 | Adrienne Lake is an LA music biz refugee often described as a "fiery redhead" who has found solace among the tumbleweeds and dive bars in the dusty burg of Tucson. Come fly with her as the monkey on her back becomes rabid, surly and overfed. |
Deep in the heart of Texas - SXSW wrap-up
Adrienne Lake
Muslims have Mecca, Buddhists have Kusinara, Christians have Jerusalem, Elvisites have Graceland and music lovers have SXSW. Every year brings new faces, old faces that you are thrilled to see again (such as the Who’s Pete Townshend, the Stooges, the Buzzcocks and Donovan) and the inevitable repeat customers who are there to feed their love of music. OK, for some, it’s just the love of money and of having a cooler job than their CPA sibling, but at least it started out as a love of music.
2007’s SXSW brought the expected in many ways: the gray skies, shaggy headed musicians, bespectacled “industry types,” assorted inebriated spring break buffoons, local characters, filthy streets, showcases, parties and random street performances, but there were many surprises, shiny and new. Here are just a few of them…
Carbon neutral – 2007 was the year that even the head-in-the-sand naysayers had to begrudgingly admit that there was probably some truth to a global warming situation that has forced polar bears into cannibalism. Call it a PR move if you will, but the decision for SXSW to go “carbon neutral” is an admirable one.
They did this by calculating the impact that SXSW has on the environment and then purchasing enough Texas wind energy carbon credits (376MW) to make up for it. Additionally, SXSW donated $5,000 to the Austin Parks Department for purchasing native trees.
SXSW Managing Director Roland Swenson explained, “An important lesson we learned was that any business can achieve this goal with some work and a willingness to invest in new activity. While the amount of carbon emissions generated by SXSW alone is relatively small, if every business took similar steps, it would make a profound difference to our planet’s future.”
It was also heartwarming (sorry for the reference to warming, but…) to hear that the reason why it was impossible to conduct a reasonable pre-SXSW interview with Southern California’s dios (Malos) was because they were traveling in a very noisy bio diesel van, which was propelled by vegetable oil, plundered from Chinese restaurants.
Hometown Heroes? – As any semi-loyal AZNightBuzz reader can testify from the ample TucsonScene Showcase previews, there was a very strong Tucson presence at SXSW this year. Besides the handful of local acts playing the showcase, garage rockers the Okmoniks had their share of shows. Eardrum-shattering Great American Tragedy played parties and a club. And then there were the wannabes.
There were three other bands that called themselves Tucson bands in the SXSW guidebook, and one of them (the Hacienda Brothers) don’t actually live here (see Hacienda Brothers preview) and the other two had apparently appeared out of thin air. Something is definitely fishy when at least four Tucson music writers are all saying, “Who the hell are Digital Leather and Yuma Territorial Prison Guards, and and why haven’t we heard of them if they are, in fact from Tucson as the SXSW Pocket Guide and Web site insists?”
The answer was simple – they aren’t Tucson bands. They are Phoenix bands. Perhaps someone got confused somewhere along the way because Digital Leather’s heart and soul is Shawn Foree. Foree used to be in Tucson’s Dickless Torso (lovely), but now resides in Tempe. As Tucsonans know, Tempe and Tucson are two hours and a million miles apart.
Yuma Territorial Prison Guards are associated with Digital Leather and therefore it’s safe to assume they are both Phoenix area bands, right? Well, even the Phoenix New Times thinks they’re from Tucson, but at least they didn’t spell it “Tuscon” like everyone else did who reviewed the show.
But really, we should be flattered. Apparently it’s cooler to be from Tucson than it is to be from the Phoenix area or southern California.
Party foul – One of my favorite SXSW moments ever was slipping back to the wonder years of junior high (the free drink helped) while watching Echo & the Bunnymen at the Spin (or was it Blender?) after party. Every year, there are a handful of business-sponsored free parties with beverages and bands that commence after the official SXSW goings on conclude. But this year I unwittingly saved up my late night partying energy for Saturday night – my last night in Austin. Bad idea. Unfortunately, the lack of parties may be explained by SXSW Principal and Managing Director Roland Swenson’s apparent release of a party list to local police. Some of those that did not have permits were visited by fire marshals. I hope this doesn’t indicate a trend to eradicate future late night events that aren’t “official SXSW parties.” But Swenson was quoted in the New York Times as saying, “We have these billion-dollar corporations that come in and cast themselves as the young rebels. They’re not really willing to acknowledge that we created this environment that they’re here to use for their own purposes.”
Something tells me there are going to be a lot more parties in hotel rooms next year.
The line between love and hate – Every year SXSW becomes a more and more publicized and therefore mainstream event. And now that blogs are recognized as legitimate and powerful by the music industry, it looks like SXSW attendance is booming. The result? Hot shows become harder and harder to get into, especially if you have a measly wristband. For the big ones, planning ahead is in order – friends must be called, favors must be cashed in, schemes must be devised. Being well-connected comes more and more handy every year here, just as it always does in the music business. I can accept this. Just please don’t tell me how great the Buzzcocks were. I don’t want to hear it (sob).
Weird is the new normal – Remember back in the day when people used to stare and whisper because you wore all black or were a guy wearing earrings? Well things have changed. Especially in 2007 at SXSW, where the square looking people are the freaks. Comedian David Cross said it best at his Mess With Texas party when he poked fun at his adoring audience for looking like hipster clones. “I mean, how do I differentiate between any of you? What am I supposed to say, ‘Yeah, see that indie rocker guy over there with the tattoos?’”
Seeing red – Austin has more redheads per capita than any other American city. And I mean the real ginger ones, not just the lightly freckled types like me. And I’m not the only one that noticed. More than one out of towner drunkenly bellowed, “Where are all you redheads coming from?” I even met another Adrienne with red hair and freckled skin. It started to become very Twilight Zone. When I noticed one of them standing next to me, I would panic and move elsewhere, as though I thought if we got too close we might implode or cancel each other out.
Is there some sort of giant magnet beneath the Austin soil that attracts recessive genes and the easily sunburned? When you are used to sticking out like a sore thumb, it’s somewhat mind boggling to look around and see a sore thumb every 10 feet.
As always, there were a hundred highlights worth mentioning, some of which will be forever etched in memory. Among them, Les Savvy Fav’s insanely over the top Mess With Texas performance (they outdid themselves); Pete Townshend’s quotable keynote speech; hearing Donovan’s greatest hits performed live in a gorgeous church by the man himself; discovering the infectious dude garage rock of the Black Lips; hearing about how a Mess With Texas scavenger hunt participant extracted his own tooth to win the prize of $1,000 and 20 minutes of stage time; Interscope artist Kenna’s ad-libbed rap about banana pudding during dinner at Stubbs; late night slap happiness with old friends, new friends and complete strangers; and of course, having the best seat in the house for the best rock ‘n’ roll performer ever- seeing Iggy Pop perform with the Stooges.
Moments like these are enough to keep people coming back to SXSW every year, but besides the memorable moments and unmatched networking opportunities for those in the business, I think what keeps SXSWers returning is the high (cue string section). There is a tangible contact high when you are in close quarters with hundreds of likeminded people that are all riding on the excitement of it all. The excitement of playing or seeing that big show. The enthusiasm of discovering that new act or meeting potential new collaborators. Or simply the high of being surrounded by people who have dedicated their lives and careers to music, just as you have.
That high hangs in the air and by the time Friday night rolls around it becomes so thick you can almost taste it. You look at your pocket guide and you realize that there are at least 8 bands you would love to see all at 10 p.m. and that is such a delirious dilemma to have. No wonder we go almost a full week on 7 hours of sleep and 300 calories… we don’t need food and sleep to power us. We’ve got music.
Subbacultcha would like to thank: AZNightBuzz Editor Jaynelle Ramon, sushi, writer Linda Ray, Rickshaw drivers, Zip-Fizz, Rachel Herman, Tim Plumley, that guy who gave me the Mess With Texas wristband, Interscope’s Diana Kass (thanks for dinner!), LA Record (for the VIP pass, place to sit and prime seat for Les Savvy Fav), Leona Davis, and most of all, memory foam inserts.
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