Concerts

SXSW Review: Perfect Pussy, Fat White Family, March 15, Holy Mountain

Posted on by Paul in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

perfect pussy

What’s in a name? In the case of a band, their chosen name really can mean a lot. Take Perfect Pussy for example. The band obviously knows the power of a memorable name, even though it makes it difficult to do a Google image search on them. A name like that sends a message before you’ve even heard a note played. Fat White Family is another example. When I first saw the band’s name in print, I imagined a horrible sounding band, something you might find on a sidestage at the Warped Tour. Luckily, some good writeups from reputable sources and comparisons to early Pink Floyd and The Fall made me curious to see what they were all about. And thanks to the folks behind St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival, I had the chance to see both bands in one location.

Despite my reservations about the band’s name, Fat White Family totally blew me away with an impressively noisy, psychedelic, shambolic performance of songs off their debut album Champagne Holocaust.  Singer Lias Saoudi’s got a bit of David Yow in him, with his confrontational style and penchant for taking off his clothes. He also stuck his hand down the back of his pants for a bit, which had me worried he was going to touch someone in the audience with a poo finger, but happily that did not come to pass. They seem to be getting a bit of hype from the British press lately and played the NME showcase later on in the day. That kind of push often means a quick burnout for bands, but here’s hoping Fat White Family sticks around for awhile.

More heavily hyped and also playing a ton of shows at SXSW this year was Syracuse noise rock band Perfect Pussy, who took to the stage a couple of hours after Fat White Family. “We tried to play this same set two hours ago and we blew like four speakers and they pulled the plug on us. This is our last show at SouthBy. Thanks for having us. We’re Mötley Crüe,” said vocalist Meredith Graves as they took to the stage. And true to her word, the band did seem to blow out something shortly after they launched into their first number. I’m pretty sure Graves’ microphone wasn’t totally working for the majority of their set; it didn’t matter. This was a powerhouse performance, even though it lasted 15 minutes at the most.

SXSW Review: Hurray For The Riff Raff, March 12, Mellow Johnny’s

Posted on by Gary in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

hurray for the riff raff

If growing up in NYC is an instant badge of honor to your range of worldly pursuits, Hurray For The Riff Raff’s Alynda Lee Segarra certainly carries it proudly. This was a fairly small and intimate set at Mellow Johnny’s. To give a good impression what the crowd was after, there was a lady who overheard my casual conversation with Paul about whether or not to wear a KEXP button. In order to address my lackluster attitude, she decided to abuse me: “You must strive to expand your horizons,” she implied. I assume I can do so by simply attaching a metallic plaque for an American public radio station that was made in China to my chest.

Then again that’s probably why most of the audience came: to live vicariously through the soulful musings of Segarra because they lack the courage to even contemplate moving to Seattle before putting on a KEXP pin. This self same frustration hides behind some of their songs, simmering. Together with the rest of the band, she delivered just what the audience needed – murder ballad and all. As I mentioned before, her voice isn’t particularly bright but distinctively alto and fitting for her songwriting. The short set also showcased the rest of the band, having an instrumental number. All in all, a very enlightening and enjoyable session.

SXSW Concert Review: Damon Albarn

Posted on by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

damonalbarn

A man who needs no introduction, Damon Albarn’s appearance at SXSW added a rare “must” for me. The man behind Blur and Gorillaz has finally ventured out his own, and was in town to promote his solo record. Damon’s always has had some strong collaborators with Graham Coxon, Dan the Automator and Danger Mouse, so it was interesting to see how his new material will fare.

After witnessing his hour long showcase on top of a parking lot, it seems that Damon Albarn is once again, concern about our welfare. His newer material demonstrates a more mature sound and the themes focus on our love of modern technology. I guess that’s to be expected when the album is called “Everyday Robot”. Backed by a rather talented band, Albarn’s new material is very much in the style that most singer-songwriters adopt, but his talented backing band and his vocals help make it interesting. Damon himself would move from guitar to piano throughout the set. The Parklife snarky, one eye winking, in on the joke Damon is now gone (he did make a mention about playing the Chase bank though). In his place, is a more reflective , contemplative man. I guess this is what aging does.

Ever the showman, Damon also played some older tunes, including the Gorillaz classic On Melancholy Hill, which I will admit, delighted me endlessly.

When I saw a lot of microphones set up on the side, I was thinking a choir would come out. I then got excited, thinking he might do the track “Tender” with a choir. It turned out to be the Brian Eno produced track “Heavy Seas of Love” which not only was the last track of his new album, but the last track of his set at South By. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but perhaps that is one of the best traits of Damon Albarn, a man who will forever keep us guessing.

SXSW Reviews: Anamanaguchi, March 12, Karma

Posted on by Gary in Everything, South By Southwest | Leave a comment

If you watch anime, play video games and carry a backpack with your pokeman balls everywhere, we have a band for you at SXSW. The New York based chiptune artists Anamanaguchi make bright and blazing electronic pop/rock music with the help of NES, gameboy and other ancient devices. The Miniature Tiger logo was still on the stage when they played. Having a sense of humor, they cajoled and ridiculed (“I think we are called Miniature Tigers from Arkansas!!”) on the stage all while dishing out fluent electronic jams that make highly energetic a poor descriptor.

The audience was also energetic and fairly forgiving toward my photo-taking antics. Although their latest, Endless Fantasy, is a good track, the kicker was still Airbrushed. The whole floor exploded when the crowd realized what song it was. The tracks are not very different from those recorded sessions, but 200 people jumping up and down to the beat makes it a wholly exhilarating experience, despite the fact that someone spilled beer over my camera… I would still go and see them the next time I have a chance.