Friday, March 17, 2006
SXSW part the second
Thursday was a good day. After taking it (relatively) easy on Wednesday, we got up in plenty of time to hit Starbuck's and see the Keynote Address. Why does Starbuck's put that hard sugar crud on the tops of their muffins? It's a little bit weird. Oh well.
Went to the Austin Convention Centre to see Neil Young in conversation with Johnathan Demme. Of course it was totally RAD to see Neil, but to see him chatting with the guy who made - among others - Silence Of The Lambs was pretty cool. Neil talked about his various projects, and what struck me the most was how many different types of folks were there. No matter how old you are or what kind of music you like, there are about 65 Neil Young albums geared to your taste. He takes a lot of shit from people who want to see him play "Needle & the Damage Done" and "Heart of Gold" but no matter what the guy does, it's fucking brilliant. And the fact that he was really funny too, that was just a bonus.
Scoped out the trade show. Got as much schwag as possible - lighters, lanyards, magazines, etc. as possible. Free stuff – ahh, the wonder of it all! The lighters cannot go home with me, but the sharpies will. And you can never have too many sharpies.
SOCAN/ASCAP boat ride. This is an interesting exercise where the music royalty associations to whom we pay 3% of everything we take at the door pay us back with a 45 minute cruise on Town Lake where they give us sandwiches and free beer. Seems like a pretty good trade-off to me!
The UK Music Association has their party in Brush Square, right at the heart of the action. It's a lot like the Canadian party, except that they don't give out drink tickets. Rather, they just have an open bar policy, which makes is a far-more-fun event than many. There seem to be four types of parties here:
1.The invite-only party, where you have to know someone to get in. These ones tend to have high profile music and LOTS for free booze.
2.The sort-of-invite-only party, where you might have to get on the list beforehand, but you can probably talk your way in with a good attitude and a badge. There will still be free booze
3.The awareness-raising party – staged by various music associations, agencies, and so on and so forth. These are advertised to the general conference populace and likely will give you a beer ticket or two at the door. Unless you know someone who is connected the party's sponsor, in which case you can swing more.
4.The lame-ass party, which is sponsored by someone or something that wants to advertise itself but doesn't want to spend a penny. These are public events and take place in bars where you have to pay regular price for every drink.
It just now occurs to me that there is a 6th kind pf party, and this one is cool. It takes place in an alley and is open to anyone who can damn well find it. There is live music, and all the free Pabst Blue Ribbon you can ingest. I really think it's the best kind of party, and not just because they only serve the PBR!
In any case, there are lots of parties and they usually involve some combination of food, booze, and music. Some are memorable by their abundance of beer, some by the lack of it. The UK party was definitely one of the former, while the High Times magazine party definitely falls into the latter category.
A quick trip up Red River takes us to the Mint / Six Shooter Records party, hosted by my great pal, the lovely and talented miss Carolyn Mark. Mint is not only Carolyn's musical home, but also some of my other friends including Novillero and Neko Case. Six Shooter is like the Toronto version of Mint – my friend and dog-walking buddy Christine Fellows, as well as Luke Doucet who I don't know well but I certainly do hope his album Broken and Other Rogue States wins a Juno this year. This party is a hootenanny affair – Carolyn is in charge and makes various and sundry members of every band on both labels play together in an afternoon orgy of gin and Can-Con.
As an aside: Carolyn is taking the Hootenanny on tour to Ontario this year – it will feature O Suzanna, Luther Wright, Geoff Berner, Shuyler Jansen, and a few others. If you're in the biggest province, make sure you don't miss this!
Heading out from the Mint party, I detour with my friend Greg (an Albertan) to the Albert party. It's in Brush Square but unfortunately the sound from the very raucous Japanese party in the next tent drowns out the songwriters. Bad timing perhaps...in any case I decide it would be good to hit the hotel for an hour, get off the feet and take a little break in preparation for the big night tonight. With that sage idea in mind I stay in the park and have a few more drinks. So many, in fact, that my travelling companion has spent an hour doing exactly what I had planned and already returned to the park.
That's when the text message comes in. I don't know if this is a new thing this year or not since my Telus phone refuses to text anything properly down here in the USA, but my buddy gets a message saying “Beastie Boys @ Stubb's, 7:15. Badges only.” So with a vague idea that it might get a little busy, we head to Stubb's. The lineup is down the block, around the corner, and down a hill. We decide it would be well worth the risk, so we get in line. Some dudes from the venue are checking valid badges and then handing out coloured wristbands to mark us as “yes, you really are in line.” Other people are not so lucky. Well, the ones without the badges, which I guess makes them not “unlucky,” but rather just not entitled to the same access as us.
There is a really interesting class system at this conference/festival – it goes “badge, wristband, proletariat.” I'm usually much more of a socialist, but in this case, I paid good money to get into these venues and you didn't, so get the hell out of my way!
Anyway. We stand in the line for about 45 minutes when it starts to move. It seems that they split it half way up and started letting people into the venue from another entrance, much closer to where we are standing. Jackpot! We're going to be in in no time! Then, as if by the hand of god, they decide to close that door when we're about 20 people away. Sucks, we'll be going in the front door.
As the line moves, ever so slowly, we notice another line on the main road. It seems to be wristband holders – people who didn't but as expensive a thing as us. They start letting some of them in. Which, despite my socialism, is a real pisser. I mean, what am I paying for? I actually came here to attend the conference, and to take part in lots of the event as opposed to those who just come to see shows. I think it annoyed lots of people in our lineup when they saw this happening. Oh well, some food for thought for the future.
Anyway, all that aside, we get in. Beasties are great. They open with Brass Monkey, and lead a singalong of “Paul Revere.” It was hugely fun. The only regret I have is that I stayed for the whole thing which meant that I missed a good portion of John Vanderslice's set. I did catch about 3 songs at the end, and they were great. He's so good. If you don't know who he is, I highly recommend you check him out on Barsuk Records.
I head to the Mint Records showcase afterwards, just as Miss Carolyn is taking the stage. I've seen a million Carolyn Mark shows over the years, and you know what the weird thing is? I've never seen a BAD Carolyn Mark show. She is, without a doubt, the best entertainer working in Canada. The Mint showcase is hosted by Nardwuar the Human Serviette. I like Nardwuar because he is the man who not only inspired former Prime Minister Jean Chretien to say “Pepper? I put it on my plate...” but who also told former leader of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev to “Keep on Rockin In The Free World” - in Russian. Good fellow.
Leaving the Mint showcase I had to the Bloodshot showcase to see a one-man blues wrecking crew called Scott H. Biram. One of the things about any kind of huge multi-band extravaganza is the happy discoveries. In this case, while waiting for the aforementioned Mr. Biram, I bore witness to a band called the Deadstring Brothers, who were really into 70s rock. Think Stones – Exile on Main Street – but younger and less emaciated. It was great, as was Scott, who took the stage right afterwards.
Back to the Mint showcase – it's in the neighbourhood, and my friends from Novillero are playing. I like that band a lot. Go buy their album Aim Right For the Holes In Their Lives – it's one of the best of 2005. I watch them for a bit before I head to my own special treat of the week – the new lineup of The Alarm. Mike Peters is the only original member, but the new lineup is good and they rock out. The Alarm is a band that I listened to incessantly in high school, and was sad when they released an album called Raw. Let's face it, when one of your favourite bands puts out an album that just plain SUCKS, it's disappointing. And I'm not talking about a band doing some experimentation, changing things up (see Neil Young, above), but rather just losing the ability to make good records. Fortunately, The Alarm disbanded – ha! Dis-BAND-ed! - shortly thereafter. To date, U2 still hasn't realized that Rattle & Hum was the last good record they will ever make, and continue to put out complete shit. Oh well, there's some men you just can't reach.
Anyway, the Alarm has a new lineup and it was great. They also have a new record com gin out so they played more new stuff than hits, but it all sounds like it comes from the same place. I saw Mike Peters solo last year and it was ALL hits, so I guess he's allowed to try and get people excited about his new stuff now. The thing about the Alarm was another one of those “pleasant surprises” before the show. This time it was a band called The Like from Los Angeles. I saw a lot of all-girl rock bands, and they stood out.
Edit: I have since found out that the ultra-lameass Canadian band Magneta Lane is talking shit about The Like. Too bad Magneta lane sucks!
Went to the Austin Convention Centre to see Neil Young in conversation with Johnathan Demme. Of course it was totally RAD to see Neil, but to see him chatting with the guy who made - among others - Silence Of The Lambs was pretty cool. Neil talked about his various projects, and what struck me the most was how many different types of folks were there. No matter how old you are or what kind of music you like, there are about 65 Neil Young albums geared to your taste. He takes a lot of shit from people who want to see him play "Needle & the Damage Done" and "Heart of Gold" but no matter what the guy does, it's fucking brilliant. And the fact that he was really funny too, that was just a bonus.
Scoped out the trade show. Got as much schwag as possible - lighters, lanyards, magazines, etc. as possible. Free stuff – ahh, the wonder of it all! The lighters cannot go home with me, but the sharpies will. And you can never have too many sharpies.
SOCAN/ASCAP boat ride. This is an interesting exercise where the music royalty associations to whom we pay 3% of everything we take at the door pay us back with a 45 minute cruise on Town Lake where they give us sandwiches and free beer. Seems like a pretty good trade-off to me!
The UK Music Association has their party in Brush Square, right at the heart of the action. It's a lot like the Canadian party, except that they don't give out drink tickets. Rather, they just have an open bar policy, which makes is a far-more-fun event than many. There seem to be four types of parties here:
1.The invite-only party, where you have to know someone to get in. These ones tend to have high profile music and LOTS for free booze.
2.The sort-of-invite-only party, where you might have to get on the list beforehand, but you can probably talk your way in with a good attitude and a badge. There will still be free booze
3.The awareness-raising party – staged by various music associations, agencies, and so on and so forth. These are advertised to the general conference populace and likely will give you a beer ticket or two at the door. Unless you know someone who is connected the party's sponsor, in which case you can swing more.
4.The lame-ass party, which is sponsored by someone or something that wants to advertise itself but doesn't want to spend a penny. These are public events and take place in bars where you have to pay regular price for every drink.
It just now occurs to me that there is a 6th kind pf party, and this one is cool. It takes place in an alley and is open to anyone who can damn well find it. There is live music, and all the free Pabst Blue Ribbon you can ingest. I really think it's the best kind of party, and not just because they only serve the PBR!
In any case, there are lots of parties and they usually involve some combination of food, booze, and music. Some are memorable by their abundance of beer, some by the lack of it. The UK party was definitely one of the former, while the High Times magazine party definitely falls into the latter category.
A quick trip up Red River takes us to the Mint / Six Shooter Records party, hosted by my great pal, the lovely and talented miss Carolyn Mark. Mint is not only Carolyn's musical home, but also some of my other friends including Novillero and Neko Case. Six Shooter is like the Toronto version of Mint – my friend and dog-walking buddy Christine Fellows, as well as Luke Doucet who I don't know well but I certainly do hope his album Broken and Other Rogue States wins a Juno this year. This party is a hootenanny affair – Carolyn is in charge and makes various and sundry members of every band on both labels play together in an afternoon orgy of gin and Can-Con.
As an aside: Carolyn is taking the Hootenanny on tour to Ontario this year – it will feature O Suzanna, Luther Wright, Geoff Berner, Shuyler Jansen, and a few others. If you're in the biggest province, make sure you don't miss this!
Heading out from the Mint party, I detour with my friend Greg (an Albertan) to the Albert party. It's in Brush Square but unfortunately the sound from the very raucous Japanese party in the next tent drowns out the songwriters. Bad timing perhaps...in any case I decide it would be good to hit the hotel for an hour, get off the feet and take a little break in preparation for the big night tonight. With that sage idea in mind I stay in the park and have a few more drinks. So many, in fact, that my travelling companion has spent an hour doing exactly what I had planned and already returned to the park.
That's when the text message comes in. I don't know if this is a new thing this year or not since my Telus phone refuses to text anything properly down here in the USA, but my buddy gets a message saying “Beastie Boys @ Stubb's, 7:15. Badges only.” So with a vague idea that it might get a little busy, we head to Stubb's. The lineup is down the block, around the corner, and down a hill. We decide it would be well worth the risk, so we get in line. Some dudes from the venue are checking valid badges and then handing out coloured wristbands to mark us as “yes, you really are in line.” Other people are not so lucky. Well, the ones without the badges, which I guess makes them not “unlucky,” but rather just not entitled to the same access as us.
There is a really interesting class system at this conference/festival – it goes “badge, wristband, proletariat.” I'm usually much more of a socialist, but in this case, I paid good money to get into these venues and you didn't, so get the hell out of my way!
Anyway. We stand in the line for about 45 minutes when it starts to move. It seems that they split it half way up and started letting people into the venue from another entrance, much closer to where we are standing. Jackpot! We're going to be in in no time! Then, as if by the hand of god, they decide to close that door when we're about 20 people away. Sucks, we'll be going in the front door.
As the line moves, ever so slowly, we notice another line on the main road. It seems to be wristband holders – people who didn't but as expensive a thing as us. They start letting some of them in. Which, despite my socialism, is a real pisser. I mean, what am I paying for? I actually came here to attend the conference, and to take part in lots of the event as opposed to those who just come to see shows. I think it annoyed lots of people in our lineup when they saw this happening. Oh well, some food for thought for the future.
Anyway, all that aside, we get in. Beasties are great. They open with Brass Monkey, and lead a singalong of “Paul Revere.” It was hugely fun. The only regret I have is that I stayed for the whole thing which meant that I missed a good portion of John Vanderslice's set. I did catch about 3 songs at the end, and they were great. He's so good. If you don't know who he is, I highly recommend you check him out on Barsuk Records.
I head to the Mint Records showcase afterwards, just as Miss Carolyn is taking the stage. I've seen a million Carolyn Mark shows over the years, and you know what the weird thing is? I've never seen a BAD Carolyn Mark show. She is, without a doubt, the best entertainer working in Canada. The Mint showcase is hosted by Nardwuar the Human Serviette. I like Nardwuar because he is the man who not only inspired former Prime Minister Jean Chretien to say “Pepper? I put it on my plate...” but who also told former leader of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev to “Keep on Rockin In The Free World” - in Russian. Good fellow.
Leaving the Mint showcase I had to the Bloodshot showcase to see a one-man blues wrecking crew called Scott H. Biram. One of the things about any kind of huge multi-band extravaganza is the happy discoveries. In this case, while waiting for the aforementioned Mr. Biram, I bore witness to a band called the Deadstring Brothers, who were really into 70s rock. Think Stones – Exile on Main Street – but younger and less emaciated. It was great, as was Scott, who took the stage right afterwards.
Back to the Mint showcase – it's in the neighbourhood, and my friends from Novillero are playing. I like that band a lot. Go buy their album Aim Right For the Holes In Their Lives – it's one of the best of 2005. I watch them for a bit before I head to my own special treat of the week – the new lineup of The Alarm. Mike Peters is the only original member, but the new lineup is good and they rock out. The Alarm is a band that I listened to incessantly in high school, and was sad when they released an album called Raw. Let's face it, when one of your favourite bands puts out an album that just plain SUCKS, it's disappointing. And I'm not talking about a band doing some experimentation, changing things up (see Neil Young, above), but rather just losing the ability to make good records. Fortunately, The Alarm disbanded – ha! Dis-BAND-ed! - shortly thereafter. To date, U2 still hasn't realized that Rattle & Hum was the last good record they will ever make, and continue to put out complete shit. Oh well, there's some men you just can't reach.
Anyway, the Alarm has a new lineup and it was great. They also have a new record com gin out so they played more new stuff than hits, but it all sounds like it comes from the same place. I saw Mike Peters solo last year and it was ALL hits, so I guess he's allowed to try and get people excited about his new stuff now. The thing about the Alarm was another one of those “pleasant surprises” before the show. This time it was a band called The Like from Los Angeles. I saw a lot of all-girl rock bands, and they stood out.
Edit: I have since found out that the ultra-lameass Canadian band Magneta Lane is talking shit about The Like. Too bad Magneta lane sucks!
# posted by Pedro @ 2:25 AM 
