer style that his father dawned. However at times a little Johnny Cash can be found in him as well. Beautiful slide guitar riffs fill the stage as he sings about sadness.

But those are always the best songs anyway right?

Jakob Dylan has premiered the first track “Nothing But the Whole Wide World” off his sophomore solo release Women and Country. For the record, Dylan worked with the legendary T-Bone Burnett, a longtime friend and one of the hottest producers in the business. Dylan’s maturity and versatility as a songwriter is apparent on the album track ‘Nothing But the Whole Wide World,’ which features Neko Case on backing vocals.

Jakob Dylan – “Nothing But The Whole Wide World”

Pre-order Women and Country now at Amazon.com. Catch Jakob performing new tunes at this year’s South By Southwest festival.

Jakob Dylan: website | myspace

Arriving in Austin to sun and 90 degrees was only the beginning of an amazing weekend after leaving a gray and blustery Philadelphia behind. I stepped out of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, soaking in the sun and admiring the native cacti growing freely, not a sight I’m used to. I soaked in the city’s sights via the 350 and 331 buses (oh yeah) and was beyond stoked for kicking off Austin City Limits with the Paste pre-party at Emo’s.

media wristband

After partying into the early hours with other media people, music lovers, and PopWreckoning staff, I headed back to Driver F’s pad to catch some sleep before heading to the bus station to pick up Editor Joshua at 6am (ugh, so early!). After some nappage upon returning from the bus station, Josh and I prepared ourselves for the promising first day of Austin City Limits. We scored some breakfast at Mr. Natural, a delicious 100% vegetarian ‘fast food’ restaurant on South Lamar Boulevard before walking the couple miles to Zilker Park.

Once we’d arrived at the park, Josh and I stopped by Press Check-In to get our wristbands for the weekend and headed into the park to catch some music we loved and some music we’d never heard of. There was a bit of a snafu with photo passes, so we don’t have great photos, but we’ve hooked up with new friends at Quiet Color to use some of their shots.

1:30-2:30 // Yeasayer // Dell Stage
Yeasayer was awesome. These experimental Brooklyn kids know how to put on a show. They definitely set the mood for the weekend, which is why I’d planned on catching them first. Their energy grew with each song, in turn pumping up the crowd for a rowdy weekend of music amongst the masses.

Having seen Vampire Weekend at Popped! Philadelphia and not having been super impressed with them there, Josh and I made our way to the media tent for some cold beverages and exited the park to a soundtrack of “Oxford Comma,” which sounded great, but not enough to deter us from our quest of Mango Green Tea Sweet Tea and XXX Vitamin Water.

2:30-3:30 // Jakob Dylan & the Gold Mountain Rebels // AT&T Stage
We happened back into the park as Jakob Dylan and the Gold Mountain Rebels were owning the AT&T Stage. Dylan, straying from success maker The Wallflowers‘ path, sounds strikingly like his famous father. Both Josh and I were absolutely impressed with the folksy tunes that flowed from the stage across Zilker Park.

3:30-4:30 // Del Tha Funkee Homosapien // AT&T Blue Room Stage
Nee Teren Delvon Jones, this man kept it old school and breathed new life into the air as one of the few hip hop acts on the festival’s 130 band roster. Admittedly new to loving hip hop, it wasn’t until Gorillaz‘s “Clint Eastwood” back in 2001 that I first heard his rhymes. As recently as a few months ago, I scored Delton 3030 and knew that Del tha Funkee Homosapien was not to be missed.

Later in the day, I happened to be hanging out in the media area while Del was being interviewed. He is a very cool guy. Following Del’s interview, Gogol Bordello was had a photo shoot at the Paste tent, so Josh snapped some pictures while I sipped on a Tito’s and Red Bull.

4:30-5:15 // M. Ward // WaMu Stage
Matt Ward was born to play the guitar. While it was nothing short of having seen him play twice previously this summer at Virgin Mobile and in Philadelphia, it was nice to see Ward shine on his own without the beautiful distraction that is Zooey Deschanel, the She to his Him.

M. Ward, Photo: Jessica McGinley

5:15-6:00 // Mates of State // Austin Ventures Stage
Having seen them the previous night, I was more excited to hang in the media tent for happy hour, but lingered long enough to hear this duo’s delicious pop sounds.

5:45-6:45 // Jenny Lewis // WaMu Stage
Ms. Rilo Kiley herself played a strikingly beautiful set aided by friends such as Jonathan Rice as her backing band. Jenny belted with an enviable set of pipes as she played mostly songs from her recently released sophomore solo album Acid Tongue. Notables from the performance include the album’s title track, “Carpetbaggers” and “Fernando,” but then I also find those to be album highlights.

Photo: Zander, Quiet Color

The crowd, not surprisingly, adored her. While it’s come to my attention that there are two camps of Jenny fans, those who praise her solo efforts and those who believe she’s only great with fellow Rilo Kiley band mate Blake Sennett, I can only say that her live performance is dynamic and should not be missed regardless of your thoughts on her albums.

Photo: Jenny Lewis

6:30-7:30 // N.E.R.D. // AMD Stage
Following the lovely Ms. Lewis, I wandered past the Austin Ventures to catch a quick listen of Eli Young Band as I headed over to the AMD Stage for N.E.R.D.  who were just amazing! Pharrell, Chad Hugo and Shay Haley killed. The crowd was totally into it both on and off stage, as Pharell invited some ladies on stage to dance.

7:30-8:30 // The Swell Season // AT&T Blue Room Stage
I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about The Swell Season, but actually found them to be quite boring at Austin City Limits. The audience was massive and the light show was fantastic, but I just never got into the music. I’d try my hand at an indoor Swell Season show, but I was left unimpressed.

Neither Josh nor I had any interest in The Mars Volta or Manu Chao, and though I was urged by a cab driver earlier that morning to check out Alejandro Escovedo, we split. A hot and dusty day in Zilker Park required showering and dolling up before we could hit downtown Austin for after parties galore.

9:00-11:59 // Gnarls Barkley // Stubb’s BBQ
On our way to the Antics after party at 508 House, featuring a DJ set by CSS, we stopped at Stubb’s to catch a brief chunk of Gnarls Barkley’s set. Josh and I knew we’d catch them Sunday, so we didn’t stick around long, preferring to hit up the Antics party instead.

10:00-?? // Antics After Party feat. CSS // 508 House
Kickin’ it to 508 House was so worth every single second spent there. The line was around the corner for a good part of the night and with good reason. We hadn’t realized that “House” in the name was so apt — we were literally at a house party. Tito’s had some handmade vodka free-flowing, Antics/Toyota were set up making shirts on the far and of the yard, chicks were hanging out of windows, CSS was DJing as kids danced madly and Wayne Coyne (yeah, that guy from The Flaming Lips) sat in a patio chair sipping a drink and casually chatting.

Following CSS’ sweet DJ set, we were treated to a new set which include cheesy dance jams “Vogue” and “Bootylicious.” Once we’d danced our faces out, we hit the streets of downtown again, wandering 6th Street in hopes of a new form of entertainment, but were mostly surprised to find a lot of bros and hos. Bored and slightly annoyed at the bro/ho-deo, we high-tailed it back to chez Driver F for some sleep to prepare for day 2!

Austin City Limits: website

Up next: Day 2

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend a taping of IFC’s new show, “Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…,” the brainchild of Costello and Sir Elton John. It all took place at the historic—and absolutely gorgeous—Apollo Theater. Upon taking the stage, Elvis opened the show, appropriately, with a cover of Steely Dan’s “Show Biz Kids.” The special guests? Jakob Dylan, Jenny Lewis, and She & Him, all of whom, in case you weren’t sure, hail from show business families. Indeed, even house band (Costello’s band, The Imposters) drummer Pete Thomas’s daughter, Tennessee Thomas of The Like, played the show.

Since this was a taping, I have no idea what the edited version of the show will look like, but Elvis introduced She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward) almost immediately after the opening number. They played “Change is Hard,” one of my favorites off the album [Volume One]. Sadly, the sound was badly balanced: Matt’s guitar was too loud and Zooey’s vocals not loud enough. Since you’re all wondering, Zooey was wearing an adorable tea-length powder blue dress and her hair, as always, was amazing.

During the interview segment, Matt talked a lot about how he likes to have room to dream in the sonic landscape of a song and how important he feels “healthy abstractions” are in the experience of music. There was some dialogue between Zooey and Elvis about the freedom afforded to artists via the indie music (and film, in Zooey’s case) scene, and Zooey mentioned that a lot of her songs had been written in her trailer on film sets.

With Zooey and Matt still on-stage, Elvis introduced Jenny Lewis. The link may not be apparent, but there are guest appearances by Zooey, Matt, and Elvis on Jenny’s new album, Acid Tongue (due to drop on 9/23). Matt also helped with production, and Jenny mentioned that it was he who introduced her to analog recording. Jenny said he boosted her confidence, providing a “warm bed for the songs to grow from” in addition to a “timeless atmosphere.”

Using his outsider’s perspective, Costello asked what it was about California that colored the distinct writing style of these natives. Zooey and Matt both agreed that Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys introduced a sort of “California myth” to music. Jenny cited Los Angeles country music and the “Bakersfield sound,” Emmylou Harris, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, and the search for authenticity.

Costello talked about the intimacy and storytelling style of Jenny’s lyrics, leading into a performance of “Pretty Bird,” a new song based on a story she’d heard on public radio about a woman raped on an Indian reservation. There was more talk of authenticity, public attention, and the element of dress-up involved in being a popular singer-songwriter during Jenny’s solo interview segment. Zooey and Matt (Johnathan Rice, too) got called back to the stage for a knockout performance of “Carpetbagger,” the song in which Costello duets with Jenny.

Jakob Dylan was the main guest, but I took little interest in his portion of the show, nearly falling asleep at some point. I know he’s Bob Dylan’s son and I was madly in love with “One Headlight” (which he played an acoustic version of in order to illustrate his playing style) when I was 12, but I just couldn’t muster the energy to care. His big blue eyes are indeed big and blue, for those of you who are interested, and he also perpetuates the time-honored tradition of dudes wearing stupid hats throughout the entirety of his segment. Costello is excused since the silly hat is a trademark.

In the end, all the guests were called back to the stage for a performance of “Peace, Love, and Understanding,” which was amazing, even though the ladies were mostly useless. In fact, my partner in crime and I left the theater wondering whether that particular song had even been practiced with Jenny and Zooey, as they both seemed a little clueless.

All in all, it was an enjoyable experience. Hell, any experience with Jenny Lewis and Zooey Deschanel is bound to be enjoyable, right? Right. An observation, however: where once Jenny’s aesthetic was cute (Rilo Kiley did start out as a twee pop band if there ever was one), it is now sex. Zooey’s aesthetic is cute. Putting them together on one stage, trying to match their movements to one another, Zooey all nerves and Jenny all smooth moves, lead me to one conclusion: Zooey has no sense of rhythm. Sad, but true.

Speaking of sad, I wasn’t allowed to bring my camera to the venue for this one, so you’ll have to enjoy the included iPhone shots (via Michael Slaven) and wait until you can catch it on TV. The show will air its first episode in December. You probably won’t see this particular episode for awhile, though, as it’s the eighth episode in a series of thirteen.

“Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…”: website