SXSW 2008

We were able to sky out of work early on Friday so that we could checkout Flatstock 12 (the rock poster show) before they closed at 6 and before artists started bailing on Saturday. Last year, I bought 4 prints; this year, I didn't see anything that I really liked. My favorite artists didn't have anything new to offer, and everyone seemed to be doing the same groups. I think I found more interesting artwork in the Art of Modern Rock calendar that I bought in January, so that was a big bust and was disappointing. I guess that there will be no new art to adorn the new pad this year.

We dropped by the tent sponsored by Guitar Hero II and caught a band or two, and also watched a kid hit a 99% accuracy rating on the expert level of the song they played for the competition that was going on between bands. The grand prize was a custom Gibson guitar, and I heard someone mention that this kid had hit some sort of record right there. He missed like 2 notes...and of course, he was like 13. I have wasted my life.

We were planning to bop around until midnight and see Junkie XL and Moby do a set at Vice, but we decided that we'd meet up with Gavin and Justin to catch the showcase at the Viper Room, which was being hosted at the Black & Tan club. We got in around 8 with no problem, but apparently at some point after that some dude showed up with an RSVP list and wasn't letting anyone else in that wasn't on that list (including some friends of Gavin's that came late). It's a good thing that we got in, though, because it was a pretty good show all around - the only thing was that it was way too loud for that tiny venue (and of course, I had forgotten my earplugs). We Barbarians  opened the show, and their drummer is the hardest hitting drummer that I have ever seen. I'll bet that when the rental kit was returned, the store was probably like, "what in the world happened to this thing?" Very intense, very good - I really enjoyed their music. The Breakfast Benders followed them, and they did a fairly good job of playing fun music. The oldest member of the band couldn't have been more than 18, though, and their music wasn't really very imaginitive. However, it was very fun and I didn't feel like I needed to step out. Nico Vega, on the other hand, just isn't my cuppa. She has an excellent voice, high intensity, and has excellent stage presence when she's singing, but I just thought that her actions and those of her band when facing some technical issues were unprofessional and not classy. I wasn't really getting into her music either, so all in all I wasn't very impressed with her.

Helmet, on the other hand....wow. These guys have been rockin' out for 20 years (Page Hamilton said, "most of you in this room weren't alive the first time we played SXSW") and they're just as hardcore now as they ever have been and are the true masters of power-chord metal rock. I sure wish I could have seen the drummer but due to the combination of the fact that I was in the back of the room behind every tall person in Austin and the bizarre seat positioning that made it seem like he was sitting on a milk crate or something, I couldn't see anything but the occasional stick flicking up to crash some cymbals. It was crowded, hot, and very, very loud - but it was free, and it was well worth it to see a legend in the hard rock/metal scene.

Today we went to the Vice/Scion Dance Showcase at the venerable Stubb's BBQ venue and were not disappointed. Black Moth Super Rainbow was a 5-piece band that made ambient electronic music but it was all live - guitars, synthesizers, drums, vocals. Well worth checking out if you get a chance. It was neat to hear what I would have thought to be an electronic knob-twiddling sound coming from live instruments. Digitalism was also there, a two-man duo that has hit it big recently and had some really danceable tracks that got the crowd moving. They cranked up the bass, though...so loud that we could see the stage acoutrements vibrating and bouncing about. Fortunately for us, we had spotted some schwag stacks and scored some earplugs courtesy of Scion in a nifty little screw-cap lanyard case. Those things truly were the saviors of our day as I'm sure that the Scion show alone would have given us some serious hearing loss. They allowed us to get close to the stage so that we could see things.

While Chromeo was the headliner, it was Mix Hell that stole the show for me. A husband and wife dj crew from Sao Paulo, Brazil, they dropped bomb after bomb from their decks with the added bonus of Igor doing live percussion on the drum kit while his wife mixed up some killer dance tracks. Igor is the founding drummer of the Brazilian metal band Sepultura, and it clearly showed. In my opinion, this is how dj music should be done - the liver the instruments, the better. Check 'em out on their myspace page - just google "Mix Hell Brazil" and you'll find them quickly enough.

Chromeo was a pretty awesome show as well - very fun. They have a great stage presence and know how to work a crowd. While there is a lot of synth work and loops to support the digitized vocals, the guitars (both bass and lead), percussion, and singing are done live which adds to the concert experience for me. They looked like they were having the most fun playing out of all the groups that we saw at the show, and that added up to a fine headlining experience.

After that, we grabbed some food and headed to Waterloo Park to hear some more bands, but I was wiped and the bands weren't really my cuppa (except for Yeasayer, which I would like to hear more of in the future), so we bailed. I was hoping that we could stick around for Z-Trip and MSTRKRFT at Vice, but they were the late show and I just couldn't take any more standing around. I was kind of music and danced out and needed to get away from the throngs. I guess that officially confirms that I'm getting old, when I can't hang with the young'uns for the hardcore music experience that is SXSW.

I got some good schwag, though, and of course heard several new bands that I will be purchasing albums from, so it was a great experience and well worth it. I'm sure glad that it only happens once a year, though. I can't take any higher frequency than that.