San Fermin - October 24, 2013, DC9

If I'm lucky, about once a year I find a new band I love, go to their debut album tour show in a 200-500 person venue, and am blown away. That's if I'm REALLY lucky. Ladies and gentlemen, I got lucky last Thursday night. San Fermin was amazing live. This buzz band lived up to the hype.  See NPR article. 

DC9 is a hole-in-the-wall kind of venue. Their show area holds about 200 people. It's in DC, and it's on 9th Street, hence the name.  Jill and I found incredibly lucky parking and arrived before the opener, but turns out we could have been later - the venue lied about start times, by an hour or so.

The opener, East Ghost, a local band, was not good. The Tobacco Teeth song they have up on Band Camp may have the worst lyrics I've ever heard. They were decent at playing their instruments, but I liked nothing they played and looked at my watch several times.  I was worried I wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer.

Rae Cassidy and Allen Tate, lead vocals, San Fermin 

Ellis Ludwig-Leone, San Fermin Composer

That changed the second San Fermin took the stage. I worried that their slower, moody sound would mean a boring set. That worry was completely unfounded. They had energy, talent and a quiet charisma that made me want to come back and see them again. I didn't realize at the time, but Lucius is not part of the band right now, and that didn't hurt at all. The new lead vocal Rae absolutely blew me away with her virtuosity and charm. It was also her birthday, and the crowd serenaded her with the band joining in. It was fun and memorable. The brass guys were entertaining to watch on stage and the drummer was sweetly enthusiastic.  His blue eyes looked so blue I thought it was glow-in-the-dark contacts, but it turned out to be a trick of the blue stage lights. Definitely his color.  Ellis, the classically trained composer of all of the songs by the band, seemed confident and at ease on stage introducing songs and performers between numbers. The band has recently been the victim of the theft of all of their equipment - $28,000 worth - and are running a kickstarter on their website to replace it.  This show was done with rental equipment. We were very lucky the show wasn't canceled. I am so glad Jill and I went out on a cold Thursday night to see this band.

Austin City Limits - Day 3 - October 13, 2013

Day Three of Austin City Limits was rained out for the first time in its history. After 3 years of drought, Austin got 12 inches of rain overnight, flooding the park.  Here's the video.  Until we saw the video, we thought they'd just open a little late, maybe cancel the first few acts to clean up from the storm. Once the video came out, we didn't blame them one bit. No way was that fixable in a few hours. The promoters immediately came through with refund announcements, so even though thousands of people were sad, no one really complained. There was nothing more they could have done to make it right.

On the bright side, though, we immediately started following all the artists who were supposed to play that day on Twitter and were awarded with pop-up show announcements all day long. It felt like a mini-SXSW experience.

Dana drove me around in the morning to see a bit of Austin. We went to a photo exhibit at a UT art gallery and to lunch before we started scoping out the popup locations, trying to figure out what could be paired with what.

We managed to see two of the shows - Mowgli's in the parking lot of a homeless shelter in the afternoon (acoustic) and then Franz Ferdinand in a little 750-person club at night.

Mowgli's pop up show, 10-13-2013

Dana at Mowgli's

The first pop-up we heard about was the Mowgli's, which I'd call a bunch of happy hippy folksy rockers. They decided to do an acoustic show in a parking lot across from a homeless shelter, and "admission" was anything a homeless person might need - toothpaste, shampoo, etc. We got there a little early and had fun chatting with everyone else in the crowd, updating each other on the Twitter posts we had found. The band pulled in in a van and trailer, and we all formed a circle around them, sitting so everyone could see. Dana had the BEST seat (her photos above). She was even on Austin 360's video! Katie and I were more to the side. I was almost directly behind the band in the second row, so I could see well, but couldn't hear the vocals as well as the people they were facing. Still, it was an AMAZING experience. Absolutely unforgettable. Who gets to do that? After, we dropped off our stuff at the shelter and hurried over to the line to get into Franz Ferdinand.

Initial reports for FF were that the doors would be opening an hour after we arrived. That got pushed back a couple times.  I did a rough count when we arrived and we were right on the edge of the 750 capacity, so all the time we were waiting in the drizzle, we weren't completely sure we'd get in. Katie and Dana went to a market for food, and left for a bit to get my jacket, and once a street performer came by to rap for us, but otherwise, we just talked to the people around us and had fun. After being asked why we were in line about 15 times in the first 3 hours of the wait, we started telling people "flu shots". There was one 20-something girl who was completely perplexed and had us doubled over laughing. We were getting pretty slap happy in line, and the line was moving at a snail's pace. We were still in line when the band got out of a cab in front of us.  Dana snapped the paparazzi photo below of the lead singer, Alex Kapranos. We finally got in the door minutes before the band when on stage. Only 30 more people were let in after us, according to the door man.

The club was death-metal themed, so the décor was entertaining, but quickly forgotten when the band took the stage. FF really has ENERGY. They didn't have a lot of space to move, but they still gave the appearance of doing a lot, and they sounded great, except when Alex tried to talk to the crowd, which sounded like "Mhhmemm TEXAS mehmenehhhh DRUMS mmemsejmemm AUSTIN..."  The club (Infest) was a long rectangle with the stage at the sort end, and we were near the back, so the view was spotty, but not horrible. An excellent experience for me. On the way home, we did a drive by of the Grouplove/Mowgli's/Smallpools/maybe Walk on Moon???  We can't prove the last one, but that's whose song we heard during the drive by. Might have been a cover, though.

Photo below from the Infest Facebook page - shows how packed the house was. See where the spotlight is on the chick on the riser?  We were standing in her drink splatter zone.





Austin City Limits - Day 2 - Saturday, October 12, 2013

Dana and I arrived at the festival just after the gates had opened. We went to Parquet Courts for about two songs, including the famous song, "Stoned and Starving".  They were really bad live. So young, and so stoned. Two band members tried to talk to the audience between songs and couldn't manage one sentence between them both. So we bailed and went to the free stuff - photo booths, popsicles, henna tattoos, hair braiding, etc.

Killed about an hour, then went to Walk the Moon, which I don't love, but Dana does. We sat in the shade near the port-a-potties because it was getting REALLY hot. The high was near 100 that day. Oddly, the view was pretty good from there, and it wasn't smelly at all. Walk the Moon were very dynamic on stage. The lead singer even crowd-surfed.

I left to try to meet up with a high school classmate I hadn't seen for years, only to discover that he had texted when I wasn't paying attention and needed to postpone. While I was gone, Dana noticed an opportunity, grabbed a recycle bag, and earned herself a free ACL T-shirt for 15 minutes of picking up bottles and cans in the field. Her experience inspired me to do it too, later in the day, after Grimes. Totally worth it, and the festival is AMAZINGLY clean because of that program.  At some point, I grabbed some food and saw a few minutes of a gospel choir that had dancers in white-face masks - honestly, one of the most creative and energetic stage shows I saw at the festival - and the only stage with a tent, so completely out of the sun. For a while, I just hung out under a tree reading near a small stage just to have some time out of the sun. It was REALLY hot and humid.

I managed to find Dana without texting (miracle!) and hung out for a short time until she went to Silversun Pickups while I went to Little Green Cars. This period of time was one of the hardest for me. Three bands I really love overlapping. First, Little Green Cars, who sounded incredible live. They are so powerful, and they all sing. The guitarist  (or was it bassist?) isn't hard on the eyes, either. I left early to catch a couple songs at Joy Formidible. Also really excellent live.  Great audience interaction.  Then left THAT early too to catch half of Grimes, who was absolutely mesmerizing on stage and sounded fabulous. The crowd was huge. It was hard to get close enough to see.

Little Green Cars, ACL, 10-12-2013



Grimes, ACL, 10-12-2013

I found my high school classmate next and hung out talking during Passion Pit for half their set (meh), then saw the first song of Kendrick Lamar's set. So not my thing, but I could see the appeal. He immediately got the crowd moving. It was then that I noticed how incredibly crowded the place had become.  It was hard to move through the crowds.

Met up with Dana and Katie at the Shouting Matches, which is a Bon Hiver country music side project. Again, meh. Dana and Katie had been at Wilco, and Dana had scored a VIP pass for her and a guest for the main stages, so she and Katie had front row seats for Wilco and later the Cure. Robert Smith sounded great, but he stood in exactly one place and just sang, never speaking to the audience.  I stayed for about 45 minutes of the Cure's 2 hour set, checked out 2 songs at Kings of Leon (the singer just stood there, relying on the strobe lights behind him for excitement- boring!), then I left early, exhausted. (I passed on my turn front row and let Katie stay.) Minutes after I wanted into Katie's house, it started raining, so Dana and Katie came home soaked through.  Cure photo below - Dana took that one.

 

Austin City Limits Day One - Friday, October 11, 2013

Yeah! I FINALLY got to go to a real music festival, and in Austin, which was also a first! I had a lot of fun, but I also came away with a clearer perspective about what to expect from a festival. If you are expecting elaborate stage shows, you won't get it. Even performance quality is a bit spotty. If you are expecting the festival atmosphere and black-box sets with stripped down performances, then you're on the money. I had a good time, but it wasn't a life-changing experience. Worth it once in a while and an excellent vacation centerpiece, but I'm not going to start seeking out all the major festivals as part of a bucket list. It was good, but not that good. Anyway, on to what I saw.

Katie, Dana, and Anita

While in Austin, I stayed with Dana's friend Katie, who lives only a mile from the park where ACL takes place. She was an awesome hostess and really fun to hang out with.

Friday morning, I walked over by myself before the gates opened so I could be there for the first act of the day - the Orwells. I'm really glad I did. They were funny in a train wreck kind of way. It's a bunch of fresh-out-of-high-school teen boys who have a punk-pop sound and lyrics that are about girlfriends, murder-suicide, and other teen boy fascinations. Most of the boys on stage just faded into the background, but the lead singer seemed to be channeling the spirit of a drunk transsexual. He wasn't dressed as a girl, but he was squirming around in suggestive ways that are more common to a girl. For a while he writhed on the ground and sucked on his microphone. He does have long hair, so that was in character. Honestly, I think he was very high. Vocally, he was all over the place. Sometimes he was WAY off key.  Other times he blew me away with a gravelly low sound that was gorgeous and I didn't expect from him. I'm curious what will come from this band in the future. There were a few sprinkles of rain during this act, but it cleared up.


Orwells, 10-11-2013, ACL

I left Orwells early and headed over to Fidlar, which was also a punkish rock band. Fidlar might also sing of the virtues of getting high, but they really had their s**t together on stage. Poised, confident, fun, smart, high-energy - the crowd loved them, me along with it. I would consider seeing them again.

Next was Savages, a third punk-ish band, but all women this time. I don't like their music much, but I'd heard they were amazing live. Honestly, I didn't agree. The singer looked a bit intense, but I didn't see the famous energy. The band made an unfortunate choice of costumes - all black, the same color of the stage, so they were pretty much invisible. Dana met up with me here.

Next, I rushed back across the park for Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, where we met up with Katie. Thao was excellent. One of the best performances of the weekend. Really high energy, excellent musicianship, great performance, plenty of audience engagement. I really liked that show. I would consider seeing them again.


Thao, 10-11-2013, ACL

I had a little break in my schedule when I ate, then I saw a couple songs by Electric Six, which was much different than I expected. Apparently, they have a LOT of albums, and the one or two songs I like by them are not typical. I left quickly and headed over to Fun. for a couple songs, then over to Local Natives for nearly their entire set. I was tired and sat for most of it, so I didn't see much, but they sounded great.

I think I grabbed some food, then went to part of Wild Belle, which looks like a band from the 70s, but sounds like a hybrid of reggae, jazz, pop, and some others. There was a saxophonist in the band. It was very cool and hip sounding. Photo below.

Next was Purity Ring, which was briefly delayed by rain and tech problems. By then, it was dark, and we were using our strobe-light bracelets to find each other. (Worked FABULOUSLY). Purity Ring was amazing (again - I've seen them before) and they had added extensively to their synesthesia music-light show.

Last on day one was Depeche Mode. They had an awesome stage set with impressive lights and video segments, and the lead singer did a fantastic job parading around and keeping the energy up. He sounded and looked great, too. The other band members looked 10 years older than their early 50s actual ages. I did a google image search and you wouldn't believe how young they looked when they started out. You can watch them grow up in photos.  Photo of our view at the show below.