SXSW had intrigued me for a while and I had often thought about investing in a trip there. During my deliberations I sought the views of people in the Music press but the info I was given was pretty vague. I decided to go anyway and it was bloody marvellous. Where else can you go and listen to 4 days of great music, drink free beer,see bands as close as if they were in your living room and all in glorious sunshine? Arriving,we invested in wristbands which thanks to the current parity of the US dollar with the Mexican Peso cost us £80.00 - for 4 days unlimited entrance to every venue in Austin to watch any band out of the near 1700 that were playing the city.For the finale on saturday I saw Liam Finn,The Ting Tings,Sons and Daughters, Ian McLagen bump band,Eric Bibb,Carbon Silicon, Alabama 3 and the imperious live performance of the reformed Was not Was.This day alone was worth the admission price.Particular highlights of the week were Shelby Lynne performing in a record store highlights of her recent Dusty tribute.This was a highly emotive performance for her and she was close to tears when explaining that it was the most difficult of the 10 albums she has made as she needed to know that Miss Springfield would be happy with her efforts.Shelby you delivered big time!!! (Biggest regret is that I already owned the cd so didn't get a signed copy).
Early in the week Martha Wainwright welcomed Daniel Lanois onto her stage to perform with her. He proceeded to talk about her musical family and how this generally made people better performers. I didnt take much notice of the comments until I saw Liam Finn on the friday night. I had arrived at the Ale House early to see Chuck Prophet - the preceding set was by Liam Finn and it blew me away. He has energy to burn, melodies to die for and the guitar and loops he employed plus his manic drumming produced a level of excitement not experienced by me for many a year. I was so taken by the performance that I went and saw him again the very next day.Truly, he has continued the strong musical traditions of his dad and uncle.Other highlights included an emotional performance by Ian McLagen as he sang a couple of numbers by his old mucker Ronnie Lane and a particularly anarchic set by Alabama 3 - I know they have been around for a while but didnt know much about them. I will be ensuring I see them whenever they are touring the UK in future as their songs and performance were a real treat. Tipped to be huge are The Ting Tings from Manchester - they have a debut album out in May which if it matches their live performance will propel them to stardom.
Downside was an attempt on the first day to see Van Morrison - the queue seemed to include half the population of Texas - we were not confident of getting in so left the queue only to find out that everyone managed to get in.Not wishing for it to sound like sour grapes but the man arrived in a limo accompanied by a couple of beefy minders - this wasnt in keeping with the vibe of the festival and if Michael Stipe could walk around without the need of personal protection I am sure Van could be less ostentatious.
Minor quibble - organisers could exercise a little more quality control - 1700 bands did include a lot of 4 piece guitar indie bands indistinguisable from each other.
Felt sorry for Ed Harcourt - great set marred by bad sound quality.
Tip for anyone thinking of going - get a personal trainer before you go - 70 plus venues, 12 hour plus sessions and walking between gigs in 90 degree heat require quite a level of stamina.
Final comment on Waterloo Records - possibly one of the best record stores I have ever visited. If it could be transplanted into a town near me I would be very happy indeed - 3 visits, countless purchases.2 guys ahead of me in a queue on the last day spent usd 175 and usd 249 each and the store had dozens of customers both local and overseas visitors - it does tell me if things are done properly record stores can still be a success.
A fantastic experience I would highly recommend to any seriuous music fan.