Sometimes it only takes six days to make one weak. By six, I’m including
just the South by Southwest music festival and the obligatory further
abuse of the body that followed on St. Patrick’s Day. There were some, like
Rev. Ivan Stang, whose Austin stay began earlier at the Multimedia conference
and continued through the music fest. (Stang said he hadn’t planned on running
a booth at the music fest trade show, but that the SXSW organizers “demanded
the presence of J.R. “Bob” Dobbs at the festival” and made him a sweet deal).
Pacing yourself was a must, which I did pretty well, except for a frazzled
Saturday getting everything together for the special — and wholly successful,
I might add — Daniel Johnston appearance at the Atomic Cafe that night. Paul
Leary and Atlantic Records’ Yves Beauvais came backstage to congratulate
Johnston afterwards, and the latter was heard discussing hopes of big name
guest stars for his next album. Johnston has previously invoked the names of
everyone up to fan Eddie Vedder as potentially making appearances. Ironically,
for me, the last-minute organizing of that showcase was like a calm spot in a
sea of total madness.
I mean, did you expect to be able to go through a festival with over 700
(official) acts and know what you were doing? Look at all the “variations” that
popped in and out of the SXSW gene pool: You had Steve Riley appearing with
C.C. Adcock, Exene Cervenka onstage with the Old 97s, and Fear’s Lee Ving
showing up for both Choreboy and a pre-SXSW Descendents appearance earlier in
the week. The Dust Brothers, who turned down an “official” showcase because
they just plain don’t play live, made an “afterhours” appearance at a small
club on Congress, while the Masters of Reality mastered a day party at Emo’s,
and World Party appeared at a party at the Iron Works (where most of the world
was crammed in) before getting their own last-minute showcase. Contrast that
with Kelley Deal, who guested with the Supersuckers even though her own band
had to drop out of their showcase! Then there was the Utensil party,
which featured such unlikely stage-fellows as Trouser Press‘ Ira
Robbins, Amy Rigby with Elliot Easton (doing the Cars’ “Just What I Needed”),
Mark Eitzel, and Lisa Loeb. On the recording front, Jane Wiedlin got together
with Johnny Goudie for some tunes, while the Derailers hit the studio with Dave
Alvin.
Then there were serendipitous surprises to stumble on, which for me were Shark
Chum, a shirtless punk trio who actually know how to hurl insults and spit and
be charming about it, and Dilli (hey, I’m so cool I get welcomed into
the Blue Flamingo with a badge), whose catchy alterna-radio-ready songs
made me feel like I’d heard them before and wanted to hear ’em again. To
complete the chaos, there was Velouria — or was there? After their
showcase came reports that their van had broken down and left them stranded
far, far away from the festival, and that their tourmates Gluey had taken
advantage of the mishap and taken the slot by identifying themselves as the
chosen band. Hey, would you know Velouria on sight?
On the Corner of Hollywood and I-35
My own biggest celebrity spotting was Peter Wolf endlessly walking up and downSixth on Wednesday, but the stars were out in force during the week thanks to
the SXSW film festival (a big success this year) with reports of Uma Thurman
and Ethan Hawke unashamedly engaging in P.D.A. (Public Displays of Affection),
and Quentin Tarantino spending time at the Dog and Duck. Also spotted were
Sandra Bullock, Forrest Whittaker, Mira Sorvino, Brendan Fraser, Mary Stuart
Masterson, and the star of the best movie of 1996, Kingpin, Woody “the
Hempster” Harrelson. One can safely say that most of them, along with the rest
of the city’s visitors, were led to wonder what “Texas Friendly” was supposed
to mean after running across the masses of people wearing the Wannabes’
brilliant and omnipresent T-shirts, which bore the simple, bold statement:
“Don’t Move Here!”
Music superstars (and lesser-known treasures) were naturally in evidence as
well. On the uplifting side, Tony Bennett stories abound; the crooner did a
sketch of K-EYE’s Nanci Wilson as she interviewed him, then signed it and gave
it to her afterwards. Bennett also startled KVRX/KGSR/Austin Music Network’s
Jenn Garrison when he ran into her at KGSR and quipped, “Hey, I know you! I’ve
seen you on TV!” SXSW’s Dave Thomson, meanwhile, used some quick and nimble
thumb placement to avoid startling Bennett — after he realized that the
badge he had proffered for the singer to sign bore a large, proud “Fuck You and
Your Stupid Band” sticker (courtesy of the Fuckemos 97). Winner of the “What is
he doing here” prize at the Austin Music Awards show was Steven “Little
Stevie” Van Zandt, who, seen prowling around backstage, was just begging for someone to shout “No, Steve, the Van Zandt tribute is for Townes!”
Producer Andy Paley, who has worked with Jonathan Richman, Brian Wilson, and
even some people who aren’t eccentric, was out and about over the week.
Meanwhile, SXSW volunteer Dan Carney spent the majority of his afternoons
snooping around insistently trying to find out if the manager of the Tuvan
throat songs troupe, Yat-Kha, was actually Lu Edmunds; in the end it turned out
that he was right — it was the former Damned/Public Image/Shriekback member
and current Mekon. Oh, and of course, Beatle Bob was everywhere.
Only One Public Execution?
There were a number of small incidents over the week, like the brawling atTrophy’s, the brief chaos at the hip-hop show at Emo’s (even the guy who
flashed a knife — unopened — at Emo was finally allowed in because, hey, he
had come all the way from Mississippi for the show), and the sudden and
unexpected appearance of a taxi in the waiting line for Yo La Tengo at Liberty
Lunch. (Try telling a drunk to take a cab home after that!) Still, the
public hanging of one Trevor Wallace at the performance of Henry Duys’
Chemical Wedding had to be the week’s most gory, vicarious event.
Wallace, replacing a very lucky Tim Stegall, had been placed in a specially
rigged harness for a special effect during the neo-rock opera, but when his
chair was kicked out from under him, the under-arm straps snapped and the noose
proceeded to perform its practical purpose. Wallace lost consciousness, but his
convulsions were met by appreciation from the audience until it was realized
that his acting was too good. After he was let down and regained
consciousness, he changed into a clean pair of trousers and the show went on.
Wallace was later heard to say that the near-tragedy had at least netted him a
lot of free beers and “kisses from girls I don’t even know.” SXSW’s Brent
Grulke is quick (and loud!) to point out that the Chemical
Wedding show was in no way associated with SXSW.
Is there a Doc in the House?
Dr. Ron Byrd, who basically played the part of house physician for SXSW,reports that pretty much all his patients were suffering from the same malady:
“Everybody comes to Austin and they have allergies and they freak out because
they have a showcase.” Among those who received the advice not to talk, smoke,
or call Ron in the morning were members of the Jayhawks and Debbie Harry’s Jazz
Passengers. One patient Dr. Byrd couldn’t save was the relationship between his
band, Prescott Curlywolf, and Mercury Records. Though papers are still
shuffling, he says the band has gotten its master tapes back and is planning to
re-release its latest album “properly” — in other words, to see that people
actually know about its existence this time. Byrd’s diagnosis on Prescott’s
showcase this year? He says the best part was having the kids from Radish
dancing around up front and telling the band, “We wish there were more cool
acts like you on Mercury.”
Sign On the Dated Line
Naturally, nobody wants to blab about their record dealings so soon after SXSW— well, almost nobody; the local band Red called to say they had
received interest from Sony, Universal, and Mercury (better have a chat with
the Prescotts on that one first, guys) following their renegade showcase at the
Movements Gallery. Most folks are staying cautiously quiet, so we have to go by
who was seen where: Plenty of A&R attention was seen at Kacy Crowley’s
show, for instance, with one well-known Atlantic A&R legend proclaiming her
“Bob Dylan with tits.” (We assume that’s a compliment.) The Sexton Sextet drew
a similar crowd, with the word “no-brainer” heard from the lips of an industry
rep. Meanwhile, one local insider pointed to a great show by L.A.’s the Negro
Problem with “a line down the block — but no one wants to sign them because of
the name!”
Mixed Notes
All right! Is everybody ready for the big music festival?!? Yes, it’s time forPlywoodstock, which is running March 21-23 out at the Zendik Farm. Among the
20-plus bands playing the three-day festival are Brown Wh�rnet, Blort,
ST-37, Texas Philistines, and out-of-staters like Blood Red Black, Third World
Lover, and Woodenhorse. A $5 donation is being requested for the whole schmeer
— and no steenkeeng badges. (Remember, Survival Research Labs is
next week!)… It’s a sad sign of the state of the music industry that
Texas Music Office head Casey Monahan was unable to raise the funds to go to
SXSW this year. Okay, that was just a joke. Actually, what I meant to say was
that the 1997 Texas Music Industry Directory is now available from the
Texas Music Office in the Governor’s Office. The 424-page TMID lists
more than 8,000 Texas music business contacts. To receive a copy, mail an $18
check or money order payable to: Texas Music Office at: Texas Music Office,
P.O. Box 13246, Austin, TX 78711. For information, call the TMO at
512/463-6666, e-mail music@governor.texas.gov, fax 512/463-4114, visit
their website at http://www.state.tx.us/agency/301.html or stand on your
head in a wastebasket and say the magic words “Legendary Stardust Cowboy” three
times….
— Contributors: Raoul Hernandez, Andy Langer, Margaret Moser
This article appears in March 21 • 1997 and March 21 • 1997 (Cover).