Everyday Normal Life.

hey all, if I had a busier week than I had the last week, I don't know when it was. go away on vaca, and when you come back: whoa. still catching my breath. I always say, "Life: it'll kill you!"

I'll get posts going again soon. some of you have asked about the sxsw posts, as well as where the twitter feed went (I blogged the "goings-on" from this year's 'embarrassment of riches' music festival in Austin, TX): if anyone wants to see all the posts from sxsw in one long scrolling page, you can click on the tag/label "sxsw" in the labels section, bottom, left of this blog (there's one at the bottom of this post right here also), and then you have the option to see all the posts w/ that tag on them. Go ahead. An insane 4 days. Lots of bands, some celebrities, a fabulous, tiring time! The twitter feed I set up specifically for sxsw (for brief, on-the-fly updates), I moved to the bottom left of this blog; just scroll down a ways. I can't decide if I'm going to keep the twitter feed linked to this blog or not; not sure it serves any purpose for everyday, "normal" life. Yeah. Everyday normal life. "everyday normal life." Say it again: "everyday normal life. everyday normal life. everyday normal life." I like it. I don't know why. But I like it. Everyday normal life.

Day Three (2nd post)...

try refreshing if page isn't loading properly; give it some time...

Okay, so I heard a lot about this rapper named Cage. He was playing at one of my favorite places here, Club Deville, so I was stoked to see him. Notice anything wrong with him? He's white! I was surprised by that, but not nearly as surprised as I was by how much he sucked. I mean, anyone reading this could rap better, on the spot, improv, w/ a microphone! I am not kidding! I thought it was a schtick, a joke, I really did. He was just shouting basically in monotone. NO flow to speak of. I left halfway through his first song, babbling to everyone in line waiting to get in to turn around and don't waste your time. I didn't get a crowd of 150 people going off about him, at all.The worst "rapper" I ever heard in my life, by far.


Then there was this fool-of-a-man walking around w/ this band's logo on his back.


Running out of time here to blog, but these last 3 pics are of the 1AM Dino Jr. show at one of the sweetest places I've ever seen a band at. It was in a building that didn't have a ceiling, a big courtyard if you will, w/ plants, trees, cobblestones, balconies; very cool. And of course, Dino Jr slayed. As always. But i had never seen J. Mascis play with THREE full stacks before. He had them bent around him, almost in a semi-circle. Seriously, the guy is bleepin' nuts. But if this was the only show I saw down here, the trip would've been worth it. They were extraordinary, and played a tone of hits.

Day Three...

Very tired now. A lot of work all this band-seeing. At the time of this writing, we've seen 31 bands/artists. Still at Bro's house, and it's 2PM local time. Heading downtown around 3:00 for last blast of shows. Got in at 3:30AM the last two nights. Head for the airport at 8AM tomorrow. Have you ever been to Vegas? sxsw is exactly like spending 4 days in Vegas: you want to maximize your sightseeing, get the most for the money you paid, thinking 4 days is not enough time your first day there, then realizing by the last day, you'd never have a 5th day in you, and get on the plane to go home a completely wrecked. Matt was comparing heading out yesterday to "punching the clock." But it's work, having all this fun! Okay, enough complaining. Some pics from yesterday...

This was a shot from "Flatstock 20," the 20th year sxsw has had this show of over 100 artists who specialize in concert/flyer posters. WAY cool. We spent about two hours walking around, and could've spent the whole day. We were in awe of all the work.


I met Dez Dickerson, the guitarist from Prince's Revolution band! We rapped for about 10 minutes, and I bought a copy of his new book, "My Time With Prince," which actually looks pretty good. Super-nice, down to earth fella. Intelligent. This was a thrill for me, as Prince has always been one of my favorites.


One of the bands we saw yesterday (we saw only 8 the whole day), Earthless. They're a Psych-Groove-Heavy instrumental trio. J. Mascis played with them at this show. Unfortch, J. did the nice thing and took a backseat, keeping his amp low, and respectfully not walking all over the main guitarist (who is awesome in his own right); but J was prodded on several occasions to 'go off' by the main gtrst, but never did. They rocked one, heavy, 54-minute song! I gave up on the 36th minute and went outside the tent to chill. It was bleepin' nuts! Also saw Andy Duvall (Zen Guerrilla drumer, Philly expat) and Jason 'Korko,' (Bardo and Night Marchers drummer currently, also from Philly). Andy was taking pics, professionally I think, and Jason was playing w/ New Zealand Band the Renderers, who we might catch today. I said hi to J. Mascis after the show (on street out front), and he was his usual "King-of-Whatever" self, and extremely mellow, just lurching about the block, oblivious all the sxsw madness going on around him.


Matt on 6th street. He keeps saying he wants to get a tat while he's down here. Maybe today...


We took a brake from the noiz and caught a comedy showcase. It was awesome! Little spot (80 people max), and 15 minutes per comic. jenneane garafolo (sp?) was fantastic, but there was a woman on before her who blew me away. Will have to get her name up here later.

Day 2, Post-Siesta...

I'm running out of time to blog. Here are more bands we saw yesterday: Howl, Fuck Shovel, Mark Sultan, Obitz, Flower Travelin' Band, Idol Warship, John Forte, Reflection Eternal, Annihilation Time, Earthless, Circle Jerks. Remember, this is just the second half of day two (post-siesta). Some pics below..

Bartender at Radio Room had an interesting/fun way of serving beers!

This is the fabulous and very interesting Flower Travelin' Band; they began in the 70's, I think they're from Japan. Rennie recommended them to us, and they were fun and great. Think: 1 part Emerson, Lake & Palmer/2 parts Ozzy, Sabbath/2 parts Santanna, 3 parts some South Pacific Tiki Groove, and 2 parts Jam Band. And check out that Guitar!


John Forte. World's first acoustic guitar playing rapper. He was okay for the first 30 minutes...

Reflection Eternal, live band (drums, bass, two guitars, keyboard/sequencer, and a DJ using Mac laptop w/ his turntable), fronted by Talib Kweli. Scoot Inn was at capacity and it was a great crowd; about a 50/50 miw of black and white, everybody jumping and dancing. One of the best rap shows I've seen. Rap of the night: "...I got 'em contemplatin' suicide like Joy Division..."

Ms Bea's, a cool outdoor small joint w/ two bands, putting on about 20 bands per day.

Annihilation Time; Day 1; no audio (clip from still camera)

more music, day #2

Ms. Bea's. about 2PM, our first stop today (where we saw Snake Trap). Total chill vibe, today, Austin.

This was Skeletonwitch. Hardcore thrash metal. As fast as it can be played. Every song was about sorcerers, zombies, guts and flesh. One song was called, "no rest for the dead." Matt and I cracked up at some of the titles and in between song banter of these guys. There was an aggressive pit where people were getting hurt; one guy dislocated his shoulder it looked like. Not my favorite kind of music, but I did respect these guys for playing like they did. Notice the dueling white Ibanez Destroyers - or are they Blazers?


Juliette Lewis's band; don't even remember the name. We watched about 3 songs and had a killer Margarita. She was okay; kind of wanted to be Janis Joplin in a song or two. let's put it this way: she killed Keanu Reeve's band.

at the Scoot Inn, waiting for Pete Rock, which never happened. Again, another chill venue. Great down here.

almost at the halfway point!

we're back at Brother Blair's house for "siesta." Heading out for 2nd part of day 2 around 8:15pm Central time. Primarily rock on deck for this evening, and then a little after midnight I'm taking off for Reflection Eternal, which includes Talib Kweli (formerly of Black Star, w/ Mos Def) and Hi-Tek, whiel Matt catches another act. Pete Rock was supposed to be at Scoot Inn at 6PM but scheduling got messed up and no one knew what was going on. Supposedly he's coming tonight to DJ for Reflection Eternal, which will be ridic. I learned that from a group of homies at Scoot Inn I approached: "so if y'all think I'm asking you this just because you're black, you'd be correct. What's up w/ Pete Rock?" They laughed and one of them said, "I was gonna ask you that!" ...so once we're back from tonight's shows, we'll be officially halfway finished w/ sxsw. It's been great so far. I feel like I'm gonna leave Austin the same way I leave Vegas. Toast. Burnt toast....when we're downtown, there are major network issues: some of my live blogging apps - if not all - don't send (tweets; email, et al). That's why there hasn't been as much of that as I would've hoped for. Whatever. New post w/ pics from today soon.

Day 2, Baby!

This is first band we stumbled upon today (Snake Trap); they were good. An
instrumentsl trio. Think Slint/Primus/Dub Trio. And a couple Dos
Equis. Saw Kyelsa: heavy metal/rock. Good, not great. And now we're at
Emo's Annex, and Skeleton Witch is about to go on...

...end of day 1

Grant Hart. He was okay; nothing special, sad to say.

The legendary Dicks at Austin Music Hall. Busted onto scene in early 80's w/ slew of other hardcore/punk bands; originally from Austin, Texas. They looked old, but were really god. Singer was funny and reminded me of Santa Claus. David Yow (Scratch Acid/Jesus Lizard) came out and sung a song with them, he was good as well. He stated in a recent interview, the Dicks were the only band he was ever scared to see, that's ow crazy/scary they were back in the day. And THAT's saying something, coming from him.

Another legend, Roky Erickson (13th Floor Elevators) came out and joined Black Angels for a song. What a mess he was: didn't think to put his drink down when he came out, so one of the Angels had to take his drink from him, and was explaining he could play better that way. Then, he was strumming and there was no sound, so another member had to turn up his gtr volume for him. Just a fucking mess of a person. Sounded good though!


Last show of night was Easy Action, fronted by John Brandon, another legend, formerly Negative Approach singer, and then Laughing Hyenas. Full-on rock, old Detroit style. They were very good. They played at Scoot Inn, one of the best joints down here so far: outside, w/ xmas lights hanging everywhere, and we even grabbed a brat from their mobile sausage stand for the ride home. Got home about 1:30AM.

Black Angels

Roky Erickson coming out soon to play w/ them. They're pretty good.
First time I ever heard them. Psych/groove/Doors thingy.,,

pics from first half of day 1 (text in post below this)

Annihilation Time

me and Hutch, from the Thermals

DmG$

Tag-a-long

Matt, Me

Matt and Keith Morris from Circle Jerks

tired. oh so...tired...

...how are we gonna make it? We're on our "siesta" now, back at my brother's house. and we're beat. really beat. we gotta catch an hour nap and head back out by 8:30 for the Dicks w/ David Yow, Circle Jerks, Roky Erickson w/ Black Angels, Maserati, and others...oi vey. It's only halfway through day one, and we're so tired now. I guess we are getting old after all.

We've seen about 7, 8 bands so far. tv/tv sucked. Posers. After that we saw tag-a-long, who were great: think early Epitath (sp?)/Nitro style band, happy-punk. They were selling customized large underwear from their merch-booth. They kicked it. Then we saw Thermals, who were halfway through their set, and they were really good. Red 7, as well as so many other places down here, have indoor stages, and outdoor stages. It's awesome. Total "mardi gras" feel, as blocks and roads are closed off, people stumbling/drinking in the street, endless fun; endless bands. Saw DMG$ (damaged goods) on our way out of the Thermals show; a couple other 'whatever' bands, and then we saw Annihilation Time. This band rules. They are Punk/Metal. An equal blend of punk/metal. They wrecked shop. a 5-piece (at Emo's) that just shredded. Think Black Flag/Thinn Lizzy/Tank: a bleepin' blitzkreig! Check these guys out if you like full-on, maniacal punk (or Metal). Then we checked out Grant Hart (yes, Husker Du), and he was good; we didn't stay too long 'cause we had to get back to catch some sleep for tonight's round. Just grant and an electric gtr. Good songs, a legend to be sure, but nothing phenomenal, from what we saw.

Now we're resting for a bit, then back to it. So much for my nap. I'll post some pics after this post.

The Thermals!

Outdoor show, 80 degrees, beer.

"I'm Somebody!"

Just Picked up our badges; it's warm, bright & sunny; bands are playing!

streaming thoughts...

...So if you ever find yourself in a TGIF restaurant, like we did yesterday at the Dallas airport, try the sliders appetizer: 4 nice-sized patties w/ bacon on good rolls, and a special sauce on the side. I was impressed. Junky, fattening, but delicious.

...Check out this link for the complete list of bands, parties and showcases at sxsw. As of this writing, there are 5,049 shows! 5,049! That's bleepin' nuts, no?

...every time I travel, I see first-hand just how terrible the PHL airport actually is. things happen quickly and efficiently at other airports; service is superior; the layouts at other airports make more sense; people who work at other airports always seem to be nicer; the food and beer selection is better...ah well.

my 2009 sxsw schedule

So, it's not finalized, but this is as close to what Matt and I would like to achieve this week, with regards to performances, artists and the like. In some cases, there are bands listed multiple times, which just gives us more opportunities to see them (since there are many times multiple acts we want to see are playing the same time). Also, not everything on here is 'must-see,' however, one never knows how the days/nights will shake out and where we're actually going to be at any give time, so we thought we'd leave some other possibilities on there. Sick. sj

Tweeting Works: AT&T Boosts SXSW Network

so here's an update on an earlier post about ATT/iPhones tanking in Austin due to crowds. sj

The tweets, blog posts and constant complaining about AT&T’s shoddy network coverage at South by Southwest has not fallen on deaf ears. Seth Bloom, a spokesman at AT&T, emailed me 10 minutes ago to say that the carrier is adding capacity to the downtown Austin network, and attendees should see their iPhone (or other AT&T device) experience improve by this evening. Bloom writes:

"To accommodate unprecedented demand for mobile data and voice applications at SXSW, we are actively working this afternoon to add capacity to our cell sites serving downtown Austin. These efforts are ongoing, but we anticipate that customers should see improved network performance this evening and for the remainder of the event. We will continue to monitor network performance throughout the event, and will do everything possible to maximize network performance throughout. We apologize to customers who were inconvenienced during this surge in local network demand."

Let’s hope the added capacity helps, and that AT&T customers can keep toting their smartphones, rather than bulky laptops, around the convention center.

best/funniest/most interesting band names from this year's sxsw music festival

some of these names seriously crack me up. My current favorite is "I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness." I don't know a single thing about them. Does anyone? I'd love to hear more about them; see if their music is as original as their name & logo. Check out the rest these crazy names. sj

Sandwitch
We Have Band
Earthless
Doctor Krapula
Dananananaykroyd
Pink Nasty
Hyperpotamus
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness
sorry-ok-yes
Bowling for Food
Slaves to Gravity
Tittsworth
We Should Be Dead
The Crash That Took Me
That 1 Guy
Yak Ballz
We Were Promised Jet-packs
Psychedelic Horse-shit
Olympic Ass Kicking Team featuring Terry Anderson
The Gay Blades
Natalie Portman's Shaved Head
dd/mm/yyy
The Mother Truckers
The Homosexuals
And You Will Know US By The Trail of Dead
Death by Stereo
Peelander-Z
The Great Lakes Myth Society
Bryan Scary and the Shredding
A Hawk and a Hacksaw
The Lovemakers
Shout Out Out Out Out
Reef the Lost Cauze
Death Fest
B.L.A.C.K.I.E.
The Sleepover Disaster
Bassholes
DJ Nobody
Shitty Carwash
El Jesus De Magico
thecocknbullkid
Designer Drugs
This Bike is a Pipe Bomb
Outer Spacist
A Whiskey A Dance A Fight A Kiss Goonight
Love You Long Time
Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey

AT&T Fails The SXSW iPhone Test

uh - oh. I might not be live blogging from sxsx2009 after all. it's gonna get 5 times as crowded next week. &^%$! sj

South by Southwest is one of the biggest annual geek shows, so naturally there are thousands (tens of thousands?) of iPhones roaming around downtown Austin. Good luck making calls or receiving text messages, especially anywhere near the convention center.

As this Twitter search feed illustrates, many people are frustrated with the lousy mobile service AT&T (T) is providing. (Our $100/month iPhone has "no service" in the press room, for instance.)

Of course, this is probably more iPhones per square foot than AT&T has to deal with in Austin any time during the year. But mobile companies love to brag about the temporary networks they set up for big events like the Super Bowl. So next year, AT&T, how about a better plan?