Sunday, March 17, 2013

SXSW - Saturday Dispatch

The surprising, vaguely interesting, and outright baffling of SXSW's final day.
By - J.D. Swerzenski

Jake Bugg - La Zona Rosa, 2:30
The 19-year old Nottingham, England kept me thinking of the Arctic Monkey's Alex Turner with a country fixation throughout his set at La Zona Rosa. The dude also has a healthy appreciation for big Oasis melodies and a knack for turning a phrase. He'll definitely stay on my radar.


Lord Huron - La Zona Rosa, 3:30
I didn't pay much attention to Lord Huron's release from last year Lonesome Dreams. I remember tracks of it being pleasant, but it just sort of got buried in the pile rather quickly. The 5-piece spent their set walking through the error of my ways, showing themselves as worthy contemporaries to Local Natives, Frightened Rabbit and even Vampire Weekend. So my bad Lord Huron, I'll listen to your record again. 






Big Freedia - 1100 Warehouse, 4:30
It was two SXSWs ago that I welcomed Big Freedia into my life, and with it my festival belief to always see the Queen Diva or any other worthy New Orleans Bounce show should the opportunity present itself. Her set in the suffocatingly hot 1100 Warehouse proved that rule won't be changing for quite some time.


The Polyphonic Spree - 1100 Warehouse, 5:15

After their nearly 5 year hiatus, The Polyphonic Spree are back. Like, really, really back. 14-members strong and featuring enough onstage instruments to start a youth orchestra program, the band started exultant and kept the crowd there throughout their 35min. set. They finally took things into the heavens with the closing pair of "Night and Day" and an out of nowhere cover of "Lithium." It was probably as close to church as anyone in the crowd would get for the weekend.


The Robert Glasper Experiment feat. Erykah Badu - Empire Automotive, 10:45
I always root for jazz acts at places like SXSW, though the unfortunately that practice is usually an exercise in rooting for the underdog. So watching jazz's current golden child Robert Glasper pull a massive crowd at a non-jazz venue felt sort of like the Detroit Lions finally putting up a winning record. Of course I was excited, but there was also that nagging feeling of this surely being too good to be true. And partially, it was. The majority of the crowd was likely there to catch special guest Erkyah Badu, and I can't say I saw too many people following the band through their more 'experimental' instrumental passages. But whatever, Glasper is clearly on to something, and dammit did it feel good to be there rooting for the home team. 


Smashing Pumpkins - Red Bull Sound Select Stage, Midnight

The question always begs whenever a veteran group plays SXSW, especially a massively popular one like the Smashing Pumpkins. Were Billy Corgan and crew there to push a new record like Prince, Jim James or Justin Timberlake? Or unveil a brand new stage production like The Flaming Lips? Or deliver some sort of official SXSW address like Dave Grohl or Stevie Nicks? I was there, and I still couldn't come up with a motive that didn't involve $$$$s. But I did sing along like the angsty 15-year old I was to every Mellon Colline song Corgan and crew played?

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