Overwhelming wouldn’t begin to describe SXSW. With 70+ venues in a 10 by 10 block area and a schedule where bands cycle every 45 minutes, figuring out where to go is almost as confusing as finding out who’s playing there in the first place. With this excited sense of confusion, we found free parking a mile away (I’m morally against paying for parking) from the heart of downtown Austin and made the trek to the Convention Center for check-in. After a good hour of waiting in multiple lines, our wrists were adorned with SXSW hologram bracelets, and we set our course to the venues.
“Music fans eagerly await the benefits of wristbands.” Photo by Ryan Dornfeld. More on Flickr
Well, not quite – we managed to get sidetracked at the trade show before leaving the Convention Center. It was dominated by online music biz start-ups and booths representing the diverse, international musicians found at SXSW. After a quick tour past the PR and spokesmodel machine, we finally were ready to hit the streets.
“Media outlets interview at the trade show.” Photo by Ryan Dornfeld. More on Flickr
Hitting the streets, however, conjured up an appetite – we hadn’t really had a proper meal since we left St. Louis fourteen hours before. Luckily, certain SXSW showcases offer not only music, but also free food and libations. Our first hit, the Zone Perfect Lounge, landed us plenty of the latter. With acoustic performances and an arts and crafts section, it was a perfect choice to gear up for the evening.
“Ben Alper at the Zone Perfect Lounge.” Photo by Ryan Dornfeld. More on Flickr
“Surfer Blood.” Photo by Ryan Dornfeld. More on Flickr
After realizing there it would be absolutely impossible to catch the Walkmen and Spoon at Stubbs, we set our sights on up-and-comers Chiddy Bang, a hip-hop group (in fact, we have previously highlighted the group: http://elevenmusicmag.com/?s=chiddy+bang) whose performance lived up to the hype. Backpack-toting Proto, the group’s MC, enthusiastically played his rhymes off the crowd and Chiddy Bang closed with a MGMT sampled hit.
“Chiddy Bang.” Photo by Ryan Dornfeld. More on Flickr
From there, we adventured over to Buffalo Billiards to make sure we arrived in time to see Javelin, poised for a SXSW breakout, at Time Out NY‘s showcase. We walked in right as Brooklyn rappers, Das Racist, were finishing up their set.
“Das Racist at Time Out NY’s showcase at Buffalo Billiards.” Photo by Ryan Dornfeld. More on Flickr
Javelin took the stage a bit after 10:15 – with a backdrop of ten stacked, dilapidated boomboxes, the duo performed with a variety of sequencers, drum pads, and vocal effects. I’m a fan of the band’s 80s infused beats – and while I still remain excited for Javelin’s upcoming release next month, their music didn’t adapt well to their live set. It was strange – there wasn’t any particular element wrong with their set, but the sum of all of its parts felt lacking. It almost felt as if singer Tom Van Buskirk was singing karaoke over George Langford’s enthusiastic beat-making on his electronic drum pads.
“Javelin at Time Out NY’s showcase at Buffalo Billiards.” Photo by Ryan Dornfeld. More on Flickr
However, the intensity of the showcase went from 0 to 60 at the start of Japanther’s set. Singing and screaming into telephone mics (see photo) to create, well, the effect of sounding like you’re singing through a phone, the punk duo ripped through songs filled with fuzzed-out bass and rapid-fire, Ramones-esque drumming.
Japanther at Time Out NY’s showcase at Buffalo Billiards.” Photo by Ryan Dornfeld. More on Flickr
And then there was Andrew W.K. At a bit after midnight, the prophetic party starter filled Buffalo Billiards with more energy than a nuclear explosion. But, would you expect anything else? The main point of every Andrew W.K. song is to love the fact that you’re alive…and PARTY! Additionally, it helps to have three guitars and a dancer/backup-vocalist on stage with you – though without a doubt, he didn’t need the assistance. Headbanging so hard that it caused his mic to feedback (how is that even possible!?), Andrew W.K.’s enthusiasm was contagious. By the end of his set, Ryan had filmed a video while crowdsurfing, Josh had been thrown from the stage by security (and had someone bleed on his pants), and I had been moshing so hard that my phone somehow set itself into a strange boot-mode that took me an hour to fix. W.K. encored with “Party Hard,” but by then, the stage was so full of fans that that he couldn’t get to a microphone to sing into. Ending the show by exiting the stage with a spastic jig, W.K. left us exhausted yet ready to take on anything. Well, at least until 3 AM – that’s when our 24ish hour day caught up with us. With such a good entrance to SXSW, I’m excited to see what day 2 has in store. I better get out of Einstein’s Bagels and start reporting. Over and out!
“Andrew W.K. at Time Out NY’s showcase at Buffalo Billiards.” Photo by Ryan Dornfeld. More on Flickr
