SXSW 2008 Recap: Adam Goes to Austin

Attending and attempting to chronicle one’s time in Austin, TX at SXSW 2008 can be a rather daunting experience. For a city that prides itself on being the “Live Music Capital of the World,” Austin is littered with bands during SXSW, as groups of all shapes and sizes play their music in every possible spare square of performance space. Moreover, people are literally everywhere, standing about for this show or that event, eating up enough free food to feed the needy in a mid-sized city, drinking early and often, all under a bright blue sky filled with a seasonably warm Texas sun. Everybody who was anybody and everyone in between was present in some form or fashion: hipsters, yuppies, college kids, aging rockers, goths, metalheads, parents with kids, journalists, camera-wielders, videographers, stoners, hippies, homeless, product hawkers, and the nearly innumerable bands.

During the day, the average attendees strolling the byways of Austin’s downtown area were markedly well-behaved, though a bit loud - typical white, college-aged and twentysomething indie kids. At night, after drinking free (but watered-down) drinks all day long, while not eating much, things became more raucous, but never strayed too out-of-control. Both are expected responses, since, no matter how trendy and/or hip these kids might be, by all demographic standards, these are suburban-raised, middle-to-upper-middle-class white kids who have been raised with a modicum of good manners instilled into them. They might drink too much and they might have a snot-nosed sense of entitlement, but if they bump into you accidentally in the street while raging drunk, they’re still going to apologize.

However, throughout it all, the during-a-show behavior put me ill at ease. Everyone was so busy trying to out-cool each other that they neglected the music on the stage. Copious amounts of skin and the coolest of brands were flashed with regularity as people flaunted their hair, sunglasses, t-shirts with appropriately ironic slogans, cutesy attire, and shoes. The music became mere background noise. It was as if these too-cool-for-school folks had moved their hip little conversations out of their lofts and onto the streets of Austin, TX, all for some added scenester credibility.

But I get it - that’s what happens at these events: people talk, mingle, schmooze, flirt, debate, haggle, and brag about what’s happening in their lives, using the entire venue as their office/bar/hangout. And when you invite in sponsors of any kind, whether it’s a music magazine, beverage manufacturer, or line of cars, the focus of the event has shifted from being about the music to being about the money. I am the one who has to remember that, at SXSW and similar events, the music is the pretty, glossy body that attracts people, but money is what drives the vehicle.

Please do not misinterpret my words here - I had a wonderful time patrolling the streets of downtown Austin, TX in search of great music. However, there were times when it was difficult to separate the activities and events from the music. The organizers of SXSW do well to make sure that the event is well orchestrated and well publicized - maps and flyers with show specifics littered the grounds of these very non-green festivities - but this did mean that the obnoxious industry minutiae often overwhelmed the general musical merriment.

The highlight of my experience would easily have to be the Tilly and The Wall show over at Habana Calle 6 as they closed out the Polyvinyl/Team Love Records Showcase on Friday night. The entire night was packed full of music, as 10 bands played from 7pm to 2am, including quality performances from the dreamy folk band A Weather, as well as Capgun Coup who brought the crowd to their figurative feet with a strong, aggressive indie-punk sound. The crowd was really there to see Tilly and the band obliged: the complete TATW ensemble played a raucous, excited set, including five tracks off their upcoming album. The place was packed, even at 1:15 in the morning. The crowd still had enough energy left in them to sing along heartily to the songs they knew and respond well to the ones they did not; the band soaked up all their enthusiasm and channeled it directly into the music.

Houston-based band Electric Touch performed their engaging version of Brit-rock at the Justice Records Showcase at Lucky Lounge. The group deftly brought together The Who and Oasis to a rather appreciative group of attendees, presenting a very accessible, but not very challenging sound. Even more than their sound, their look was a patently over-the-top take on ’60s-’70s rock: skinny jeans, open-at-the-chest collared shirts, and heaps of shaggy brown hair. Electric Touch confidently played to the crowd, and as they served up a great cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together” towards the end of their set, it was more than evident that this band loves what they do because they certainly show it.

The crowd at the great day show at the French Legation Museum in east Austin (put on by Press Here Publicity), on the other hand, luxuriated in the chill, laid back, picnic-like atmosphere. Hanging around and talking with one’s friends made sense in this environment: the music was under a tent, while the food and drinks were scattered about a large, attractive, grassy area. Scottish four-piece Sons and Daughters ramped up the energy with their exciting brand of glammy-punk, complete with a guitar player with Bowie-esque hair and a vampy, crooning, sexy lead singer. The illustrious J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. played a brooding and compelling solo set, drawing in the most attention yet from the crowd, as he made sure that people knew he still had his guitar chops, complete with a host of long, winding solos played through a thick layer of fuzz. Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth) & The New Wave Radicals then took the stage and wowed the crowd with their classic-indie-meets-classic-rock sound. While Thurston did sing on occasion and teasingly interacted with the crowd, the majority of the set was entirely instrumental, much to the delight of a very attentive and appreciative crowd of aging hipsters (complete with kids in strollers!).

The most bittersweet moment of the weekend came when I turned on my inner fanboy to partake of the lovely British songstress Kate Nash. I knew that this would, sadly, be another see-and-be-seen event for the cool people, but I couldn’t pass it. Kate stepped onto the stage with a single acoustic guitar and played a string of five songs - “Breakup” (a new track), “Birds,” “I Hate Seagulls,” “Dickhead,” and “Don’t You Want To Share The Guilt” - all the while making snide comments that she didn’t quite appreciate people talking during her set. But before she could get too sad about the crowd’s behavior, Billy Bragg made a surprise appearance, joining Ms. Nash for a few songs. After declaring that he & Kate were brought together by their mutual affinity for the Shangri-Las, the two of them launched into a cover of the group’s “Give Him A Great Big Kiss.” The unlikely duo then played Bragg’s tune “A New England” and finished off the set with Kate’s hit single “Foundations,” much to the delight of myself and whoever was actually paying attention. Serving as a microcosm of all my negative experiences at SXSW, Kate’s set was marred by people who cared more about being at the show than the show itself.

In the end, despite all of my complaining about talkative people and my malaise regarding the trumping of substance with style, SXSW was more than enjoyable. With so much to experience for free, it was unnecessary to invest in an over-priced badge/wristband. I got to see a host of great bands play some rather excellent music, and I made sure that I had fun at all times. It would be easy to piss on those folks who couldn’t close their mouths, but I’ve allowed the cool people to hamper my fun far too often in the past. I would not and did not allow it at SXSW 2008.