Friday, March 20, 2009
SXSW: Salt Lake Bands Take On Austin
Posted By Jamie Gadette on March 20, 2009, 1:57 AM
Well color us surprised! Two additional Utah bands made an appearance at SXSW today joining Location Location and Eagle Twin as four of the groups representing in Austin for the SLC. Kid Theodore received an official last-minute invite from festival organizers and drove 22 hours straight to start off the morning at Maggie Mae's with a bright and shiny rooftop performance at the crack of noon. The indie-pop quartet were in top form, banging on every surface with their hands, their drumsticks, feet and fingers. It was almost too much for the crowd still coming to terms with the new day.
Several folks approached us after to grab a CD and a free CWMA compilation which bodes well for the rest of the bands here in Texas including Cavedoll who booked a show through Red Gorilla. They steamed the windows at Chuggin Monkey with another inspired set of electro-magnetic pop rocks.
It's safe to say at least half of the audience got weak in the knees for each of the six attractive musicians. As with Kid Theodore, several people inquired about the band and jotted down their name for safe keeping. Just goes to show that SXSW is a great way to gain exposure, whether you go through the traditional ropes or just come down and play!
As for the national acts, Sub Pop pretty much took the cake for the best showcase of the day with sets by Red Red Meat and Obits, the former lead by Califone singer/frontman Tim Rutili who came across like a slightly cooler, grungier Woody Allen in between songs. The group recently reunited in support of the reissue of Bunny Got Paid whose content is mostly a louder version of Califone material saturated in that golden delicious 90s overtones. Rutili even introduced one love song as a trip down memory lane. He also treated us to a sneak preview of Califone's forthcoming follow-up to the 2006 Thrill Jockey release Roots & Crowns.
Obits, the latest project by Rick Froberg (Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes), followed with a kick-ass set of garage-y rock songs off their forthcoming LP I Blame You (March 24).
P.O.S. finished off the night with another rousing interactive performance blurring the line between artist and audience. The innovative Minneapolis emcee has been further tweaking his experimental sound as evidenced on the new Never Better. He even whipped out a guitar onstage nodding to his punk band Building Better Bombs. So much better than Lil Wayne's finger-tapping solos.
Tomorrow: Eagle Twin bust down the doors at Southern Lord's official showcase.
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