SXSW Review: MAGIC!, March 16, Flamingo Cantina

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Paul in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

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That’s right, I went to see MAGIC!, makers of the mind numbing earworm “Rude.” You know, the one that kind of makes you side with the guy in the song who doesn’t want his daughter to get married to that dude? Yes, those guys, and yes, I saw them on purpose, walking out of the last bit of an epic, grandiose set by Mercury Rev to see what the Toronto pop-reggae band is all about. What can I say? Curiosity got the best of me and I’m easily distracted.

It was pretty much what I expected – slick and commercial sounding, but the crowd seemed to be into it I guess, especially backpack bro standing next to me who was skanking pretty heavily during their set. With his backpack still on, of course. As you’d expect, they closed out their set with “Rude” and also threw in a few cover tunes, which was good since it meant I didn’t have to hear too many of their own songs. Their cover of The Police’s “Message In A Bottle” was kind of fun, if a bit obvious. Much less obvious was their cover of “Blitzkrieg Bop,” which they announced they’d be playing the following night at The Grammy Museum’s tribute concert for The Ramones. I’m not really sure who was involved with the decision making process at the Grammy Museum and why they thought it would be a good idea to invite the lite-reggae band to perform it in the first place. Were none of the gospel acts playing SXSW available to do a cover of “I’m Not Jesus” instead? To be fair, MAGIC! were having fun with it and it’s pretty hard to screw up that song too much, but they pretty much make for the world’s least convincing punk band.

SXSW Review: Wednesday Campanella, March 15, Cheer Up Charlie’s

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Paul in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

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The first night of SXSW Music is also the last night of SXSW Interactive and fittingly, Japan’s Wednesday Campanella did her best to make her show as interactive as possible – in more than one sense of the word and to varying degrees of success.

As she was carried out into the crowd by members of her team to start the show, singer Komuai spoke into the microphone, both to introduce herself and to ask that the music, which had not started quite on cue, be played. Once that was dealt with, she got down to business and put on an engaging performance. She challenged members of the audience to dance offs and waded into the crowd numerous times, using the space at Cheer Up Charlie’s to her advantage and offering up a lot of audience interaction.

The performance also involved a lot of use of technology, though much of that, while amusing, seemed to be cobbled together. A small screen was set up next to the stage along with a projector which took up a bit of real estate nearby. Onto the screen they projected live real time footage of Wednesday Campanella and members of the audience filtered through those face apps that switch out your face for things like poop emojis or Donald Trump’s face. That aspect didn’t always work smoothly, but from a performance perspective, she puts on a fun show (Wednesday Campanella is billed as a group, but for all intents and purposes, as the only person on stage, it’s Komuai’s show). I imagine Wednesday Campanella would be all the more impressive with a bit more stage production and none of the time constraints involved in a SXSW setup.

SXSW Review: Bloc Party, March 11, ACL

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Ricky in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

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Bloc Party’s career trajectory can be best compared to the television Lost. Stunning debut, less spectacular follow up, followed by Kele leaving the band for awhile to do his solo stuff, only to have a Jack “We have to go back” moment and then the band returning from hiatus, only things are slightly different and the outlook is somewhat murky. Recent releases have not been met with the same universal adoration that greeted Bloc Party when they first arrived on the scene and it is uncertain whether the band can recapture that magic they had when they first came onto the scene over a decade ago.

What does this have to do with their show at the ACL as part of SXSW Interactive party? I don’t know. Despite the middling success of their new release, Bloc Party still brought a packed house at SXSW on the first night of Interactive and with their new lineup, played a sixteen set that mixed material new and old.

Perhaps it’s my unfamiliarity with the new material, but none of it really stood out for me. If I had to pick, new single The Love Within stands out the most and with the inclusion of synthy dance elements, perhaps is the one that identifies with the newer Bloc Party sound. Still, it was all the classics that brought the crowd to a frenzy. Helicopter, Positive Tension, Banquet and This Modern Love had everyone singing along. I am pretty sure This Modern Love is one the best songs of the 00’s, Kele’s lyrics are so on point and the delicate delivery of that track still resonates to this day. Banquet is not far behind, and brings me back to the old Dance Cave days.

It must be tough to recapture that magic you once had, I think Bloc Party’s still trying to find it and I hope they do. In the meantime, we’ll still have their classics.

SXSW Review: Soul Asylum, March 19, Scoot Inn

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Paul in South By Southwest | Leave a comment

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Okay kids, it’s history lesson time. Way back in 1992, Soul Asylum released Grave Dancers Union. They’d put out a bunch of stuff before that, and they’ve put out some stuff since, but this was definitely their biggest album, featuring singles such as “Black Gold,” “Somebody To Shove,” and of course, “Runaway Train. And let me tell you kids, back in those days, when you wanted an album, you waited until a few singles had been released to decide if you wanted it. Then you saved up your coin and shelled out for a cassette. It was hard times, kids. Basically, what I’m getting at here is that Soul Asylum fans are old. Frontman Dave Pirner implied as much about an hour into their midnight set (which started about 15 minutes late) when, after playing “Runaway Train,” their biggest hit, he thanked the crowd “for staying up late with us.” Late? Dave, it’s just after 1:00 on the Saturday of SouthBy – the denizens of Sixth Street will probably still be doing it up well into the wee hours. But everything’s relative I guess.

While the band was promoting their freshly released album, Change Of Fortune, (“We’ve got a new album out – I’m supposed to say that”) there was definitely a nostalgic vibe to the show. Sure, the new stuff sounds pretty good (ie. it sounds like Soul Asylum) but from the opening riff of “Somebody To Shove,” I was taken back to that old cassette tape and singing along – looks like I still remembered a lot of those lyrics. However, nostalgia doesn’t necessarily forgive the cheesy lyrics of “Eyes Of A Child” off of 1995’s Let Your Dim Light Shine, which they played towards the end of their set:

She was just six when she turned her first trick
Now she’s thirteen and it don’t make her sick
And she does lots of crystal and she owns her own pistol
Got a goldfish named Silver and a pimp who’s named Rick

And some are like customers and some are like patients
She’d have gone back to school if she’d just had the patience

Yes, you read that right – he just rhymed “patients” with “patience.” I guess maybe that was considered edgy and deep subject material back in ’95 but it does come off as a bit cornball now. I don’t think Pirner and co. mind being a bit corny though, judging by Pirner’s dad jokes, his repeated use of the word “shucks” and his bizarre (yet kind of amusing) stage banter with the drummer during “Whatcha Need,” wherein they discussed what the audience might need at that point in the night. Suggestions included BBQ and partaking in”something illegal.” Also cheesy, but at the same time pretty awesome was their incorporation of McCartney’s “Silly Love Songs” onto the end of “Misery.” Sometimes it’s ok to be a bit cheesy.

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