sxsw day 4.1

On Saturday, the fourth and last day of SXSW, I saw Ghostface Killah, Rakim, a Japanese noise band called Green Milk from the Planet Orange, Portland post-hardcore bros 31 Knots, Tall Firs, Summer Hymns, the Affair, Kings of Leon, Spoon and the reunited Stooges. One of these shows was the best thing I saw all week, and one of the best shows I have ever seen — period. But which one was it?

Let’s save that mystery for a moment, and start off with who it most definitely was not: the Stooges. Featuring Iggy Pop, the Ashton brothers and Minuteman Mike Watt on bass, the Stooges reunion gig at Stubb’s was, without question, the show to see at SXSW. So much so, in fact, that in a week where lines were more rare than common, the queue for the ridiculous Kings of Leon/Spoon/Stooges bill stretched, by some reports, four blocks long.

Buoyed by false confidence and outright foolishness, I joined the line as the Kings of Leon were beginning their set; I made it in about three songs into Spoon’s. All things considered it’s hard to complain — I did get in! — but a lengthy wait nonetheless. (Spoon, by the way, were very good. I was pretty far back while they played, so the energy was hard to feel, but they sounded nice. “Target,” a new song, is among my fave Spoon cuts ever. I’ve seen some acoustic versions floating around the blogs — worth hearing.)

In any event, the Stooges took the stage after a good 20 minutes. Having shoved pretty far up, I had a great view as they opened with “Loose,” then hitting “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” “TV Eye” and “Funhouse.” They all sounded pretty good: Mike Watt was in great form as was Iggy, but the Ashtons looked, well, old. It’s harsh for sure, but even in their playing it just didn’t have the same fire.

Still, though, the crowd was into it, until they decided, for some unknown reason, to then play four consecutive new songs, all of which sucked, and took every bit of energy out of the venue. Having played those new ones, they promptly said goodnight before coming back for an encore of “No Fun” — which was fantastic — leaving us with a better taste in our mouths, but still not a great one. (Not so for a former Guns ‘N Roses member — leaving the name out of it to protect the guilty — who was uselessly trying to beg his way backstage. The bouncers were hearing none of it. Bad scene.) If you were considering hitting some of the reunion shows, by all means do it, just know that you’ll need to spend a lot of time with that new — and apparently disappointing — record to be able to sing along.

For more (blurry) picks from the Stooges show, check out my Flickr set. For who won the SXSW crown of Best in Show, stay tuned for part two!