Austin – You know, Austin has an unofficial slogan – “Keep Austin Weird.” If by extension, South By Southwest is all about the weird, then Tim Kinsella of Joan Of Arc could be it’s poster boy. Joan Of Arc’s set was just the beginning of an evening of weird acts to close out my SXSW experience, inluding some stand up comedians (including Tig Notaro, Hampton Yount, and Ben Kronberg – all weird) and the legendary Yoko Ono. The band put on a solid set of post rock-ish tunes punctuated with Kinsella’s odd comments and compelling yet off kilter demeanor as a frontman. He made note of the “supermoon” that was on display that night, adding “All our songs are implicitly about the moon, but tonight I’d like to make it explicit.”
Kinsella commented on how they had a song that was kind of based on Queen’s “We Will Rock You. “You can’t really call it a cover … well you can if you want.” He then went on a tangent about potential or something. Kinsella also touched a few audience members on the head while singing as if he was healing them or something. Maybe he was.
“We’re just trying to make it in the music business.” said Kinsella, explaining why they were playing SXSW. Making it in the music business probably means something different for a band that’s been going since 1995, put out an album of instrumental guitar duets, and has a song called “A Telltale Penis.” Yeah, they’ll probably never really “make it big” at this point, but the show was certainly effective as a promotional tool (I didn’t know they had a new album coming out before I saw they were playing SXSW) and hopefully gained them a few new fans. On album, Joan Of Arc can be a bit hit and miss, but live, they’re an impressive force.
