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I was a happy kid. Sure, things could have gone a tiny bit smoother with sponsor issues and sound-guy car troubles early, but we pulled together like a community and put on an excellent day of music. Big thanks to all involved, my +1 for bartending early, the bands for helping each other out, whatever it took was whatever it took and the party felt like SxSW of old.
So here are a bounty of pics from the 2nd St. Showdown…
I had my camera. I took almost 4,000 pictures. That seemed like a lot, but once I factored in the number of bands, the odd things that have to be documented, the friends gathering for shenanigans and the eight long days involved, it really wasn’t surprising. I haven’t done the final tally, but it would be fair to say that I saw part of a set from around seventy bands.
It is my turn to give a rundown on bests and worsts of The Conference. The many highs were tempered by very few lows. I chased that BUZZ that drives the relevant music fan. My summary will be a little different because I did the whole damn thing; twelve movies, several Interactive and film panels and of course all the music.
So, plenty on the movies, panels and bands and a flurry of pics to accompany all that 411 after the break…
Most unfortunate, the approval to shoot Radiohead didn’t come through. All was not lost as friends of Austin Town Hall, Other Lives, were opening. Into the bowels of the Erwin Center I headed to get shots of a band that everyone should experience live.
And should I mention I saw Major Applewhite again? Yeah, I did. He was kicking it with Manny Diaz.
Anyway, click through for pics of our friends on the big stage…
As I regroup and prepare my brain for a second night of Radiohead mania, I wanted to reflect a bit on our evening the Moody Theater. Getting be one of the relative few that got to go, I carried a bit of reverence into the venue, no doubt one of the smallest they will play on this or any tour. I was soon disappointed that not all concert-goers shared this feeling of privilege.
Click past the break and I’ll reveal my highs (the band) and the lows (the crowd) and the set list.
I believe that the blogosphere is quite abuzz with Grimes. Canadian Claire Boucher is working hard right now, she is in demand. That is why the relatively small space afforded by Lambert’s must have been an early, but fortunate, booking. It was fortunate because it was such an intimate space for Grimes and openers Born Gold, but unfortunate because more could have said that they got to see her before SxSW this year.
There were sound issues, weird and then no lighting, props galore for the opener, shoulder to shoulder dancing and many happy fans. Buzz.
Islands is an Austin Town Hall favorite. Nicholas Thorburn heads the band that creates a wide range of music, poppy in the beginning, maturing as the project continues. Islands came through Austin with Idiot Glee and decided to take a shot at hosting a show in the St. David’s Episcopal Church.
If you get the chance, go to a show in a church. It is all about the acoustics and the ambience. It’s just different.
How different? Read on, I’ll tell you and show you.
It was a double header night of show pics for me. I started at St. David’s Church for Islands and walked down the steep hill to catch Los Campesinos. I guess I’ll post the Campes first.
I missed the opener, but was able to mill around in a very enthusiastic crowd to get some pics. This was the first of two night stand, so some songs requests from the crowd were turned down. “We have to save some for tomorrow night.”
Read on to see the pics and get a few more notes from the show.
This edition will bring you a nice little variety. I have an older track from Glass Candy that I’ll use to highlight one the best movies I have seen in a while. I have a track from Superhumanoids that is short and sweet. An old-school feeling trance track from Acid Washed that is new, I promise. Loose Fit busts out some funky bassline action for a genre I like to call “theme music”. I’ll finish up with a stellar track from Dana Buoy you can download. Dana Buoy is in Akron/Family, this isn’t an Akron/Family track.
Head past the break…
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A light show, four Candelabra bulbs do not make.
My uppance for complaining about the light a few shows back? Perhaps, but I persevered and was able to grab some pics for you from Literature’s set at the Scoot Inn. We’ll have their vinyl available soon, pre-order here people. So in the meantime, no better way to get geeked up than to hit a smaller venue on a busy night to see how the material is shaping up live. It was good, really good.
Rhett & Dean and Neighbor opened. Click through for noisy, but fun pics.
There was another Council Meeting at The North Door and it just so happened that friends of ATH, The Great Nostalgic and Tiger Waves, were playing through the curtains. What a lovely way to spend an evening; playing jams and shooting jams being jammed. Lots of jamming, in fact. Jam has become our favorite thing.
Tasty drinks, booty drops, plenty of extras joining in because of multiple birthdays. You may have missed it, but it was documented for posterity. Click through…
