SXSW - 3/16/12 & 3/17/12

So as my last note indicated, I ran into Kaia Wilson on the 14th which opened my eyes to the fact that both her and Amy Ray were playing SXSW. So 3/15 was all about me going to see Amy Ray play at the Ginger Man. I was able to get some good photos and a some good video which I have uploaded to youtube.

Amy Ray is fantastic, she looked like she was having so much fun on stage which is great to see because she's been at this for so long.  I was able to pick up her setlist, which incidently has lyrics printed on the other side to a song that I'm unfamiliar with and google didn't pick up on it either.  They have chord markings indicated as well so this might've been a song in progress?!?  It might just be something on her newest album and the lyrics might not be up on the internet yet.  I'll know once I can fully digest her new album.

Today though, my main plan was to go see Kaia play at 8pm at the Cherrywood Coffeehouse.  A google search showed me that this was not downtown but rather several blocks up north so I knew I'd have to drive there.  I also re-did my entire schedule for the day, and this is what it was:

I knew there were two events that were marked from 12noon to 6pm but didn't list band times.  One had Digitalism playing, which would've been nice to see.  The other had Melissa Ferrick which I would've liked to had seen.  I was originally going to go downtown and find what time they were playing but those plans fell through.

I ended up getting downtown in time to see Great Lake Swimmers at 2pm at Peckerheads.  I caught the end of a very good group called Honeyhoney before the show.  Great Lake Swimmers did not disappoint!  I was able to sit down front and take a couple videos too so those will show up youtube soon.

I then headed over to Maggie Mae's to meet up with Shervin and catch Voltaire Twins.  Turns out this was the Aussie party hosted by Triple J.  That was a nice surprise because I've loved the music scene in Oz for quite a long time and I've listened to JJJ over the internet since the 90s.  I was HUGE into "You Am I" back in the 90s.

So I showed up at Maggie Mae's and I see Shervin in the corner of the venue talking to Voltaire Twins and taking a photo with them so I slipped in and had them take a photo with me too.  We talked for a bit about the music in Oz and the role JJJ plays in it, it's quite fascinating to me because Australia has bands that are HUGE in that country, filling huge stadiums and getting tons of radio play and yet the rest of the world has NO idea.  It's quite crazy.

I had to split after 3 songs though because I wanted to get back over to Peckerheads to catch Reptar's set.  Let me just say that Reptar is frickin NUTS on stage.  I was able to get some video of this but not sure yet how it all came out.  They are a FUN band to see live and make me feel like I'm young again just bouncing around acting like a fool.

I know my friends were going to see Shiny Toy Guns and The Cult but I decided instead to head up north out of downtown to Flat Top Burger to see Jonquil.  I had already missed Chad Valley at that same venue which sucked but Jonquil is fantastic as well.  Totally uplifting and fun indie rock with a slight electronic bent to it.  I was also able to get a chocolate shake for some sugary sustinance.

So after Jonquil I had quite a break until Kaia at 8pm and had no plans.  Jennifer O'Connor was playing at 7pm at the church downtown but I knew I'd never be able to see that and then get up to Cherrywood so I decided to just head over there.  I got there around 6pm which left two hours... which was fine because I could chill and rest my feet.

I got to see Wishes and Thieves play who were interesting, had a singer with a great voice and was kinda M.I.A.'ish a little.  Then I went inside and saw Miracles of Modern Science play and they were quite good as well.  But let's face it, Kaia was the whole reason to be there.

I got to talk to Kaia a bit before she played, I probably dorked out again talking about music from back in the day.  This was quite an incredible experience tonight because there were like 6 fans tops there, plus me, and it was just Kaia and her guitar and that was it.  She hinted at being willing to play any requests we had but I'm against making requests because I want the artists to play whatever they're feeling at the time.  I didn't want to risk asking her to play a song that she's not really in touch with anymore.  Luckily for me she played one of the songs I really wanted to hear all on her own though.  She played both 16 and Julie of the Wolves from her first solo album.  I actually think she played another track from that first album but I'll have to go back to the video tape to confirm.  We had a blast, joking around and just being goofy.  She ended up playing a Bette Midler cover which was pretty cool, it was "The Rose" which I'm familiar with but she had the others singing along.  It was pretty low-key giving the circumstances but that made it all the more intimate.

Turns out she has a new album coming out which we got copies of early before it's officially out so that is badass.  Got her to sign it so that's always cool.  I, of course, expressed my wishes for a huge Team Dresch/Butchies/Adickdid reunion tour which will never happen but I wanted to make sure she was aware of how big a fan I was heh.

After I left there I went back downtown to meet Kami and Jon who were hanging out by the british music embassy.  We talked and they ate and we hung out and it was cool.  Like ol' times with the Dallas crew.  We slipped inside Elysium to use the restroom and they had some godawful djs playing.  We also had to walk by some godawful dubstep crappity crap playing at an outdoor venue.  After much deliberation they decided to go see Keane so we parted ways.  I almost wanted to go because Blitzen Trapper opened for Keane and I'm a fan of Blitzen Trapper.

All in all it was an amazing two days.  I have a ton of video that I'll be sorting through.

Tomorrow we're going to Gay Bi Gay Gay which is a big event out in the woods, Kaia will be playing again along with some artists I'm not familiar with.  I understand there is gonna be a huge Hedwig and the Angry Inch number at the end so that'll be interesting.  It'll be a nice way to close out SXSW.