|
Wednesday
Spiro's:
I think the only thing I would change about SXSW is the location,
cause driving 12 hours just kills me. But, after getting the specifics
of the week sorted out (a.k.a. wristband, photopass, place to crash)
I made my way downtown. With a few hours to kill before R.E.M.
I stopped by Spiro's Amphitheatre for The Feds. Now I'm not
sure if I was drunk last year or just sleep deprived, but for some
reason The Feds sounded really freakin' good this year. I have to
say their rock is the kind of music that my parents would classify
as "rock." It was then time to head to Stubb's for R.E.M.
Bound and determined to see this band, I wasn't going to let the
lack of sleep or 12 hour drive stop me. However, I was going to
let the fire marshall. Stubb's hit capacity roughly 45 min before
R.E.M.'s set. So, needless to say at SXSW there's always something
to do.
Esther's Follies:
With some new found friends we went down the block. I wasn't sure
who we were seeing and why the line was so long, but I didn't really
care. It was after we finally got inside (Esther's Follies was also
at capacity), that I realized we were there to see The Nightwatchman.
For those of you who don't know, The Nightwatchman is the side project
of Rage Against The Machine's frontman Tom Morello.
Instantaneously, my night improved. I mean, come on, a close intimate
performance from Tom Morello?! He's the only guy that I know that
can make the horror of politics sound good and why war is bad, set
them to an upbeat tempo and get the whole room singing along. So
we're sitting there enjoying the music when out of the blue Tom
says "Okay, for my next song, I'd like to bring out my friend
Ben Harper." Everyone went insane! It was cool to see
two influential artists like that, friends. This was an experience
that derives the sentence: "Only at SXSW."
 Driskell
Hotel:
Post-insanity we decided to check out a set that would promise to
be slightly more relaxing. Christening the 1am hour was an acoustic
performance by Jon Foreman, frontman for Switchfoot.
Imagine a hotel lobby with plush carpet, velvet drapes and about
200 people sitting Indian-style on the floor. That would be the
Driskell Hotel where Jon set up two chairs, one for his cello player
and one for himself. To hear "Dare You To Move" for the
first time live and acoustic with Jon a couple feet from me was
easily the best way to hear that song. His performance mixed some
of his own songs with a few Switchfoot songs; although since he
basically wrote most of Switchfoot's songs, it all blended together
nicely.
By far it was an excellent way to start the week!
-Rachel Fredrickson
 Talk
Back
e-mail the
chief
Like this article?
e-mail
it to a friend!
|
