Boys and Girls in America

Oooooooo TEXAS. Spent the week in Austin, Texas at SxSW. Second year running and much more of an eye opener. I am still officially teetotal, which is one mean feat after attending a festival that revolves around the free beer and BBQs…..did I also mention I am vegetarian?!?! However, rather than involving myself in a raucous and unruly mass band-off, I carefully planned, vigilantly selected, and most importantly, ate very well. You gotta have priorities.

So first off, I guess I should cover the festival. I felt the standard of bands and the number of truly worthy hyped bands was low this year. I got more pleasure from seeing bands that people recommended than from the “hot” A&R lists that quite frankly proved to be dry. Bear Hands, Bear in Heaven and Minus the Bear were particular favourites. I am at a loss to explain the coincidence of them all containing the word “bear”. I was a little naughty and saw some people I have seen in the past, including the ever-astounding Temper Trap who played the same bill as Boxer Rebellion who I actually quite enjoyed. Cripes. Just to recharge my cool-card, DD/MM/YY can only be described as leaving me in shock – in a good way. It was probably the craziest 20 minutes anyone could spend standing by a PA. I can only imagine what capers evolve on their tourbus. Whilst I would like to document every band I saw over the week, I think only a specific mention of the key events is required at this point; next point being that Local Natives sang so badly out of key that I was forced to leave, Gin Wigmore is possibly the most awful act I have ever seen ever, and I accidentally saw Chiddy Bang play to a roof garden of uninterested Americans who had no clue that he is UK Top 10. It’s funny the way the world works.

Venue wise, there seemed to bit a lot more on offer this year. Music was blasted out every hour of every day at every possible place that a speaker stack would fit. And sponsored by every possible sugary drink and toilet cleaner that had a dollar spare. I know this has been the case for many years now, but the prominence was definitely greater than in the past. I felt assaulted by the need for people to sell to me. Fucked Up covered it better than I can in their blog. Worth a read.

The main highlight of the week for me was definitely to be found in the provocative, informative, and well-constructed panels. SXSW overshadows all other conferences I have attended when it comes to the standard of the industry events. I came out of many a talk with my head buzzing, and regularly vomited a sprawl of ideas onto an email to my shell-shocked UK colleagues. If there is one thing that I take from the event this year, it will be what I learnt in the panels.

And so I conclude my sporadic and brief roundup of the world’s biggest live music event by pointing all visitors in the direction of good food; Moonshine for Sunday Brunch, and Buenos Aires for every other meal. Essential dining moments.