SXSW 09: the recap
My ears are ringing, my feet hurt, and I'm kind of miserable being at work right now, but this week was a huge success. I ended up seeing 47 bands and Eugene Mirman this week. I saw a couple of bands more than once; The Calm Blue Sea (3 times), Marnie Stern (2 times) and HEALTH (2 times). The best things I saw all week were (in no particular order) Caspian at Red Seven last night, Marnie Stern at Club Deville on Wednesday, The Wrens at Mohawk on Friday, The Paper Chase at Club Deville on Wednesday, King Khan and the Shrines at Bird's Barbershop on Thursday, Here We Go Magic at Mohawk on Wednesday, HEALTH at Ace's Lounge on Thursday, and Irepress at Red Seven last night. The worst thing I saw all week was unfortunately Explosions in the Sky on Saturday night at Auditorium Shores and it wasn't their fault at all. They were playing a HUGE free show in front of what has been estimated as 10-20,000 people and the sound was dogshit. The overhead mics on the drums were nonexistent, the guitars were absent from the PA most of the time, and everytime they got really loud the PA would just cut out. I wanted to cry. It was the bands biggest show of all time, the setting was perfect, it should have been amazing, but the sound system couldn't handle it and it just crushed me.
I'm definitely never going to an event at "The Pure Volume House" again as the open bar couldn't make up for the ridiculously slow moving lines, overzealous security and general piss poor-ness of their setup.
I went to this show at a tiny little bar on the east side called Ms Beas that was put on by Todd P, the NYC promoter. The show was very unorganized in a purposely unorganized and DIY to make us look cool kind of way and Todd P came off as a huge prick the whole time. It was cool seeing Marnie Stern and HEALTH there in such a small venue, but the sound was shit and it felt just like I was living the Human Giant video at Other Music where Aziz talks about Devendra Banhart playing a show in a dumpster in east Chelsea like it was the coolest show of the year. This is what this felt like, a bunch of ultra hip people looking flat out ridiculous standing in a parking lot and listening to bands on a shitty PA and thinking its the best thing ever. Lo-fi is great if that's what you are going for, but 99% of bands only sound better when they are playing through an adequate PA on an adequate stage. /end rant. Overall, the weather was great, the beer was cold, the music was ample and loud, and I saw a ton of friends I don't get to see all the time. Oh, and also, I met Annie Clark (aka St Vincent) and I totally geeked out. She was really nice and is tiny as hell. It's over, I had a blast, everyone should experience SXSW at least once. It's pretty hard to beat.
18 comments:
i ignore everything sxsw-related so i didnt read most of that post, but the todd p part caught my eye..
todd p is a dick, first off. but aside from personality, i have respect for the things he's done in my neighborhood. having been to a number of "his" venues, and similar ones, pretty often, and living in a loft that semi frequently throws its own show parties, i have to stick up for the whole DIY venue/concert thing generally. it's really not meant for bands that need to be listened to in perfect sound quality or have a particularly loud sound, or specifically, bands whose albums you have and adore and listen to a lot. it's more for bands who don't have a record label or any kind of management and like to play shows in front of friends and strangers. it's also about $$$$. cheap for venues, cheap for performers, cheap for listeners. most of these places don't have liquor licenses and so it's basically like going to a house party with a bunch of live bands playing.
also todd p's personal taste is pretty shitty in my opinion. he promoted vivian girls and the like, but vivian girls only have an abrasive recording quality, not an abrasive songs. the bands todd p really likes just kind of have abrasive songs. so there's that.
having said all that, there are diy places that actually do sound fucking great. death by audio, for instance, is probably the best sounding venue i've ever been at. even market hotel is decent.
so i get what you're saying about that particular show but your anger is misplaced.
and here i was just about to call skyler out for totally abandoning us as of late. is he making these cameras himself from scratch. "i ignore everything sxsw related" is line of 09 thus far. i again will state that i enjoy reading your reviews of a monstrosity i'll most likely never attend. i don't like the multi band coa-bonna-sas-alooza settings one bit. but i'd do sxsw once in my life maybe. hey my lil poop de loop are you still living in boston or around nyc now? and what are you doing with your life?
See, I totally agree about the DIY thing and that its great for bands to get a chance to play, but this show featured some big bands who do have professionally recorded albums and do sound best when in a setting that allows people to hear what they are playing. When you promote a band like HEALTH or Marnie Stern (bands that should be loud) playing your shit and you don't even run their amps through a PA why even have the bands? Especially Marnie Stern, they had a stage with a PA and instead of having her set up on the stage they have her set up on the ground next to the stage where there is no PA. What is the point, the stage with a PA is two feet away unused and you purposely make the show sound like shit? Even the band seemed fucked up by this. Marnie had to turn her amp up so loud for people to hear her that it was feeding back uncontrollably between and even during songs. I love the energy present in a show when the barrier between artist and audience is as transparent as possible, but if you can't hear the music the band is making, what the fuck is the point. What's next, are we going to turn their amps off, or have them play untuned instruments?
I really liked how the show was run aside from that, it was very loose, free and generally a fun thing, but it's either one thing or the other, trying to have both is just stupid.
And yeah, having been to many a DIY venue here as well as in NY, including Market Hotel and Death By Audio, it isn't a death sentence audio-wise, but those places are the exception and not the rule. I just sometimes get this feeling that people are starting to associate "shitty sounding" with "good" and in general, that's bullshit. There's a certain beauty to a lo-fi intimate performance, but shitty for the sake of shitty, or shitty just because its expected and theres no reason to strive for more is just ridiculous to me.
Also,
Just for the sake of completion, here is a list of all of the bands I can remember seeing.
mon
low line caller
the lemurs
evangelicals
wooden brds
wed
here we go magic
the shaky hands
the paper chase
horse feathers
thao and the get down stay down
marnie stern
the thermals
motel motel
the calm blue sea
the steps
electric touch
that one other band
thursday
the calm blue sea
the always already
busdriver
king khan and the shrines
random band at ms beas 1
random band at ms beas 2
blitzen trapper
HEALTH
random band at that place near pure volume 1
random band at that place near pure volume 2
friday
the wrens
random band outside at emos
max tundra
that brit chick
school of seven bells
the pains of being pure at heart
pterrordactyl
tyvek
marnie stern
health
that dj guy
saturday
explosions
erykah badu
cannabinoids
sunday
the calm blue sea
battlefields
irepress
pack of wolves
junius
caspian
constants
adai
"they had a stage with a PA and instead of having her set up on the stage they have her set up on the ground next to the stage where there is no PA"
ok yea that's pretty dumb.
lilbutt i've been in new york for almost a year. and ive just had other projects take over the cameras.. i'm looking on ebay for one or two others though. i should just pull the trigger.
the sound at that show wasn't shit at all. I was there as much as you were and the sound quality was as good as anywhere else over the week.
I'd bet money that you simply expected to hate the experience, probably got intimidated by how uncool you thought you looked among all the "hipsters" and projected your insecurities onto hating every detail, including the promoter who you undoubtedly had no interaction with but are insulting indiscriminately regardless.
there were two pa's, one on the side stage and one on the main stage. look at photos and you'll see. Marnie was playing through the PA
uh oh. riff raff.
i like sxsw. i get the feeling that my sxsw days might be behind me though. i don't recognize hardly any of those bands' names. except HEALTH, who i like. i'll check out some of the highlights.
did you have any funny band-on-the-street sightings? i remember seeing ted leo walking down the street with a big box of records, looking a little like a hipster getting too old.
Hi anonymous, how are you? First off, the sound was shit. Second, I was standing 4 feet from Marnie during the show and about 6 feet from the PA you reference and there was no such sound coming out of it. And, yes, Todd P is a dick. Something tells me he wouldn't argue. Thanks for stopping by.
Also, super-lol at me being intimidated by hipsters. I'm still chuckling at that.
It's so weird when someone gets all huffy.
I dont think I could handle sxsw. I have a definite saturation point, and eveyrthing would sound crappy to me after day two. I appreciate the reporting, danny.
Yeah, I'm a freak. My legs and feet are stout as hell so I don't get super tired from standing all day. I never get headaches from constant loud noises, so I can listen to loud music all day, and I don't mind standing in a crowd most of the time, unless its insane hot. All of these powers combine, to form the ultimate concert going human.....or something.
i would do sxsw. it just seems like it would take a lot of money and planning. maybe next year? maybe one of you austiners could give me some tips on places to stay or whatever.
Rob,
My ubiquitous B level celebrity run in went as follows. I was at a show and found myself standing right next to John Norris of MTV News fame. I found myself wishing it had been Kurt Loder instead. I saw Perry Farrel on the street too.
I imagine it can be expensive, especially if you have to pay to get here, and pay to stay here once you arrive. I never have any insane amount of money lying around for sxsw or anything, so I usually do it on the cheap. I imagine I spent less than 200 bucks all told this week and that involves about 50 bucks worth of gas since I had to drive to DFW and back twice to pick up and drop off some friends flying in. You definitely don't need a wristband or a badge to have a good time. Just RSVP to everything under the sun, go to free shows during the day, parties and unofficial shows at night and you are set. The majority of the money I spent was on food and booze. I only paid cover for one show ($10) and I saw 7 awesome bands for that price. It's obviously a lot easier for me since I live down the road from all of this, but I really think it's a worthwhile event if you approach it with the right attitude. It's clear from the moment you get here that SXSW is this huge gross orgy of advertising and sponsorship and promotion, but they give you free booze and let you watch bands for free, so I can deal.
i think anyone that has the name todd that isn't me is a fucking prick
is max tundra worth seeing?
i didn't think so. I like the pitchfork.tv video where he plays all of the parts and synchs the video together. Unfortunately his live show isnt really like that at all. he mostly just sings, plays keyboards, and uses shakers and whatnot. I only saw two or three songs though.
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