onsdag 25 Mar 2009, 23:17

I was really looking forward to taking Thursday and Friday off for SXSW this year, but work got really crazy and I had to cancel my Thursday vacation. Friday night also turned out to be the only time this month we could visit my brother in Dallas to talk about the deck they're helping us build as a Christmas present. Altogether, that left me Friday afternoon and Saturday night to see shows, which turned out to be enough to see the two bands I've been most obsessed with the last few months, as well as one band I've been curious about for one time and even one completely new group I was impressed enough by to purchase a record from…

Friday afternoon
After flyering for SXKU V, I met my friend Lucas at Jackalope, grabbed a gyro on the street and went to Emo's for the Pitchfork party where my major obsession School Of Seven Bells was scheduled to play at 3. We were there at 1:30 or so, in time to see some of Max Tundra's laptop-pop and decide that it was way too early to see something so cloyingly enthusiastic. Got in line to go inside and realized that the line wasn't for SVIIB, it was for The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, America's latest jangle-pop heartthrobs. They do that thing pretty well, but have plenty of room to improve. The melodies are already good, and I especially look forward to them learning dynamics and perhaps palm-muting for the guitar. They looked about 20 at most and I think they mentioned that this was their 7th show, so bully for them. SVIIB was next, and they either created or fell victim to some seriously irritating delay before they started. For a band with no drummer, they took forever to set up and then I think I heard the soundguy say they had to wait another ten minutes because the show was ahead of schedule. I checked my watch and he was right, but it was a bit of a drag to see the band sitting up there on stage ready to go and instead just kinda hanging out, checking their iPhones and chatting with each other. When they finally did start, they played two of the mellower songs from the middle of Alpinisms, but then they kicked into Half Asleep and the show really got going. The vocals, keys and guitars all sounded great, and I was really impressed with the keyboardist sister's stage presence, especially since she was mostly singing harmonies. Something about that long black hair parted down the middle perhaps. Anyway, the drum machine had the bass set way way too loud and it kind of killed the parts that were supposed to really rock with distortion. It might have sounded better farther away from stage, but it was distracting throughout the show and I definitely would love to see them take a drummer and bassist on the road. However, I thought several times that SVIIB could sound quite good with acoustic instruments, and they could probably sell exponentially more records to the adult contemporary crowd that way, but they appear to really be into their dense, atmospheric dance-pop and for that I am very grateful. Their lyrics give me some confidence that they're not really interested in pandering to anybody.

Saturday night
Went to the Moose Lodge to see one band only: This Horn Of Afrika. They were scheduled to play at 10:30 and Hannah and I got a babysitter so she could go to a real show for the first time since Sylvan was born over a year ago. We got there at ten when The Theater Fire was playing a pretty good set, but next up was a band from NY called Lemonade instead of THOA. Lemonade turned out to be pretty good, not too far off from THOA but more in line with Tussle's slightly-cheesy club leanings. I bought their CD and like it, hopefully will get a chance to check them out again. The night got confusing at this point, as several bands played short sets on the three inside stages, but THOA did not set up at any of them, just hanging around inside. I asked them about this and they said they'd gotten bumped. They ended up playing last, and for only about 15 minutes tops! It made me mad, but it fits with my impression of them: easygoing guys who are much more into their music than promoting it or any of the other stuff that goes with that. It seemed like if a band from out-of-town needed a chance to play, well, ok, let 'em. Since I was there just for THOA, it seemed like it might have irritated me more than them. The set was a little rushed and wasn't as magical as the Free Week or Broken Neck shows I saw, but damned if they don't do their thing as brutally and beautifully as I could wish. I really hope they have more dedicated groupies then me, because they deserve 'em.