Lucy Woodward- This is totally not my type of music at all, but if you're into this sort of thing, she seemed to be very good at it. She describes herself as a pop singer, but it's really jazz club stuff. Specifically white-people, pop-oriented jazz club stuff. (Not deep soulful jazz club stuff.) It was also nice to have someplace warm to sit and watch a show, because it was absolutely friggin cold outside. Holy crap it was cold- I didn't know Texas could get that cold. I even heard from Sydney Wayser via Twitter that it was snowing somewhere else in Texas.
Uninhabitable Mansions- I went to check out Uninhabitable Mansions for the sole reason that Annie Hart, from Au Revoir Simone, is in this band playing keyboards and singing. She is by far my favorite member of Au Revoir Simone, and I love watching her perform. This show was definitely not a disappointment. Annie got her rock on, and the lead singer dude got his roll on. Their songs were very catchy and entertaining, kind of emo-esque pop-rock. I actually really liked most of their songs, except for a few moments in the show when the lead-singer dude cut loose with his voice. He definitely doesn't have the voice for screaming, as it kind of falls apart pitch-wise when he does that. He would be much better off keeping the vocals at a reasonable volume. But otherwise, the show was awesome. Brief side note- the band handed out free yardsticks as promo trinkets. Worst idea ever. Everyone who got one started acting like a freaking second grader, swinging them around and whacking everyone else in the club. Note to band: don't hand out potential weapons
inside the club.
Cate Le Bon- Cate Le Bon followed UM at Latitude 30, and I stuck around to watch her play. Honestly, this was a thoroughly uninteresting show. She wasn't bad or unappealing in any way, but the show just bored me. Not my thing I guess.
Dana Falconberry- Dana Falconberry! Ms. Falconberry is one of my favorite musicians to see live. Her music is like nothing else that I know of. She plays almost acoustic songs with guitar and stringed instruments and other assorted odds and ends, and she has two backup singers her harmonize with her in the most extraordinary way. They stay within a very tight range of sound, and yet make the most amazing sounding music. If there were any type of music I could want to lull me off to a permanent sleep, this would be it. This show was fantastic as usual and made my SXSW, but first let me tell you about the club.
I was agonizing about getting to see Dana at SXSW this year. She played a bunch of free day shows, but I managed to miss them all. And most of her full-band shows were away from downtown. Without a car, this posed a logistical problem, but on Saturday night I just sucked it up and cabbed my way up to the Carousel Lounge. The Carousel Lounge is by far the coolest fucking bar I have ever seen in my life. I love this place. I wish there were one near me. I would go hang out at this bar with all of my friends every single night of my life. It is awesome, and let me tell you how. The Carousel Lounge is in the middle of nowhere- it is in a residential neighborhood, in an unobtrusive part of town, and it is totally unassuming from the outside. You might think it was a mini bowling alley or a roadhouse. Inside, there is a bar stocked with copious amounts of beer bottles and wine, but no liquor or taps. People bring in their own bottles of whiskey and mix it with house sodas. (God I love Texas.) Past the bar is the lounge area, which has a backdrop decorated with a circus theme, and there are laser-dots dancing around the ceiling, floor, and walls. Yes, that's right- laser dots. I wish I could show you a picture of this place. I even tried taking one with my iPhone, but it just didn't do it justice. If you ever go to Austin, go to the Carousel Lounge!
Okay, now back to Ms. Falconberry. She got to the club late-ish, not sticking around all night to watch the other bands. (I guess she doesn't like the Carousel Lounge as much as I do.) For this show she didn't have the standup bass. Not sure if that is a new thing, or just a concession for this one show. But she still had the two backup vocalists, and she still made magical music. I can't remember how long her set was- I tend to get lost in the etherspace when listening to her play. But this show made my whole week worthwhile. Just like the first time I saw her, two years prior, she pretty much capped off my SXSW.
Brief side note- I had to blow off Linus of Hollywood to see Dana play. I didn't feel too bad about it because he didn't bring his better half, Kay Hanley, from We Are Palmdale. Loser. And loserette. Here's hoping for a better effort from both of them next year.
She Keeps Bees- I finished off my SXSW week with some bands at the Victorian Room in the Driskill Hotel. She Keeps Bees was on first. I feel like I probably enjoyed this show, but I honestly don't remember a single thing about it. Perhaps it was the copious amount of alcohol I had consumed by then, or the lasting buzz from Dana Falconberry's show.
Next up was a band called Zun Zun Egui, which was notable for two main reasons. Number one, a handful of English chicks in the crowd started dancing around to the band's music, and I mean really dancing. Like ballet and modern dance recital type dancing. This one girl kept pulling more articles of clothing off and dancing more and more wildly. I've never personally seen someone try to woo the attention of a band so desperately. I'll always wonder whether it worked out or not.
Number two, the lead singer for the band broke into an absurd rant right at the end of one song. He was yelling and screaming, complaining about being woken up in the hotel earlier that day and about not getting paid to play at SXSW. That’s right- he complained about not getting paid to
showcase at SXSW. Something tells me this band isn't going places.
So that's a rap folks. That was my SXSW. I guess I left out all the beer and booze, all the sidewalk pizza and hotdogs, all the peeps decked out in cowboy gear, both authentic and bogus, all the walking around and desperately waiting for shuttle rides, all the random Texans flustered and confused by the influx of SXSWers, and all the random conversations with fellow revelers. Can't wait for next year!
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