Dallas Music Blog

Ray and Peter Lek

Along with the rest of the DC-9 crew, the Lek Brothers made it down to Austin last week for a look at the music festival with more of a dance and DJ focus.

The Lanai Rooftop Lounge, Hair of the Dog and Barcelona were a few of the venues they hit up. They caught up with DJ's from the Dallas area like DJ Select, Schwa and Big J.

Check out the shots in our slideshow here.

[Last week, we asked a few bands to check in with us from time to time over the course of the week to tell us about their SXSW experiences. Now, with the fest over, those diatribes are starting to show. Johnny Lloyd Rollins' take on the fest is a little different from the others we've posted so far. For one, none of his showcases were sanctioned SXSW events. And, second, he videotaped his entries. Ah, technology. Enjoy.]


Explains Rollins: "RJ Wafer and Kirk Miller (metro mix NYC) join me for some sightseeing as we do business at SXSW."

[Last week, we asked a few bands to check in with us from time to time over the course of the week to tell us about their SXSW experiences. Now, with the fest over, those diatribes are starting to show. Here's Telegraph Canyon frontman Chris Johnson's SXSW diary, for your reading pleasure...]

Hal Samples

Telegraph Canyon, yucking it up.

Wednesday:

Playing in a band can feel like going to summer camp with your friends week after week. Our first trip to SXSW is no exception.

I'm sure someone did us a favor, or there was a clerical error that lead to us being here, but we didn't ask any questions.

Packed to the gills with enough video games, toy helicopters and junk food to ensure a good time no matter what, we set out for Austin on Wednesday morning. We arrived to find beautiful weather and tons of traffic. Fun always seems to start with no fun at all.

It could have been worse, though, and we knew it. We recently had our van totaled by a drunk driver, so we replaced it with a later model RV. The old van would overheat if you turned the AC on, so sitting in traffic in our surrogate living room was pretty much the shit.

We got set up and settled into the $10-a-night RV slot on Barton Springs Road and headed downtown to gather our wrist bands, tote bags, and free energy drinks full of enough sugar to make your sweaty ass feel like you need a whiskey drink to start turning this thing around. I spent most of Wednesday night show-hopping and running into old friends. A few unmemorable shows led to a quick cab ride back to the RV for some much needed rest.

Patrick Michels

The best photo of SXSW, in my book. And, yes, we at DC9 are clearly obsessed with Monotonix. We know.

If all goes to plan (which never happens, but we'll see), we should have a few more belated dispatches from bands who played SXSW popping up in the next couple of hours and/or days. (Speaking of which: Do yourself a favor and read The O's' dispatch. Trust me).

In the meantime, as far as DC9er commentary goes, this, mercifully, is the last we'll speak of all that Austin-related shitstorm for a while. So, without further ado:

Top five performances (not counting Metallica's incredible "secret" show), in no particular order:

• Asobi Seksu, whose sound is far more crushing and immeditate than its name, which translates to "casual sex", implies. Hope you caught these guys at Rubber Gloves on Sunday, Dentonites.
  
• At the Mohawk on Thursday night night, Akron/Family not only got the crowd dancing hippie-style to its world-folk rock, but also showcase the first--but not the last--stage dive I'd see at this year's fest. Saw this elsewhere (forget where) so I can't claim it as my own insight necessarily, but rest assured: At SXSW '09, the stage dive returned in a BIG way.
  
• France's Yelle, if only because she was able to turn the beer-soaked, sweaty, dirty confines of Emo's Main Room into the kind of all-out dance party you only see in movies. Also: Loved her Jane Fonda dance moves.
• Dinosaur Jr's "secret show" at the Mohawk, which was not only great, but was loud as fuck. The secret: The four full-stack amps set up right behind J. Mascis on stage. Yep, that was more equipment than Metallica had on stage during its show the next night on Stubb's far bigger stage down the road.
  
• And, lastly, Passion Pit, who proved on Thursday, at its first SXSW performance, that its incredibly catchy dance music comes off quite well live.

Worst performance: Gil Mantera's Party Dream, whose members should probably start rehearsing without mirrors from here on out.

[Last week, we asked a few bands to check in with us from time to time over the course of the week to tell us about their SXSW experiences. Now, with the fest over, those diatribes are starting to show. Here's The O's' take on SXSW...]

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Dear O's Journal,

It's 10:30 AM. For fuck's sake, John's running late again. I swear, he never is on time. He said we'd leave at 10:00. Geez. SXSW: Can we survive? It seems unlikely. If we can make it through without visible scars, a hospital bill, an injury sustained while saying, "Hey everybody! Watch this!," random bruises, dropping an entire pizza, sleeping, having people literally avoid me by walking a safe distance away by making a large circle, listen to "Stairway to Heaven" eight times (nearly in a row), get told to put my shirt back on (but what they really mean is put your dingle back into your boxers)... If we can make it through without those things happening, then maybe we will be OK...

Oh wait, what? We're going to promote; to work? Huh. Hmm. Stuff.

Patrick Michels

While most of the DC-9 crew enjoyed SXSW's offerings at a safe distance from the stage, note-taking and reflecting on the music, some of us did battle up by the stage to get concert shots, throwing elbows and telephoto lenses.

We've got a handful of band photo slideshows, along with some other photo sets that'll give a pretty good idea what it was like down in Austin last week. In case you missed checking out our photo coverage, a rundown of our slideshows (and who's in them) follows after the jump.

Jesse Hughey

King Khan and the Shrines Friday night at Emo's.

Two days after returning from Austin, my feet, back, ears, lungs, and liver have finally stopped throbbing in pain, but the memories--most of them great--will last a lifetime. Here are a few I didn't get to share while I was there.

Bands I Regret Missing: Delta Spirit, Awkquarius, Peelander-Z and Wavves (even though a friend texted me to report the band's set was "Bo-ring"). But most of all, Late of the Pier, whose crazy-ass CD I wrote about here and whose crazy-ass live show Pete wrote about here. In fact, I left Devo a bit early to catch Late of the Pier's 1 a.m. set at Aces Lounge Friday night, only to find a handwritten note explaining it was canceled "due to technical issues." But when life gives you lemons you paint that shit gold, so I headed to Emo's Main Room for King Khan and the Shrines. Which brings me to my next memory...

Dallas' own Erykah Badu had herself quite the weekend, turns out. More eventful than yours, I'm guessing. Unless, that is, you somehow managed to...

• ...evade a stalker (as Unfair Park unearths this morning) and get delayed on your travels to SXSW.
  
• ...have your manager announce to the audience at your free SXSW Auditorium Shores performance--just before it was set to start--that you wouldn't be able to make it down because of "travel issues," as one source at the show told us on Saturday.
• ...have the crowd at said performance scatter and leave when it found out you wouldn't be playing (according to the same source)
• ...somehow, against all odds, make it to Austin in time to perform a couple of songs with your side project The Cannabinoids anyway, much to the delight of those fans who'd remained.
  
• ...perform a couple of shows in Austin, and none in Malaysia (as we'd wondered). And, not surprisingly, annoy a bunch of Malaysians in the process.
• ...perform alongside Common and Kanye West at Kanye's "secret" Saturday night show at the SXSW Fader Fort, as the above video shows.

And, let's not forget the fact that she just had a child a few weeks back. Clearly, this woman is a superhero.

Patrick Michels

Yelle turned her Emo's performance into an all-out dance party on Saturday night.

Act: U-N-I, a backpacker hip-hop duo from Inglewood, California.
Where: Speakeasy
What It Was Like: Stumbling into a nice surprise. There's a high energy feel and definite grittiness to U-N-I's sound, thanks to beats that blend the backing tracks of modern acts like The Cool Kids and older, East Coast acts like Boogie Down Productions.
Verdict: Worth looking into further, for sure. The beats were pretty cool and the lyrics earicatching--"I B-boy stance, I don't Superman dance" got more than a few of U-N-I's audience members smiling. But if there's one thing working against U-N-I, it's that there's a glut of like-minded acts popping up both at SXSW and elsewhere. And though there's not necessarily anything new to the band's package, it was engaging enough to make downloading the duo's upcoming release, A Love Supreme, when it's released as a free download on March 31. After all, it's free.

Well, my SXSW trip is over. I didn't manage to survive solely on day-party free food and beer the way I'd hoped to because doing so would have been at the sacrifice of other, better shows. Plus, my experience Thursday taught me not to trust a free-beer or free-food promise. My food expenses were far lower than I expected simply because I hardly ever had time to eat. I stopped for Whataburger at about 3 a.m. last night driving back when I realized that I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. There was so much to do, see and hear that food just didn't occur to me.

On Saturday I managed to save a few bucks by backpacking my own beer into "Mess With Texas"; a sixer of Lone Star tallboys cost less than a single Miller Lite tallboy would have at festival prices. Then after talking my way into the VIP area I almost scored a free pair of headphones from a Skull Candy marketing representative, but then he asked what band I was in. Turns out the giveaways were for musicians only.

Other freebies included an energy drink, Wi-Fi connection at The Courtyard Marriott (available to anyone, not just paying guests) and, of course, free parking on residential streets east of I-35. Mostly, though, what I got for free was exercise. I walked more over these four days than I had the entire year leading up to SXSW. So there's the bright side to the recession. Don't think of it as being too broke for a taxi or parking spot; think of it as free exercise.

Jesse Hughey

Monotonix singer Ami Shalev in a rare calm moment during his band's set at "Mess With Texas" in Austin's Waterloo Park Saturday. And yes, that's the same microphone he shoved up his ass earlier in the set.

I've read again and again what a spectacular display Monotonix's live show is and finally got to experience it yesterday afternoon. I stuck around for the Circle Jerks afterward, but it was clear there was just no way any band could top Monotonix. So I decided to give my fatigued eardrums a break and end my SXSW experience with a few laughs at the Comedy Death Ray showcase before driving back to Dallas.

Act: Abe Vigoda
Where: "Mess With Texas" day party at Waterloo Park
What It Was Like: A great performance despite some apparent technical problems. The band is often described as "tropical punk." That makes some sense, as the guitarists both use effects and a percussive string attack that gives the guitars a really cool steel-drum tone.
Verdict: Highly recommended. If you're in Dallas, check 'em out at 6:30 p.m. today at The Lounge On Elm Street's South By South Flesh.

Metallica
SXSW's Guitar Hero: Metallica Party
Stubb's BBQ in Austin, TX
Friday, March 20, 2009

Better than: anything else you could've seen at SXSW last night--and maybe all week. People might try to disagree on that. But don't buy into it. This was the show by which SXSW 2009 will be remembered.

Pete Freedman

James Hetfield strikes his best Guitar Hero pose at Stubb's.

It was the worst-kept secret in Austin. And, really, it wasn't a secret at all. Even the posters promoting this show read "featuring members of Metallica." Right. Like the people behind Guitar Hero and its upcoming spinoff, Guitar Hero: Metallica, would dare send Robert Trujillo to Austin without James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett in tow, ready to perform.

Are you kidding? There'd be riots.

Instead, as everyone knew what to expect, on this night, there were just lines of revelers paitently awaiting the chance to see the metal icons in as small a venue as the band is likely to have played at any point in the past 20 years.

Pete Freedman

Thunderheist gets things moving at Club De Ville.

Act: Chin Chin, a group of would-be yacht rockers from Brooklyn
Where: Club De Ville
What It Was Like: Trying to figure out if the whole thing was a joke or not, really. The band's blue-eyed soul sound was a little hokey, and no doubt that sense was only enhanced by the lead singer's choice of attire: a pink leisure suit. His backing band dressed less loudly, all in black.
Verdict: Like watching a bunch of goofballs not realizing that the yacht sailed off long ago. A few years back, for whatever reason, the sounds of Darryl Hall and John Oates, among many many others (Africa, much?) received a huge boost in ironic coolness. These guys didn't seem to get the memo that the trend has also been played out like crazy...

Jesse Hughey

Devo at Austin Music Hall Friday night.

Act: Beach House
Where: Cedar Street Courtyard
What It Was Like: Packed. There were obviously quite a few fans of Beach House's mellow, cheery songs. Also, judging by all the "Who are these guys?" I heard, many badge-holders were taking advantage of a relatively quiet set to talk, text or chill out. Which pretty much defines Beach House for me: they're good background music.
Verdict: Good buzzy, cheery songs. I especially like the electric harpsichord sound. But after three days on my feet, I needed something more energizing to keep from falling asleep.
Venue Advice: If you catch a show in the Cedar Street Courtyard, go inside one of the bars on either side. They're not crowded, and doorways provide a great close-up view of the bands.

Act: The Paper Chase
Where: The Parish
What It Was Like: Thrilling. John Congleton was in top form, flailing all over the stage, flinging his guitar around by the strap and pantomiming onstage suicide. Word of the band's fantastic live shows has obviously spread, as the place was packed. "Dying With Decent Music" was awesome; I'm going to have to give God Bless Your Black Heart another listen after hearing how cathartic that song felt.
Verdict: According to another critic I ran into at the show, "They're the best live band in Dallas." They're pretty damn high on my list too. 
Cool Stage Move: Congleton let the feedback gradually build in intensity during the final song--with his Stratocaster balanced on the back of his neck.

DC9 at Night contributor Jeff Liles passed along this interesting note: Erykah Badu is scheduled to perform in Malaysia tonight--Saturday, March 21--opening up for Korn alongside N.E.R.D. Or so Dallas native and Korn keyboardist Zac Baird (formerly of Billygoat, Edie Brickell and Liles' own Cottonmouth, Texas) claims--while passing along the above visual evidence from the venue's marquis.

Trick is, she's also supposed to be in Austin tonight, performing alongside the Cannabinoids at the free SXSW performances at Auditorium Shores. Or so the schedule implies, showing that "The Cannabinoids feat. Erykah Badu" are set to perform at 7 p.m., right between sets from Beach House and Explosions in the Sky.

Either there's something I don't understand about the time difference between Austin and Malaysia (is it already Sunday over there?), or there's bound to be a crowd disappointed this evening. That or Erykah Badu's powers also include the ability to contort time and space, which is wholly believable at this point.

We've got a call into Badu's management team, so we'll let you know if we hear anything.

Tags: Erykah Badu, Malaysia, scheduling conflicts?, SXSW 2009, Zac Baird

Pete Freedman

Art and rock come together at SXSW's 20th annual Flatstock.

The bands may change from year to year, but one thing that always remains a constant joy at SXSW is Flatstock, the annual poster show at the Austin Convention Center. This year, the 20th annual showcase didn't disappoint.

As always, there are deals to find at Flatstock, in short-run screen print concert and art posters, and in uniquely designed T-shirts, buttons, card decks, calendars, stickers, etc. The hardest part, really, is walking away without having blown your week's spending cash by splurging on a number of reasonably priced gems.

Because reasonably priced gems, when bought in bulk, suddenly stop becoming reasonably priced.

Free doesn't always mean free, I've learned after striking out twice on the hunt for freebies Thursday before settling for a Reuben sandwich at B.D. Riley's.

The first stop was the Longbranch Inn on 11th Street in East Austin, where King Khan and BBQ Show, Past Lives and Tera Malos held court in a day party that promised free beer. As it turned out, the free PBRs ran out just minutes before I arrived. But as it turned out, I didn't end up paying for the two brews I enjoyed. All I did was accept a CD from Justin, of the band Smiley With A Knife; after a few minutes of conversation, my new buddy offered a beer I wasn't about to turn down. After that, another friend returned the favor from a beer I'd bought for him last weekend.

But paying a few bucks for brews would have been more than worth it at such a great free show. King Khan's awesome set of raw Chuck Berry-inspired rock packed in a sweaty audience that hung on every word. Considering how hard he rocked with just a two-piece, I can't wait to check out his big soul outfit the Shrines. Tera Malos and Past Lives both put on loud, aggressive sets. 

Next a friend and I headed to Sailor's Grave Ink. Devola, Me vs. Everybody and DJ Bradford were scheduled to go on at 6 p.m., but we were the only ones there at 6:30.

"Oh yeah, we put 'Free Food' and 'Free Beer' on the flyer to get people to come out, but it's more like bring your own food and beer," said an employee, laughing. Nothing against DJ Bradford, but I was starving and not in the mood to put up with lighthearted false advertising. Oh well, some hot corned beef, a Guinness and an IPA tasted quite nice after all the walking. 

Last night my freeloading has amounted to little more than a complimentary vodka drink and a long hike from my residential parking spot east of I-35. Hopefully today will prove more fruitful.

Pete Freedman

Phosphorescent captivates the crowd at Mohawk's Patio.

Night two at SXSW 2009 very much encapsulated everything I love about SXSW: Writing down a schedule of shows to see, throwing it out the window and catching a whole different lineup of acts that were probably better than any of the ones you'd originally planned to see.

Act: These United States, an alt-country five-piece from Washington, D.C.
Where: Elysium
What It Was Like: Like watching a group of kids who'd grown up on the Ryan Adams and punk records. For my money, this was pretty much the definition of cow-punk: at times, it was gritty and fast, and, at others, it was very much traditional Americana-inspired.
Verdict: I really liked these guys' set. It was hokey when it needed to be, rocking at will, and, overall, a boozy, boot-skootin', good time. I'd originally planned to see England's Aqualung, which was following These United States at Elysium, but because These United States' set ran long--something no one really seemed to mind--I didn't even end up sticking around for Aqualung; there were other good shows coming, and, honestly, after truly enjoying These United States' set, I didn't think Aqualung's performance would be as entertaining.

Noah W. Bailey

The Baptist Generals' Chris Flemmons at the Sub Pop Showcase.

Band: Baptist Generals
Where: Sub Pop Showcase at Radio Room
What It Was Like: If you're ever seen the Baptist Generals play one of their "rug shows" then you know what a special experience these all-acoustic sets can be in the right room with the right audience. Thursday night's set opening the Sub Pop showcase at Radio Room was marred somewhat by the roar of 6th street coming through the windows, but Chris Flemmons and Co. still managed to hold a small audience transfixed, with most of the crowd sitting down on the dirty club floor to watch the band run through favorites like "Alcohol (Turn And Fall)" and "Going Back Song".
Verdict: The Generals' set certainly impressed the people actually watching it, but watching the band battle the crowd noise made me long for the full-on rock Generals that played the Ritz at SXSW 2004.
Random Note: There were many familiar faces in this crowd, including two former Dallas Observer music editors.

[Earlier this week, we asked a few bands to check in with us from time to time over the course of the week to tell us about their SXSW experiences. First up, Damaged Good$' Coool Dundee and Trak Bully, with DJ Prince William in tow, tell us how their week got started.]

Well hell...

Let us start off by saying that everyone has to get in the long-ass registration line like every other human artist on the planet!!!! Got here and was like, "Jeez, this must be the judgement day line!!!!!

We were like, "Times like this is when we need a name like Prince or somebody!" However, SXSW probably would have made his ass wait in that line as well.

People we didn't think we would see in the line that we saw: DJ Klever, U-N-I, DJ Craze, Blackjacks just to name a few.

Moving on, our first show was at a spot called Red 7. Maxtundra had just got done doing his gangsta set and everyone just left... and that place was packed...

But, thanks to our prayers to the SXSW gods, people came out of nowhere. Somewhat small at first but, not even half-way through our set, we had an army wild'n out with us!!!!!

Both of our necks still hurt from that party. And I've never seen Prince William sweat so hard...

Patrick Michels

Efterklang under a tent at the French Legation Museum

Band: Efterklang
Where: Other Music Party at the French Legation Museum
What It Was Like: Seven people from Copenhagen playing ornate pop combining violin, trumpet and flute with glitchy electronics. Closer "Cutting Ice to Snow" started slow, quiet and choral before building into a gorgeous cacophony of yearning gang vocals and frantic tamborine playing.
Verdict: Fans of Sigur Ros, Sufjan Stevens or Broken Social Scene would be wise to check this stuff out. Considering I'd never heard a single note before, I was definitely impressed.
Random Note: According to Wikipedia, Efterklang is "the Danish word for rememberance and reverberation."

Jesse Hughey

Big Boi rocks Austin Music Hall Thursday night.

Act: Big Boi
Place: Austin Music Hall
What it was like: Awesome. The set of the night. And yet the most frustrating. Big Boi did a couple of solo jams from his upcoming Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. Otherwise the set was nearly all Oukast gems going all the way back to Southernplayalisticadillacmuzic. "Rosa Parks," leading into a remixed "So Fresh, So Clean." By the time he got to "Mrs. Jackson," the absence of Andre 3000 was noticeable. Boi can rock a crowd, but seeing him sharing the stage with another sideman the whole night was like watching a friend cheat on his partner. Of course, if it was an Outkast show, there'd have been a line, and the place would have been jammed to capacity with people waiting for "Hey Ya." I wonder how many people didn't realize that one half of Outkast was performing because they didn't recognize Big Boi's name? He rocked the club with thunderous authority, and the crowd boiled with people dancing and hopping in place with recognition at each song. The bass was set somewhere between "Bowel-Loosening" and "Cardiac Arrest." "Thump" would be a massive understatement. His solo "Backup Plan"--deep club bass meets Southern funk--was awesome. "Can we speed this up?" he asked the sweaty crowd and his rock-hard backup band. That would not be a problem, he was assured by all parties. The mind-blowing warp-speed "Ghettomuzik" instantly energized the dancefloor, and was followed by a phenomenal take on "B.O.B."
Verdict: With a live presence that's limited to pacing across the stage and handling the mic, Big Boi isn't a showman. Not that there's any need for him to be--the music is quite capable of enrapturing a crowd.
Random Note: The soundman played Randy Newman's "I've Got A Friend In You" "You've Got A Friend In Me" over the P.A. after the set ended, which seemed ironic considering Andre's absence.

We already mentioned that Dallas native and Secret Machine Brandon Curtis produced the new record from BLK JKS, an act that hopes to bring South African rock 'n' roll to the international forefront. (We'll have a review of that band's performance at Mohawk's Patio last night up shortly...)

But here's another note worth passing along: At Stubb's on Wednesday night, one-time Dallas native Shara Worden, aka My Brightest Diamond, played guitar and sang with Colin Meloy and the rest of the Decemberists. She's on the new Decemberists disc, too--and since the band performed most of the new disc on Wednesday night, Worden was there. Not sure if it's a permanent thing, though...

Pete Freedman

Passion Pit takes to the tent at the Radio Room's patio.

Spent the whole day camped out at the Radio Room for the great lineup booked to play the Brooklyn Vegan/Paste party there. Well worth it, too. 

Act: The Wheel, a bare-bones folk duo from Denver.
Where: Radio Room
What It Was Like: Pretty interesting, actually. And relatively compelling, too. Just two guys on stage, vocally harmonizing with one another, and one with an acoustic guitar that he'd pick or strum relatively sparingly. But it wasn't the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, one of the bigger buzz bands at this year's SXSW--not to mention of the best band names. They'd double-booked themselves today. So, instead, we got these guys.
Verdict: As I said before, pretty interesting stuff. Very simple, but nice nonetheless. Somewhat boring, though. It was kinda like the type of thing you might awkwardly become subjected to at a pretty lame party--like these two guys found a guitar and started performing even though no one asked them to. You have mixed feelings about it--it's good enough not for you to tell them to stop, but it's not really what you came to this party expecting to do. That pretty much sums it up, I think. Maybe if you're in the mood for super bare folk with heavy vocal harmonies. But I never get in that mood.

Jesse Hughey

Skibunny

I was delayed in getting my night started, thanks to some setbacks I'd rather not go into. Let me just recommend that if you're at SXSW, don't carry a pocketknife. But I still caught a few interesting acts. Hopefully today will go more smoothly.

Act: School of Seven Bells (another take).
Where: Buffalo Billiards
What it was like: I don't think I was quite as impressed as Pete Freedman was in his review, but enjoyed the set enough to stick around till the end. Ally and Claudia Deheza's vocal harmonies were gorgeous. They sang, played and looked pretty while standing stock-still; by contrast, Ben Curtis, laying on the distortion and reverb, channeled My Bloody Valentine through the guitar and bounced around the stage, looking as if he was having a blast.
Verdict: Good, if not life-changing. I'd like to check out the album.
Good Ol' Days Syndrome: I still wish Curtis, who started his music career as the awesome drummer for the late, great UFOFU, would get behind the kit on occasion. It's kind of odd to see him playing in front of a drum machine.

Patrick Michels

The Decemberists

This was the big, obvious event of the night -- a packed yard at Stubb's, plenty of production from the NPR-backed show, and no huge surprises. Just a few great live acts we all know, proving they deserve it.

Band: The Decemberists, Wednesday night at Stubb's
Where: Stubb's
What it was like: Someone behind the counter at the record store turning to you and saying, "I will now sell 500 copies of "Hazards of Love" by the Decemberists."
Verdict: A day after releasing their latest album, the Decemberists topped the bill for the NPR Music showcase, and put on a great big, sweeping show. The set lasted a little over an hour, full of thrilling moments where the epic slow jams built into big, rocking peaks. Colin Meloy's nasally, over-enunciated lyrics were distinctive as ever, but the real stars of the show were Shara Worden (the Denton product behind My Brightest Diamond) and Becky Stark (of Lavender Diamond), who play on the Decemberists' new album. With Stark blissed-out in a white flower-child getup, and Worden in black, looking kind of sinister, the two women added an amazing new element to the show. Best moment of the set: Stark and Jenny Conlee, viciously drumming side-by-side on "The Rake's Song."
Random Note: NPR has been doing plenty to hype the band's new album, including streaming it online ahead of its release. According to the warning signs posted everywhere, if you stepped under the shadow of the UFO-looking canopy by the stage, you were pretty much guaranteed to end up in some NPR online video feature.

With the music industry, print media and the economy all struggling (to put it mildly), I imagine there are a lot of people in Austin trying to pinch pennies however they can. At least, I am. Now, I don't want to be a piker when it comes to bringing home music and souvenirs, but as for the essentials--beer, food and parking--I'm going to pretend my expense account doesn't exist. Because it doesn't.  

It's too early to tell how realistic a goal it is to be thrifty. Music festivals are usually a great way to hemorrhage money, but there are several parties offering free beer and food in Austin during SXSW, and this year is no exception. If nothing else, I've got a few energy bars and my swag bag included a snack-size "nutrition bar" and some gum.

Earlier in the evening yesterday I lucked out of paying for parking while I picked up my badge. A line of cars were parked along the I-35 northbound on-ramp at 6th Street. It looked completely illegal, but I was optimistic that if I got back fast enough I could get away with it. Sure enough, no ticket an hour and a half later. Didn't manage to find any free food, so I splurged on East Side Pies for myself and the friend who's putting me up for the festival. They serve amazing crispy-crust pizza that was worth every cent.

Later I found a spot off 7th Street a few blocks east of the highway. Totally worth the hike. So far so good. Today, my first full day here, I begin foraging.

Total spent: $24.75 on a large pie plus tip.

Pete Freedman

School of Seven Bells' Benjamin Curtis at Buffalo Billiards.

The first night of SXSW saw four pretty major draws around town--Echo and the Bunnymen at Emo's; The Decembrists at Stubbs; St. Vincent, Department of Eagles and M. Ward at the Central Presbyterian Church; Peter Bjorn & John and Glasvegas at Vice--and a whole bunch of other worthwhile draws...

Noah W. Bailey

Port O' Brien channels Neil Young at Buffalo Billiards.

After the three-and-a-half hour drive from Dallas I decided to start the evening off right at Hut's Hamburgers before finally checking out some music. Here's what I saw. Now it's time for breakfast tacos at Nueva Onda and more bands in the beautiful Austin sunshine, but more on that later...

Band: Port O' Brien
Where: Buffalo Billiards
What It Was Like: I first caught Port O'Brien a year and half ago when they played Good Records in front of approximately 8 people--this crowd was considerably bigger. Despite some serious soundcheck issues, the band sounded great from the get-go, alternating between raging Crazy Horse-meets-Meat Puppets rockers and windswept acoustic songs that played on lead singer Van Pierszalowski's sea-going roots. As the sometimes salmon fisherman put it one song--"You are a fisherman's son/that is what you will become." The band's energy was infectious, with plenty of crowd members volunteering to bang on pots and pans for the band's most popular song, the rambunctious scream-a-long "I Woke Up Today".
Verdict: There's a reason why M. Ward once gave these guys a shout-out in a Pitchfork interview--they're a great live band.
Random Note: Lead singer Van Pierszalowski looks a little like that guy that played the professor in Good Will Hunting.

Robert Wilonksy just directed my attention to this little blog entry by former Dallas Morning News music critic and current Austin American-Statesman scribe, Michael Corcoran, on Dallas' own Floyd Dakil, who, despite retiring from music in 1984, will be heading down to Austin for a SXSW performance sponsored by the promoters of the Ponderosa Stomp.

"I don't know how Dr. Ira (Ponderosa founder Padnos) found me, but he did," Dakil says of his unlikely road to South By Southwest. "I guess I'm gonna go down to Austin and play like I'm 25 again."

Again, check it out. It's worth reading, if only to familiarize yourself with one of Dallas' most respected, if (quite unfortunately) somewhat forgotten, acts of yesteryear.

And Robert passing it along? Well, that almost makes up for the fact that, over on Unfair Park, he's stolen not one, but two (!) music items from your DC9-reading eyes: 1) a quick profile of downtown street musician Mike Graham, and 2) an item that announces the upcoming art sale of some specially made Erykah Badu portraits, which are being sold to raise funds so that Badu, Motown art director Kyle Gowan and Badu's New Amerykah Pt. 1 art designer, rock poster artist Emek, can host a gathering for South Dallas art students later this year.

But what Robert didn't tell you: Badu and her quite capable Cannabinoids (remember last year's DOMA Awards Show?) are performing a free SXSW set at Austin's Auditorium Shores Stage at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 21, between sets from Beach House and Explosions in the Sky.