The Economist just said that the music industry is growing again – or at least finished bottoming out. So with that ringing endorsement, there hadn’t been a better time to head down to Austin for its annual, massive, music industry festival, South-by-Southwest – Tuesday-Saturday, March 12th to 16th, which QRO did, with Ted Chase, Ivey Haber, and Alex Ramirez.
Friday at South-by-Southwest can be tricky, as you’re having to shift from making sure to catch the bands you want to see to making sure to catch the big weekend parties you want to go to. This Friday of this SXSW, QRO was dominated by magazine events like those from SPIN, FADER, and Filter:
SPIN Magazine party @ Stubb’s – Ted Chase
Unknown Mortal Orchestra, 1:50 PM
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For the past few years, Ted Chase has always gone to SPIN Magazine’s big Friday afternoon party at Stubb’s during SXSW. This year was more hip-hop-heavy than most, but started off with psych-rock outfit Unknown Mortal Orchestra (or “UMO”, as even they said people could remember them). The psychedelica was more inspired than most, and not as indulgent as the style often is.
CHVRCHES, 2:40 PM
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The indie-world is running out of band names, so people have started messing with spelling, especially with V – like Wavves, CVLTS, or CHVRCHES. It was a little early & a little too hot for their otherwise-appealing dancetronica – and your correspondent felt a bit pervy taking photos of the tiny girl frontwoman…
Solange, 3:30 PM
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The SPIN party really kicked into high gear (including an over-capacity photo pit…) with Solange – a.k.a. Solange Knowles, a.k.a. little sister to that lip singer married to Jay-Z. The younger Knowles didn’t disappoint with her pipes – or with her dance moves, married to a kinda funky backdrop music.
Kendrick Lamar, 4:30 PM
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But everyone was in the over-packed Stubb’s for Kendrick Lamar. Lamar has gotten crazy big in recent days, and despite the invite-only nature of the event (admittedly with a lot of ‘regular’ folks…), it was a fan party for him, with people waiting for hours in the same spot just for a good view. Of course the photo pit was maxed out, with photographers only getting one song and going in waves (and, while waiting to go in, squeezed like sardines amidst the fans who’d been in their own spot for hours…). But when Lamar came out, three fingers went up into the air and you just didn’t care…
Trinidad Jame$, 5:30 PM
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The event was billed as Kendrick Lamar headlining, with “special guest Trinidad Jame$” – what that meant was Jame$ (can we call a halt to putting the dollar sign in your name? Want to see someone use the ¢ sign…) was on after Lamar, despite Lamar being the much bigger draw. But although the crowd did thin, Jame$ came out with energy – and a gold bag with free t-shirts for the crowd.
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Filter Magazine/tumblr party @ Clive Bar – Ivey Haber
P.E.A.C.E.
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Ivey Haber hit up one of Filter Magazine’s many parties down near Rainey Street, starting with the highly hyped, very Nirvana-centric P.E.A.C.E.
Shout Out Louds
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After catching Shout Out Louds the day before, Ivey saw them in way better lighting at Clive Bar. The polite, fan-friendly Swedes hung out after the show and took photos with fans, which was super cool.
Ra Ra Riot, 5:00 PM
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The commitment to the SPIN party (see above) meant that Ted Chase couldn’t catch the one time that QRO favorites Shout Out Louds & Ra Ra Riot played an event together, but Ivey was able to see the incredible show.
Also at the show? Usher, who was at SXSW for another event (see below), but made the time to catch other artists while in Austin. Ivey didn’t even have to ask him to pose; he just did it when he saw her…
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The Wild Honey Pie/Paper Garden Records party @ Uncorked Tasting Room – Ted Chase
Mikhael Paskalev, 6:00 PM
The SPIN commitment also meant Ted Chase missing most of the Paper Garden Records party at Uncorked Tasting Room on the east side of N IH-35, but did manage to stop by the packed space for Mikhael Paskalev.
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FADER Magazine party @ FADER Fort – Ted Chase
Future & Trae tha Truth, 6:00 PM
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But Ted Chase had to head further east for the FADER Fort. The line was long based on a rumor that Usher was going to show up, but the headliner that night was billed as nineties alt-rock act Afghan Whigs. But before whoever was headlining was Future, who brought out Houston rapper Trae tha Truth and had the crowd going crazy – so crazy Ted Chase couldn’t make it into the pit for them.
Usher & Afghan Whigs, 7:30 PM
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It was also incredibly hard to make it through the tight audience to the photo pit, as everyone was there waiting for Usher. This threatened a disappointment, and the audience did wait through Afghan Whigs songs (one girl next to Ted was saying, “We want Usher!” pretty much from the moment the Whigs started…), but Usher did come on – along with special guest Pharrell.
And damn, Usher is a performer. Even if you’re a lily-white indie kid who doesn’t listen to him, one has to admit that Usher knows what he’s doing on stage and under the bright lights. It was also surprising how well he and Afghan Whigs worked together – not a pairing you’d ever expect, but they gelled very nicely.
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Dr. Martens showcase @ Bar 96 – Ivey Haber
Phosphorescent
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Ivey Haber stayed down in the Rainey Street area for Phosphorescent. Their keyboardist Jo Schornikow is one of the best that she’s ever seen live, and bassist Jeff Bailey was amazing as well. And there were lots of teary-eyed folks when the band played “Wolves”.
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SPIN Magazine showcase @ Easy Tiger – Ted Chase
Shout Out Louds, 9:00 PM
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If there was a band Ted Chase was gonna see twice at SXSW, it was Ra Ra Riot and/or Shout Out Louds. SOL was not quite as awesome as when they closed out the Merge Records showcase the night before, but singer/guitarist Adam Olenius (QRO interview) again went into crowd for “Tonight I Have To Leave It” – and of course Ted’s camera fucked up…
The Coathangers, 10:00 PM
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Ted stuck around at the SPIN showcase for the following Coathangers. Generic girl-garage, but at least we’ve reached the level of there being a ‘generic girl-garage’.
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Bond Music Group/Aerobix International showcase @ Karma Lounge – Ted Chase
Wild Moccasins, 10:30 PM
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Since he was in Texas, Ted Chase made sure to catch Houston’s Wild Moccasins, and shit got funk-kay! For a not-famous band (admittedly from nearby) playing their official SXSW showcase (often an act’s lowest-draw gig of SXSW), Wild Moccasins had the crowd rockin’.
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Neon Gold Records showcase @ Empire Automotive – Ted Chase
Foxes, 11:20 PM
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Ted Chase headed to Empire Automotive thinking that HAIM (QRO photos from the day before) would be playing, but obviously misread the QRO preview, which clearly stated that it would be Foxes. While Foxes ‘only’ has one great frontwoman, more than made up for it in the female & friendly crowd.
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Other notes:
-South-by-Southwest is about more than just pushing the next big thing in music – there’s also the next big thing in sponsors, and that often means alcohol, and the next big thing in alcohol seems to be cider. At the SPIN party there was free Crispin, along with an also-new pear cider. At first Crispin just tasted like cider that’s gone bad (which is what alcoholic cider essentially is…), but went down better as the day went on (and after the free Miller Lite was gone).
-Also at FADER Fort on Friday, albeit in the VIP crowd? Oh, Chris Novoselic! Even if Ted Chase had to explain to Usher fans who Novoselic is (admittedly, one would have thought a lot of the fans weren’t even born when Nevermind came out, were it not for FADER Fort being 21+), it was awesome to see him there. In fact, he was standing right next to the fan bleachers on house-right that divided the hoi-polloi from the VIP – and right next to where photographers had to pass by security to enter the photo pit. When Ted was leaving the pit, the security guy stepped into the crowd to make an opening for the photographers, temporarily leaving only a few unoccupied feet between the QROer with a camera & Novoselic, so pretty much had to take a pic of Novoselic – he gamely, if awkwardly, raised his hand in hello as the focus light went on, and Ted did apologize for being so paparazzi, but how could you not take the shot?
Unfortunately missed:
-Vampire Weekend (QRO live review), Dawes (QRO photos the day before), Charles Bradley (QRO photos at a festival), Iron & Wine (QRO live review), Emmylou Harris, and Divine Fits (QRO album review) @ Austin Convention Center, 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM. Usually the Austin Convention Center’s day shows are lightweights, with bands stuck in the not-venues playing to people picking up their credentials or just enjoying the free Wi-Fi & AC, but this was a stacked showcase.
-HAIM, The Neighborhood (QRO photos), Wild Belle (QRO spotlight on), MS MR (QRO photos), and St. Lucia (QRO photos) @ Cedar Street Courtyard, 1:45 PM – 6:00 PM.
-The Last Bison (QRO album review) @ Uncorked Tasting Room, 3:35 PM – 4:20 PM.
-The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (QRO live review) @ Easy Tiger, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM. This was officially a party by SPIN Magazine & PureVolume – but couldn’t easily go to/from it from/to SPIN’s Stubb’s showcase (and PureVolume dropped their great late-night parties of prior SXSWs).
-King Tuff (QRO album review) @ Gypsy Lounge, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM.
-The Flaming Lips (QRO spotlight on), Jim James (QRO album review), and Divine Fits @ Auditorium Shores Stage, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM. Oh, man, The Flaming Lips at Auditorium Shores Stage was bound to be awesome – and also über-packed (it broke Auditorium Shores Stage attendance records…).
-Green Day (QRO album review) @ ACL Live at The Moody Theater. No, don’t really go to SXSW to see mega-acts like Green Day – but your teenage self would have killed to see them play anything from Dookie…
-Hundred Waters (QRO photos) and IO ECHO (QRO photos from SXSW Tuesday) @ Scoot Inn, 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM.
-Fitz & The Tantrums (QRO live review), The Joy Formidable (QRO live review), DIIV (QRO album review), and Small Black (QRO photos from the day before) @ Lustre Pearl, 9:00 PM – 1:00 AM
-Little Green Cars (QRO photos) @ Antone’s, 12:00 AM – 1:00 AM.
-Talib Kweli (QRO photos) @ Empire Control Room, 1:00 AM – 2:00 AM.
