South By Southwest

SXSW Review: Okay Kaya, March 18, Central Presbyterian Church

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Paul in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

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It was Friday night at SXSW and word was getting around of a storm brewing and all outdoor shows for the night being either temporarily delayed or outright cancelled (sorry, Coheed and Cambria fans). With that in mind, we made our way to the Central Presbyterian Church to seek shelter, taking literal sanctuary in a church and settling in for awhile with the music of Okay Kaya.

“I’m Okay Kaya. How are you guys?” With that unassuming greeting, Kaya Wilkins introduced herself to the audience and it was fitting with her low key, reserved persona onstage. If she wasn’t too talkative onstage, her songs make up for it – the stark, simple, spacious arrangements and personal lyrics draw you in and grab your attention. Standout songs “Damn, Gravity” and “I’m Stupid But I Love You” sounded great, but she acknowledged they may not be the most uplifting.

“I’m gonna do a cover because I can’t seem to write happy songs,” she said self deprecatingly (though perhaps accurately) before performing a version of Leo Sayer’s “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing.” And while her cover of someone else’s happy song still didn’t sound entirely happy, it did sound rather sweet and endearing and if it didn’t make me want to dance, at the very least, it made me feel like swaying and rocking gently in my seat.

SXSW Review: MAGIC!, March 16, Flamingo Cantina

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Paul in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

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That’s right, I went to see MAGIC!, makers of the mind numbing earworm “Rude.” You know, the one that kind of makes you side with the guy in the song who doesn’t want his daughter to get married to that dude? Yes, those guys, and yes, I saw them on purpose, walking out of the last bit of an epic, grandiose set by Mercury Rev to see what the Toronto pop-reggae band is all about. What can I say? Curiosity got the best of me and I’m easily distracted.

It was pretty much what I expected – slick and commercial sounding, but the crowd seemed to be into it I guess, especially backpack bro standing next to me who was skanking pretty heavily during their set. With his backpack still on, of course. As you’d expect, they closed out their set with “Rude” and also threw in a few cover tunes, which was good since it meant I didn’t have to hear too many of their own songs. Their cover of The Police’s “Message In A Bottle” was kind of fun, if a bit obvious. Much less obvious was their cover of “Blitzkrieg Bop,” which they announced they’d be playing the following night at The Grammy Museum’s tribute concert for The Ramones. I’m not really sure who was involved with the decision making process at the Grammy Museum and why they thought it would be a good idea to invite the lite-reggae band to perform it in the first place. Were none of the gospel acts playing SXSW available to do a cover of “I’m Not Jesus” instead? To be fair, MAGIC! were having fun with it and it’s pretty hard to screw up that song too much, but they pretty much make for the world’s least convincing punk band.

SXSW Review: Wednesday Campanella, March 15, Cheer Up Charlie’s

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Paul in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

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The first night of SXSW Music is also the last night of SXSW Interactive and fittingly, Japan’s Wednesday Campanella did her best to make her show as interactive as possible – in more than one sense of the word and to varying degrees of success.

As she was carried out into the crowd by members of her team to start the show, singer Komuai spoke into the microphone, both to introduce herself and to ask that the music, which had not started quite on cue, be played. Once that was dealt with, she got down to business and put on an engaging performance. She challenged members of the audience to dance offs and waded into the crowd numerous times, using the space at Cheer Up Charlie’s to her advantage and offering up a lot of audience interaction.

The performance also involved a lot of use of technology, though much of that, while amusing, seemed to be cobbled together. A small screen was set up next to the stage along with a projector which took up a bit of real estate nearby. Onto the screen they projected live real time footage of Wednesday Campanella and members of the audience filtered through those face apps that switch out your face for things like poop emojis or Donald Trump’s face. That aspect didn’t always work smoothly, but from a performance perspective, she puts on a fun show (Wednesday Campanella is billed as a group, but for all intents and purposes, as the only person on stage, it’s Komuai’s show). I imagine Wednesday Campanella would be all the more impressive with a bit more stage production and none of the time constraints involved in a SXSW setup.

SXSW Review: Bloc Party, March 11, ACL

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

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Bloc Party’s career trajectory can be best compared to the television show Lost. Stunning debut, less spectacular follow up, followed by Kele leaving the band for awhile to do his solo stuff, only to have a Jack “We have to go back” moment with the band returning from hiatus, only things are slightly different and the outlook is somewhat murky. Recent releases have not been met with the same universal adoration that greeted Bloc Party when they first arrived on the scene and it is uncertain whether the band can recapture that magic they had when they first came onto the scene over a decade ago.

What does this have to do with their show at the ACL as part of SXSW Interactive party? I don’t know. Despite the middling success of their new release, Bloc Party still brought a packed house at SXSW on the first night of Interactive and with their new lineup, played a sixteen set that mixed material new and old.

Perhaps it’s my unfamiliarity with the new material, but none of it really stood out for me. If I had to pick, new single The Love Within stands out the most and with the inclusion of synthy dance elements, perhaps is the one that identifies with the newer Bloc Party sound. Still, it was all the classics that brought the crowd to a frenzy. Helicopter, Positive Tension, Banquet and This Modern Love had everyone singing along. I am pretty sure This Modern Love is one the best songs of the 00’s, Kele’s lyrics are so on point and the delicate delivery of that track still resonates to this day. Banquet is not far behind, and brings me back to the old Dance Cave days.

It must be tough to recapture that magic you once had, I think Bloc Party’s still trying to find it and I hope they do. In the meantime, we’ll still have their classics.

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