2009 SXSW wrap-up

SXSW is one of the reasons I moved to Austin in the first place, this town attracts festivals and great live shows like dogs attract fleas.

Here's a quick rundown on some of the bands I saw this past week.

Earthless (3x)
Annihilation Time (2x)
Black Math Horseman (2x)
Radio Moscow (2x)
Kylesa
Skeletonwitch
Black Cobra
Wolves In The Throne Room
Wino (acoustic)
Pelican
Night Horse
Graveyard BBQ
Blower (local Austin band)
Spindrift
Bang Camaro
Year Long Disaster
Age Ov Reason
Priestess

Those are the ones I can remember (free booze everywhere=bad memory).

All in all a great week of music. Met a lot of very cool people and some industry contacts that I hope could bear fruit in the future.

I'll try to write some mini-reviews of some of the sets when I get a chance.

and on Saturday!!!!

Scott 'Wino' Weinrich will be performing a solo acoustic set at High Times Magazine's 2009 Doobie Awards party.
The party is from 'high'Noon through 6 PM at Red 7; 611 E. 7th Street

I AM SO THERE!!!!!!!!

good stuff!!! You going to catch the Iron Maiden - Flight 666 documentary tonight?

thejokeriv wrote:

good stuff!!! You going to catch the Iron Maiden - Flight 666 documentary tonight?

Hmmmm...I'd have to choose between that, The Story Of Anvil...or one of these live gigs. Guess I'll have to see which direction I stagger downtown.

detuned wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

good stuff!!! You going to catch the Iron Maiden - Flight 666 documentary tonight?

Hmmmm...I'd have to choose between that, The Story Of Anvil...or one of these live gigs. Guess I'll have to see which direction I stagger downtown.

Tough choice!!!

Pelican is awesome!

EvyMetal wrote:

Pelican is awesome!

Yeah, I just discovered them recently and would love to see them live. They are playing the same showcase as Wino (Southern Lord Records)...I wish Earth had come to town as well.

YES!!!! A festival created just for me.

Haha

I didn't do so well on the first day out, only caught one of the shows I wanted to see.

Annihilation Time - but if you're only going to see one show, this was a good choice...these guys tear it up!

My plan of attack for today:

1pm - Earthless (free show)
2pm - Kylesa & Skeletonwitch (free show)

Some random notes on today's free shows.

Earthless - I was hoping these guys were going to be great and they did not disappoint. For those not familiar with them, they are an all-instrumental band that lay down basic grooves and then freely improvise over them. They did a short 40 minute set (one song) and just absolutely ripped it up! Isaiah Mitchell (guitarist) has done his Hendrix/Trower homework and is an absolute monster. The drummer basically leads the band, taking the improv through various stages. A group that really needs to be seen live to fully appreciate.

Black Math Horseman - I hadn't heard this band prior to seeing them, but they've got a relatively interesting sound. They are sort of "ambient doom", heavy but with lots of space in the arrangments. Extra points for having a talented female bassist/vocalist (Sera Timms) who just happens to be extremely hot. I talked to her for a few minutes after the gig and she was very nice. They are playing again tomorrow and I'm planning on checking them out again. Their debut album will be released in April and was produced by Scott Reeder (The Obsessed, Kyuss, Unida).

Kylesa - Sorry in advance to fans of this band...but they suck. They have two drummers...but they both play exactly the same thing in each song thus negating any reason for having two drummers. The only interesting thing about them is the female guitarist/vocalist is the "growler", while the other guitarist sings in a clean voice. They tune down ridiculously low and basically it just sounded like noise. Good thing there was free beer.

Skeletonwitch - Another band I hadn't heard prior to the show. They were better, very thrashy...but with those annoying cookie monster vocals. They got a decent pit going and the crowd seemed to be into them, but there wasn't really anything original about them. Tight and professional but rather flat. Couldn't understand a single lyric, but for the second song the vocalist at least let the crowd know "This song is about Satan!". Again, good thing there was free beer.

That's all my ears could handle for one day at SXSW. Tomorrow is more free gigs during the day and then the Southern Lord showcase tomorrow night...I'll have to find a way to stay sober enough to last for the entire day...

Kylesa is awesome. it's a shame that their live show didn't go over so well with you. do you have any of their studio material? it's very good.

Sleletonwitch are amazing melodic death thrash. the vox are definitely for those appreciative of death & black metal.

mc666 wrote:

Kylesa is awesome. it's a shame that their live show didn't go over so well with you. do you have any of their studio material? it's very good.

Sleletonwitch are amazing melodic death thrash. the vox are definitely for those appreciative of death & black metal.

I haven't heard any of the Kylesa studio material yet. Their sound mix was pretty bad which didn't help. It's not really my cup of joe, but I'll give em a listen.

Skeletonwitch did put on a fun thrashy set, I just couldn't get into the vocals...but the band is super tight.

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