South By Southwest Report (PART 1- The Catty Part)

["Chris Owen" <ChrisO@xxxxxxxx>]

Hey-
As threatened, here is my report on SXSW.  This is really long.  I was thinking of not posting it because it is so long, but in the end I guess I took too much time out of work writing it to only have it read by the 6 friends I sent it to.  Actually, the first time I sent it, it bounced becasue it was so long, but Evan said to send it in 3 parts so here goes.  Hopefully you will find it entertaining, enlightening and informative (I don't mention Dave Stewart once in the whole thing)...

There's only so much you can see, especially when there are like 4 great bands playing all at the same time in different places.  I missed a few bands I really wanted to check out, mainly Crackpipes, A Feast of Snakes, Bleed, Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee, Gospel Swingers (I was given bad info on the anti-SXSW shows with these bands and missed out), Soundtrack of Our Lives (played same time as Deadly Snakes), Freddy Fender, Don Walser (both cancelled because of health problems), Datsuns, Brainfailure, Howling Guitar (got drunk at the Easy Action showcase and yapped with friends while Holly Golightly/ Greenhornes/ Von Bondies played in the background instead of going the Japan/China/New Zealand deal), Clinic/ Daniel Johnston/ Jerry Lee Phantom (all of which played at the same time...I couldn't decide what to see so I wound up watching this amazing punk band from Austin called Titz...see below), Waco Brothers (Lords of Altamont were soaking up all the available power in the entire state of Texas, made seeing anything else impossible) and probably a few others I missed for one reason or another.  I think I saw some good stuff though.  This isn't everything.  I'll leave out the boring or bad unless I have something particularly nasty to say....

-The Boggs- What a weird band...they look like Television but sound like a bluegrass hippie jam band from rural Colorado.  I don't know...people criticize Jon Spencer for doing the "blues" but this skinny rock star looking guy started out their set with an undecipherable acapella field holler in what could only be called a "negro" dialect...and I think they're from New York City.  The whole time I had that Pace Picante Sauce salsa commercial in my head... "Get a Rope!!"  But aside from unfortunate sound problems, they were good.  As long as you closed your eyes.  No, just kidding, they were really good.  

-Warlocks- They played at the Hard Rock Cafe...and seemed to like it.  I hear a lot of people like these guys but it ain't really my thing...supposedly they sound like Spacemen 3 but I couldn't hear it.  In related news it is hard to find weed in Austin.   A cab driver gave me a joint at one point during the weekend.  I smoked it in like 8 parts, like it was the last one on Earth.  It was down to like a centimeter long when I dropped it while passing it to Mark from the Forty-Fives at Emo's...we got on our hands and knees for 5 minutes looking for it like a couple of homeless people.  I heard the coolest thing about another band that played at the Hard Rock Cafe on Sunday, though...this band The Icarus Line from LA (the same guys who spray painted "Suckin Dicks" on the side of the Strokes tour van, broke into Fred Durst's office, stole one of his hats, took pictures of themselves wearing it, then auctioned it on eBay and gave the money to a rape charity, and routinely post the private cell phone numbers of people in various crapola MTV bands on their website Buddyhead urging people to call and tell them they suck...genius!) apparently on the last day of SXSW were playing the Hard Rock Café and during the last song the singer took the microphone stand, smashed the glass case next to the stage holding Austin patron saint/ mercifully deceased "master" (-bater!) of the wank-blues Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar out, plugged it in and started wailing away on it.  PUNK FUCKING ROCK!!!!!!!

-Dwarves- I can't believe the Dwarves are still playing.  I felt like I was watching a Monkees reunion or Creedence Clearwater Revisited.  How long has there been a girl in the band?

Part 2 "The Drunk Part" is next...
Chris

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