South By Southwest

SXSW Review: Deadmau5 vs Richie Hawtin, Stubbs, March 12

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

I’m not entirely sure what DJ battles are, but when I saw that the main event for the SXSW Interactive closing party was Deadmau5 vs Richie Hawtin, my curiosity was tickled and I couldn’t resist going. Where else are you going to see two of the world’s biggest DJ’s battle it out in a backyard of a bbq house?

Deadmau5 and Richie Hawtins are two of the most popular dj’s in the world. They are also Canadian. You might recognize Deadmau5 from his trademark head ensemble, gossip worthy relationship with Kat Von D or just the fact that he is EVERYWHERE. The dude played a sold out show at the skydome, to put his popularity into perspective. Richie Hawtins has been around a lot longer, I was not as familiar with his music.

So what does a DJ vs DJ battle entail?

First of all, my expectations were this:

Instead, what I got was

Did I just use the same image twice in a post? you bet.

The setup was pretty minimal – Deadmau5 on one side, Richie on the other. Deadmau5 wisely decided against wearing his traditional headgear. With the searing Texas heat, it was probably a wise decision. They seemed to be quite friendly with each other even though they were locked in a DJ battle. I guess when you are both millionaires, what’s the point in being hostile? Maybe it’s like WWF, where the whole battle is fake, and it really is just some sort of complicated choreographed set. I don’t know. I did not see any chair shots.

After attending their hour plus battle, I think DJ battles basically come down to matching the other DJ’s beat after he has played his for a few minutes and then taking it over and adding your own twist to it and then the other dj will build on that and so forth. That is what I gathered. I couldn’t really tell who was DJing what part, but I can tell you this – they put on a freaking good dance party. They know how to build up the beat and they know when to slow it down. Combine that with an epic light show and you have a pretty stunning display of electronic dance music for all to see. I can’t even begin to imagine how awesome this would be out in a field, in the middle of the night and by the sea somewhere.

Not quite sure who won the DJ battle, but I think in the end, we all won. (cliche fact-of-life concluding line)

SXSW Review: Skeletonwitch, Trash Talk, March 13, Mohawk

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Paul in Concerts, South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Let me make one thing clear right off the bat: Skeletonwitch is a pretty rad name for a band. If I was a 13 year old kid wanting to scrawl a band’s logo onto my binder, these boys from Ohio would definitely make the cut. Wait, do kids still draw band logos on their binders or are they too busy texting? Actually, scratch that. I don’t think kids even use binders anymore. What the kids are into is a good, old fashioned metal/hardcore show, and the fine folks behind Pitchfork’s Show No Mercy column provided that in spades.  And there were kids at this event, as in young children.  “Look at that little ass kid!” remarked Trash Talk vocalist Lee Spielman, who wondered aloud if he could get this kid to write about the show from his perpective.  Seemingly getting approval from Pitchfork, he added, “You’re hired, kid.”  Hopefully this kid is now on full time at Pitchfork and learning the important distinction between an 8 and an 8.2.

Trash Talk put on an insanely intense show.  Or perhaps an intensely insane one.  Either way, the kids were eating it up, with one of the most intense pits I’ve seen in awhile.  I’d heard good things about these guys going back a couple of years now, but this was my first chance to check them out.  Despite having already played a show that afternoon at Scoot Inn (where they would play yet another show later that evening), the band showed no signs of waning energy.  Mind you, i don’t get  the impression that these guys tend to ever just go through the motions.  Spielman for his part, played an amusing ringmaster, venturing into the crowd on numerous occasions, encouraging the crowd to start circle pits, yes, but also jokingly admonishing them for not tucking in their t-shirts like him since this was “a proper event.”

Closing out the afternoon, Skeletonwitch delivered an equally impressive performance ,playing their only set of the festival.  Like Spielman, vocalist Chance Garnet was also an entertaining frontman with some good between song banter, at one point randomly shouting out, “Smoke weed, Austin!”  and then chuckling to himself before launching into the next song.  The band’s sound, a mix of thrash, death metal, and black metal, went over well with the crowd.  In addition, they previewed a song from their upcoming album.  As far as I know, it’s as yet untitled.  Might I suggest Smoke Weed Austin?

SXSW Review: Cloud Nothings, Mohawk, March 12

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Cloud Nothings, they know how to rock.

When I first heard about them, I had heard they were a DIY sort of rock band that embraced a lo-fi rock kind of sound. I hadn’t particularly paid much attention to them aside from the fact that one of my friends seem to be BFF’s with the lead singer. It has seem that in the few years since their self titled album first made waves in the music world, the band has grown up. Dylan Baldi is no longer a clean shaven short hair basement singer for his little band – now it seems like Dylan Baldi has emerged into a long hair bearded leader of a rock band that just hits you with a punch of grunge-ish rock.

I didn’t quite know what to expect when Cloud Nothings took the stage at the Mohawk on Tuesday night. I had thought that they were this nerdy little band whose lead singer who writes for the same zine I did. I was wrong. The band took the stage and just rocked the place. For forty minutes, there was a non stop wall of sound from the group. Playing tracks from albums new and old, the group played what I can only describe as a blistering set of guitar noise and screamy vocals that weres surprisingly catchy. Paul said it was pretty clear that Dylan listened to Nirvana growing up. I would agree. I felt bad for people without earplugs. It was quite a jolt.

Cloud Nothings are playing a few more shows this week, so if you want a good punch to the gut of rock n roll, then definitely check them out.

SXSW Review: El Vez, March 12, Flamingo Cantina

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Paul in Concerts, South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Sometimes it’s the unexpected surprises that are the most satisfying. Case in point: as i wandered along Sixth Street on a Tuesday afternoon just as the music portion of SXSW was getting underway, I noticed a sign outside of Flamingo Cantina announcing that El Vez would be appearing there later that afternoon. I was aware he was playing the festival, but did not know about this showcase. Figuring now would be as good a time as any to catch his set, I figured why not? It ended up being a good gamble.

I’ve been aware of El Vez (aka The Mexican Elvis aka Robert Lopez) for some time now and friends who’ve seen him have told me he puts on a great show, yet the closest I’ve come to seeing him perform before this show was his appearance in Dave Foley’s The True Meaning Of Christmas Specials alongside such luminaries as Jason Priestley and that other Elvis Stojko (aka the Richmond Hill Elvis). While I did enjoy his take on holiday music in that TV special, what was on offer here today was El Vez’s take on punk rock. And like punk rock, his “punk rock revue” did not always go 100% smoothly. However, while there were a few technical difficulties (a mic issue at the beginning of the set, a costume change that took a little longer than expected), El Vez and band were not fazed at all. With humour and a lot of showmanship, El Vez and his band plowed through a set full of punk classics reworked with his own political and cultural take added in. As he noted a couple of times, these songs could now be considered classic rock, adding that many in attendance were not even born yet when he first got into the punk scene.

And as I said, there were multiple costume changes, the best one being a punk-inspired take on Elvis’ Comeback Special jumpsuit with studs and safety pins included. All in all, a bizarre combination of old school showmanship, tongue in cheek humour, and a punk rock ethos, yet an effective one.

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