Lost in Austin - Friday

Here is the band run down:

1. Eli Paperboy Reed – I am a sucker for the Dap-Tone sound. He is trite, but the bad is tight.
   
2. House of Broken Promises - Riffriffic metal. Looked like a stereotype
   
3. Kopeckie Family Band - pleasant...in all the worst ways.
   
4. Cave Singers - roots with energy. I have checked out some recordings and like the live show better.
   
5. Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – forgettable twee. Plus I never forgave them for stringing Tim along on the promise to include a Crispus Attucks song on their mixed tapes...
   
6. Sea of Bees – I wrote down “country idle Ted harmonies” and don’t know what that means… But if I remember right, they had a quirky vocalist with an interesting voice that I grew tired of and chose to sit by a stinky trash can to fiddle with my email…
   
7. Smoking Feathers - Austin metal band that melded Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains and theramins.
   
8. Invincible Czars – This is really what prevents Zoobombs from walking away with Best of Show and illustrates part of what makes SXSW soooooo great. We were walking down the street and just happened to stumble onto a motley looking group of folks in choir robes just as they started in a Styx classic. They pulled out all the stops. I mean…look at these guys. Chops. Antlers. Violins. This is what happens when marching band geeks get into drugs. Greatness. See for yourself, video from a couple minutes in for a taste of something that needed to be seen to be believed. Serendipity often provides the most memorable performers in Austin.
   
   
   
   
9. Pontiac – Good, loud hard rock at Emo’s.
   
10. Delorean - booooring
    
11. Hunx and his Punx – a 50’s style girl band fronted by a guy playing up what I assume is a cartoonish gay character (in a see through shirt). Fun.
    
12. Ringo Deathstar – Oh, this was sad. Despite the name, they started off super strong…and then everything crashed in, including the ceiling, which dropped in pieces while all of the bands’ equipment began to fail. Painful to watch which is too bad because I think I would have liked them a lot.
    
13. Esbin and the Witch – I don’t get it. This was another Sound Opinions fave. English combo of driving keyboards and tribal rhythms. They made super cool sounds, but they didn’t congeal into anything for me. Others loved ‘em.
    
14. Okerrville River – I don’t get the hype here either. Boring. Slow. Plodding. Self-important. Yuck. Every bit as self-important and wankerous as The Decemberists but less fun, interesting, or good at playing their instruments. I left early, surprise...
    
15. Appleseed Cast – Now this is more like it. Trotted a long way to catch their last two long, reverb, drone feedback assault. GREAT. On the way back, I saw a guy so drunk he just fell face first into the concrete. Yup, downtown, its that sort of scene outside of the music venues. Sixth Street was a giant Bourbon Street-esque mess.