Of course my busiest day so far would be followed by the first one where I actually spent a significant amount of time looking around for a good show. But sometimes you have to roll with the punches. And sometimes the first band on a bill can't get their sound right and sets everyone going on after them back an hour, derailing your plans. And sometimes another unknown vowel-less electronic act (MNDR) ends up being the best surprise of the day instead of the one you hoped might just be the best kept secret of SXSW (New Build).
I started off at Maggie Mae's, where Jansport's Battle of the Bands winners and Bloomington favorites Hotfox opened up the Sonicbids SXSW party at 11:30. Read my coverage of their set in an upcoming IDS article on Bloomington bands at SXSW.
The Men, who may actually be frontrunners in the Best Album of the Year So Far race with this month's Open Your Heart, went on around 1:45 at Barbarella. No chance was I missing that early-day set by a band that deserves to be playing late slots nightly. True to the band's namesake, it was fast, tight, thrashing yet impressively melody-conscious testosterone music from end to end, and I truly regret not being able to see them play back-to-back-to-back with clear-cut contemporaries Titus Andronicus and Cloud Nothings at Beauty Bar on Thursday.
My first accidental highlight of the day came at Lustre Pearl, where I caught the back end of Diamond Rugs: a supergroup featuring John McCauley and Robbie Crowell (Deer Tick), Ian Saint Pe (The Black Lips), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), Hardy Morris (Dead Confederate) and Bryan Dufresne (Six Finger Satellite), who nailed a sound fusion of their individual punk and roots rock backgrounds. After that though, it would be about five more hours before I found more good live music.
It was tough to resist going to see Jack White (though not the swarm of White fanatics that comes with a Jack White set), but around mid-afternoon I decided I would go to Clive Bar that night for New Build and Grimes, and then down the street for Dinosaur Jr. at Bar 96. It seemed like the most practical plan of action; I couldn't imagine not enjoying New Build, who I only discovered that day is a project of Al Doyle (LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip), and then I could catch half of 2012 blogosphere goddess Grimes' hyped set. I'd be out in time to get into Bar 96, right? Well, I would have been if not for Tycho's extensive technical delays, which first knocked MNDR back (an NYC electronic duo fronted by Amanda Warner, who it turns out can really bring the emotive pop star stage presence to win over a crowd), who in turn delayed New Build (almost MNDR's opposite: a full band creating nuanced and technically masterful beats with zero intensity), and all of a sudden, Grimes is going on almost an hour later than scheduled. I was able to catch one song (and yeah, sure, it was good, but that's not exactly the sample size I was hoping for to critique her live show) before bolting to try and get into Bar 96.
Somehow, I talked my way ahead of the line and into the venue right before Dinosaur Jr. took the stage. And somehow, after standing towards the front for most of the set, I still have hearing, even if I'm mostly just still hearing the booming wah-wahs and punctuated solos of J Mascis' Fender Jazzmaster over and over in my head. They played minimal new material, which I found curious, but then again 2009's Farm isn't what made them legendary, however awesome that album is. Rather, it was becoming the living definition of "guitar rock" long ago - and evidently, mastering its performance by abusing guitar string and amp capacity alike - that did.
Post and photography by Steven Arroyo
