Friday

Keeping with the growing corporate theme, we got laminates that served as passes to a day party at the giant Stubb's Barbecue stage for the Spin/Pabst/Some Tequila/Old Spice/some tabacco product/and I think TDK. You could walk away with blank DVDs, cheesy cowboy hats, free beer...and...ice cream from Old Spice (WTF?)... But I did not avail myself of any of that crap (well, aside from the beer---thanks Kyle!) because we were there for the music. And what we saw was pretty darn good:

• Fratellis with Pete Townsend. Yeah, you read that right. Yup. That Pete Townsend. The genius of The Who slumming with some very vanilla-sounding Scots. I am sure there is a back story, but I don't know it. Cousins? Lovers? Somebody in that band must have something over the pinball wizard, cuz they can't hold his jock musically. Still. This was pretty cool. For most of the set people were indifferent, but from the first hoot when Sir Peter came into view, the surge forward was on. From every corner, greying music execs descended on the stage to be near their man crush. And, hey, I was there too. Maybe 40 feet from a rock god. He played The Seeker (nice choice) and still has some chops. However, as you can see from the photos, gravity and liquor have taken their toll on his cheeks...
  
• Mew. What in the world do you follow a living legend with? Icelandic music, of course. Something in the North Atlantic breeds drama, walls of sound, and high-pitched male falsetto vocals. So, I guess these guys are just living out their birth right. But hey, it works. Alternating between angelic and sonically pummelling...
• Galactic with Gift of Gab, Lyrics Born, and Boots Riley. OK...Townsend is undeniably cool, but this was the main event from me. From the moment I saw this combination on the SXSW roster, this was one of the few must-see shows for me. I am not a jam band person, but I love what Galactic does by fusing the New Orleans funk sound with jazz. I have all their albums---heck, I even have the drummer's solo album (Stanton Moore is the heart and soul of this band and a truly gifted musician). Add to that my three favorite MCs (representing Blackilicious, Latyrx, and The Coup perhaps the three best underground hip hop acts of all time) and you have something special. And it was. The MCs all have very different flows, but all worked well with the heavy funk brought by Galactic. I wanted more when the set ended...

No time for a nap, there was more barbecue to be had, so we walked to Iron Works a few blocks away. As we made our way there we encountered what looked like a roving Japanese minstrel show and Jim DeRogatis, pop critic for the Chicago Sun-Times (as well as host of Sound Opinions "the world's only rock and roll talk show"). We chatted with DeRo, mocked some Minnesotans in line, and split up (newly fortified with beans and fatty meat) to see what the evening had in store for us. I came into contact with:

• Japanese Night. Every year the Elysium holds an all-Japanese evening showcase, usually comprised of screaming RAWK. I've always meant to go as it is supposed to be entertaining. And, it was. I have no idea the name of the group we saw. But they were made up of uniformed Japanese school girls playing some of the tightest ska I've ever heard. They were amazing. The crowd was so disarmed by their cuteness and amusing efforts at English ("we are here for the rock" or "Ayyy...Ayyyuh...Ay Loveh You") that the entire place sat on command. I've never seen that happen before!
  
• Clem Snide and Persephone's Bees. I like Clem Snide on record. Apparently, I do not like him live. We managed only 2 songs before leaving the median age 47 crowd behind. We tried to see Dirty on Purpose, but were rebuffed, and ended up seeing a band purely because I thought they were called the PBs (close to the JBs). They were not at all like the JBs. Instead, very very LA. Guitarist in early 70s lame outfit. Bassist in late 70s lame outfit. Still, their last song was a good show in and of itself. Everyone in the trio took turns playing lead guitar over a searing bass riff, including the female lead singer, who played around the guitarist from behind...impressive and slick.
• Boat. Not too serious, energetic mid-tempo rockers from Chicago. I'd not heard of them before but will watch for them. A fun live show.
  
• Saturday Nights. From the birthplace of Sir-Mix-a-Lot comes the newest hip hop sensation, Seattle's Saturday Nights! I liked what they were doing with clever samples and using a live guitarist, but after seeing some pro MCs earlier, this was flat in comparison. Still, it did yield one of the most memorable moments---during a song summarized by one of the MCs as "a mothafuckin' song about a mothafuckin' jacket with mothafuckin' patches on the mothafuckin' elbows" Jeff showed his inimitable knack for great timing by sauntering into the show in a mothafuckin' jacket with mothafuckin' patches on the mothafuckin' elbows (which he made sure to show the group on the way out---to a chorus of boos).

With the sour taste of OK rap left in our mouths, Jeff, Ashley and I hightailed it over to stand in line at Emo's to catch the full Galactic et al set. It was worth the wait. 2/3 was a repeat, but durng the day Gift of Gab and Lyrics Born had dominated the stage with Bootsy getting only one song. That night, he tore it up with a version of The Coup's single We Are the Ones that was probably more funny, menacing, and thumping groove than his original recording. I have to tell you, as you can see from the photos, Mr. Riley looks more rock star than any of the rock stars at the entire festival. The set culminated with all three MCs sharing the stage and trading good-natured freestyle couplets. Wow. Another good night in Austin!