South By Southwest 08 Day Two recap

OK, so I'm new to this whole laptop business and I decided at the last minute to not bring it along today as I ventured from South Austin to downtown (via the fab mass transit system - just $1 for an all-day pass!)...I had enough fun carrying my bag o' schwag around all day (couldn't bear to miss out on free dayparty stuff by actually using my all-day bus pass and dropping the bag full of magazines, cds an attendee directory and other promotional items back at home base)...

By the time I caught the right bus going the right direction, I got downtown to the convention center around 1130am. By the time I had 4 or 5 different people tell me the proper procedure/place to pick up my badge, I was starting to get a little impatient. But then I thought about how many thousands of people descend on Austin for SXSW (not only radio and record company folk, but all kinds of media outlets obviously and each musician + their respective road crew gets their own badges or wristbands too). A little after noon I'm looking for a combination of great music + free food day party. Lots of them have great music (some more conveniently located than others), and most have free beverages of some kind. But the food seems to be more and more elusive each year. Most every party makes you RSVP by email beforehand otherwise, no food (and sometimes you can't even get in to check out the music - even though it's free - if you're not "on the list"). A good portion of SXSW is definitely about marketing, and I seem to be noticing more product placement this year (maybe that's just cuz I got the free bag o' schwag for the 1st time with my conference badge). Like young marketeers trying to give you free gum at various street corners and then taking your picture with your smiling face enjoying the gum. I did not fall for that, but I did encounter a certain "guitar hero" of mine shortly after I took the picture of the streetcorner band you'll see in my sxsw photos...J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. now has a very distinctive long mane of gray hair, and he wears unique glasses, and he was by himself kinda aimlessly wandering down 6th St. (the main downtown drag). As I passed him, he seemed to be at a stopping point, so I did something I don't usually do...went up to him and introduced myself! Told him I'd seen him do a solo set a couple years ago at SXSW right after Curt from the Meat Puppets...forgot to tell him I saw the Dinosaur Jr reunion in Missouri as well...and then I asked if I could take a picture with him. He said sure and as I walked away, I realized my camera hadn't taken the photo after all...so now no one's going to believe my J Mascis story! Guess that's what I get for getting too close to one of my idols...I should have at least told him how his music has gotten me through some tough times, and I'm not even sure I thanked him at the end of the very awkward conversation! He was basically exactly how you'd think he'd be...I asked when he was playing at SXSW (I had only seen his name once on the schedule) and he said "pretty much every day." Turns out he's playing drums with another band (Witch, I think)...and I totally should have asked what he was most looking forward to seeing - he must still have some yearning for new music otherwise why would he even bother with the industry craziness of SXSW?? Or I at least could have told him he's a guitar god for this (or any other) age. OK, so I blew that one...but I took a picture with a scary bear later in the day to make up for it :)

So back to the dayparties...started with the Red Eye distribution party at the Mohawk. As the raucous sound of Nico Vega got louder as I approached, I was hoping they would do at least one more song once I got in since I knew I was getting there at the tail end of their set due to my kinda late badge pickup. And yes, they did do one more, and I got a couple good pics out of it. So the day was off to a good start...and overall the whole day was very awesome (except the J Mascis thing). There was another stage inside the Mohawk where The Bleedin Bleedins started right as Nico Vega ended. Very majestic, U2-sounding stuff from an apparently half-Irish, half-Bostonite band (as they intro'd themselves). I had seen their name along with cool lineups at other events this week, and wanted to check out at least a few songs, and I'm glad I did. So I'm with you Pub Crawlers in spirit then, lads & lassies!

OK, I'm taking too long here..gotta get to the biggies...Van Morrison and R.E.M.! I got into both, fairly easily 1) because I had a badge, the long line for Van moved swiftly while the badgeless were in an even longer line and I doubt many of them got in and 2) because I got to Stubb's (where R.E.M. was playing) 2 acts before they went on, so at 10pm I endured Papercranes (I hadn't heard of them either but turns out River and Joaquin Phoenix's sister can really sing! Not sure about a lot of her generic/bad lyrics though...but it's one of those voices that can still pull it off, and she's certainly a mesmerizing presence - thankfully, since her band didn't have much of one). They claimed Gainsville, FL as home, even though Michael Stipe would claim them for Athens, GA later during R.E.M.'s set. The Athens, GA band Dead Confederate was after Papercranes and before R.E.M. and they were a mix of Nirvana song structures done in a My Morning Jacket style. Pretty powerful stuff, and I thought it was a gutsy choice on R.E.M.'s part. I've played them a time or 2 on Brighten the Corners, so I knew a little about them, and the crowd overall seemed pretty favorable to them (compared with the smattering of applause Papercranes got). Both openers enlisted nice strategic use of a sidestage smoke machine as well...bonus points?? The new R.E.M. stuff must not be Automatic for the People quiet, I told myself during DC's uber loud/soft set. And sure enough, R.E.M. did several new songs, saving "Supernatural Superserious" til the encore. "Fall on Me," "Drive" and "Man on the Moon" were really the few "hits" performed on this beautiful, crisp night in Texas. A song they hadn't done in 2 years, "The Great Beyond," was received really well, as was "Imitation of Life." They did 3 politcal songs in a row (a new one, which Heath Ledger apparently loved that Stipe dedicated to him, then "Final Straw" and "Bad Day," which combined with the political commentary from their outspoken frontman seemed to kind of take the wind out of the sails of the crowd a bit. Not because of the subject matter so much as the tempo of the 1st 2 of the 3, maybe. But the new songs are virtually all very rockin' and short, too - Stipe even made mention of how many new songs they have that are 2:30 or under ("so if you don't like them, go get a beer or take a bathroom break") And he also made mention of how NPR is carrying the show on their website - check it out here I guess they carried it live too...had I known, I would've given you blog-readers a heads-up, trust me! I think we'll have an R.E.M. radio special coming soon as well, leading up to the release of Accelerate April 1st. Stay tuned...I had to laugh earlier in the day when I saw the posters up all over Stubb's for the new R.E.M. release..."brilliant and unrelenting," it said. Wow, methinks these dudes need to loosen up a little...that's the Bill Berry factor that's been so hard for them to replace I think. Not only the fact that he's the one that would apparently insist on catchy choruses whenever they would start to get too "arty" (how many "hooks" can you hum off the last 3 R.E.M. albums...), but it was also the fun factor...Bill always seemed to have, if not a smile, some kind of dumbfounded expression on his face that reminded you these were just 4 regular dudes from Georgia who happened to make great music together. Now Stipe seems like the normal, kinda having fun one! Scott McCaughey of the Minus 5 is still part of the live R.E.M. band, and he tried to bop around a bit, and Peter Buck certainly did a few good scissor kicks, but Mike Mills seemed to be having tech problems or not having a very good time and granted, SXSW crowds tend to be a little tough so as a band that energy needs to be brought forth - you can't rely on the crowd to help you get into it. Partly because it's a lot of jaded industry types in the crowd, but also because if you're not an entertaining band, there's 1500+ other ones who folks will be glad to give a chance right around the corner...So overall, I give R.E.M.'s new songs very high marks (and high marks for playing so many of them, especially on a webcast show), but the setlist pacing was a little odd (I'm sure the webcast + the fact that we were in Texas had a lot to do with the political comments/songs). It just further added to the odd new band chemistry when Mills, Stipe and Buck gave the bow at the end of the encore, not including their 2 "extra" guys...maybe it's an ego thing...they don't want even a semi-flashy drummer to steal the spotlight away from the original 3 members. And McCaughey is at his best when he adds subtle keyboard flourishes rather than feedback-laden guitar parts (does "Fall on Me" really need 2 guitars?). Hey, it's my blog...listen to the webcast for yourself! Oh, and I noticed a lot of this stuff cuz I was up in about the 5th row on Mike's side, thanks in large part to getting there a couple hours early! So yes, it was very sweet to see such an amazing band at such a small (3,000) amazing place...I just wanted to give you a few of the dynamics I noticed from that vantage point that you may or may not be able to pick up on the webcast. Oh, and all the dudes on stage with hair have gray or really graying hair...maybe I was distracted by that and I don't know what I'm talking about!

And speaking of "take your greatest hits show and shove it," how about Van Morrison?! Great, great show at La Zona Rosa, which I don't think even holds 1,000 people. He is still in such great voice, and man, I forgot how well he can play the saxophone! He also played a mini-guitar (not a ukele or mandolin, just a small acoustic). But you could feel the crowd kind of looking around at each other when he let EACH member of his 9-member band (10, including Van) take a solo on the first song! It was pretty much one or 2 solos per song after that, thankfully, although it was a crackin' band for sure. No "Moondance" or "Into the Mystic" or "Brown Eyed Girl" or "Domino" or countless other favorites that would've blown the roof off the place...just kind of a steady simmer, leading up to a very boisterous finale of the song from one of his recent albums about drinking wine behind the store (I'm blanking on the title). And he lived up to his curmudgeonly reputation, berating someone for using their "moh-bile" phone during the show...joking (?) about how he was glad they were well into the set, since he had things to do that night out on the town. And like R.E.M., lo†s from a new cd that'll be out April 1st. Pretty awesome first Van Morrison show, all in all.

Oh, and I forgot to mention my camera battery was about to go out right before R.E.M. went on, otherwise I would've taken more pics/video. And when I found out the show was being webcast, I figured that would sound better anyway than my camera sound.

Other day party highlights - Shearwater and Liam Finn were excellent...how much does the Shout Out Louds singer look like Jason Schwartzman?? Played some sweet Family Guy pinball...got to say hey to my Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin pals from Missouri and caught a couple of their day party songs on the way to Van the Man (W side of Congress Ave). Saw a couple good Jesca Hoop songs after Van. Raveonettes were good, but it is kind of formulaic i suppose...saw Ira from Yo La Tengo after the Why? set at Emo's, but after my J Mascis debacle, I didn't want to botch that one too, even though I'd just interviewed him a couple months ago in the Corner Lounge. I'll be seeing Yo La hopefully before My Morning Jacket late tonight...gotta go now and catch Lou Reed's keynote address in a couple hours! It seems like I just got home (I did as of 4am after a fair bit of walking to make up for all the luck i've had getting here and being here)....whew!