Kansas City Blog

Now that the festival is over and folks hangovers are wearing off, the really good shit is coming in. The past few days I've been enjoying living vicariously post-facto through KJHK's SXSW blog. If I tried to do the same thing through the Ssion's blog for Vice magazine, I'd probably turn gay, have a heart attack and die a glamorous, rainbow-spewing death. Click here or on the photo below for part one.

Megan Mantia

Cody Critcheloe's stories are not for prudes. The talks openly and unashamedly about taking drugs, chasing boys, and, worst of all, eating food from Chili's. But his lust for life is undeniable. As a boring straight guy who is psychologically incapable of letting go even for a minute to the extent that Cody and crew did at ever turn, I am in awe.

Possibly my favorite moment is his description of getting past this doorman (because getting past doormen is almost a bigger sport than the whole music game at SXSW):

Megan Mantia

On top of that there was a door guy, wearing a suit! HA HA! Can you believe it? Where did this asshole think he was? LA? Paris? Milan? New York City? HA HA HA! What a fuckwad! He tried to tell me that we weren't on the list, but after Alexis threw a fierce fit, he couldn't deny our star-power and let us in. It was odd the door guy had such a problem with us because the clientele seemed to be mostly over 40 and part-time employees at Joe's Crab Shack.

You have to realize that for fags to go more than a couple of days without dancing is like being in HELL!

The Vice blog is tricky to navigate, so here are the links to part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and the grand finale, part 5.

The border around that YouTube video is green. Like money. I received a press release today about the St. Louis band Living Things, which did something kinda outrageous at SXSW last week. The band burned money on stage. Several times. The stunts were done in protest "Wall Street's dirty ways" according to the release. The band also had this to say: "Our mother is a bank manager at Bank of America. Our father is a small business owner. We believe in the American Dream. But the dream is broken. You and I have something in common, we want the good life. But there is a problem. Wall Street's dollar is dirty. Let's burn that dirty dollar. We are not economists. We don't have a solution. But through symbolism we can raise awareness together."

A publicist for Living Things told me that over the course of several shows at SXSW, a total of $200 went up in smoke but also donated that much to a homeless shelter. Maybe they should have burned Monopoly money and donated $400 to the homeless shelter. But I guess that wouldn't have been as extreme.

Pick up a free Living Things download at ultragrrrl.blogspot.com.

I'm writing this blog entry from my basement couch in Overland Park. Besides the ringing in my ears and a pain in my back and ribs that I can't remember aquiring, this seems like a world away from the aural and visual shitstorm that is Austin during South by Southwest. But I mean that in the nicest way.

If anyone's looking for the expert's wrap-up of the hottest shows in Texas last week, you'll have to look elsewhere. My perspective was supposed to be different. My two friends and I (all SXSW first-timers) planned to show up without badges or much of a clue, for that matter, and try to see the shows we wanted to see. If that didn't work, we'd settle for pretty much any stage with a working microphone on it, and I'd blog and tweet my experiences as I went along.

So, without further adieu, here are my tips for all the newbies who might want some guidance on surviving one of the world's largest music festivals:

Tip #1: Feeling overwhelmed is normal. There are more than 1,800 acts playing over the course of five days and hundreds of venues throughout the city, and that's just the official evening showcase. If you count all the day shows, unofficial mini-festivals and street performers, it's probably safe to double that number. Just remember: you're not going to come close to seeing all the bands, and that's okay. I probably sat down and watched 30-50 bands, and although I'm positive I missed some great stuff, I also discovered some amazing new music, like Efterklang, Denmark's horn-filled answer to Sigur Ros.

Eric Rowley

Ssshhhh...he's sleeping.

Tip #2: Badges aren't a necessity. Unless you're only going to Austin to see the top-billed acts -- or if you have an aversion to waiting in lines -- badges aren't an absolute necessity. Spend some time in the weeks leading up to SXSW scouring the Internet for high-profile day parties, label- and corporate-sponsored showcases, and mini-festivals that overlap SXSW's 6th St. presence (such as the fantastic Red Gorilla Music Fest, which hosted Black Clover artist and KC hip-hop regular Grieves), and you'll have more shows on your calendar than you'll know what to do with. Just be sure to watch for online RSVPs; even some of the free shows require you to plan ahead.

Aaron Ladage

The elusive chupacabra, or Grieves? Only the drunken iPhone operator knows for sure.

Tip #3: Don't chase your tail. With the exception of some of the top-billed acts, a lot of artists play multiple sets. We wasted way too much of our first day schlepping around town trying to catch the Thermals, only to see them again at multiple showcases. They're one of my favorite bands, but after three shows in three days, I think I'm good for awhile.

Eric Rowley

The Thermals let off some steam at the Other Music and DigForFire.tv's Lawn Party.

Tip #4: Get the hell off of 6th St. I spent a few extra days in Austin earlier in the week for SXSW Interactive, and by day nine, I was thoroughly finished with the constant noise, people and all-around cacophony of the downtown institution. But just a dozen blocks east on the exact same street, I caught Astronautalis and Busdriver at Bird's Barbershop. It was a cool, uncrowded venue with shade and free beer, and it was probably the best showcase I saw all week.

Eric Rowley

All aboard: Busdriver delivered hip-hop to an adoring crowd at Bird's Barbershop.

Tip #5: Bigger isn't always better. Camera Obscura and American Analog Set sucked. The Hold Steady rocked, but it was crowded and the $2 all-you-can-drink beer had a 45-minute line. On the other hand, the teeny-tiny hip-hop showcase at the Back Alley Social Club (particularly Crew54) was jaw-droppingly good.

Aaron Ladage

Crew54, where are you? At the Back Alley Social Club, son.

And with that, my first SXSW comes to a close. There a ton of things I'd do differently (namely, slow down on the beers the night before my flight home), but I had a great time. I really hope I can make it back to Austin again -- but I'm also thrilled that it won't be for at least another 361 days.

The following is a guest dispatch by Riverfront Times music editor Annie Zaleski, who is courageous and awesome.

By day four of SXSW, everything is a chore. Waking up. Standing up. Drinking beer. Even mustering up enthusiasm to see bands becomes more difficult, mainly because the constant barrage of music - we're talking from the moment you land in the airport until you leave Austin - brings on sonic fatigue.

This was my mindset on Saturday afternoon, at the Chop Shop/Atlantic Records day party, which was held in a giant tent outside near the Austin Convention Center. I missed the Republic Tigers, who played earlier in the afternoon, but was incredibly excited to see Janelle Monae, the proud Kansas City, Kansas, native who was drawing quite the buzz in Austin this year.

Photo courtesy myspace.com/janellemonae

Clad in dapper black-and-white outfits, her band walked into the show several minutes before her, like a group of penguins on a serious mission. A good omen, I thought, as I sucked down a can of Dos Equis like it was a bottle of water. Monae walked in later, her combination Mohawk/bouffant hairdo, crisp white shirt and confident stride making her impossible to miss.

I've been in Austin for eight days now and leave tomorrow, so needless to say, the chaos of downtown Austin -- particularly 6th St. -- is starting to give me some serious sensory overload.

That may explain why our journey away from 6th yesterday was so refreshing. As I mentioned in my last post, my two friends and I are all SXSW newbies, and we're here with no badges, no bracelets, and pretty much no discernible plan whatsoever for what shows we're going to see. Sixth is sort of the epicenter of the madness, and our goal yesterday was to find as much good music away from the insanity as possible.

The journey started at a hip-hop showcase at Bird's Barbershop, quite possibly one of the coolest venues I've ever seen (it's a real barbershop. I even stepped in some hair that hadn't been swept up). We got there just in time to catch Astronautalis, one of the best-kept secrets in indie hip-hop.

Eric Rowley

Astronautalis drops verse in a barber shop.

Astro spit rhymes to a crowd that, by the time he finished, was overflowing out the door. Besides his penchant for rapping about American history, he's probably best known for his freestyle, where he solicits topics to rap about from the audience. He did two completely off-the-cuff freestyles, covering everything from Twittersex to unintentional consequences to Octamom.

Eric Rowley

Give Astro some room!

The next stop was good for my soul. The French Ligation -- basically a historic park with lots of shade trees and grassy areas to hang out -- played host to about a dozen bands, including Camera Obscura, the Thermals, Cursive, Pete and the Pirates, and Efterklang.

Eric Rowley

Camera Obscura

Eric Rowley

Efterklang

We took off before Cursive took the stage, but Camera Obscura, whose guitarist was out sick, was a pretty big let-down, while Efterklang, a Danish folktronica group, completely blew me away. After that, we headed back to 6th and caught a few semi-KC-related parties, including the Lose Control party (organized by Nomathmatics) and a nameless band that I thought was called Electric Grandmother, but apparently was not. Guess that one's going to have to remain a mystery.

Eric Rowley

Unknown band at Nomath's Lose Control party.

Like most nights here, yesterday's festivities devolved into booze-fueled hedonism around midnight. I love the crowd-packed insanity of 6th, but if you're visiting SXSW for the first time, I highly recommend hitting some shows away from the madness.

South by Southwest has always intimidated me. I'm a decidedly uncool person, and 6th St. in Austin is a pretty cool place -- or at least it's always seemed like one, considering I'd never been there before this week.

But after a few days, "intimidated" isn't the word I'd use. "Overwhelmed" might be more like it. I was lucky enough to spend a few days at SXSW Interactive and got to stick around for the music festival, but even after seven days in town, I still can't wrap my brain around the sheer volume of bars and bands here. My friends and I also didn't buy badges, which meant that besides having to figure out the good bands, we also had to figure out which shows we could actually get into.

Aaron Ladage

The Thermals crammed all they could into a 30-minute set.

On Wednesday (the first official day for the music festival), my friends and I started out at Touche with a forgettable singer-songwriter before deciding to track down the Thermals, one of my favorite bands.

Lesson #1 from SXSW: don't try to chase bands around town. By the time we got to Red 7, the Thermals were already finished, and we had to walk halfway across Texas to find them at Club De Ville and the Bitch Magazine/Kill Rock Stars party, and they weren't on for another hour. That actually worked out well, though, because opening for them was a great rockabilly act called Thao with the Get Down Stay Down.

As expected, the Thermals tore it up. Not a lot of crowd interaction, but Lesson #2 from SXSW: bands will cram as many songs as they can into a 30-minute set.

We tried to catch These Arms Are Snakes at Red Eyed Fly and later, the Decemberists at Stubb's, but quickly learned that without badges, high-profile showcase shows are overhyped and overpriced ($12 and $25, respectively). Considering the amount of awesome free music available, we skipped all the paid shows. That paid off in spades, since avoiding those shows led us to an unplanned visit to the Black Clover showcase, featuring Grieves, at Darwin's Pub.

Aaron Ladage

Grieves, beer in hand, at the Black Clover showcase.

Lesson #3: pace yourself on the drinks. Starting at noon gets expensive, and it makes it hard to blog about the bands you saw at the end of the night. I'll try to be better tomorrow.

Addendum: Check in for Twitter updates throughout the day at twitter.com/waywardtweet. And there's even more coverage at our Village Voice SXSW group blog.

The Wayward Son will not be at SXSW this year. Awwwwwww. But you can follow the antics of Nick Spacek, program director for Lawrence station KJHK 90.9 FM, and friends at this specially dedicated blog and Twitter. The Pitch does have a special agent down in Austin, however; check here for updates over the next couple of days (he's already caught Bacon Shoe and the Republic Tigers).

Bacon Shoe, apparently, is continuing its street-attack tradition, born in 2006. They're even wearing the exact same clothes. Here's a video of them from a couple of days ago, feeding beats and bacon to a homeless lady.

If y'all know of anyone else from here who's going down and blogging SXSW, do share in the comments.

Though Kansas City has more than respectable representation in the official SXSW showcase, our biggest coup this weekend in Austin is sure to come from the three-day non-showcase party that local DJ duo Nomathmatics, with help from a lot of friends, is throwing in defiance of God, the Man and Everybody. More than 60 individual acts, a few bands and a lot of DJs, are convening Thursday through Saturday this weekend for the Lose Control Party at the Canvas Bar and Gallery (105 E 5th, Ste 113).

"After our visit last year to SXSW and attending multiple parties we decided this year we wanted to host and play one of the bigger parties of our own," says Sheppa, one-half of Nomath.

Check the flyer posted at losecontrolparty.com for the lineup and to RSVP, if you're going. Last time we talked with Sheppa, about a week and a half ago, the RSVP count was approaching 4,000. Damn.

The KC-Lawrence acts spicing up the disco meltdown include (of course) Nomathmatics, Norrit, Max Justus, the ACB's and Dri. Notable out of towners include Le Castle Vania, Treasure Fingers, Toronto's Woodhands and Kill the Noise, among many others.

Live vicariously via 140-character updates @LoseControl2009.

The South by Southwest music festival doesn't officially start until next Wednesday, but that hasn't stopped KC bands from making a few Austin appearances a little early.

This is my first time at SXSW, and I was fortunate enough to make it down a little early for SXSW Interactive, the biggest geekfest since ... well, since ever, really. That's not an insult -- nerdiness is the new hotness, and if you're into Web or video game design, SXSWi is the place to be. You know you're at a super-nerdy conference when your hotel's wi-fi flakes out and the manager slips a letter under every door to placate the Twitterati.

But even the nerds know how to party, and despite the fact that the music doesn't truly begin for four days, live music was still everywhere. KC bands aren't exactly out in droves in Austin this year, but at least two have already made themselves known.

"The most hardcore rappers in Kansas City -- possibly the world," also known as nerdcore superstars Bacon Shoe, took it to the streets with several guerilla performances from the back of a rented Pontiac Vibe.

Aaron Ladage

Kid tested. Ruggle approved.

The first, just outside the convention center, lasted roughly 45 seconds before conference security shut it down. Twenty minutes later, Mr. Ruggles and Co. regrouped (sorry for the sideways video) on 6th outside the Jackalope to support Sunday night's Bacon-Flavored Interactive Party, sponsored by Dead Girls drummer Eric Melin's film review site, scene-stealers.com.

Aaron Ladage

Not your normal, everyday street performers.

Bacon Shoe's renegade street shows stood in stark contrast to the Republic Tigers, who followed the taping of the Diggnation live show at Stubbs. If you don't know what Diggnation is, just know that's it the geek equivalent of an Obama rally, and having to play after the main event is kind of like being that poor pastor who had to give the closing prayer after the president's inaugural address.

Aaron Ladage

You digg?

Still, the Tigers played a great set, and although the crowd had definitely thinned by the time they took the stage, it was far from an empty house. Lead singer Kenn Jankowski played the part of the consummate frontman while the rest of the band taught the crowd why it's never a good idea to leave a show early.

With any luck, there will be more updates tomorrow. Now, if I can just find Ruggles again...

Eric Melin and J.D. Warnock, the men (and erstwhile musicians; see: Ultimate Fakebook, the Dead Girls) behind locally based movie Web site Scene-Stealers.com are mad taking over SXSW this weekend, hosting three separate parties on Sunday, March 15. If you're down in Austin for the Interacitve portion (March 13-17) of the mammoth music, film and everything-that-is-cool festival, follow your meat sniffer to the Stealers' "Bacon-Flavored Interactive After Party," featuring, who else? Bacon Shoe. The party is a benefit for the non-profit Children's Music Fund. Details below.

Insane nerdcore freaks Bacon Shoe will perform live and emcee all night at this off-the-hook party. You do not want to miss this one-of-a-kind live performance!

We'll have smokin' hot raffle prizes for everybody to win, and all the proceeds go to a great cause: The Children's Music Fund, a charity that helps chronically ill children receive much-needed music therapy.

You can also watch the newest online content from Scene-Stealers and Plus1TV, as well as trailers from award-winning SenoReality short films!

Keep your eyes peeled for Bacon Shoe's guerrilla street performances throughout the SXSW Interactive/Film Festival. You never know where they'll pop up or what will happen.

Sponsored by Scene-Stealers.com, Spiral16, SenoReality Pictures, and Plus1TV.

This won't be Bacon Shoe's first SXSW appearance.