Words & images by Daniel Emberg
Our intrepid contributor Daniel Emberg has made his way down to Austin, TX for the “corporate orgy called SXSW”. This is his first missive home…
Tuesday
After leaving behind two metres of snow in my backyard, I’d forgotten what summer weather is like and probably had a sunburn within twenty minutes of daylight my first day in Texas. Just after checking in at the media station, I wandered outside and realized what an insane little world they’ve actually created down here. Every couple of steps there’s some poor intern begging you to take their card and follow their company on Twitter. The carrot is usually that if you can prove you obeyed that request, you can fight to be one of the people who gets one of their free drinks later in the week. It’s exactly the sort of stuff that drives me batty, but once I found some music everything seemed okay. That’s turned into a running theme, actually: lots of what’s happening here grinds my gears, but the calibre of music on offer is the perfect escape.
Catching up with Canadian bands down here is one of the priorities, so I set to it as soon as possible. First stop was the BreakOutWest party, which featured one act apiece from the four westernmost provinces. In the order they played, we caught The Wet Secrets (Edmonton), JP Hoe (Winnipeg), Slow Down, Molasses (Saskatoon), and The Belle Game (Vancouver). While they all played pretty well the sound quality left something to be desired at times, particularly for JP Hoe and The Belle Game. One of the risks that comes with cramming a bunch of sets into just a few hours, I suppose. The sound was annoying but not catastrophic, so it was still a good “welcome to Austin” event but I felt for the performers.
After stepping out to wander the streets a bit and sample a little grub, I made my way over to see a Brazil’s MC Rashid. Even without understanding his language, there was no denying the quality of the guy’s flow and it was a damn shame only about 25 people were in the bar. Not a syllable out of place, and even when spitting a mile a minute Rashid never had to pause for breath…just as a physical achievement it was memorable. I later learned he is enormously popular back home in Brazil, and hope his other SXSW show was better attended because the guy clearly works hard and deserves to be heard.
A few of us lucked into a set by Austin’s own Mr. Lewis & The Funeral 5. I don’t know why they’re called that because there were seven in the band, but the question quickly became irrelevant when they started playing. They were a perfect late night act, with a kinda-bluesy kinda-lilting kinda-sinister feel that had the room bouncing. Definitely the most impressive “accidental” find for me through these first couple of days. Mr. Lewis was a hell of a showman too, slugging back any whiskey the crowd offered and even managing to knock a lens out of his glasses while rubbing his eye…didn’t even bother picking it up, guy just kept growling out the tunes and it was magic. I was impressed enough to scoop one of their CDs and beer cozies on the way out the door.
Wednesday
If you ever make the drive down to SXSW I suggest leaving all unnecessary items at home and making space for a bike in your car. Try to meet a local and toss ’em a few bucks to let you park the car and just use your two-wheeler all week. Even the expensive parking downtown fills up early, and I wasted enough time finding a spot that the Canadian Blast BBQ was already an hour deep by the time I got there. Oh well, I should have expected this and will adapt through the week.
When Saidah Baba Talibah (Toronto) and her band hit the stage it really felt like everyone in the tent stopped what they were doing to pay attention. They lived up to their solid reputation, blasting through a 40-minute set of hard rockin’ funk that really felt like it ended too soon as each song was better than the last. One of my mates commented after the first song that Saidah shouldn’t have wasted her best stuff right off the hop…but after the next couple songs kept upping the ante, said mate agreed it was a masterfully constructed set. SBT looks like she was born to be on stage, and her band is tight as a cannonball (just heard that idiom the other day and it still has me chuckling).
I sadly had to skip out on A Tribe Called Red to go renew the parking pass (SEE? DON’T DRIVE!) but made it back in time to catch a slick, upbeat performance by Grand Analog. The crowd faded toward the end of their set, but this was in no way a reflection on the band – people were concerned with making sure they could get into venues for night shows, and volunteers were disassembling the site within seconds of show’s end in a reminder that this whole event is not really about musicians in their best climate. Any chance you get down here is insanely short, so impressions must be made in a hurry before Twitter leads your audience to the next shiny thing or “free” taco.
Little Fyodor and Babushka were a shocking name to see on the showcase list next to all the big stars and emerging hype acts. They have been scaring the scare-able with spastic punk blasts (think early Devo with even thicker tension) for decades, and I saw a bunch of furrowed brows around a bar that had just sat through a couple of relatively safe and serviceable indie rock bands. The crowd was kinda thin, but the sound of Little Fyodor through the bar’s open windows eventually sucked in everything from grubby ukelele dudes to spray tan princesses. By the time Fyodor came back from an impromptu street dancing session near the end of the set, a number of audience members were finding their way to the merch table. All of Fyodor’s crew expressed appreciation at hearing their work was known in Winnipeg, so maybe you should go find them online and ask them to come school us in how to throw a wild gig.
Next up I had to make a mad dash down to the Continental Club to see Bobby Bare, Jr. I felt lucky to get in, not just because I love the man’s work but because the venue was jam-packed for this Bloodshot Records showcase. The last few songs from Lydia Loveless were sweet, but as soon as she finished a bunch of people went to smoke or piss or whatever and I was able to get right up to the stage. Bare, Jr. was in beautifully cynical form, spending time between songs taunting both the crowd and himself in equal doses. He also overruled the sound tech and cranked the hell out of his bass player’s amp after a few songs, which was definitely the right call. Tunes off his upcoming record (due out next month) stood up just fine with the ones I already knew, so my anticipation for that release is even higher than before.
There was one more show I wanted to catch but plans changed. Odds are if you care enough about SXSW to have read all this, you’ve heard about the tragic incident toward the end of last night. It was an awful scene (didn’t seek it out, just happened to go that way before the street was blocked) and my heart goes out to anyone affected. Automobiles are lethal weapons on wheels, don’t ever forget that and behave accordingly when operating them.
Jeez, there’s so much more that could be written here but this is getting long and to be honest part of me feels weird adding anything in the wake of last night’s ugliness. The Manitoba Music party starts in a few hours so that’s where much of my afternoon will be spent. Keep an eye on this space to find out how it went for your favourite locals and whatever else crosses my path.
Tune in tomorrow for another update from Austin, TX!