SXSW 2007

They say imitation is the best form of flattery, so with a compliment to SI’s NFL guru Peter King, here are 15 things we think we think about SXSW 2007:

1. We think more bands should wear masks. Gracias de Los Straightjackets.
2. We think more bands should wear matching, personalized sweatsuits. Kudos to DATAROCK.
3. We think Trainwreck Riders are a punk band, contrary to what their alt-country album lets on.
4. We think VietNam are actually hairier and dirtier than their pictures let on.
5. We think, for the moment, we’d sooner order a round of appletinis at a biker bar, than order another round of Lone Stars.
6. We think the only things to eat in Austin during SXSW are cheeseburgers and bratwursts.
7. We think we owe Brooklyn Vegan a thank you for the party they hosted on Saturday. Great venue, great bands, ice-cold Heinekens and bottled waters, NCAA tourney viewing available, all for the low, low price of free.
8. We think its annoying when your travel partner pukes his fruity drink all over you on the airplane.
9. We think there is an abundance of naked men strolling around Austin and at least one of them can kick our asses. I’m talking to you Naked Cowboy.
10. We think if you are a single man seeking hot women for the weekend, you should not go to SXSW. They are an endangered species.
11. We think it will be a difficult challenge to NOT drunk dial Joe Simpson, now that we have his cell phone number.
12. We think buying SXSW badges was a waste of money for all of us.
13. We think everyone in the music industry has a day job.
14. We think every SXSW band is afraid to self-promote, carry merchandise, or mention their band name during a performance.
15. We think we would have spent our money on t-shirts or cd’s for bands we support, if they were available.

Discovering any good footage of SXSW performances has been a challenge, but I’ll post the nuggets I find. Here’s a good one from the Vegan party we keep speaking so highly of.

The Fratellis - “Cigarello” Live @ SXSW

Here’s a smattering of MP3’s from the bands we saw at SXSW, pilfered from blogs found on http://www.elbo.ws.

Okkervil River - Our Life is Not a Movie (Live at SXSW)

Okkervil River - The President’s Dead (Live at SXSW)

Okkervil River - For Real (Live at SXSW)

The Mooney Suzuki - This Broken Heart of Mine

The Mooney Suzuki - Rock n’ Roller Girl

The Whigs - Don’t Talk Anymore

The Whigs - Technology

The Whigs - Violet Furs

The Black Angels - Bloodhounds on My Trail

The Black Angels - The First Vietnamese War

Elvis Perkins - While You Were Sleeping

Elvis Perkins - Without Love

Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday

Cold War Kids - Hospital Beds

Cold War Kids - Saint John

Cold War Kids - Hair Down

Cold War Kids - We Used to Vacation

The Little Ones - Lovers Who Uncover

Menomena - Wet and Rusting

Menomena - Weird

VietNam - Priest, Poet, and the Pig

VietNam - Goldfinger

Los Straitjackets - All Day and All Night

The Apples in Stereo - Energy

Rock Plaza Central - My Children, Be Joyful

The Morning Pages - With the Lord

Leopold and his Fiction - She Ain’t Got Time

Leopold and his Fiction - Shakey Mama Blues

Leopold and his Fiction - Be Still

Leopold and his Fiction - Go On Have My Way

Buffalo Killers - San Martine Des Morelle

El-P - Smithereens Stop Crying

Ferraby Lionheart - A Crack in Time

Ferraby Lionheart - Ticket to Crickets

DATAROCK - Fa Fa Fa

The Fratellis - Whistle for the Choir

The Fratellis - Flathead (Late Night w/ Conan)

The Fratellis - Baby Fratelli

The Fratellis- Everybody Knows You Cried Last Night

Trainwreck Riders - Christmas Time Blues

Earl Greyhound - S.O.S.

Earl Greyhound - Fashion

Earl Greyhound - Not Gonna Wait

When I first woke up in the morning at SXSW 2007, I picked up the SXSW insert from the Austin Chronicle and noticed an interview with Tom Morello. He had several solo, acoustic performances at the festival under his new moniker, “The Nightwatchman.” Interestingly enough, I never saw The Nightwatchman printed without (Tom Morello) next to it or vice versa.

Unlike most of the lesser known acts at SXSW struggling for attention, Morello knows marketing. He didn’t go to SXSW to be discovered. He was there to launch his new product. He’s building his new Nightwatchman brand by adding credibility with his real name, which helps draw the crowds and the press. He even had celebrity endorsements on stage with him in the form of Slash and Perry Ferrell. What do you expect from a Harvard graduate?

And then there’s the PR. After reading his interview in the Austin Chronicle, I became really intrigued when he said “My aspiration is to be the black Woody Guthrie.” Wow. I was almost sold, but ended up passing on his shows in Austin. After seeing this footage, I have zero remorse (other than missing Perry Ferrell and Slash jam with him to Jane’s Addiction’s “Mountain Song”)

I’m not sure if being Tom Morello is an unfair advantage at SXSW or not, but it bugs me. I do know I would have liked to see another band earn that spot in the Chronicle. It also would have been nice for some band that hasn’t “made it” to draw in those onlookers that were standing in Morello’s crowd. And imagine the impact of Slash or Perry Ferrell hopping up on stage with a no-name band to give their seal of approval? Who knows what kind of doors could be opened for a talented group of guys or girls currently sleeping in a van.

What I do know is that The Nightwatchman bores me and I consider myself a Tom Morello fan. I guess the two are mutually exclusive, so I can like one and not the other, but it just goes to show that all the marketing, press, and hoopla in the world won’t do a lick of good if the product ain’t no good. Have a listen for yourself.

He lost me at “la la-la-la la la-la la la.”

You can stream more at: http://www.nightwatchmanmusic.com/

Okay, so Galactic was on day two after El-P, but I didn’t have the picture ready until now. Woody checked them out before falling asleep standing up again. Wait a second… that show was at 1:00am, so it was technically day three.

Day three was our best day of SXSW 2007 thanks to NY2LON, Le Tigre, and Brooklyn Vegan. They had a great venue for their day party at Habana Calle with one outdoor stage and one indoor stage. Inside had an open bar with the NCAA games on, free bloodies, Heinekens, and Fiji water. No free food that I could find, but the liquid suited me just fine.

The band lineup was incredibly good. Ferraby Lionheart soothed our hangovers with some mellow, acoustic songs while we enjoyed our first drinks of the day. A stroll outside sent us into some humor-infused party pop with DATAROCK, complete with matching red jumpsuits. The Fratellis hopped on stage after that with an acoustic set that was impossible to see from anywhere but the front row, but they sounded great. I wish they were standing so I could have seen something other than the top of the lead singer’s afro. We then hopped back inside for The Trainwreck Riders who played like it was their last second at SXSW. I’m a big fan of their album, but it’s no indication of what to expect when you see them live. They have a punch you in the face brand of cow-punk that makes you tap your foot and drink your beer a little bit faster.

After that party, we headed to the Chuggin’ Monkey for Earl Greyhound. That completed our music fix and the rest of the day and night involved hopping around 6th street, with no agenda, getting weird.

Ferraby Lionheart - Tickets for Cricket

DATAROCK - Fa Fa Fa

The Fratellis - Whistle for the Choir

Ferraby Lionheart @ Habana Calle

DATAROCK @ Habana Calle

The Fratellis @ Habana Calle

The Trainwreck Riders @ Habana Calle

Earl Greyhound @ The Chuggin’ Monkey

That’s it from SXSW 2007, other than some random commentary and mp3’s we may post over the next week or two. We’ve been inspired to throw our own party next year. You are all invited.

The best surprise at SXSW 2007 was seeing Pete Townshend. We went to La Zona Rosa on Thursday night to see Elvis Perkins and The Cold War Kids and right when we walked in the door, Pete Townshend strolled on stage for an acoustic set. The picture I took was really dark, but I found this clip on YouTube that does one better.

As you can tell, I’m still waiting on pictures from our last day at SXSW. I’ll have that recap up tonight or tomorrow morning.

Pete Townshend - Acoustic @ La Zona Rosa

These SXSW blog titles are getting really long.

We actually made it through the rest of SXSW without seeing any more men in underwear on 6th street. We could rest easy knowing that we would just encounter more of our favorite bands for the rest of the trip. We also picked up lots of free beer koozies.

We spent most of our second day at the Yep Roc party but also jumped around town and saw The Moaners, Rock Plaza Central, The Morning Pages, Leopold and his Fiction, Buffalo Killers, and El-P. We also spent a few hours hanging out with Daniel from Leopold and his Fiction. Really great guy and I’d definitely recommend checking him out next time you are in the bay area or he’s in your town. Leopold was my favorite of the day.

We stumbled upon El-P by accident after a pit stop at the Chuggin’ Monkey (which can have devastating effects on the rest of your night), and things got a little weird. The Brooklyn underground rapper had a ton of energy and probably the most energetic crowd I saw, but he had fake bullet holes in his head and blood all over his face and shirt. At midnight, after an entire day of SXSW, it was a little intense. You can almost see the picture below through the smoke.

Drinking Buddy and I headed to the hotel after El-P and Woody stuck around for Galactic which, from his recollection, was an amazing show. I’m waiting on his pictures to post tomorrow. Here’s the rest of mine from the day and night.

The Apples in Stereo @ Yep Roc’s 10th Anniversary Party

The Moaners @ Yep Roc’s 10th Anniversary Party

Rock Plaza Central @ Yep Roc’s 10th Anniversary Party

The Morning Pages @ (I can’t remember the name of the bar)

Leopold and His Fiction @ The Co-op Bar

The Buffalo Killers @ Beerland

El-P @ Emo’s Mainstage

Day three and an MP3 tour of our SXSW 2007 experience will be up in the near future. Saturday had the best day party we attended, thanks to Brooklyn Vegan and the other sponsors. We’ll have some pics of the Trainwreck Riders, Ferraby Lionheart, DATAROCK, the Fratellis and probably some other random stuff.

For some reason, each day in Austin starts with some half naked dude posing for pictures in the street. We bumped into this guy (not literally) on 6th street before starting off our day.

After we got our morning dose of male nudity, we decided to cleanse our minds and spirits by day drinking and catching some great shows. We started off watching VietNam. They sounded fantastic, but only played for 25 minutes. We left a little underwhelmed and headed to the Yep Roc 10th Anniversary Party to see some of their lineup.

We consumed free BBQ and beer while watching Los Straightjackets, The Apples in Stereo, The Moaners, and Rock Plaza Central. Some of the pics are below. I’ll add the others later tonight. Los Straightjackets wore some fantastic Nacho Libre style Mexican wrestling masks and won the crowd over with their showmanship and guitar skills.

VietNam @ Red Eyed Fly

Los Straightjackets @ Yep Roc’s 10th Anniversary Party

The Apples in Stereo @ Yep Roc’s 10th Anniversary Party

More to come from day two and three later… it’s time to leave Texas.

We’re on day three now and it’s hard to keep up with the blog updates while nursing hangovers and rushing out to hit the next batch of parties. My head hurts. I might be deaf in at least one ear.

Day one was tremendous. We bumped into VietNam on the street for a brief introduction, but unfortunately didn’t have the camera ready. We headed over to La Zona Rosa in the evening to check out Elvis Perkins and The Cold War Kids. We weren’t expecting to see Pete Townshend stroll on stage for an acoustic set, but that’s what we got. What a great surprise.

My digital camera is out of batteries, so here are the pics I was able to salvage before it took a dump. We’ll make sure to get the rest up tomorrow and next week.

Elvis Perkins @ La Zona Rosa

The Cold War Kids @ La Zona Rosa

The Cold War Kids with Elvis Perkins and friends (Covering Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come”)

The Little Ones @ Antones

We bumped into John Norris outside of the bathroom at Antone’s. Really nice guy.

We also saw Sondre Lerche at Antone’s, but didn’t get a quality picture. After Antone’s we headed to Buffalo Billiards to see Menomena. Here is the view of our driver’s ass.

We got to Buffalo Billiards around midnight for the 1am Menomena show. After downing a few corn dogs and Shiner Bocks, we made our way to the front of the stage. Menomena graced the stage to a packed house and proceeded to sound check for 45 minutes. They made some jokes with the crowd and tried to blame it on the venue, but come on. It was ridiculous. Woody fell asleep twice standing up, which deserves a blog post on it’s own. The guy actually falls asleep standing up quite frequently.

The Menomena crowd started getting pretty ugly and shouting ensued (and not just from us). We ended up leaving the angry, drunk mob and I have no idea if Menomena actually played or made it out alive. It was a bad end to an otherwise perfect day.

Menomena’s Sound Check @ Buffalo Billiards

Day two’s updates coming tomorrow. More random naked dudes on the street, VietNam’s show, the Morning Pages, Leopold and His Fiction, the Paste and Yep Roc parties, the Moaners, and The Apples in Stereo. Off to enjoy Day three now…