SXSW Review – White Lies, Cedar Street Courtyard, March 20

Posted on by Alli in Concerts, South By Southwest | 6 Comments
White Lies

White Lies

Austin – A fun afternoon was had by all at the Filter magazine party yesterday afternoon, which was filled with the sounds of several good British bands. Seeing how us Panic Manual folks love the Brits, we knew we’d enjoy ourselves.

Upon arrival we thought we were going to miss White Lies headlining due to conflicting schedules, but the stars aligned and things got changed around. Formerly known as Fear of Flying, the Ealing (London) natives draw comparison to bands like Editors and Joy Division, though I felt that live many similarities faded away. Jason Bentley (host of KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic” in LA) introduced the band and had trouble expressing just how much he loves this band, and I can understand why. Singer Harry McVeigh has the strongest, most powerful voice I have heard in months and most certainly here at SXSW. During the chorus of “Death” I realized goosebumps were dotting my arms, and not because it was cold out (I was sweating my ass off). It was the first time that happened this week despite seeing a lot of bands I really love, which says a lot for them in my book.

There is a very serious air about White Lies, but upon a little research I found they covered Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown” on BBC radio – beautifully, of course. They seemed very humbled and appreciative that so many people had stood in a crowded courtyard with the sun beating down on them all afternoon to watch their short set. They apologized that they “may sweat a bit” since they weren’t used to the Texas heat. The band was so tight and I felt every note moving through me, unable to help swaying around and closing my eyes – okay, now I am starting to sound like an emo teenager. Anyway, don’t write this band off just because of the cliche comparisons you might read – they are going places.

SXSW: Late of the Pier vs Security Guards, Cedar Courtyard, March 20, 2009

Posted on by Ricky in Everything, South By Southwest | 3 Comments

Austin – We’ll review the show later, but here are the pictures from the incident:

It was all fun and games until Late at the Pier plays one song too many…

Late of the Pier, SXSW, Cedar Courtyard, March 20

Security guard tells sound guy to cut the sound, sound guy refuses

Late of the Pier, SXSW, Cedar Courtyard, March 20

How Rock n Roll!

Late of the Pier, SXSW, Cedar Courtyard, March 20

Don’t mess with my buddy, bro!

Late of the Pier, SXSW, Cedar Courtyard, March 20

Round 1, Fight!

Late of the Pier, SXSW, Cedar Courtyard, March 20

Standing Ovation for the sound guy

Late of the Pier, SXSW, Cedar Courtyard, March 20

SXSW Review: Bishop Allen, Radar Room, March 19

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

Bishop Allen, March 18, SXSW, Radio Room

Austin – It was a hot, sweaty Texas afternoon on the second day of SXSW and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend it then to stand in a crowded outdoor tent with no air circulation on the patio of the Radar Room for the Paste Magazine Party. With a lineup outside spanning more a block, we were lucky enough to get into the showcase just in time to catch another Brooklyn favorite of ours – Bishop Allen.

The band were doing a full assault on SXSW in promotion of their new album Grrr… (reviewed here) which was released on March 10. Thursday’s afternoon affair was the first of a few shows planned to win over some new fans. Wearing many shades of plaid (Texas has given me a new appreciation for plaid), the band took to the stage and started singing their blend of tweeish indie pop. The band was larger then I expected, with two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer and some chick on the xylophone. This larger band created a more vibrant sound, much like the album, but better.

Since this set was about 40 beers and 20 bands ago, I cannot really recall the entire set list, but it was a steady diet of material from their new album and I think one track ‘Like Castenets’ from their previous LP. Songs like ‘The Ancient Commonsense of Things’ and ‘Dimmer’ got a good reaction from the packed crowd. The guitar and vocal interplay between singers Justin Rice and Christian Rudder works extremely well in a live environment. My only disappointment from the show was that the set was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too short. It seemed like they were cut off for some stupid reason and that was high on the not-cool-a-meter. To my delight, the song about the Chinese city – ‘Shanghai’ was the closer and had a great crowd reaction.

To sum it up, good showing, too short a set, left me wanting more.

SXSW: Matt and Kim, March 19, Opal’s Divine Freehouse

Posted on by Ricky in Concerts, Everything, South By Southwest | 4 Comments

Austin – Taking time off from opening for Aussie band Cut Copy, Matt and Kim flew all the way down from Toronto to play a one night only set to a packed house at the Opal’s Divine Freehouse. I am guessing on the way over, they had an extra strong dose of happy pills. As I’ve said before in podcast and my review of their album Grand, Matt and Kim always seem happy. Well, at their SXSW showcase Thursday night, they were definitely happy to see us, and man, were we happy to see them.

I can’t even begin to describe the energy of this show. It was out of this world. The front of the crowd were definitely crazy hipster Matt and Kim fans, which resulted in mosh pits, crowd surfing and everything you can imagine during the set. I don’t think I have seen a more enthusiastic crowd yet at SXSW. When you get cool as ice hipsters losing their mind with some drum beats, shout along choruses and synth melodies, you know you have something special. I don’t remember what track they started with (it was off Grand), but from the first song to the last, Matt and Kim brought enough energy to the venue to power a small African country. Matt is about the most insane keyboard player I have ever seen, playing sitting down, standing up, standing on his bench, falling off the stage .. everything. He would pump his fist, yell at the crowd, scream at people and just do all kinds of crazy shit during the set. I liken him to a male cheerleader on cocaine. Kim was equally as cheery, jumping up and cheering, singing along, clapping, etc. It was one big happy fest. Gary thought they were a bit too patronizing with all the ‘thank you’ and ‘we really appreciate you guys’ but I thought it was actually quite genuine.

Obviously the hit ‘Yea Yeah’ was the biggest success of the show, but new tunes such as ‘good ole fashion nightmare’ and ‘daylight’ scored big with the crowd as well. Every song scored well, I think. One of the best moments of the night was when they made everyone in the venue put their hands into the air, then proceeded to play Europe’s Final Countdown intro riff. Awesome.

I had a blast at the Matt and Kim show at SXSW, and highly recommend you seeing them. The energy of the show was absurdly infectious and it helps that their music is pretty good too.