SXSW - day 4

Yesterday (Wednesday) was the first official day of SXSW music in Austin and it was also the highlight of my trip (more later). We made it downtown at around 2:30 or 3 and after checking in at the gate at Stubb's (where we were planning to spend most of the evening), we wandered around the 6th Street area, ate at a Cuban place (Sandwich Cubana and a Mojito, please), put a little more money in the meter and headed to Emo's.

We showed up at Emo's and caught the tail end of a band called Bonk (really the tail end though - like the end of the last song) and then a band called Dropsonic came out. These guys were pretty sure they rocked but I wouldn't say they did anything particularly well or that they were even that good. Next up was a weirdo/showman named Mark Mallman, who, whether riding his electric organ or tying his shoe while still singing and playing piano (and then mentioning it in the song), was wholly electrifying. I'm not sure if his stuff will translate to album form but I'm definitely willing to find out. Following this roucus set, was notable alt-country-ish rockers Cracker. This was a pleasant surprise. And while I've never been a huge fan of Cracker (but I guess I should be since apparently they are made up of members of Camper Van Beethoven? - This is what Brendan said, is it true? - and I do like Camper Van Beethoven so...), I liked what I heard of their alternately acoustic and electric set.

But we ducked out in the middle of Cracker to make our way back over the Stubb's where we would stand for two hours so we could get in to see The Donnas and Billy Idol. We struck up conversations with the people in the line near us and the next thing we knew one guy offered to run to the local liquor store for a sixer (we returned the favor with run No. 2). This made the waiting all that much more bearable. After our two hour sojourn in line (no that line, no this line - Stubb's was pretty unorganized about the whole thing which was surprising after the total organization of the movie part of the festival), we walked down into the Stubb's outdoor pavilion thing. This is a pretty cool way to do shows. All these bars seem to have a front/restaurant or bar section and then you go out back and it's this miniature Great Woods or something.

First up were a band called The Sights who brought a kind of loud but really not that original - or very good - start to the evening. The lead singer/guitarist of this trio (keyboard/organ/piano and drums rounded it out) looked like a more-recently washed combination of Kurt Cobain (the hair especially) and some geek from high school (really, really skinny geek though, so it wasn't me). One of the guys we were sharing beers with in line was there to see The Burden Brothers and I'm not sure why he was willing to pay the $35 "cover" (for those who don't have passes) to see these guys since they were simply everyday noisy punk.

But then, the thing I came down here to see, The Donnas, came out (I saw them while we were in line as they all piled out of a minivan followed by two grown men carrying a little of their luggage and their purses). I've been dying to see The Donnas ever since I was blown away by The Donnas Turn 21 album (which led me to go on to get all of their albums). So after three years of pining for this punk/rock trio, my wait was over. Ripping through a shortened set (damn those earlier bands for going long - the girls get no respect) of stuff from their two most recent albums ("Take It Off" "I Don't Wanna Know (If You Don't Want Me)" and a few others) it was over all too soon. I'm totally going to start posting on their web site that they should include The State Theater in Portland on any tour they plan because those girls seem custom-made for that venue. And then I'll be there with bells on.

Now, I'd come all this way for my beloved rock-chick foursome, but finding out that Billy Idol would be the band following the girls made the night all that much sweeter (despite their short set sandwiched between junk and the rock/punk legend (?)). Billy played a bunch of stuff from his new album (like four or five songs) which wasn't too bad but none of it was as good as anything he did at least 10 years ago and he played the majority of his hits. Everything from Ready, Steady, Go (from the Generation X years) to Eyes Without a Face and Flesh for Fantasy and, apparently, - although I somehow must have missed it or something - Dancing With Myself. He even trotted out Mony Mony (and interjected the cult chorus as well). Billy might be almost 50 but he's still in great form (and great shape too apparently since he repeatedly tore his t-shirts off and was wearing a pair of pants matched in their tightness only by the ones his guitarist was sporting). The sneer remains and so does the ability of his classic songs to whip the crowd into a total, sing-along frenzy.