Oh, SXSW. Sure it sounds glamorous with all the free tacos and beers, but honestly, this is one of the most tolling festivals you can attend.
This festival lasts a week to two weeks depending whereas most festivals are a mere weekend. Hot Austin days swiftly followed by breezy Austin nights makes it incredibly hard to choose how to dress. Then you have the tiring volume of walking and standing you have to do. With something like Bonnaroo you stay on a central farm and you have the option of grass to sit on. With SXSW you might start in the 6th Street area, but end up forty blocks away at the UT campus. Ohh, the foot blisters! Want somewhere to sit? Good luck unless you’re ok with getting your skinny jeans covered in the red dusty dirt. Finally, there’s the biggest challenge of SXSW: getting your phone charge to last the entire day. Other festivals can get away with a small booklet of the set times and a single map of the location. No phone necessary. But the vastness of SXSW not just with location, but also with where to find information on who is playing where with all the surprise performances, unofficial parties and whatnot, your phone is lucky not to be drained within the first three hours. Heck, something like Lollapalooza is walk in the park by comparison (literally, Lolla is a walk in the [Grant] Park).
So why go to SXSW if it is that brutal? Because the payoff of discovering new and fresh bands surrounded by people as genuinely excited about music as you are is 100 percent worth it.
This was my second time at the festival after first attending during Spring break back in ’09. It’s a huge advantage to already know how things work and to have a rough idea where things are located, but that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t in for a few surprises.
Our caravan arrived Tuesday night and too late to pick up our wristbands. Fortunately, for those like us wanting to get a jump on the shows, unofficial parties were already happening and they didn’t care about our credentials. We wholed up at the Scoot Inn and eased into the festival with some great psychedelic rockers such as Pujol, Bare Wires and Thee Oh Sees. Pujol was love at first sight with their intense energy and Thee Oh Sees were just as much fun to watch with their crazy expressions as they were to hear. Our group retired early from this Panache Party though so we could get an early start with the first official day of SXSW Music.
Wristband check-in was a smoother process than we anticipated, so we had plenty of time to grab breakfast tacos before checking out our first band day of the day. Breakfast tacos are a must if you’re in Austin. Not only are they tasty, but they give you plenty of energy — something you need to hop from one venue to the next.
From breakfast, my comrade and I set forth for Johnny Mellow’s: a bike shop. Bands will and do play everywhere they can in Texas: actual venues, pizza shops, streets and bike shops. It’s just another part of the SXSW experience. We were planning on checking out Seattle six-piece The Head and the Heart, but along our journey, we got distracted. Though it was only 11 a.m., a large crowd had gathered in a parking lot and our curiosity got the better of us. We edged our way through the crowd until we were just feet from the source of all the attention: Jack White. If for some reason you live under a rock and have no idea why Jack White is so such a big deal, it’s because he is the founder of Third Man Records and he’s the singer and guitarist in bands such as The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs and the former White Stripes. Pretty impressive resume. He was at SXSW for his mobile record store and when we arrived he was just beginning a rendition of “Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground” from his former band, the White Stripes.
SXSW was already off to a strong start, but we were determined to make it to the Head and the Heart’s set and we had several blocks to go. So from Jack White we continued West and finally found ourselves at Johnny Mellow’s. The Head and the Heart was quite possibly one of the (if not the) best bands of the entire week. They played upbeat indie pop rock enhanced with tambourines, piano and violin. The band was all smiles during their performance, so it was hard not to fall in love with their talent and enthusiasm.
Reinvigorated by the Head and the Heart’s set, we returned to the main drag of SXSW. From the Head and the Heart, it was dance time with the cheeky tunes of Auckland’s Kids of 88 and from there to synth-heavy Xylos. We cooled down with some distorted garage rock with Weekend (not to be confused with the extremely different The Weeknd) and later some unknown rock trio that was a bit of a letdown when I was expecting electronic act Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs.
I didn’t stay disappointed too long because my musical A.D.D. quickly led us to move on and go up the street to the Mohawk patio where we caught the explosive set of Givers. I had been blasting “Up, Up, Up” in my car for the last year, but never really made it on to checking out more of their songs. Well, I can now affirm that all their songs are just as catchy and fun complete with the guy-girl harmonies, dual percussion and happiness. Moments of the set were clean cut pop, but then other moments bordered on tribal, yet all of it came together to be yet another of the more memorable SXSW sets.
So how do you follow up a band like Givers? You have to pick someone equally awesome, but in a completely different genre. So from their pop tunes at an outdoor patio, we checked out the very crowded bar Peckerheads to see Portland’s Starfucker. Now this band is catchy like Givers and they also have explosive drum parts, but the sound is vastly different. They’re loop-laden electronic rock. Starfucker is one of those bands that most people have probably heard without realizing that this is the band you were listening to all that time. Their music sneaks up on you because it sounds like you’ve been listening to it for ages even though they’ve only been around a few years.
We kept the piano-dance music going by next watching the much buzzed Oh Land at Lipstick 24. Oh Land is the type of female pop music I wish would catch on – not the crap on the radio that is Ke$ha. It’s smart, authentic and entertaining. She had just dropped her album the day before this performance, so there was a song that she hesitated on due its unfamiliarity, but otherwise, this was a flawless performance. Maybe this type of music will takeover yet…
Braids literally drew us in from the street as we were walking out of Oh Land. I didn’t even have this particular performance listed on my schedule, but the music was so warm and the harmonies so simple, yet so beautiful, that we had to stop and listen to a song or two.
Paste had a sweet party going on at the Stage at Sixth Street, so we stopped in for some indie rock from Ezra Furman and his Harpoon, Sondre Lerche and Eisley. We only caught the tale end of Furman, but it was a pretty smooth transition from that set into Sondre Lerche’s, so if you’re a fan of one, you’d probably enjoy the other. Eisley changed things up a bit, but introducing female vocals, but they proved just as entertaining to the Lerche crowd. Also, being Texas-natives, there was a lot of strong local support for Eisley, making the set feel extra intimate and helped it standout just that much more.
At this point, you might be noticing a trend. 1. Pianos/synths and 2. Female vocalists. I always knew I was a piano girl, but usually I’m all about the guy vocals. Is it just that the females were just doing an impressive job representing at the festival this year? Whatever was going on with the girl power, I kept my trend going by watching Gold Motel next. That’s right, girl vocals and piano! The Gold Motel was on my list of bands to check out, but I never got around to it. Back in the day, the Hush Sound awed me with their well-crafted lyrics and piano lines that drove me to the piano to see if I could replicate them. They were the exception to the usual cookie cutter acts that Fueled By Ramen, their label, usually produced in an effort to find the next Fall Out Boy. And as the exception, they were refreshing. But then the Hush Sound broke up. From its ashes, Greta formed the Gold Motel. The Gold Motel even drew members from another Chicago band I loved, This Is Me Smiling, so it’s extra surprising that it took me so long to catch them. The Gold Motel still contains elements of both The Hush Sound and even This Is Me Smiling, but its dialed back a bit and falls more into a jazz and bluesy groove. This genre seems to be a better fit for Greta’s voice, which while it was always lovely in the Hush Sound, it could easily be overpowered by the bigger guitar riffs or her fellow vocalist’s voice in that band.
I was excited for the band immediately taking the the stage after the Gold Motel. The Boxer Rebellion is a band whose album Union really caught my attention when it first came out. Compared to many of the indie pop bands I had been watching for most of the day, the Boxer Rebellion was considerably darker musically. The band has emotional lyrics and lush guitar lines. The music has an epic sort of quality, which is probably what led them to be such a good fit perform in the Drew Barrymore film, “Going the Distance.” This is the band that writes songs for the soundtrack of your life.
Being as that we were in Texas and had driven past the Texas Motor Speedway where racer Dale Earnhardt Jr won his first Nascar Cup, it was only fitting that at some point we listen to the guy’s namesake band: Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr. The band definitely got into the spirit of their name. A big “JR” cutout flashed bright lights in the back of their set up and the guys were dressed like racecar drivers just like their namesake. There’s a wee bit of a stereotype that goes along with the Nascar crowd, so it’s a little shocking to see these guys in their racer suits open their mouths and belt out harmonies that would make the guys in the hipster-friendly Fleet Foxes envious. If we’re going off stereotypes, the way this band sounds makes it seem like they’d be the type of guys who should be embracing the plaid, not the leather. As if the shock value of the racing theme weren’t enough, the band continued the outfit surprise by breaking out a light up suit jacket. They’re serious when it comes to the music, but they know not to take themselves too seriously.
So up until now, I had been dictating what bands my friend and I should see. What a trooper! She humored my whims and never complained, so I went with her to check out the one band she wanted to see: Idiotape. This Korean trio had one–just one–performance scheduled for the entire festival. Since they were from abroad, Austin was pretty much our only hope of ever seeing them. The guys were pretty expressionless, so it was hard to get a read on them. They looked like they meant business. Then a pre-recorded robotic sounding voice, said, “first you have the drums,” and then it continued out a beat, “1,2,3,4.” As commanded, the drummer started in on a drum pattern. Then it got more complicated. It was tongue-in-cheek and had me eagerly anticipating what the next pattern and command would yield. But then…nothing. The guys just rocked so much that they blew the power in the tiny room. Not sure if they’d be able to get things back and running, my friend and I reluctantly bailed. Hopefully, Idiotape will decide to do an extensive tour so we can complete a set with them. Alas.
With our heads bowed in sadness, we trudged up Sixth Street to our next destination. OK Sweetheart, a band previously featured in a PopWreckoning interview, was about to take the stage and they had some surprises in store, which quickly cheered me up from the Idiotape incident. As frontwoman Erin Austin hinted during our interview, some string players joined for several of the songs. They were a beautiful addition to the smooth vocals of Austin; the instrumentation for these songs were so lush and graceful sounding. The album comes out this April and is worth checking out.
From OK Sweetheart we crossed the street to Buffalo Billiards for Young the Giant. This was a band I was eagerly awaiting SXSW for, but they were perhaps the most disappointing band of my day. They sounded fine, but after all the standout performances I had already seen, they came across as too generic. I thought they’d get us moving more with their radio single sounding like a big anthem, but that big engagement moment just never came.
As I walked out of Young the Giant into the neon-lit streets, I noticed that activity had significantly picked up. Austinites who had gotten off work had now joined the fray of wristbanded and badged out-of-towners. Based on experience, I knew that this was the time of night when venues hit capacity. So it was time to plan ahead to be sure I would see the act I really wanted to see: Alexander. Alexander wasn’t scheduled for another hour and a half, but I decided to trek over to the Phoenix to be sure I got in. I’m glad I got there early – the venue was near capacity and I got there just in time to see another act that would be a top contender for my favorite of the festival: Naked and Famous.
Their radio single, “Young Blood,” had a bit of a Passion Pit sound to me, but their set was a lot more diverse than just that one similar reference. It was hard not to jump up and down or dance to all of their songs, especially “Punching in a Dream.” Though I thought my body was going to die right before their set from sheer exhaustion, they got me re-amped on SXSW. Naked and Famous are poised to be the next big thing, so do yourself a favor and get their new album now.
Alexander was my final act of the night before I could retire to the comforts of my sleeping bag. If I hadn’t been anticipating this performance so much, I probably would have bailed. But for those of you who don’t already know, Alexander, is the new solo project of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros frontman. If you got on the Edward Sharpe bandwagon this past year, you’ll probably enjoy Alexander. Giant tambourines, soulful singing and good vibes continue to abound. Even some of the backing members were the same between the projects. Yet there are some differences. Edward Sharpe songs are more happy family, romance songs. Alexander, as the solo project, features less harmonies and more introspective lyrics. There was something almost religious about the experience. Maybe it was the way Alex Ebert swayed every time he sang or the revered way the audience looked at him, but it was a very spiritual and uplifting set. Alex Ebert continues to remain one of the nicest people in music and when all was done – they honestly had no more songs left even though the audience was clamoring for an encore – Ebert did his best to appease fans with hugs, high fives and pictures. It was such a happy way to end the night and the first official day of the music festival.
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Check back for more to come from PopWreckoning’s Bethany and her experience at SXSW. You can see more photos from Day 1, Wednesday, March 16 below:
