I officially survived a thrilling trip to Austin last week for SXSW. I did not have a badge, but instead reaped the benefits of corporate sponsorship in the form of free shows, everywhere, all the time. I tried my best to pack in as much musical goodness as possible, and will give you a quick review of my experiences. Keep reading below...
I was in Austin from Monday night until Saturday, prime-SXSW time which spanned from Wednesday to Sunday, officially. Unofficially the party went on all week. For those of you that don't know what SXSW is, it is a set of interactive, film, and music festivals and conferences that takes place in Austin annually. Over 1,400 musical acts play over 80 venues throughout the week. I tried to structure my schedule around bands I knew and wanted to see, and then pop in to things I have not heard before as well. The acts I saw were: Peter and the Wolf, Toro y Moi, Anni Rossi, The Choir of Young Believers, Washed Out, The Ruby Suns, The XX, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Neon Indian, Lemonade, Javelin, Delorean, The Octopus Project, Andrew W.K., The Dum Dum Girls, Real Estate, The Hood Internet, Surfer Blood, Danielson, All Get Out, and Warpaint. Phew. It would probably take too long to talk about all the shows, so I'll just highlight the ones I enjoyed the most.
The XX, as one of my current favorites, was obviously great. They played an awesome set despite some technical difficulties and raged on some cymbals.
Warpaint, an all-female rock group that just finished touring with Akron/Family, blew me away. They played a few of their songs off of "Exquisite Corpse", an amazing set that combines soft acoustic songs with heavy rock jams. Lead singer Jenny Lee's sultry vocals added a fresh twist, and watching them perform led me to believe they like and know what they are doing. Reminded me most of Can, a 1970s German experimental rock group.
The Choir of Young Believers came all the way from Denmark to perform. I caught them as I was holding my front row spot for Neon Indian, who were less impressive following the Young Believers. Jannis Noya Makrigiannis heads up the band as composer, lead vocals, and guitar. He performed with a female cellist and keyboardist, male drummer and male bassist. They were all very interesting and stylish to watch, with their Nordic charms, so that was half the fun. The cellist performed in a Burberry trench coat, which I thought was awesome....but anyway....apparently Jannis switches up the line-up as he performs, working with up to 8 musicians at a time. The songs were emotional ballads, as Jannis and the female cellist sang mournful harmonies and the balance of cello, guitar, and light percussion filled the venue.
It would take me forever to talk about all the groups that performed at SXSW, and honestly I tried not to look too hard at the line-ups of what I was missing because it just made me sad. I enjoyed all the groups I saw, and was surprised to see how young most of them were. There is some great talent budding as we speak. Despite short, disorganized sets, hoards of sweaty, drunk people, and not getting to see She & Him (tear), I definitely want to go back next year. Oh, did I mention I only paid for one show - Andrew W.K., and it was only $5? Yes, what a great thing this music festival is. Not to mention all the tacos. Oh, the tacos.
The National - Mr. November
