sxsw day two: redemption

(This Moment in Black History)

Lesson #1 for bands playing SXSW: say your name as much as possible. It’s a tough thing to learn as there’s certainly ego involved in having to re-introduce yourself repeatedly (“you should know me already!”), but people drift in and out of venues so frequently it is very common to catch an amazing show only to have no idea who exactly is blowing you away. This happened to me yesterday with a fellow named Patrick Watson, who won over an apathetic, early-afternoon audience with a fantastic set of Coldplay-ish pop-rock mixed with moments of free jazz.

Watson (above) is a handsome man, like a frat-boy Rufus Wainwright. His voice has some similarities with Wainwright — epic, emotional, bold — and musically he isn’t far off either. But his backing band of guitar, bass and drums stole the show, with concise and inventive arrangements that included a song where his guitarist squeezed the air out of a balloon onto his pickup to get a sound not unlike a theremin. Very cool, and something I hadn’t seen before. By the end of the set, the Emo’s audience had pushed themselves right up against the stage, totally won over by this unknown. (eMusic has his most recent album, by the way, which I will be downloading the second I get back to NYC.)

From the Watson show I stopped by Habana Calle 6, where the Boggs, a sort of post-punk bluegrass band (it sounds like some hellbound combo, I know) from New York, were playing. There were maybe six or seven people in the audience including me and my companion, but it hardly mattered. The trio played really loud, fast songs that melded glam’s big beat, post-punk guitar lines strummed like some devil-may-care Carter Family stuff, crazily intricate bass lines and off-key and off-mic shouts and yelps into a really spellbinding mix. Both Joe and I are really into their new record — out next month; it will be on eMu — and after that hits, the sparse crowds should be a thing of the past.

After the Boggs I trekked over to Antone’s for Blonde Redhead, but had to sit through a trying set from the Annuals first. I know people like this band — the audience sure did — but I just wasn’t buying it. Unfortunately, this is the sort of band who the Arcade Fire have wrought. Blonde Redhead, I’m shocked to say, weren’t much better. After having to wait — no joke — 45 minutes while they tweaked their set up and prepped for their show, the NYC trio played three songs from their upcoming record, 23, and then called it a night. The crowd was irate, and there was a stunned silence as they walked off the stage. Bad move, guys.

Next up was Def Jux rapper El-P, whose new album comes out very soon (next week, I think). The show was being broadcast live on a local radio station, and so he was forbidden from cursing, something he managed to handle for about two minutes. But the songs from his new record were incredible. He spit rhymes and bounced around the stage with a passion and intensity that shocked me — he has always had this air of being above-it-all, and he was right in the muck yesterday. His in-between song interviews were funny, too. When asked how he met Trent Reznor, who guests on the record, El-P shot back: “MySpace.” When asked how he met Chan Marshall, who also guests, he answered, with absolute sincerity, “we sing karaoke together.” Good for him.

And then back to Antone’s for the super-duper VIP passes Joe and I received for the Stax 50th Anniversary Revue, but apparently VIP means “wait in the two-block-long line with everyone else, suckers,” a fate that pissed us off to no end, but then again, who are we to pretend to be anyone important?

So instead I decided to see This Moment in Black History, and holy moley am I glad I did. The Cleveland hardcore quartet were absolutely nuts — frontman Chris Kulcsar threw himself around the tiny venue with a vengeance, at one point leaping off a stack of amps onto the floor, catching the mic perfectly in time to scream his ass off. They were completely funny and engaging between songs (great banter; after just rambling for a few minutes before they started playing, someone in the crowd yelled “start playing!” and Chris replied, “We’re already three songs deep, man!”), and really off-settlingly crazy when they played. Not on eMusic I realize, but pleasepleaseplease catch these guys if you can.

Caught a few songs from the Octopus Project, long one of my fave bands, but was too far back — it’s hard to say much about it…

The Gossip, on the other hand, are a completely different matter. Here’s the headline: The Gossip Are the Best Band in the World, and I Challenge You to Prove Me Otherwise. They are so so so so tight, and Beth Ditto has such a commanding and powerful voice that she uses so well, that it’s impossible not to be just knocked dead by them.

The crowd was crazy for them. At one point, some girl in front just leapt onto the stage and started dancing very sweetly with Beth while she sang; it was plain from the woman’s face that it meant the world to her. In between songs, Beth would belt out, a capella, pop songs, like “Lady Marmalade” or “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and then kick into Gossip songs without a beat. She was just so lively, so enthusiastic, it was unreal. And in the last song, “Standing in the Way of Control,” she brought the house down by ripping off her dress mid song, putting all of herself out there for us to see, daring us to flinch. And no one did. We all reached forward with all of our might, just hoping that some of their greatness could rub on us. Just amazing.