SXSW

SXSW Review: CHVRCHES, March 18, Stubbs

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

CHVRCHES

Sometimes the good guys win. This is my feeling with Chvrches. I don’t know why, but I root for them. When I first saw them at SXSW three years ago, they were a band with a few singles and a lot of buzz. They had to play the Spin stage at Stubbs and being relatively new, they seemed timid and quite shy in front of the rowdy open bar crowd (who were there for Kendrick Lamar, nonetheless). Three years and two excellent albums later, Chvrches returned to Spin at Stubbs and were the headliners of the day. That, my friends, is growth

Not only have they grown in fame, but man, has Lauren Mayberry grown as a performer. Leaping onto the stage to start the set, Mayberry was no longer the singer who wanted your attention, she has become a performer that demanded it. Between running between spots on the stage, dancing and twirling and delivering her vocals, Mayberry has made the transition to bonafide star.

The funny thing is, Chvrches don’t really need that star quality that much because their tracks are really really good. Building off the success of their debut album, their latest album Every Open Eye was also full of amazingly good tracks. Given the live blistering beats and the performance dynamics, these tracks jump at you live. My favorite track, “Clearest Blue” was especially lively and the Depeche Mode sounding payoff of the track had the grounds shaking from so many people dancing.

This band is only going to get bigger. I’m glad I was there at the start(or almost at the start)

SXSW Review: Basia Bulat, March 19, The Ginger Man

Posted on by Paul in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

DSC_7233

SXSW is great for making new discoveries and searching out something you’ve never heard before, but it also makes for a good opportunity to see old favourites in a different setting. With that in mind, I ventured out on Saturday afternoon to check out Basia Bulat’s set at The Ginger Man.

With Bulat easily able to sell out venues back home (as she did recently at The Mod Club), it was nice to see her perform in the confines of the Ginger Man’s small outdoor stage. She seemed to be enjoying it too, musing on the possibility of bringing an Elton John-esque riser for herself and her piano (“But that’s for next year.”), roaming out into the audience from time to time and even sitting down next to some guy seated up front and serenading him. She took the time to introduce her bandmates, all of them mainstays of the Toronto music scene, and also made a point of hyping up backing vocalist Tamara Lindeman’s set later that night performing as part of Lavender Country (Lindeman was also playing a few shows as The Weather Station during SXSW).

In addition to playing some tunes off of her Jim James produced Good Advice album, Bulat closed out her set without her band, playing a cover of Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You In The End” as a nod to Austin, adding that true love could maybe even find us all at South By Southwest.

SXSW Review: Deftones, Vince Staples, March 18, Stubb’s

Posted on by Paul in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Deftones

Every year at SXSW, alongside the many up and comers, there’s a strong contingent of established acts looking to promote their new releases and generally remind us that they’re still a going concern. Among those acts were Deftones, promoting their upcoming album Gore and playing a show at Stubb’s for SPIN magazine’s annual afternoon party. Though they played a few from the new album, they stuck mostly to the hits during their set, including Change (In the House of Flies) and My Own Summer (Shove It). (The Deftones really do seem to like using brackets in their song titles, don’t they?) The band also tossed a snippet of Drake’s “Hotline Bling” into one of their songs and, in one of those “this could only happen at SouthBy” moments, were joined by Bushwick Bill during “Digital Bath” to do his verse from “Mind Playing Tricks On Me.”

Earlier that afternoon on the same stage, Vince Staples played an impressive set, though you could tell he was feeling a little awkward and outside of his comfort zone. “How many here know who I am?” he asked and when he got some cheers, he decided it was a decent margin. It’s likely that a lot of people were there to see Deftones or CHVRCHES rather than him, but Staples made the most out of his time there regardless. The most memorable moment of his set wasn’t one of his songs, however, but a moment when Staples made reference to Black Lives Matter and then went on to mock those who say “all lives matter” for missing the point. His DJ/hype man added, “That’s like going to the cancer rally and talking about AIDS.” He also made a few sarcastic references to Spin Magazine (“a fine publication”), Reader’s Digest, and Spotify (who he dissed earlier in the week at a Spotify sponsored event). Overall, Vince Staples’ stage banter was on point.

SXSW Review: Loretta Lynn, March 17, Stubb’s

Posted on by Paul in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

Untitled

She’s the Coal Miner’s Daughter. She’s a legend of country music. She’s been at it for more than 50 years. When you get a chance to see Loretta Lynn, you take it.

The 83 year old just recently released Full Circle, her 47th studio album and she was playing the BBC’s showcase at Stubb’s in support of it. Not that Lynn cared that much about playing the new songs. “Whatever you want to hear, just holler it out and if I don’t know it, get up here and sing it yourself.” she said and when she later asked the crowd what they wanted to hear after playing her version of Patsy Cline’s “She’s Got You,” her son and guitarist Ernie offered up a suggestion.

“Miss Loretta? That new record you mentioned that’s selling so well? Why don’t we play one off of that?” And even though she decided that the crowd didn’t really want to hear that, the band launched into it anyways. Loretta wasn’t having any of that and shut the band down, choosing to play another song instead. While she may not be in her prime anymore, Loretta Lynn stiil sounds great, she’s still a consummate performer and that incident with her band proves that you don’t want to mess around with Loretta.