SXSW '07 Wrap-up

Day 4... Apocalyptic?

That's how MTV.com described the set by Iggy and THE Stooges, which closed out my SXSW. Definitely not an oldies act or just cashing in, you quickly wipe that thought out of your mind watching the crazed Iggy stalk around the stage like a caged animal ready to pounce. That's exactly what he did with a running dive into the crowd at the end of the second song "I Wanna Be Your Dog". It was a ferocious performance ending with about 40 members of the audience on stage during the finale. What an awesome way to end SXSW... Check this shit out...




But there was a lot of music before THE Stooges blew it up. I finally got a chance to see Margot & the Nuclear So & So's. If you're looking for the next Arcade Fire or Decemberists, look here. I've been loving their debut, The Dust of Retreat, for about a year now but I've had to miss their 2-3 local appearances. Watching them rip into an intense "Skelton Key" was one of the highlights for the entire trip.

Less successful were the acts on the Stubbs bill along with Iggy. The show opened with L.A. band, A Fine Frenzy. Their polite, keyboard ditties were ok, but they were a curious choice to start the night off, more "Fine" than "Frenzy". Paulo Nutini raised the bar ever so slightly with his shy, bent-over, microphone-stand-hugging performance. "He sings like an old man," offered my wife Laurie. But he does write some strong songs like the ubiquitous "New Shoes" and likely follow-up "Jenny Don't Be Hasty".

A large chunk of the crowd came to see the Kings of Leon set including some shithead behind us who clearly thought himself the world's biggest KOL fan having downloaded all the new, leaked material from the upcoming CD (which of course you could hear on Musical Justice for the last month) and singing it at the top of his lungs. He brought more energy to his performance than KOL did on stage (unfortunately that included an errant fist punched in the air but landing on the back of Laurie's head, almost resulting in blows between us). There's no doubt that KOL write some great songs. I think the new CD is likely to make many 'Best Of' lists this year. But as a live act, I'm unimpressed. They've got zero charisma and minimal interaction between each other (or with the crowd). When I saw them open for U2, I thought the stage was too big for them, so I hoped for better at Stubbs. But given that they pretty much just stand in their designated spaces the whole show, even the tiny Habana Calle stage would have been too big.

Ditto for Spoon. I'd never seen them and really wanted to like them. But live, the songs all have a similar middling tempo and again, these guys played like they had some kind of shock collar if they stepped more than 5 feet from the microphone in front of them. Note to Spoon & KOL: Watch THE Stooges. Take notes.

Saturday's grades:
Powersolo D, Margot & The Nuclear So & So's A-, A Fine Frenzy C-, Paolo Nutini C, Kings of Leon B (Material A-, Performance C+), Spoon C, THE Stooges A

All in all, it was a strange SXSW. We saw 35 bands in four days, but no Continental Club, Antone's, Yard Dog, Whole Foods, Hut's, SXEast Austin day party, Waterloo Records or Austin Music Hall. That was in part due some closings, cancellations and random elements such as what bands played where. Maybe the fact that I'm married now plays into it too. But I think that it's also due to how much more crowded Austin's become. Parking and traffic are having a growing impact on everyone's ability to move around to those areas that aren't near 6th Street. Seems unlikely that's going to change any time soon but it's not going to keep me from coming back next year... for sure.

ADDENDUM: I just found this video of the Stooges performing "Trollin'" from the new CD at Waterloo Records. Iggy's got a shirt on and is behaving himself, but this is why we go to SXSW...