SXSW 2009: Black Lips Day Three

03/20/09 10:11am

by Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

I'm on a quest to hear great music until the first few days of spring at the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and I intend to do it without spending a penny on food.

Here's the report from my third day in the live music capital of the world:

I missed getting on the SOCAN boat cruise, with its free sandwiches and beer, by a few minutes after finishing my report from the previous day. Option two was hitting the Soho Lounge for the Authentic Records and Hey Cole! Presents party.

I arrived at 12:45 p.m. and didn't care about any of the bands on the bill. I was essentially there to eat. The food wasn't ready yet, but they gave me a Shiner Bock while I listened to Readymade Breakup, a slightly bluesy, middle-of-the-road pop-rock band that I have no intention of seeing again. Life's too short to listen to uninteresting music, so I quickly finished my beer and went across the street to Friends Bar and the Sounds Australia party, where "free hospitality" was promised.

Food-wise, hospitality meant nachos and hot salsa. I had a small plate, but didn't want much because I was holding out for bigger and better things. Luckily, they had free Coopers' Sparkling Ale, which may be my favourite non-brew pub Aussie beer.

An Horse, a Brisbane band I was interested in, started at 1:30 p.m. Singer/guitarist Kate Cooper and drummer Damon Cox have toured with Tegan And Sara and The New Pornographers, and plan to spend much of this year in North America playing in support of their Rearrange Beds debut album.

Cooper's voice seems more pure than many of the numerous female singers I've seen so far this week. An Horse are not particularly innovative, but just have good songs that have enough weight and propulsion even without a bassist. Cooper told the underage fans who couldn't get in that were watching through the window to put on a hat and sun screen to avoid skin cancer in the blazing Austin sun.

I returned to the Soho Lounge and filled a plate with barbecued beef and turkey, baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad and white bread. Are you noticing a theme in the cuisine of SXSW parties? Don't worry, I take multi-vitamins every morning.

I spotted a plastic bag full of mini chocolate bars and stuffed them in my pocket. I still haven't resorted to any food not served at SXSW venues, which means nothing from our suite that my roommates have offered or any of the confectioneries I've been stocking up on whenever possible.

I finished my heaping plate of food as soon as I could so I wouldn't have to listen to the generic AC-leaning band on stage. I appreciated the party's free food and beer, but definitely not the music.

I walked by Radio Room, where the Paste party had a great talent list, but I didn't want to join the long lineup outside, so I continued on to Flamingo Cantina to see Athens, Ga. band Modern Skirts.

Drummer John Swint, keyboardist JoJo Glidewell and bassist Phillip Brantley all played percussion, while singer Jay Gulley also played harmonica for the first song. They returned to their primary instruments, and Gulley played acoustic guitar for the rest of what I saw. It was very solid indie pop, but not great.

I put on the Mint Records sunglasses that Yvette Ray had given me a day earlier, and went to the Mint party at Headhunters. As soon as I walked in, Yvette gave me a Mint button to wear that would get me free margaritas all day. There were also free vegetarian tacos, so I had one of those.

Thee Goblins, Nardwuar The Human Serviette's ghost sheet and purple sweater-wearing keyboards and drums duo, were preparing to start. Nardwuar had a vintage Ace Tone keyboard, my second favourite after the Farfisa.

Their instrumentals were cheesy and amateurish, and I normally would have considered it terrible, but Nardwuar made it fun. He introduced a dance called "The Phaser," where you pretend you've just been shot by a phaser from the original Star Trek. He got the crowd repeating the former New York governor's name with a "Mario Cuomo works at Domo" refrain. He jumped to signal the end of every song, and I left after the last jump.

There was a long lineup at Red 7 to see Lucero and The Hold Steady, so I returned to the Mint party for more margaritas and to see The Pack A.D.

I've seen the Vancouver blues-rock duo four times, and their performances always brim with passion. I feel their music more live than on record, but was still honoured to wear the band button I was given (but would exchange later in the day for a Record Store Day button with a guy who really wanted mine).

Drummer Maya Miller lost a stick during the last song, but singer/guitarist Becky Black picked it up and returned it to her without them missing a beat — well, almost. They received a deservingly loud round of applause at the end of their set.

I wanted to stick around for a couple of murder ballads by The Handsome Family, but elected to go to The Wave for the Kerrang!/Guitar Hero party to see British singer, songwriter and guitarist Frank Turner.

I met the El Mocambo's Yvonne Matsell and the Ontario Media Development Corporation's Keeley Kemp and told them they had to come to the rooftop patio with me to see Turner. They weren't disappointed, and Yvonne gave him a North By Northeast business card in hopes that he'll play SXSW's sister festival in Toronto in June.

I thought Turner would play solo, but he had a band called The Twisted Hearts backing him. They just met this morning after long-distance correspondence, and they helped fill things out. Turner opened with "I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous" and the set also featured "Father's Day," "Substitute," "The Real Damage," "Long Live The Queen," "Love Ire And Song," "Reasons Not To Be An Idiot" and "The Ballad Of Me And My Friends" to close.

"It's nice to be playing the Kerrang! show," Turner joked. "I'm easily the most metal person here."

Turner's not metal, but he's an acutely aware and incisive social and human commentator and a completely engaging performer. His brilliant set will likely be one of my favourites of the week.

Bruno Wizard has a younger band with him, but he's still singing his punk rock songs from 30 years ago. I hadn't heard of The Homosexuals the first time around, but heard good things about Wizard's recently revived band and wanted to check them out.

He introduced a song about his former drummer, who was murdered because he was Asian, and one from 1978 about freeing Nelson Mandela. Wizard wore a shirt that looked like a Twister game and said Austin's Rusty Spurs was the first openly gay bar he'd ever played. Who knew?

Wizard's a dynamic frontman with great songs, and both deserve this resurrection. The Homosexuals were way better than expected. Check them out while you can.

I got a ZonePerfect nutrition bar from a guy handing them out on a street corner as I strolled down to the Sounds From Spain party at Brush Square Park to line up for a plate of free paella. There was also lots of fruit in the free sangria. The only Spanish band I was interested in seeing was Los Coronas, who wear lucha libre masks and play surf rock like Los Straitjackets. They weren't playing while I was there, so I went across the street to The Bat Bar at the Convention Center.

DirecTV is filming the shows there for a later broadcast and gave me a VIP pass for the week. The perks were limited tonight to a free drink and a couch to sit on. I couldn't see The Von Bondies from the couch, so I got up to join the commoners.

I like the Detroit rock group's current Love, Hate And Then There's You album, but 2004's Pawn Shoppe Heart was one of my 10 favourites of that year. Their direct, no-nonsense rock 'n' roll with male and female vocals had the crowd on their side from the start. "Not That Social," "Shut Your Mouth" and "The Fever" were all great.

I ran into Jon Langford outside the convention centre while he was trying to flag a cab. He inquired about my knee that I injured at a party when he was in Toronto three weeks ago, then hugged me, kissed me three times, said he loved me and suggested I find a costume so I can join The Waco Brothers on stage this week.

I walked up to Elysium to see The Blue Aeroplanes, but Peter Murphy was a late addition to the bill and caused a long lineup to get in, so I kept on going to the Central Presbyterian Church to see San Francisco's Girls.

Their two long-haired guitarists may have looked like girls, but they weren't. Their first song was kind of psychedelic slacker rock and the livelier second number had an introduction that reminded me of The Jesus And Mary Chain. The third song almost came close to being an instrumental freakout, but I think I was channelling youthful memories of being in church and felt the potential to nod off, so the logical antidote was heading to a dive bar for a dose of rock 'n' roll.

I crossed paths with King Khan again at the Dirty Dog Bar, where we gathered to see largely unheralded Memphis rock 'n' roll hero Jack Oblivian and his latest band, The Tennessee Tearjerkers. His fundamentally sound three-chord guitar rock hit the spot, although his vocals were mixed too low.

I stopped by Latitude 30 to catch the last couple of songs by Frank Turner because I liked him so much earlier, and then continued on to the Cedar Street Courtyard, where I decided to make personal SXSW history by planting myself at one venue for an entire night.

I didn't even realize the Arkells were on the bill when I walked in and immediately had a pint purchased for me by XM Radio's Jeff Leake. Arkells reminded me of the Constantines when I saw them during Canadian Music Week last year. But after seeing their strong performance here, I'm now declaring them better than the Constantines.

I confess to being a poor Canadian because I'd only seen Sam Roberts do a two-song set at a benefit concert in Ottawa before the 2003 Juno Awards, so I gave him 35 minutes of my time tonight.

I thought We Were Born In A Flame was great, but I haven't been as enamoured with his last two albums. Unfortunately for me, this set was mostly comprised of new material, with the highlight being "Detroit '67." I was happy for him that so many people seemed to know his music and were getting into it, but his last song ended with an extended jam that featured more guitar wanking than I appreciate.

The show's sponsor gave me five drink tickets, but I soon found out that I could only use them at a bar that I didn't have access to. Oh well. My friends and I exchanged buying rounds, so all was well.

San Diego's Delta Spirit followed. Their edgy roots rock approach was free-spirited and relentless, but in control. I should have paid more attention, but was chatting with people.

We squeezed in to the front of the stage for Atlanta's Black Lips. Their shared lead vocals worked really well and their music is primal, back-to-basics rock 'n' roll at its best.

"Dirty Hands" and "Starting Over" were just two highlights of an outstanding set. These guys proved they know how to make great music and aren't all about the craziness on which they built their early reputation. There was no nonsense, and that was just fine.

I was pleasantly surprised Primal Scream started right on time at 12:30 a.m. Frontman Bobby Gillespie strolled out looking like a slightly less geeky Joey Ramone, but he owned the stage throughout the Scottish group's blistering set. "Miss Lucifer" and "Jailbird" were early set standouts and "Exterminator" got the already fevered fans dancing even more.

The new "Suicide Bomb" was a welcomed addition to a combination rock and rave show that excited Horseshoe Tavern/ATG Concerts booker Craig Laskey maybe more than I've ever seen. The entire crowd joined Gillespie on the chorus of "Rocks" to cap off a charged 55-minute performance.

We invited a few friends back to our hotel suite for discussion and drinks, and I hit the couch at 4:30 a.m.

Amount spent on food (booze doesn't count) after three days: $0.