SXSW: Day 1

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It should be noted that: 

A) Since it has been some time since all of this went, I am using notes and thoughts I would scribble down before bed every night in order to recall all of this. Some of these notes are nigh on impenetrable thanks to either lack of sleep, lack of proper fluids, or an excess of improper fluids.

B) I am very much NOT a photographer, and even the pictures, primarily the ones of bands, that I thought were going to come out pretty cool rarely did. This was due less to my using a disposable camera and more to being, at best, close enough to a band to be right behind the actual professional photographers that seemed omnipresent at every gig, not to mention my wayward thumbs. Still, some of them came out nicely, so don't judge too harshly, please.

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After getting back from camping, and drinking some leftover keg beer that miraculously was still in our laundry room from a party earlier that weekend, Renée and I struck out for the bus stop and a ride downtown to a free official showcase at The Mohawk. That aforementioned keg beer caused me to have to jump off the bus in a bladder bursting panic well before our stop. Thankfully the woman at Quizno's seemed to notice that I was in no mood to be a paying customer and let me use the bathroom anyway.
Once we got to the Mohawk we had to wait in an enormous line, which at first was disheartening, but, as it turned out, only existed because the doors had not yet opened, so once they did it moved right along. And, notably, it was the only line I had to wait in the whole week!

The Line

Not in love with my look here, but Renée looks so serene!

I was most excited at this show to see Matthew Dear, as his records were a near constant soundtrack to my previous winter and spring. Before he went on though, were many other bands on three different stages!

Japandroids were a band I had heard a lot about for a few years, but I'd never bothered to pursue them because "earnest heartfelt two man rock and roll" is not really the sort of description that makes me snatch a record up. But, here lies the beauty of South by Southwest, I never would have gone out of my way to see Japandroids, but because they planned to play, according to the lead singer, a staggering ten shows in five days, I got to see them more than once. And, honestly, I was really impressed. They really seemed to mean it. And I was left impressed by this, their vindication, more than any of their actual songs. They played with an earnestness, power, and heart-on-the-sleeve emotion that I rarely see in the bands that I tend to want to see live. This was made even more impressive by the singer's announcement that they had landed in Austin only an hour before the show on a plane coming straight from Brazil, and had had "only two hours of sleep in the last two days."

Next, in another part of the club, was Bear In Heaven. I had given their album many a spin in the summer of 2011, but none of it had really stuck with me save the massive single "Lovesick Teenagers,"  whose synth tones and drum beat had enchanted me completely. I was able to catch them doing that song, which I was happy about, but overall their general aura really turned me off. In stark opposition to the Don't Give A Fuck Just Doing Our Thing baggy GnR t-shirt wearing vibe of Japandroids, these guys looked so calculated. Between stupid haircuts/mustaches and outfits that screamed Trying Too Hard, I really couldn't take them seriously. In fact, when I relayed to Henry that I had seen Bear In Heaven, his first and only question was "Oh, were they douchey?" Yeah, Henry, they were.

After BIH on the same stage was Matthew Dear, so I got a good position by the stage and waited. I was excited to see him fronting a band, because his two records that I was very into were recorded entirely by him, and at times sounded this way, so I was excited to see how the songs might work in a full band live setting. Unsurprisingly, they differed greatly, sometimes making them unrecognizable, save Dear's unmistakable baritone. Set opener "More Surgery," never really a favorite of mine on record, creeped in slowly and built for a long time before Dear began singing, and I finally figured out what song it was. Since seeing it live I have listened to its studio version many times, and have come to appreciate it quite a bit more, the live version highlighting its creepiness and it's bizarre lyrics about body modification as a way to self understanding. 

Dear had the feel of a guy maybe not quite used to being the frontman for a band yet, as for a lot of his career he has been a solo electronic artist/DJ. His band, all dressed in formal black and white, was tight, and he pulled some solid rock star moves throughout the set. Definitely the highlight of the night for me.

Goddamn these people and their heads.

An aspect of SXSW that began to become apparent in just that first night, and only increased during the week, was the absolute omnipresence of Social Media. There seemed to be literally no one, save Renée and I, who were not using a Smartphone for absolutely any possible reason. To turn around and survey the crowd at this, and indeed nearly any other SXSW even I attended, was to see a sea of heads turned downward, presumably blogging or tweeting or texting about what they were, at that very moment, experiencing. In fact, this entire showcase was Brought To Us By Tumblr, which I only noticed after a while of wondering why so much tumblr branded swag was around.

Here were whole crowds of people experiencing an event, but only taking it in through their own commentary on it. Which is, in a way, what I am doing right now. The difference, one I feel to be notable, is that all of these people were making their commentary as it was happening. Tweeting, tumbling, instagraming, all in place of just watching the spectacle in front of them, as if to provide concrete evidence that Yes, This Is Happening and Yes, I Am A Part Of It. I even finished my scribbled notebook entry for that night by asking "Am I even here without tumblr?"

The answer is obvious, but the experience was a strange one, and one I only thought about more and more as the week went on. 

More on this later.