March 15, 2007
SXSW 2007
This annual five-day massive music party began with the convergance of thousands of people upon the fine city of Austin, Texas. This meant lines for registration pick-up. Over 32 parties kicked into gear with tunes and food, and music was heard in every nook and cranny available within a one or two square mile radius from downtown.
Between The Trees played a nice 20-minute set on a covered stage, while their audience happily listened along to a slight mist/drizzle. The vocals floated high in the air as the band played along with high energy to the flavor of the month melodic rock stylings. Their songs make a strong and valiant effort to stay in your head long after their set was over. This band is going to have their name dropped and talked about on an increasing level as the year goes by. You can just tell it'll happen for 'em.
The Fold played as part of the Tooth & Nail Showcase over at Spiro's. As usual, it was a packed affair with lots of younger-than-21-year-olds, which is cool, because the label is so popular with a wide age range of fans. To introduce the song "Medicine," a Fold member taunted the audience with: "Come on, Austin! Even my mom will dance to this song." Nice.
Showbread came on and sort of rocked the house. You wouldn't tell by their performance (because they put out on stage with no hesitation), but the low level mix of their vocals was so poor that it took away all the exciting dynamics that their vocals bring to their sound. It makes you realize how important and fun their dueling vocalists are. It's like "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." It improved over the course of their set, but their first song was almost karaoke, I swear. Near the end of the set, between banter about the March Madness bracket choices (alligators and vampire hunters), Josh Dails stated that they "formed this band ... tell people ... being a Christian isn't about rules ... being punished for not doing this ... but being loved so much that you want to live your life for someone..." and the crowd offered a giant roar of approval. That is kinda neat to see at a "secular" event like this, where bands show their wares and predominantly let their music do the talking. 0% pretense and 100% authenticity. Cool beans.
Anberlin suffered much of the same vocal mix problems, except it was much worse. It really was like karaoke for the first song, but Stephen Christian didn't visibly let it bother him. Perhaps the monitor mix was good...? "Clap Your Hands" reverberated from the stage and they then flew into "Never Take Friendship Personal." Audio problems aside, the band was really on, and Stephen used the small stage to good effect. "Adelaide" and "Paperthin Hymn" both sounded good (especially with the vocal levels coming up over the rest of the band finally late into the set. During "Dismantle Repair" Christian's vocals sounded desperate, which was great.
[Like my new shirt?
That's former HM staffer Andrew Hazen in the background]
MxPx came on at 1am, after a long setup. Though they played through mix problems, it wasn't as bad as Anberlin's. They coyly talked about other sound problems, vowing to forge ahead, Mike stating that they would "Make it happen, as opposed to 'Let It Happen.'" The band really threw themselves into their performance, giving their all like pro's. "This Is My Life and This Is My Life Story," Mike shouted out as he passionately gave himself to the words.
The Smoking Popes played on another stage down the street (one fine detail of the wonderment of SXSW is the ability to hop from one club to another and take in multiple sets during the course of a night). They sounded so good. It was easy to hear why the band has such a devoted following. They played many new songs, which sounded real sweet. Josh Caterer's vocals are really good, reminding these ears of Phil Keaggy (of all people). A great way to end a long, long night.
And thus the great Canadian comedian Doug Giesbrecht (pictured above) looked at me with one finger raised up, "One down, four to go."
This is one of two stages that Direct TV will be filming shows for its "Live at SXSW" coverage. Massive, well constructed set design.
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