This is fine.
The crowd filled into Mohawk on a warm August evening, selling out for one of the most popular names in the indie realm, Kurt Vile. He came into town behind praise for Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze, his latest album; he was supported by Sonny and the Sunsets.
I probably had different feelings than most leaving the night, so you can read those thoughts, or just check out the great photo work of our boy Brian Gray.
Was it worth the wait?
Sometimes, you get so jacked up about seeing a headliner that it gets hard to deal with opening bands, antsy for the dancy. Last Friday was one such night. We all like the gents in Young Girls. They get silly and are ready to party. Nathan convinced them to put out their pending 7″ on Austin Town Hall Records. How about that?
ATH went to Parish Underground and checked out the new material from one of our current favorite acts. I took pics and grabbed a little video sample of their inevitable hit.
I love nights when I can see a bunch of bands, SxSW style, bouncing back and forth between venues to be able to see acts we have talked about here, but not yet seen live and still manage to check out the headliners we dig. Last Thursday was one such night. We had the Attendance Records Benefit at The Mohawk that featured ATH local favorites Knifight and a show at Red7 headlined by Daughn Gibson that included fresh locals Silk Rodeo in an opening slot.
In total, pics of four bands, a few whiskeys, plenty of friends and I get to say I did it “for the kids”. Well, half of it, anyway. Click through for random thoughts and plenty of pics…
Big show. Big spectacle. Big dance party. Big sponsor? Uh oh.
Empire of the Sun puts on a display. From dancers scurrying to the far corners of the stage in some sort of concert-styled drill team/pep squad fueled choreography to giant LED panels with visuals of blissful jams, the duo out of Australia gives you an experience worth buying a ticket for. Mrs. IT Dept. was very excited to see Empire of the Sun who left a pretty strong impression after ACL a few years back and there is no other venue in Austin I would rather see them than ACL Live.
The sound was great. The light was great. The band was great. …but we got short-setted.
Read on to see pretty pictures and get the down low.
There are bands I want to go see just to see them. After Adam Ant‘s last trip into town spawned glowing reviews from a good friend, I decided to brave the heat and head to The Belmont to check out all the fuss.
Usually this is where I tell you to go past the break for pretty pics and show notes, but instead I am going feature a rant about copyright, releases and ownership. You see, Adam made a rather odd set of requests to be allowed to shoot his concert. I don’t trust releases that relinquish ownership, ever, not even for just one photo.
Anyway, I do have some sweet phone pics because my new phone is amazing. And yes, I do have a few comments about the performance…
Let’s take a moment to reflect. New Order and (by inevitable association) Joy Division have been a massive influence on what I listen to even now. Recent songs shared here from bands like Flaamingos and Knifight could easily be tagged. Substance is standard issue listening, isn’t it? How could it not have an impact? So to see New Order, an elusive bucket-list band, announce the first North American show of their tour would be in Austin – well, it was a big day.
…and then I got the approval email to shoot the show. My head nearly exploded.
Holy Ghost! opened, added win. Read on for gushing fanboyisms and plenty of pics.
After a 7 year absence, Belle and Sebastian finally returned to Austin to play The Bat Cave Moody Theater at Austin City Limits Live. Such a long absence would require a perfect show to win everyone over once again, and as expected, the Scots more than exceeded expectations.
Read on for more thoughts and plenty of photos.
Twas a hot and sweaty night in Austin Texas on Saturday as we made our way over to Red 7 for a headlining show by Appleseed Cast. The bill was full of bands that reminded us all of better days when musicians actually played guitars and knew how to keep a beat. A great lineup indeed.
Follow the jump for thoughts and photos.
Do512 did a good thing and hired a friend of the program. Formerly at Emo’s, Ross is good people and he was nice enough to invite me and the cameras over to one of the live sessions they have at the offices. This sessions artists were Riverboat Gamblers and then one of my personal favorites Black Joe Lewis. To see both in a tiny room, bonus.
Click through for pics a couple of notes…
Saturday was busy. A couple of smaller shows were happening with ATH favorites playing at Holy Mountain and The Mohawk‘s inside stage. Matt Pond PAbrought along Matrimony in the former and Superhumanoids played the latter. It was nice of them to ask locals Tiger Waves and Orthy to join in, respectively.
I wore comfortable shoes (fashion faux pas flip-flops actually), grabbed the little camera, brought along the wife, alerted the friends and proceeded to mosey between venues on the Red River corridor. Join me for a little photo journey, won’t you?
