Re: [bomp] sxsw '07 redux

[Bob Widenhofer <bwidenhofer@xxxxxxxxx>]

Oh, I caught up on the drinkin' a little later on..Saturday was St Patrick's after all.
   
  I'll echo Joe's sentiments about the Woggles.  They must've played 5 times while they were here, because they did a day show with my band in addition to the several that Joe caught.  And they were on fire as usual.  Peelander-Z played right after them, quite a spectacle.
   
  Seeing the Buzzcocks and the Stooges in one night was just breathtaking and both bands played damn fantastic sets.  The Stooges especially tore it up, this is not Iggy with some old cronies along for the ride--they're a real band and the place went nuts for their entire set.
   
  Also hafta' agree about Paul Collins, that guy is the real deal and his new band truly rocks.  Having the good fortune to open the showcase that night, I used some microphone time to pick on the Other...uh English Beat and declare that there'as only one REAL band called The Beat.  Collins lived up to this, and then exceeded it.
   
  Joe is too humble to tell you how good the Ugly Beats were.  So I'll tell you, the venue was packed and they were eating out of the UB's hands.  I should give props to every band on that showcase, we were very lucky to sneak onto it since our CD's not on Get Hip...the Breakup Society are a very good pop band in the Bomp sense, and it was just a blast to see The Mullens again.  I had never seen the Cynics do a live show before and all I can say is holy crap what a good band.
   
  Thursday night I was at the Norton Records showcase all night.  I might've left during the Alarm Clocks and Sam the Sham, but the venue was filling up fast and I was afraid I wouldn't get back in, so I stayed.  
  And in order: Dex Romweber Duo, I loved it...same deal as Flat Duo Jets except his sister Sarah is drumming now--I wish my sister could play drums like that!  
  The A-Bones, another band I've never seen in person, and damn entertaining.  
  The Alarm Clocks did not grab me, but in their defense I wanna' say that a lot of people really dug 'em so maybe it was just me.  
  Sam The Sham...sorry to say, this is the kind of stuff better left to Oldies Reviews--not horrible, but it wouldn't have bothered me to miss it.  
  Reigning Sound, well they completely made up for the previous two, I was SO glad I stuck around for their excellent set.  
  Then they remained on stage to back Mary Weiss.  And I gotta' say Mary Weiss understands what decade she's in--she did thow in some choice Shangrilas, but she mostly stuck to new material and it was mostly good.  Her voice is about an octave lower than it was 40 years ago, but she still belts it out.  And I hafta' say she looked about 45 years old, even up close.  Good for Mary!
   
  So many people warned me about The Saints that I quit worrying about the prospect of missing them.  And lots of people said their Austin shows were indeed weak so thanks to all who clued me in.  I too missed the HoodooGurus.  But we can't have everything.  It was a very good year. 
   
  -- Bob

Joe Emery <jemery@pstrategies.com> wrote:
  
whew! my liver hurts! another sxsw come and gone. i didn't get to see a
lot of new stuff this time around -- practicing and playing prevented me
from seeing the hoodoo gurus, saints, stooges and countless others
unfortunately. to add insult to injury my friends made a point of text
messaging me with set list updates for each of the hoodoo gurus friday
shows. bastards.

still, i did get to see the woggles THREE times in as many days. awesome as
always. what a great band. and we made them promise to get back here more
often -- let's hope they make good on that.

paul collins beat was really, really great. he sounds every bit as good as
the old records. he lives in madrid now and has some spanish kids playing
with him that are really great. during his sxsw showcase you would have
thought it was 1980 all over again -- all these kids -- young kids -- in
powerpop bands there hanging on his every word. really great. next night
at antone's records was even better. after playing a killer set peter case
showed up and joined paul and band for hangin on the telephone, walking out
on love, and workin' too hard. you'd think those guys have been singing
together every day for the last 30 years -- harmonies were dead on and not a
single clam. (paul's a really terrific guy as well.)

local heroes amplified heat blew the doors off Red 7 Club at their showcase
-- it was beautiful to see. full on blue cheer meets motorhead madness.
david fricke from rolling stone was there and actually bought their cds --
who knows maybe they'll end up on the cover. god knows they deserve it.

another huge thrill for me was getting to play with the cynics -- great as
ever and we got to do 2 separate sets on friday. holy crap i just got to
play two sets w/ the cynics -- and even got to write the set list! girl,
you're on my mind, baby what's wrong, hand in hand, i live alone, on the
run, yeah, close to me, way it's gonna be, blue train station, and several
others. for the showcase we closed with she lives in a time of her own --
always great to play a roky tune in austin. i'm probably not telling anyone
anything new here, but if you don't own the Cynics "Rock n Roll" record you
need it -- it's one of the greatest records of all time.

Bob? Frank? others? let's hear what everyone saw. Bob should definitely
be chiming in w/ a buzzcocks and stooges review... (and Bob, I promise not
to tell anyone how drunk you were Friday as long as you don't tell anyone
how drunk I was Saturday.)

joe

===> To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe bomp" to majordomo@xnet2.com <===



 
---------------------------------
Never miss an email again!
Yahoo! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives. Check it out.

===> To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe bomp" to majordomo@xnet2.com <===