(Lissie. Photo by
Braedon Photography)
2010 marked my tenth SXSW Music Conference so it seems apropos to punctuate it with a 10 Best and a 10 Worst.
TOP TEN TITILLATIONS:1.
LISSIE. A relatively new discovery, I was excited to see her perform for the first time and although I was able to catch five (yes five) of her shows it was still
only 50% of 'em...this deluge of shows over a short few days reminded me of when I traipsed all over Austin at SXSW in 2002 to see a new singer named Norah Jones. Flash forward to Lissie, an engaging Americana-meets-Appalachia singer/guitarist who, like Ms Jones, fronts a tight-knit trio; this one flanked by lead guitarist Eric Sullivan and bassist/drummer Lewis Keller. This talented threesome exhibits an innate understanding of pure-bred rock 'n roll dynamics culminating in epic songs such as "In Sleep" from Lissie's forthcoming Fat Possum/Columbia debut. This Fleetwood Mac
Rumours-era tour-de-force was my daily antioxidizing elixir; its most potent potion concocted at St David's Episcopal church on Friday night, one that immersed the congregation in a triumphant melding of vintage ambiance and soul-bearing transcendence. Can I get a Hallelujah?
Another Lissie highlight was her cover of "Nothing Else Matters" mere steps from where METALLICA, themselves, rocked my face off from the Stubb's main stage one year prior and precisely where Norah Jones transfixed a crowd of fifty on her way to superstardom. It's time to inaugurate another. The freight train is a comin'...and the 2011 Grammy for 'Best New Artist' goes to... Check out
Lissie at My Space2.
HOLE at Dirty Dog bar. With a truncated by-the-numbers set that included a smattering of fan favorites and covers of "Sympathy For The Devil," "Gold Dust Woman" and "Bette Davis Eyes," it was a distant wail compared to the incendiary Hole shows I saw back in 1994 but Courtney being Courtney is always worth the price of admission (or in this case the unbearably long lines...see below). Case in point, Courtney stage dove at the end of her set on top of a guy (who was standing next to his wife) and rode him to the bar where she drank a Budweiser and proceeded to casually converse with the bartender. In concert with this chit-chat was a sardine-inducing mad rush of overzealous fans wanting to capture the moment which included yours truly sandwiched two people over from Ms Love. As the clocked ticked past 2AM, it oddly felt like a surreal rock 'n roll moment.
3.
VAPOR RECORDS showcase at Maggie Mae's on Wednesday night. A tremendous evening of artistry featuring Everest, Jets Overhead, Pegi Young (with band members from husband Neil Young's band), Jason Yates, Infantree & Lost In Holland. Good vibrations accented by cold libations as my friends stopped by to soak in the sonic
vapors. Visit
Vapor Records.com
(Everest at Hotel St. Cecelia)
4. WARNER BROS. RECORDS hosted an intimate day party at Hotel St. Cecilia on Thursday. Accompanied by sunshine, mineral water and a plate of tacos, I settled in for mesmerizing stripped-down back porch performances by THE LOW ANTHEM and
EVEREST. Bliss.
5. HEY MONDAY at Cedar Door. Holding court before Never Shout Never took the stage, Cassadee Pope and her band Hey Monday delivered a high-energy set of sing-alongs from their anthem-filled
Hold On Tight album. Comparisons to Paramore are an easy but inaccurate assessment. Visit
Hey Monday Music
(Cassadee Pope from Hey Monday)
6. BECCA at Rusty Spurs. Went on a recommendation and was really impressed by her emotive in-your-face vocals and commanding stage presence. Channeling Avril Lavigne, her songwriting mentor Meredith Brooks and a rambunctious mix of big-chorus 80's Rock and Top 40 Pop, Becca effortlessly struts a Stratocaster while playing with joyous aplomb (even some behind-the-head riffing). Her deftly-produced album ALIVE!! was previously issued through Sony Music Japan and was released in the U.S. a few weeks ago. Visit
BeccaOfficial.com7. INFANTREE at the
BAMM RV in the Expo Hall. One of my favorite new bands did an acoustic set with three-part harmonies that was broadcast live over the internet via Justin.TV. Imagine Layne Staley buddying up with Jim Morrison and John Lennon over a psychedelic bolero or two and you're on the path to visualizing an Infantree
sprouting in the forest. Visit
InfantreeMusic.com
(LIGHTS at Paradise Cafe)
8. LIGHTS at the Canadian Blast showcase at Paradise Cafe. Her sugary sweet synth-pop posturing on candy-coated ditties like "Saviour" and "Ice" provided an apt musical cocktail for Friday afternoon. Visit
I AM LIGHTS.com9. KITTEN at Submerged. A rapturous L.A.-based outfit fronted by singer/guitarist Chloe C. who is a burgeoning mix of Deborah Harry meets Chan Marshall from Cat Power (felines unite!). Thanks to Jon at The Vinyl District for the heads-up on Kitten. Visit
Kitten at My Space
(Chloe from Kitten)
10. FOODIST...Aji sushi at Kenichi, Spicy Chicken Tortilla Sopa at Manuels on Congress, Mmmpanadas Empanada Truck, Death Metal Pizza & the Downtown Burger stand. Also want to give props to the Austin Convention Center, Antone's and other venues that provided free drinking water.
An extra ladle of temptuous gravy for: CITIZEN COPE at Sesac Day Stage; STONE TEMPLE PILOTS at Austin Music Hall, FIRST AID KIT at the Fontana/Vevo party at Speakeasy and for both SUM 41 and JETS OVERHEAD on Maggie Mae's rooftop.
(Luke Renshaw and Jocelyn Greenwood of Jets Overhead)
These bursts of SXSW euphoria were, at times, subjected to unmitigated psychological buffering by the...
TOP TEN TEMPESTUOUS TIME-SUCKING TRAVESTIES:1. T-Mobile: Network went completely AWOL for 4 hours one day. Frequent "no signal". My feet were mobile, my T was not.
2. BlackBerry: My Bold kept randomly rebooting over and over and over again (a laborious mind-numbing time-suck).
3. Four Square App: Seemed to accurately locate about 5% of the venues I was at; very often couldn't find itself.
4. Blustery cold weather on Saturday. 41 degrees augmented by bone-chilling winds required re-routing and extra layers of Patrón (por favor)!
5. Line to get in to see Hole at Spin's party at Stubb's. One in; One out. Once upon a time when we were young...
6. Line to get in to see Hole at Dirty Dog bar. Badges only. One in; One out - except for friends (and their friends) of the doorman.
7. Line to get in to see Hole at Perez Hilton's party. 1700 more RSVPs than capacity. Self-fulfilling prophecy.
8. As always, competition for one's attention span is fierce. Due to this overbearing reality, I'm reticent to admit that I did not once go in to Emo's, La Zona Rosa, The Driskill, any SXSW panels or Las Manitas on Congress (Holy Guacamole!).
9. Cab drivers in Austin. Always trying to run the meter and then copping an attitude (or feigning ignorance) for payment by plastic which they begrudgingly took their sweet-ass time in processing.
10. Snow?!? in Dallas. As my air travel connection city, it was incredulous to hear on Sunday morning that it was 32 degrees and snowing in Dallas; prompting a delay to de-ice the airplane before we took off. De-Ice in Dallas?!? In late March? WTF?
Time-sucks aside, SXSW is still the only place where nearly 2000 bands play over the course of four days. Fairly ridiculous. Viva Tejas!
(Photo by Paul Mocey-Hanton)
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