South By Southwest

SXSW Quick Reviews: Spoon, Black Lips, New Pornographers, Supermoon, Ramesh

Posted on March 27, 2017 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Black Lips

Spoon – The local band made a big impact at SXSW, hosting a residency throughout the week to introduce people to their excellent new album Hot Thoughts. It was impossible to miss them and frankly, why would you miss them? Spoon has consistently been good and this year was no different. Their show mixed new and old, and even with the new synth driven sounds, it’s still a Spoon song in it’s essence. One of the things I like to say about Spoon which might be generic and lazy is that there is no other band that sounds like Spoon and even as the group explores it’s sound, I think that will always be true.

Black Lips – Gone are the days when the Black Lips play insane shows where bodily fluids flew about like an Indian Monsoon. The group is older but still a ton of fun and they proved it with a fun, rocking show at the Cedar Courtyard. The short set featured some new songs and some old classics like “Oh Katrina” and “Bone Marrow.” Even in a tight environment like the Courtyard, the group found space to be creative with Jack Hines sliding off the stair rails to start the show off. For the Black Lips fans that braved their way to the front, they were also treated to some free donuts as well, which is nice.

New Pornographers – If the showcase I witnessed is any indication, the new New Pornographers album will see the band tackle new sonic landscapes with a more synth driven sound. Given their past track record, I say, why not? It was nice to see Neko Case back in the fold at Stubbs on Wednesday night as she joined the group to promote new records and relive old classics. Hearing Neko sing “Mass Romantic” is rather nice although I’ve heard non Neko for so long now it’s kinda of jarring.

Ramesh – For me, I’ll always wonder what happened to Voxtrot. Ramesh’s former band started off with an amazing EP but was unable to maintain momentum. Since then I have seen Ramesh’s name bandied about the music circle but he has yet to establish the foothold he once had. Still Ramesh’s showcase on Tuesday showed flourishes of what made me like Voxtrot – well written songs that buoy between happy and sad while navigating an 80’s pop-inspired musical landscape. The set was good and perhaps this configuration of the band will see success once again.

Supermoon – An all female quartet from Vancouver, Supermoon played fun, guitar driven, almost East Coast sounding rock music at the Canada House on a semi warm afternoon. Clearly a new band, the group showed potential while also showcasing a dry humor and actually ran out of songs rather quickly, despite the crowd wanting more. Not a bad start.

SXSW Review: Flint Eastwood, March 17, Sidewinder

Posted on March 26, 2017 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

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Flint Eastwood was a band I literally stumbled upon. I was walking past the Sidewinder bar on my way to get some food when I heard this powerful voice coming out the backyard. I was like, this sounds interesting and walked to the show. The band that was playing was Flint Eastwood and boy did they put on a fun show. As you can tell by the picture, they sort of look like a metal band but after a few songs, I realized they weren’t a metal band but given their synth heavy sound with a penchant for big anthemic choruses, the trio sounded more like Chvrches, which is odd since the band consisted of someone on guitar, a drummer and the singer.

Let me tell you about the singer. Some people were born to perform. Jax Anderson seems like she was born to perform. There was an immense intensity about her that the crowd just gravitated to. When she told us to come closer, it didn’t sound like a plea, it sounded like a demand and we obliged. When she told us to sing a part of the song, we felt like we had to. I’m not saying she’s bossy, I’m just saying when she says or sings something, it meant business.

It all added to a good show and there are definitely some single worthy songs. Apparently, one of them was on some show called Teen Wolf already. With good tracks and such a charismatic stage presence, I would not be surprised if Flint Eastwood makes some noise in the near future.

SXSW Review: Morgxn, March 18, Toms

Posted on March 26, 2017 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

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My name is Morgxn with a X, because that is now my essense.

This is how Morgxn introduced himself at the Tom’s showcase on Saturday afternoon. Normally that is something you can mock rather easily or make some sort of Zoolander joke, but after seeing the sincere show that Morgxn put on, I’m more tempted to give him the benefit of the doubt. A singer from Nashville, Morgxn engages in electro pop that mostly seems to have a positive message. He was joined by a guy on the keyboards and a drummer and most of his songs have that millennial indie dance rock feel to it. You know the type, with the big buildup and a lot of Ooooooooooooooooohs. It’s somewhat samey, but it still sounds good. Probably science.

With dyed blue hair, Morgxn did the hustle and got the otherwise neutral crowd (most were probably there for the free booze) fully engaged with his music. The energy the man exerted to get everyone involved was rather amazing. You don’t know his lyrics? No problem, he’ll teach you. You don’t want to sing? Hard to do when the man is 15 feet away from you and literally rallying groups of people to sing different parts of an unknown song. Through it all, Morgxn seemed genuinely excited to play the show and through his excitement, the crowd ended up excited as well.

SXSW Review: Garth Brooks, March 18, Outdoor Stage at Lady Bird Lake

Posted on March 25, 2017 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

garth

When Garth Brooks plays a free SXSW show that you don’t have to line up to get into, you kind of have to go. Obviously, I am not a country music fan but I’ll be damned if I pass up an opportunity to see one of the most famous country singers of all time. Despite it not being in the 90’s, Brooks’ star power was evident as we approached the Auditorium shores grounds in Austin. People had camped out in the morning to wait for their chance to get in and those who didn’t get tickets were already situated in parking lot roofs or any elevated grounds that could provide a view onto the stage. Given that we were in the heart of Texas, it should not be surprising that a free Garth Brooks show garnered a lot of interest around the city.

Brooks took the stage just a bit after eight and just went right for it. As I noted to Paul about ten minutes into the set, he went from 0 to 100 almost immediately. What I mean was, by song 2, he was already busting out a ballad and had the crowd singing along with lighters in the air. Typically, that stuff is done at the end of the set, unless your name is Garth Brooks. I only know one of his songs (The Thunder Rolls) but Brooks played a lot of his hits (I think) and had the crowd singing and dancing to every song.

Brooks maintains a pretty good stage presence, he wears one of those headset microphones that’s normally reserved for dancing types like Britney Spears, but it allows him to roam the stage and sing and point to people in the crowd. In other words, his crowd coverage is good. The man loves pointing to people during his music. His songs follow some familiar country genres, and to paraphrase him, there were love songs, dancing songs, drinking songs and the like. Garth seemed to really appreciate the audience and told the crowd that he really hopes that the live version of The Thunder Rolls was the best live version they ever played. It’s kinda corny, but it’s still appreciated.

In the end, a good show for me, but a great show for many.

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