SXSW

SXSW Final Recap: Bests, Worsts, etc.

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Ricky in Everything, South By Southwest | Leave a comment

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Another SXSW has come and gone. Once again, we reflect on the time that was. Here is the Panic Manual group in a round table discussion.

Favourite SXSW Act

Gary: Suzanne Vega. There’s no comparison to the polish in her stage presence.

Derek: De Lux

Paul: Big Freedia’s set at Fader Fort was the most unique and a lot of fun, but I think I’ll go with Bob Mould as the act whose set I enjoyed the most.

Ricky: I’m torn. Big Freedia’s set at Fader was completely mind blowing and so unique. At the same time, Idiotape’s electric blitz had me craving to see them again. It might be a tie.

Most Disappointing Act

Gary: Milagres. Voice was off compared to record and the music jars with the setting.

Paul: Eagulls. I somehow expected more from them, but there was a bit of a sameness to their stuff. I’m willing to give them another chance though.

Ricky: I was looking forward to seeing Classixx, but they couldn’t locate their laptop and had a lot of sound issues and ended up playing two tracks. That’s too little for them.

Favourite Moment

Derek: Tie up between being backstage for Big Freedia/Being in the photo pit for Blondie. Debbie Harry’s still got it.

Gary: When Allen Stone told people to get the f*** out if they don’t want to dance.

Ricky: When Damon Albarn played On Melancholy Hill.

Paul:When the guitarist for Athens tech/prog metal trio Lazer/Wulf apologized to the crowd at Red Eyed Fly for not being very metal because he was smiling so much, but explained that he was just happy to be at SXSW, adding at the end of their next song,”I can’t believe we’re here!”

Break Through Act

Gary: Badbadnotgood. Fresh drum rhythms and energetic stagecraft, even through the set was early and the crowd was thin.

Ricky: It’s hard to tell because Haim and Bastille were obviously the big winners last year. Maybe I went to the wrong shows. From the acts that I have not heard of, I can see Prides or the Colourist doing well in the future, their music is pretty primed for big time. From the acts that I heard of, Sam Smith is also primed.

Derek: I didn’t have any moments like previous years where I felt absolutely floored and blown away by a band I hadn’t seen before. That’s likely more due to my own unwillingness to wait in long lines..

Paul: Fat White Family

Was this SXSW any different than previous years?

Paul: Yes and no. On the one hand, the corporate branding continues to grow and the crowds on 6th Street come Friday and Saturday night become less and less tolerable, but on the other hand, one can avoid or ignore a good deal of that and just take in the music. Also, pizza from Subway. I think that was new this year.

Derek: I felt like the lines were longer for the unofficial showcases, despite feeling like official festival attendance was lower this year.

Gary: Fewer turnouts and the vibe has now completely changed from music to corporate advertisement just 5 yrs ago.

Ricky: I feel like more people are complaining about commercialism than before. The music is still strong, and you can certainly make the case that all the people complaining about the corporate narrative should probably divert their energy into checking out some random band from Tokyo instead.

That’s another year at Austin. All in all, SXSW, despite the Doritos stage and Lady Gaga roasting herself on a bbq, is about the music. You can find many things to complain about, but you can also find yourself absolutely charmed by four Scottish girls doing string covers of Chvrches in a coffee shop that you accidentally stumbled upon. That’s the magic of SXSW. That’s why you should go.

SXSW Review: De Lux

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

LA group De Lux pulled off one of the smoothest and most south by moves I saw at the music festival this year. Playing the Filter Cedar Courtyard on a Friday afternoon, the group was halfway through their set when some other guy went up to the lead singer Sean Guerin mid-song and whispered something into his ears. Without missing a beat or lyrics, Guerin then reached into his pocket and handed the guy car keys. It wasn’t a big deal, but it was somewhat hilarious.

I accidentally caught De Lux twice at SXSW but I thoroughly enjoyed their set of disco-dance-rock music. It really took me back to the 80’s and somehow I think they could perfectly soundtrack the next Adam Sandler 80’s era movie. Their music was fun, a bit Talking Headish and has some nice hooks. Guerin’s vocal work was different then a lot of singers, a bit scratchy and sometimes a bit off key, it gives their music a form of sincerity which is sometimes a lacking feature in the new wave-disco kind of world that De Lux exists in.

The band also gave away a lot of free EP’s after each show, and judging by the amount of people who went up to get them, I would say that they gained a few fans with their sets, including me.

SXSW Review: The Pizza Underground, March 15, Buffalo Billiards

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Paul in South By Southwest | 1 Comment

This is how I envision the brainstorming session that led to the formation of The Pizza Underground, presented in the form of a one act play:

Scene: A darkened apartment.  White Light/White Heat is on the stereo, a half eaten pepperoni pie lays on the table.

PU MEMBER #1: Dude, this album is amazing!
PU MEMBER #2: Dude, so is this pizza!
PU MEMBER #1: Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could combine these two awesome things together?
PU MEMBER #2: Totally! We should start a band!
PU MEMBER #1: But how would we get anyone to listen to it?
PU MEMBER #2: Dude, you’re a celebrity. People will pay attention.
PU MEMBER #1:

home-alone-feature

Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s almost exactly how it went down.

In case you haven’t heard, The Pizza Underground is a band featuring former child star Macaulay Culkin whose modus operandi consists of singing covers of Velvet Underground songs with lyrics changed to be about pizza. “Do you like pizza?” asked Culkin as they took to the stage.  “Do you like punny songs about pizza?  Good.” And with that they launched into a set that included such tunes as “Papa John Says” and “I’m Beginning To Eat The Slice.” Combine this with the use of a pizza box for percussion and some guy dressed like Andy Warhol milling about and the stage was set for some pizza-themed shenanigans.

It was fun to watch for awhile, but obviously if the band didn’t feature the star of Uncle Buck and Richie Rich, there would probably be about 10 people at this show. It’s a cute, clever concept and amusing for awhile, but essentially it’s the same joke over and over and the joke tends to get old before too long.  I’m glad I checked it out, but admittedly, I left before the end of their set. Just like pizza, you want to take it all in before it gets too stale.

SXSW Review: Perfect Pussy, Fat White Family, March 15, Holy Mountain

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Paul in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

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What’s in a name? In the case of a band, their chosen name really can mean a lot. Take Perfect Pussy for example. The band obviously knows the power of a memorable name, even though it makes it difficult to do a Google image search on them. A name like that sends a message before you’ve even heard a note played. Fat White Family is another example. When I first saw the band’s name in print, I imagined a horrible sounding band, something you might find on a sidestage at the Warped Tour. Luckily, some good writeups from reputable sources and comparisons to early Pink Floyd and The Fall made me curious to see what they were all about. And thanks to the folks behind St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival, I had the chance to see both bands in one location.

Despite my reservations about the band’s name, Fat White Family totally blew me away with an impressively noisy, psychedelic, shambolic performance of songs off their debut album Champagne Holocaust.  Singer Lias Saoudi’s got a bit of David Yow in him, with his confrontational style and penchant for taking off his clothes. He also stuck his hand down the back of his pants for a bit, which had me worried he was going to touch someone in the audience with a poo finger, but happily that did not come to pass. They seem to be getting a bit of hype from the British press lately and played the NME showcase later on in the day. That kind of push often means a quick burnout for bands, but here’s hoping Fat White Family sticks around for awhile.

More heavily hyped and also playing a ton of shows at SXSW this year was Syracuse noise rock band Perfect Pussy, who took to the stage a couple of hours after Fat White Family. “We tried to play this same set two hours ago and we blew like four speakers and they pulled the plug on us. This is our last show at SouthBy. Thanks for having us. We’re Mötley Crüe,” said vocalist Meredith Graves as they took to the stage. And true to her word, the band did seem to blow out something shortly after they launched into their first number. I’m pretty sure Graves’ microphone wasn’t totally working for the majority of their set; it didn’t matter. This was a powerhouse performance, even though it lasted 15 minutes at the most.

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