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SXSW 2012: Final Thoughts + Photos

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On 03/21/2012

In class of 2012, live music, music, music festivals, photos, sxsw

Four days, 32 artists, and one physically/mentally tired guy. That about sums up my SXSW 2012 experience. While I was stumbling around Austin in a haze the last hour of the last day, my first trip to SXSW was a wonderful experience I wouldn’t trade for the world. After hearing so many great things about the city and the conference/festival, I decided I couldn’t wait any longer and simply had to go just once, just to see what it was like. The end result was largely what I expected it to be, but with a few surprises thrown in as well. My hope here is to chronicle the things I think worked about SXSW, and a few that didn’t. Also, if you click past the jump, you can see all the photos I took while in Austin. If you’d like to read about individual performances that I saw last week, have a look at the following daily reports:

Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday

The Good
Perhaps the thing that makes SXSW truly great is the sheer size of it all. There are literally thousands of bands performing over a handful of days, almost all of them within the span of about 2 square miles. Getting around from show to show isn’t bad, whether you’re on foot or feel the need to take a pedicab. Of course 6th Street can get a little packed during peak hours and create some slow downs, but it’s never anything too unmanageable, even if you need to get somewhere fast. The wide array of shows and showcases happening at any given time can also create a bit of a headache, as it’s not exactly easy to pick and choose if there are 6 artists you want to see all performing at once. Learning the city and the locations of all the venues both legitimate and illegitimate goes a long way towards helping you make such tough choices based purely on conveniece and distance from where you’re currently at. Do you go see Cloud Nothings playing down the block, or do you walk 6 blocks to see Grimes? As I see it, the decision is pretty much already made for you.

Yet there are also a few SXSW music moments that you can’t always plan for, simply because they weren’t planned. There weren’t many “secret” shows this year so much as there were secret guests like Kanye West jumping on stage at the 2 Chainz show or Eminem showing up to support 50 Cent or Bruce Springsteen bringing out everyone from Jimmy Cliff to members of Arcade Fire to Tom Morello and Alejandro Escovedo. Those extra thrills only make the experience more special. Also a major contributor: the people. Austin is already something of a cultural melting pot, but with music fans and artists coming into town from all over the world, the diversity factor multiplies by about 10. But here’s the thing aboug most music fans: they’re good, friendly people. You could strike up a great conversation with the person standing next to you in line and not blink an eye. Everybody was there because they love music, and the easiest conversation starter was always finding out who they’re most excited to see while in town. The only time I ever saw anybody get angry was when a couple of people cut in line trying to get into a show. The reaction was less anger and more, “That wasn’t cool, guys.” If we as a society behaved more like everyone in Austin at SXSW did, the world would be a more peaceful place. Unless of course you’re at an A$AP Rocky show and somebody’s throwing full beer cans at the stage. That near-riot situation was a showcase of the worst side of humanity.

But outside of good music, good people and good weather, good food is another thing Austin is known for. There were food trucks and street vendors on most corners, each specializing in a different type of cuisine. You could get breakfast tacos at one place, and some Korean version of spaghetti at another. There was plenty of BBQ to be found too. If you’re a fan of slow-roasted meats that are tender and delicious, you didn’t have to walk more than a block in downtown Austin to find some. For the cheapskates, there were also a bunch of showcases giving away free food. It’s worth noting that like grocery store samples, the “food” they give you for free is often small and may not be of the highest quality. It also gets snatched up almost immediately for those reasons as well. You’re costing yourself a potentially great meal if you’re not paying for it.

The Bad
For all the great things that happen in Austin during SXSW, it’s not a perfect situation by any means. First and foremost among the issues is overcrowding. Things may get cramped when you’re walking down the street, but that’s nothing compared to what’s happening inside many of the venues. Jam packed to the gills, trying to get anywhere close to the action was tough, let alone trying to make your way back to the exit. When things did get that bad, the waiting games began. Lines built up outside venues that were a city block or more long, everyone beholden to the “one in, one out” policy. Pitchfork’s evening showcase at Central Presbyterian Church was the height of madness, and I stood in line for 3 hours, missing Fiona Apple, just to get into the 500 capacity venue. Was it worth it? Eh, kinda. Every performance I saw there was a revelation, which is more than I can say about the other venues in town. I’m not entirely sure how all these sound engineers stay employed given how many times I saw an artist ask for a levels adjustment or something broke. I know these artists don’t get a soundcheck during SXSW and they want to put on the best show possible, but constantly stopping or even aborting some songs right in the middle because of a small issue takes away whatever mojo that might have developed in the meantime. The worst night of all was at Clive Bar, where Tycho played without any sub-bass, New Build’s monitors weren’t functioning properly, and Grimes was forced to start her set even after everything wasn’t tested to see if it was working properly (it wasn’t).

Sound issues are just one half of the paradoxes that SXSW presents. The other is overextension. While SXSW can be a great thing for artists (performing in front of music industry bigwigs brings all sorts of exposure along with it), agreeing to play 3 shows a day for 4 days in a row can put you near death’s door. Touring is tough enough when you’ve got one show every night for 3 weeks straight, but SXSW is a marathon compared to that long distance run. Artists function on little to no sleep and can easily blow out their voices from singing too much. On Thursday night I saw Grimes play a perfect show at Central Presbyterian Church. 24 hours later, she had performed at least twice more before arriving at Clive Bar with a voice that was barely there. She fought against it as hard as she could, and eventually had to call it quits in a set that was also plagued with sound problems. It was a valiant effort, but likely left most of the crowd disappointed. Then again, everyone was so kind, understanding and enthusiastic, it probably didn’t matter as much as I thought it did.

Finally, I want to mention the hierarchy that is SXSW. Your amount of access is almost entirely based upon your status within the music industry. If you’re not part of the industry and are simply looking to see some free music, there’s lots to choose from if you don’t mind a bunch of bands you’ve never heard of. If there was a line anywhere, it was almost guaranteed the general public would not be allowed in, as those with badges or wristbands automatically had first dibs. Among the badges and wristbands, only the badges were given priority access into any venue. Every badge would be allowed in before any wristbands would, no matter when they showed up. Of course if I had a badge I probably wouldn’t be complaining about it, it’s just that there were so many of them. There must have been at least a dozen shows I tried to get into but was denied because the room was already filled with badges. Granted, badges cost around $900 and you should be getting something for that money, but it would be more fair if they offerend some balance like for every 100 badges let in, 10 wristbands also get in. Alas, wristband holders got the shorter end of the stick, while the general public was more shafted than anything.

To Conclude
SXSW is something that every obsessive music fan should attend at least once in their lives. It can be a genuine blast if you let it, and only gets better the more access you have. Not but a few years ago, the several day conference/festival served as a proving and development ground for new music talent. Today, that’s not really the case anymore. You may discover your new favorite band while wandering around Austin, but for the most part our discoveries are contained to the hype cycle on the good ‘ol Internet. Then again, were it not for SXSW I never would have stumbled into the band Tearist and one of the most batshit crazy/weird live shows I’ve ever seen. I’m still not sure whether it was supremely stupid or incredibly clever, but if you like incomprehensible psych-pop and somebody showing an iron beam who’s boss with a lead pipe, Tearist could be for you. Outside of the occasional exposure to an artist you didn’t intend to see, you’re quite in control of your own destiny. Unless you’re the adventuresome type willing to walk into a venue without knowing or caring who’s performing, most identify and target acts based on personal tastes or recommendations of others. With so many choices, you can use the time to check a few acts off your personal bucket list. That’s what I did, and though I didn’t get to see every artist I wanted to, I feel like what I did see was extremely worthwhile anyways, with the aforementioned issues or not. I hope I get to go again, be it next year or in 10 years. And if you didn’t go, I hope you take the opportunity to get to Austin soon. It’s a great American city, and the Live Music Capital of the World for a reason.

Click past the jump for photos of many of the bands I saw at this year’s SXSW, in alphabetical order:

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Lollapalooza 2011: The Photos

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On 08/17/2011

In chicago, live music, lollapalooza, lollapalooza 2011, music, music festivals, photos

Yes, it’s been nearly a week and a half since Lollapalooza ended. I’ve written piece after piece on it. I’ve said all I’m going to say about it for 2011. All I’ve got left is to SHOW you some of the things that went down. So this is a collection of edited photos that I snapped over the course of the 3 day weekend. As it gets later in the day and the crowds built up, my photos got further and further away. Which explains why the headliners look like little dots in the background. What can I say – I did what I could. I hope you enjoy these (mostly good) photos. Perhaps we’ll do it all again next year. Click past the jump to see the assortment, in the order I saw each band in.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2011: Day 3 in Photos

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On 07/20/2011

In chicago, live music, music, music festivals, photos, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2011

Click past the jump to see a whole lot of photos from Day 3 of the 2011 Pitchfork Music Festival. You can see photos of Yuck, Kurt Vile and the Violators, OFWGKTA, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Baths, Superchunk, Deerhunter, Cut Copy and TV on the Radio.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2011: Day 2 in Photos

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On 07/20/2011

In chicago, live music, music, music festivals, photos, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2011

Click past the jump to see a huge number of photos from Day 2 of the Pitchfork Music Festival. Artists in this photo set include: Julianna Barwick, Woods, Sun Airway, Cold Cave, No Age, Wild Nothing, Gang Gang Dance, Destroyer, The Radio Dept., The Dismemberment Plan, Twin Shadow, Zola Jesus and Fleet Foxes.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2011: Day 1 in Photos

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On 07/20/2011

In chicago, live music, music, music festivals, photos, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2011

Click through the jump to see a large assortment of photos from Day 1 of the 2011 Pitchfork Music Festival. There are photos of EMA, tUnE-yArDs, Thurston Moore, Guided By Voices, Neko Case and Animal Collective.

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Show Review: Middle Brother + Dawes + Deer Tick [Metro; Chicago; 3-12-11]

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On 03/14/2011

In live music, mp3, music, photos, show review

Rare is the occasion when you can find a triple bill of bands touring together where all three deserve to headline every night. The trouble is, naturally, that only one band can truly headline. When two headliners share the stage for multiple dates together the decision on headliners is sometimes an evenly split rotation from night to night or occasionally a luck of the draw. When it’s three bands though, how does such a decision get made? In the case of Deer Tick, Dawes and Middle Brother, there are special circumstances that make the entire process easier. First and foremost, as members of both Deer Tick and Dawes are part of Middle Brother along with Delta Spirit’s Matt Vasquez, the supergroup takes precedence and closes out the evening because of the collection of talent. Secondly, Dawes have really made a name for themselves in the past few months by scoring a radio hit courtesy of their song “When My Time Comes”. Deer Tick, by contrast, have put out a couple albums and built a strong fan base but haven’t quite scored a genuine hit yet. They do have at least one high profile fan in the form of NBC Nightly News host Brian Williams though, who featured them on his inaugural edition of music-based interviews known as BriTunes. The thing about these three separate but equal bands playing together though is that they all really get along well with one another and are great friends. The dynamic of it, the way it’s all presented, matters less than simply going out, having fun and putting on a great show for people. Funny enough, that’s exactly what they did when their tour ran through Chicago on Saturday night, and you’d probably consider yourself foolish if you skipped even a minute of it.

Deer Tick have always been a force to be reckoned with live, and a venue like the Metro only enhances that intensity. They came flying out of the gate with their naturally playful energy that the crowd was more than happy to eat up. There was bouncing, there was swaying, there were saxophone solos, and there were covers. From the beginning, a number of people mentioned in just general crowd chatter that John McCauley’s vocals were placed too low in the mix because much of what he was saying seemed unintelligible. Considering that the Metro is one of the best-sounding concert venues in Chicago if not the world, they don’t really ever screw up mixing like that. In fact it was more McCauley’s voice with its rather nasal, Bob Dylan charm that made things a bit muddy. That’s no fault of his own, and such a thing should not have prevented most if not everyone from getting a little something out of Deer Tick’s set. They jumped all over their catalogue, from “Something to Brag About” to “Smith Hill” to “Choir of Angels” to “Ashamed” and the massive “Christ Jesus”. There were a handful of new songs too, leaving something to look forward to whenever they get around to putting out another record. The band also started what would become a theme throughout the night, which is the spirit of collaboration. Mid-set they brought out Delta Spirit’s Matt Vasquez to take the lead on a few songs, perhaps in part because the rest of his band was not on this tour. He sang a new song along with a pair of covers – Bruce Springsteen’s “Racing in the Streets” followed by Nirvana’s “Scentless Apprentice”. The transition from The Boss to Nirvana was jarring and weird, but hot damn does Vasquez do a great Kurt Cobain. Deer Tick is playing a set of Nirvana covers at SXSW this upcoming week under the name Deervana, and if Vasquez joins them (he likely will, among others), keep an eye out for some killer YouTube videos. On the whole, it was yet another excellent Deer Tick set in a long line of excellent Deer Tick sets, providing more proof that they’re one of the more engaging live acts around today.

Deer Tick – Piece By Piece and Frame By Frame

Buy Deer Tick’s “Black Dirt Sessions” from Amazon

After a brief break, Dawes came out to do their thing. It’s hard to believe that their debut album “North Hills” came out in 2009, but it’s taken this long for them to get really noticed. They’ve been paying their dues though, consistently touring and playing music festivals whether you’ve known it or not. After a couple quick songs from that first record, they played a new one about their hometown of Los Angeles. What’s moderately funny and also just a touch disappointing is that they’ve already written a couple songs about L.A. before and at some point it just becomes excessive. Still, despite the subject matter the song was good, as was their entire set. One of the best moments came courtesy of their new song “Fire Away”, as frontman Taylor Goldsmith tried something new and got the crowd to sing in divided-by-gender harmony. Not to boost some egos, but it sounded quite good. With just the one album and a couple new songs to play over the course of their hour-long set time, Dawes kept up with the collaborations by bringing their friend Jonny Corndawg out on stage to sing a few of his original country tunes. If you are unfamiliar with Jonny Corndawg, he can often be found wearing the traditional cowboy hat and boots, and he’s got a relatively large catalogue of songs that are both bizarre and heartfelt at the same time. You’d think the guy was a parody of country singers if he didn’t carry himself so earnestly. Yet there’s a sly, oddball sense of humor that permeates his lyrics and makes you sit up and notice what might otherwise be just a collection of country standards. Dawes loves the Corndawg, as does Deer Tick and one would assume Delta Spirit by proxy. They all share a lot of the same qualities, even if their approaches are a little different. After performing 5 of his songs with Dawes, a whole bunch of people rushed the stage, including Matt Vasquez and members of Deer Tick for a set-closing rendition of the Dawes hit “When My Time Comes”. Yeah, it was one massive sing-along where everyone on stage eventually turned their microphones out to the crowd to take over. The collective release of energy was something that had been building all night to that point, and when it finally happened there was such catharsis you knew it wouldn’t be topped.

Dawes – When My Time Comes

Buy Dawes’ “North Hills” from Amazon

Middle Brother began their set with “Blue Eyes” after yet another short break, and it was a smart choice over the beautiful but very slow opening track “Daydreaming” off their debut record. Most bands like to start their sets with the first track of their latest album, but in this case a bouncier and catchier song won out. Of course “Daydreaming” would pop up a few songs into the set anyways, mostly because Middle Brother played every song they’ve put out thus far. But McCauley did an exceptional job with hjs lead vocal on “Daydreaming”, making it one of the evening’s brightest spots. Highlights also included Taylor Goldsmith’s intense vocal performance on “Blood and Guts”, which was heartwrenching on record but even moreso live. The rollicking single “Me Me Me” has been getting a little bit of radio airplay in town, and probably went over best with the crowd during that particular set. The stage completely cleared out as Goldsmith took on “Wilderness” completely on his own, which was nice to have that short respite from the balances and imbalances that having such a collection of talent together at once. As for Matt Vasquez, he was great when sharply rocking out on guitar for most of the night, but also did a more than admirable job taking lead on “Theater” and “Someday”. If anybody was underused or underrepresented not just during Middle Brother’s set but all night it was Vasquez, but that also makes a bit of sense given that his main band Delta Spirit is significantly less alt-country/folk than Deer Tick and Dawes are. He’s an essential part of Middle Brother, no doubt about that, he’s just more of the quiet one that sits in the corner quietly blowing everyone away rather than sucking up the spotlight (not that McCauley or Goldsmith are begging for attention, they’re probably just more outgoing). Of course everyone came together at the very end of the night, including Jonny Corndawg and the guys from Deer Tick and Dawes to perform the song “Middle Brother” and then an encore that included their cover of The Replacements’ “Portland” and a supremely round-robin version of The Band’s “Down South in New Orleans”. That’s how the night ended, with about 15 people on stage and random band members grabbing the microphone and belting out verses in the most theatrical and spectacular ways possible. For a brief moment it felt like one massive gospel and blues show, with new surprises emerging at every turn.

The ability to not just pull one, but multiple rabbits out of a single hat is a big part of what makes a good show great, and by that count every band nailed it Saturday night. I had a great admiration for all three bands that were on the bill Saturday night, and even the one (Delta Spirit) that wasn’t, but I couldn’t honestly say that I loved any one of them. As a result of this show, every one of them has sharply risen in my esteem. The spirit of collaboration and friendship completely overflowed on stage, really bringing out the best in each act and helping to create great memories for everyone that was in the room. There wasn’t anything earth shattering or epic that happened, but sometimes it’s the little things, the personal connections and a love of good music that make for the best times.

Middle Brother – Me Me Me
Middle Brother – Middle Brother

Buy “Middle Brother” from Amazon

Click past the jump for more photos!

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Show Review: The Dismemberment Plan [Metro; Chicago; 2/19/11]

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On 02/21/2011

In chicago, mp3, music, photos, show review

At this point in time, a full-on Dismemberment Plan reunion is still pending. Sure, you can call the several live dates the band has scheduled an effective reunion, but really it’s more like a collection of one-offs. As the guys describe it themselves, they’re going to play some dates, see how it goes, and figure things out from there. It has been close th 8 years since they broke up, though at least a couple of the guys have had their own musical projects since then. Travis Morrison went solo, which turned into failure on a massive scale, then formed the Travis Morrison Hellfighters, which went down in flames. That resulted in Morrison officially “retiring” from making music, touring, and other such things in 2010. Clearly that didn’t last too long. Additionally, Eric Axelson spent a couple years playing bass in the band Maritime before leaving to start up Statehood with former D-Plan drummer Joe Easley. At this point, Statehood is on a break, if not permanently disbanded due to the death of singer Clark Sabine. So with all the guys essentially not doing a whole lot these days music-wise, and with Morrison hopefully learning a thing or two from that slice of humble pie served to him courtesy of a not-so-hot solo career, The Dismemberment Plan is tentatively back, at the very least to maybe and briefly cash in on a legacy that was never properly heralded in its time. With reunions all the rage these days, why not? Really they’re claiming that the very few tour dates they’ve played (and the one more still scheduled for March) are more part of a celebration of the “Emergency & I” remastered vinyl reissue that came out last month. Anyways, after returning from a couple days in Japan, the band played two Chicago dates (their only Midwest shows) this past weekend. I was privileged enough to attend the first one on Saturday night, and here’s a brief recap of how that whole thing went down.

One of the really nice things that The Dismemberment Plan did for their Chicago shows was to recruit a couple of local bands to open for them on each of their two nights in town. Saturday night JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound along with Kid You’ll Move Mountains were the chosen ones. I’m familiar with and can recommend both of them, though unfortunately a tight schedule prevented me from seeing their sets on Saturday. Instead, I ran straight inside from the entrance doors just in time to catch The Dismemberment Plan emerging on stage and making a short introduction before launching into “Emergency & I” opener “A Life of Possibilities”. It was a fine choice, particularly considering that it’s a tradition for bands to open with the first track on the album they’re promoting. As the track itself goes, things started out just a little bit slow and sparse, but when the bridge finally hits, it explodes into something magical. And so it went, a pretty verbatim version of the track, if not slightly more energized and refined than before, and the crowd ate it up with the intensity and pleasure you might expect from seeing a great band for either the very first time or the first time in a very long time. Faring even better was “The Face of the Earth”, which haa a great energy about it that got everybody riled up, including the band. One gets the impression from the way the crowd reacted that even sub-par live versions of so many “classic” songs would have satisfied, but thankfully The D-Plan are a better band than that. Despite having only played a handful of shows in the last couple months after years apart, they sounded just about perfect, and every song was either album quality or better, with Morrison’s often bizarre stage antics and some ferocious guitar and drums work.

Speaking of Travis Morrison, his banter was typically witty, first dedicating the show to the union workers in Wisconsin currently staging protest, then demanding that everyone look at his new orange kicks (shoes) and refusing to play another song until everyone did and complimented them. So you know, a little of this, and a little of that. There was some rousing cheering for what amounted to perhaps the most amazing double tambourine attack I’ve ever seen (though it may also be the only double tambourine playing I’ve ever seen), and also a sing-along of Biz Markie’s legendary “Just A Friend” that started on stage between songs as just a joke before the crowd took over and made it something more. But of course there were highlights peppered all throughout the D-Plan’s set, as they pulled from all their albums and even the somewhat rare “The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich” off their split EP with the band Juno (the song is also available as a bonus on the vinyl reissue of “Emergency & I”). It was really damn exciting to hear thoroughly charged renditions of “Following Through”, “Superpowers” and “Gyroscope”, among others. Naturally though, the band’s most popular songs were the ones that sounded best, from a strong “You Are Invited” to “What Do You Want Me to Say?” and “Time Bomb”. I was exceptionally happy to hear “Ellen and Ben”, which is perhaps my favorite Dismemberment Plan song. They closed out the main set as they typically do, with an extended and oft-improvised version of “OK Joke’s Over” from their first record. Morrison went on and on about a number of things, naturally personalizing it for Chicago and sports and such, while also doing just a touch of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”. Excellent as usual, and that only extended into the encore. Tons of people got on stage for “The Ice of Boston”, and what shocked me the most about it was that it sounded absolutely perfect both instrumentally and vocally despite the everyone jumping around and singing at the top of their lungs. Moving from that to a scorching version of “The City” was the 1-2 knockout punch of the night. Really the encore handled every last D-Plan highlight you could have wanted that hadn’t already been played. Ending on the “Emergency & I” closer “Back and Forth”, complete with the crowd waving their hands in the air was just sort of a communal coming together and ultimate lovefest. There we all were, a sold out crowd together to celebrate the career of a great band and singing along every step of the way. For that two hour period, though nobody would openly acknowledge it, we were all family.

It is, without a doubt, wonderful to see The Dismemberment Plan together on stage once again and playing a majority of their stellar catalogue. Even if their final scheduled date in Seattle next month is their last, those of us that caught any of the shows in the past couple months hopefully will carry those memories with us for a long time to come. All the guys legitimately looked like they were having fun on stage and it really does sell the idea that they should keep this whole “reunion” train going. If they really wanted to, they could just pull a Pavement and play a bunch of shows over the course of the year before returning to their normal, everyday working lives. Or they could push for something more full time by writing new material and putting out at least one more record. Thinking about it now in the purest of retrospectives, I’ll be highly satisfied whatever they choose to do (or not do) from here on out. If they come back through Chicago I’ll be sure to see them again, and it’d be nice if people in cities other than the few they’ve played had a chance to see them too. If they release a new album, I’ll probably buy it sight unseen and note unheard. But if they want to legitimately retire from music, as Travis Morrison said he’d be doing last year (before any rumors of a reunion ever emerged), at least they popped their collective heads up for one quick go-around. It’s certainly better than the alternative of doing nothing.

Set List:
A Life of Possibilities
The Face of the Earth
Rusty
Spider in the Snow
Following Through
You Are Invited
Superpowers
What Do You Want Me to Say?
That’s When the Party Started
Time Bomb
Memory Machine
The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich
Gyroscope
Ellen and Ben
Do the Standing Still
Girl O’Clock
OK Joke’s Over
\**ENCORE**/
The Ice of Boston
The City
Pay for the Piano
I Love A Magician
Back and Forth

MP3s:
The Dismemberment Plan – The Face of the Earth
The Dismemberment Plan – Time Bomb
The Dismemberment Plan – Ellen and Ben
The Dismemberment Plan – What Do You Want Me to Say?
The Dismemberment Plan – The City

Buy the “Emergency & I” remastered vinyl reissue from Amazon

Click through the jump for more photos!

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Show Review: Mister Heavenly + Screaming Females [Lincoln Hall; Chicago; 1/14/11]

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On 01/17/2011

In live music, mp3, music, photos, show review

It takes a lot of courage to buy a ticket to a show from a band that you haven’t heard one note from. Of course the comfort level is automatically increased if you know the band is comprised of members whose musical talents you trust. In the fall of 2009, I willingly purchased a ticket to see a little band now known as Them Crooked Vultures at their very first show ever. Nobody knew what kind of product the combination of Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones would produce, but it turned out to be the start of something great. It was with that same shaky confidence that I made the decision to go see Mister Heavenly on Friday night. Unlike Them Crooked Vultures though, Mister Heavenly have already played a small handful of shows, all of which resulted in a whole lot of press coverage thanks to their very special guest on bass, the perennial awkward teen known as Michael Cera. But Cera had nothing to do with the formation of Mister Heavenly, nor is he an “official” member of the band. What makes this band attention worthy even without a celebrity presence is the collaboration between three great indie talents that are already well known in their own rights. Nick Diamonds is best known for his work as part of the band Islands and, formerly, The Unicorns. Honus Honus is better known as the frontman for the wild group Man Man. Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer helps to make this trio complete. The original intention was to just put together a one-off 7-inch instrumental single, but once the creative juices got flowing, an entire album poured out. As it was revealed at the show on Friday, that album will be released by Sub Pop this September (tentatively). Coincidentally though, Mister Heavenly chose to release their first two songs ever just hours before they were set to take the stage in Chicago. Outside of some rough YouTube videos filmed on some earlier tour dates, this was the first legitimate glimpse into the band’s material, which up until then bore only the description of a new genre called “doom-wop”. In a nutshell, it is intended to combine the classic doo-wop melodies with the tragic tales that are doomed love songs. More on that and the show in a minute, but first let’s talk opening bands.

The Mister Heavenly show was yet another part of the 5-night festival called Tomorrow Never Knows. Earlier in the week I saw a bill that included Lia Ices, Frankie Rose and the Outs, and The Besnard Lakes. The idea behind the shows, which take place at a couple different venues around Chicago, is to give exposure to a number of up-and-coming artists. Aside from Mister Heavenly headlining on Friday night, the bill was also shared by New York band The Dig, former Q and Not U/Georgie James member John Davis performing under the name Title Tracks, and New Jersey underground female-fronted punk band Screaming Females. As I was spending time with friends, I missed the first two sets of the night, though I have heard and can recommend both The Dig and Title Tracks as bands worth checking out if you haven’t yet. But speaking exclusively about Screaming Females, whose set I saw all of, if you’re not aware of this trio, you need to jump on them quick. Frontwoman Marissa Paternoster is a one person wrecking ball, and all of us are standing in her way. If she doesn’t take you down with her immensely skilled guitar playing, she’ll do so with a scream so intense that a microphone isn’t needed to hear it across a crowded room. Mike Abbate’s bass work is almost equally as good, strongly recalling the highly melodic work of Green Day’s Mike Dirnt. He might consider that comparison to be insulting, but personally I think that Dirnt is among the top 10 bass players active today. Then there’s drummer Jarrett Dougherty, who completely wails on his kit with little regard for common decency. Put these three powerhouses together and it makes sense as to why Screaming Females are a band very much on the rise. That they’ve done so almost entirely on their own terms without much support save from their tiny label Don Giovanni Records is even more impressive. They don’t need a marketing team – the music and the live shows speak for themselves. Sonically, the band holds strong ties to Sleater-Kinney, as Paternoster’s guitar and vocals are remarkably Carrie Brownstein-esque. The energy, the outrage and the pure, unadultrated guitar solos have the ability to send shivers down your spine. That was the case right from the beginning of their set at Lincoln Hall, as the large crowd went from a state of calm to a fever pitch in a matter of minutes. There may not have been any mosh pits, as with the punk rock there certainly could have been, but the reaction in pure applause and cheering was testimony enough as to how well they were doing. To put it another way, Mister Heavenly had their work cut out for them after such an inspired set by Screaming Females.

A high degree of “jockeying for position” happened once Screaming Females walked off the stage. People were looking for the best vantage points, most likely in which to see Michael Cera, so there was a bit of pushing and shoving and mean looks being thrown around at the sheer annoyance of it all. Looking around at the crowd demographics, it was close to a 50-50 male/female spread. Given that most indie bands draw a much higher percentage of men over women, you kind of knew what everyone had shown up for: the bass player in Mister Heavenly. The crowd cheered wildly as all four guys walked out on stage, though there was a rather funny moment right before they launched into their first song where a small group of people gave a shout-out to Honus Honus. Earlier show reviews seemed to emphasize the distracting nature of having Michael Cera on stage with the rest of the band, saying that the crowds kept yelling quotes from his movies before, during, and between songs. While that did happen once or twice, including a, “Let Michael tell us a story!”, for the most part people were respectful of the music and cheered appropriately for the songs themselves and not any one thing in particular (the cameras, however, were an entirely different matter). Speaking of the songs, the band opened with their self-titled track “Mister Heavenly”, which was one of the two songs they had released for free earlier in the day. I was unable to download and listen to them prior to going to the show, but apparently a lot of people were, to the point where they already had the lyrics memorized. There were at least three people I saw surrounding me that sang along for all of that and the other just-released song “Pineapple Girl” later in the set. Celebrity influence or not, hopefully this band is going to make an impact. Their “doom-wop” sound is interesting to say the least, largely coming off as what it’d sound like if one guy from Islands and one guy from Man Man got together and had a 1950’s-era musical baby. So there’s a hook-riddled pop edge to the songs courtesy of Nick Diamonds that’s balanced out by the experimental and odd quirks Honus Honus brings to the table. It’s all held together by Joe Plummer’s almost equally strong presence behind the drum kit. Cera is a capable bass player, but given he’s not an official member of the band and didn’t record the debut album with them, most anybody with strong knowledge of the instrument could have jumped in and done an equally excellent job. Of course not anybody can deliver an awkward punchline quite the way Cera can, which meant that some stage banter revealed some extra amusing moments. A sample:
Nick Diamonds: Hey Mike, what’s your favorite cheese?
Michael Cera: My favorite cheese? Oh, well I’d have to go with Havarti. Does anybody here love Havarti cheese?
(crowd cheers loudly)
The band then plays another song. After the song…
Nick Diamonds: Hey Mike, what’s your favorite cheese?
Michael Cera: I Havarti told you once.
(cue rimshot)
Jokes don’t get much cleaner than that. Nicely played. But beyond corny jokes like that one, Both Nick Diamonds and Honus Honus tried to give the crowd some insight as to how they came up with certain song titles and lyrics. For example, the song “Diddy Eyes” is apparently about the basketball player Rolando Blackman and how, in a photo they saw of him, his eyes looked just like Diddy’s (or P. Diddy or Puff Daddy or Sean Combs or whatever name he’s going by these days). That’s a weird and funny thing to write a song about, though it does leave me wondering if they were just kidding when telling that story. Another song was written in reaction to a series of sniper shootings that were happening around New York at the time they were writing the album. “The shootings happened on a night just like this. In a room just like this. From very high up, just like the balcony in here,” Diamonds said, messing with us. Outside of playing most (if not all) the songs slated to appear on the Mister Heavenly debut album, the band also brought out a cover or two. They did “Bad Man” by The Oblivions about halfway through the set, and for their encore totally rocked out to The Misfits’ “Hybrid Moments”. That legitimately started a mosh pit courtesy of about 5-6 people, leaving everyone else annoyed at all the intense pushing and shoving going on. But it was a fun way to end the night, which was also Honus’ birthday, as revealed at the start of said encore. He was wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey too, so more power to him for that, as well as coming out and talking to people after the show. The same goes for Nick Diamonds, who I was able to chat with briefly before finally giving up thanks to so many people jumping in and interrupting. Among the information I was able to extract was that A) Honus and Diamonds shared songwriting duties on the Mister Heavenly debut album, tentatively scheduled for release in September and B) Diamonds returns to his main band Islands next month when they’ve got some studio time booked to make a new record. He’s got about 35 songs written and they plan on picking the best ones for the album before doing an Islands tour in the late summer/early fall. No official word on future Mister Heavenly tour plans, but it can be assumed they’ll be back on the road together around the album’s September release.

So overall it was a very fun night, with the wild and technically impressive Screaming Females playing alongside the highly amusing and pleasantly catchy throwback style of Mister Heavenly. Both were great for entirely different reasons, and both are absolutely worth seeing, though they’ll never play together again methinks. Separately though, check them out. The biggest hope that I have from the night is that it inspired some people just showing up to see Michael Cera in person to actually become invested in either Mister Heavenly or indie rock in general. If it takes a Hollywood star to get you into this type of music, then so be it. The more people we have listening to challenging artists and bands, the better off we’ll be as a society. Now then, check out more photos, the set list, and download two songs from Mister Heavenly after the jump (click on a photo to view a slightly larger version).

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2010: The Wrap-Up and Photos

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On 07/19/2010

In live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2010

Liars
Put it in the books! The 2010 edition of the Pitchfork Music Festival is over and done with, and my what an experience it was. If you had a chance to make it, I hope you had a great time. For those who didn’t, you missed out on quite a bit. One thing nobody will miss was the hot weather that permeated Chicago all weekend long. With temperatures at 90+ degrees every day, it was a potentially dangerous situation that was smartly handled by festival organizers. On the very first day, it was announced that the price of water would be cut in half (from $2 to $1), and that bottles of water would be passed through the crowd to keep people hydrated who really needed it. As somebody who likes to slip through the crowd towards the front of the stage, I can tell you security was extremely liberal with how much water they were giving out, and there was never a time I saw somebody asking for water that didn’t get some. It took me a day, but I also discovered that there was a water fountain on the premises, though the line to fill up was typically 50-100 people deep. Near the end of the day on Sunday I also stopped by the First Aid tent just to see how things were going, and they told me problems over the course of the weekend were limited, with the majority being dehydration-related. It wasn’t just the organizers and security team that played a big role in keeping the hot weather from causing problems. The crowd did their part as well. Everybody I encountered was generally friendly and willing to help out should there be any problems. Call it the communal vibe of Pitchfork.

Amenities-wise, despite the sold out crowds, lines at the food booths tended to move with decent speed. Of course that largely depended on what time of day you wanted something to eat or drink. Friday’s beer lines seemed especially long, but were a little better for Saturday and Sunday. Perhaps that had something to do with the supply of Newcastle Summer Ale, which sold out on Friday and wasn’t available for the rest of the weekend. It turns out that Heineken, who was this year’s beer sponsor, was merely testing the potential of a Newcastle Summer Ale, which is currently not available in stores. So if you like your beer and got a cup of the Summer Ale on Friday, you got a preview of what’s likely to come. But the food vendors were varied as always, with plenty of vegan and ethnic options for those who preferred a little diversity in their meals. The number of various booths for stores and causes seemed to be higher than ever, and depending on what interested you, there may have been a line (see: the Threadless booth). But between those things, the Flatstock poster show and the CHIRP Record Fair, if you weren’t watching music, there were plenty of things to distract. Speaking of music, let’s talk about the weekend’s biggest winners and losers.

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