South By Southwest Day Three: The Vines, The Waco Brothers And Booze

03/17/08 4:30pm

by Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

ChartAttack News Editor Steve McLean is in the midst of his annual pilgrimage to the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. Here's his report, written while not wearing pants, from day three:

I arrived at the Australian BBQ in time to catch the last couple of songs by veteran garage-punk band The Chevelles. Their straight-up rock was washed down with free Coopers Sparkling Ale, which I love drinking in Australia and at this annual party. Lunch was free sausage on a bun. The Vines were up next and they did a mix of older ("Get Free," "Ride") and new material from their forthcoming album recorded in Hollywood. The new songs were surprisingly good, as was the performance, which also included a rock cover of Outkast's "Miss Jackson." Singer/guitarist Craig Nicholls is still snotty, but hopefully he's learned some humility as the band's career has trended downward. The crowd was really into it and he capped off the set by throwing a glass of water into the audience and then throwing down his guitar and microphone stand mid-song.

The Slits were one of my priorities for the week because, as lead singer Ari Up said, "The Slits have been written out of history, which is totally nuts because we started so much shit." The all-woman group were one of the first bands to combine punk and reggae back in the late '70s before breaking up in 1981, but they reformed in 2006 and don't seem to have lost much. Up and bassist Tessa Pollitt are the only original members, as they have a younger drummer, guitarist and a very cute keyboard player named Hollie Cook — who became my new crush. They opened with a dub reggae number with a big bottom end and I felt chills and thrills when they played "Typical Girls" three songs in, during which Up pointed at me while singing "typical boy." I hope I'm not typical, but whatever. The crazily coiffed Up took off her skirt (the band posed topless for the cover of their 1979 debut album, Cut) and danced around in her thong and told all the women in the crowd to grab their "poom poom" as she poured water on hers because she said it was hot. Three young women were invited on stage to sing and dance and Up refused to leave the stage following their performance, but her ranting was amusing.

I went to see the draw for Sunday's softball tournament and found out our team was to play the SXSW volunteers in the first round. I got a free beer and walked around the trade show, but there wasn't much of interest going on, so I made the long walk down South Congress in the 35-degree heat for my annual visit to the Yard Dog Gallery and the Bloodshot Records party. After getting a free Shiner black beer, I settled in for a performance by Justin Townes Earle. He's much more traditionally country than his dad Steve, and looks a bit like Hank Williams and sounds a bit like Ray Price. He's a fine acoustic guitar player, and the band were rounded out by a fiddler, mandolin player, bassist, drummer and pianist.

Bloodshot's Heather West had a bottle of Irish whiskey behind her merch table and invited me to take a big swig. I obliged. KOCH's Eric Alper witnessed this, said, "Steve, you're an alcoholic," and promptly bought me one of only 250 Waco Brothers hip flasks (mine is #138). Heather and Eric were already two of my favourite publicists, but their stock just went up.

The beers were going down easily when The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir took the stage. I compare them to a rootsy Broken Social Scene, as the lineup changes depending on who's available. They were a six-piece today, including a trumpeter and fiddler. Welsh-born singer/guitarist Elia joked about The O.C. being cancelled after the show used one of his songs. I was standing with a woman who demanded I write the words "hot lesbians" while her brother photographed it. Their set ended with a rousing version of "Tear Down The Opera House."

My friend Natalie commandeered my pen and notepad and volunteered to take notes to allow me to drink more freely during the Waco Brothers' set with a fill-in bassist from The Allen Oldies Band who Jon Langford called "Trial By Fire." Here are some of her observations: "1st song in — nobody has fallen over yet… despite the fact a bottle of tequila was passed around and many drinks consumed; 40 oz. bottle HALF gone; Jonboy is starting to get "crazy eyes;" 4th song in, the kicks have started; more tequila, now 1/4 bottle left; Durante sober this year compared to last year, but is blowing kisses to the audience; violinist Jean Cook still standing despite the fact that drunken Welshmen are almost knocking her over."

Realizing how difficult and labour-intensive my job is, Natalie gave up after eight songs and handed my notepad back just as the aforementioned bottle of tequila was finished. Regular drummer Steve Goulding also couldn't make it to Austin, so the band brought a friend from Chicago who's played with them before. He looked like George "The Animal" Steele. The set ended with "Harm's Way," "Red Brick Wall" and a fiery cover of George Jones's "White Lightning." I grabbed two more free beers and added some Irish whiskey to my new flask before Waco Brothers singer/mandolinist Tracy Dear convinced me to join him and singer/guitarist Dean Schlabowske at a dive bar called Trophy's down the street. I bought a round of beers, but there was a bad metal band playing, so I left as soon as my bottle was empty and before the Wacos could convince me to go with them to some local's house to play dice.

I caught the $1 bus and then walked to the Fado Patio to see a Seattle garage rock band called the Coconut Coolouts. They had two drum kits set up at the front of the stage, which was an interesting concept. It was a fun set and energized me enough to walk to Opal Divine's Freehouse. As well as hosting bands, it has the second best beer selection of any place I've been in Austin. I asked the bartender for the hoppiest beer he had, and he gave me a 9.5 per cent alcohol Rogue Imperial India Pale Ale. It was worth whatever I paid for it, as quality beer always is. The quality of Memphis band Snowglobe's psychedelic pop music wasn't as high, but there was a person on stage wearing a gorilla mask, and I always appreciate that.

I got to the convention centre earlier than anticipated and talked my way into X's soundcheck while a big line formed outside. I got right up close to take photos before the masses were allowed in. Maybe my expectations were too high, since I've always loved these Los Angeles punk pioneers and have never seen them, but I thought their set was good and not the mind-blowingly great as I was hoping for. Highlights included "Johnny Hit And Run Pauline," "The New World" and "Hungry Wolf."

I headed north to B.D. Riley's to see Boston's Muck And The Mires, who exceeded expectations. Their garagey party music was pure guitar-driven rock ‘n' roll bliss — fun with a capital "F."

When that ended, Minneapolis' Tapes 'N Tapes were next onthe agenda at a large tent at the Cedar Door. They started with an instrumental and played a number of favourites from their debut EP and The Loon as well as some new material. Their energetic, playful indie rock had the large crowd dancing, and I'll do my best to see them again whenever they return to Toronto. North By Northeast's Gillian Zulauf bought me a burrito that I washed down with a large can of Heineken before moving on to The Thirsty Nickel for San Francisco's Scissors For Lefty.

The band's melodic, alternative pop songs work well on record and while I like their songs, I was in the minority in thinking they were good. That gave me an out to go to close off the night with Nashville's Th' Legendary Shack Shakers, who I see here every two years. J.D. Wilkes is one of the most charismatic frontmen I've ever seen, and an excellent harmonica player and southern gothic songwriter to boot. While he didn't tell stories, constantly spit or get quite as crazy as at past shows, he was still all over the small stage while his band kept things from spiraling out of control with their excellent musicianship. Their mix of rockabilly and rock ‘n' roll gave me a second wind, but there was unfortunately no more music to be heard. I bought a pizza slice and returned to our suite to have a nightcap and check emails before retiring at 4:30 a.m.