Ric Leichtung is one of the founders of Adhoc.fm, a daily independent music and visual arts publication brought to you by the brilliant minds behind Altered Zones (RIP). Check them out on Facebook and Twitter!Let's just get this out in the open: it's total bullshit that anyone should ever have to pay $750 to wait in line to see bands in overcrowded, poorly run, and shamelessly sponsored concert halls, patios, and dive bars. But beyond the heavy price tag and the 56-foot vending machine/sky-raping phallus Doritos constructed on E 5th and Red River is that many of these bands don't see a cent for playing of these showcases. If you're a band at SXSW and you're going to play for free, you might as well play in your own element to people who care about who you are and what you do, rather than a bunch of Harold and Kumar bros who passed on Cancun because they couldn't find their passports under their puka shell necklaces.But you don't really need the badge--the best places to see music during SXSW are in the outskirts of the 6th street area at the warehouses, house parties, and impromptu shows on the Lamar Pedestrian Bridge or behind the Wendy's on 6th and Brushy under the freeway. Here are some of the best shows I've seen at my third day at SXSW.
Austin's OBN III's have been making some waves in the garage world: they put out an LP on Tic Tac Totally and were recently confirmed for a 7" on Matador's singles series alongside other prestigious acts like The Men and Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks. Mic swinger Orville Bateman Neeley III, also of Bad Sports, is a charismatic frontman to say the least; when he's not strangling himself with the microphone chord or pinching his bandmates nipples, Neeley put on a full-on Jagger swagger that made the crowd at Jolly Green and Tic Tac Totally's showcase at Beerland go crazy. Don't be surprised if you see these guys start more most pits and failed stage dives in a town near you sometime in the near future.
Outfitted with 3 couches, a modest PA, and bodega bags of six-packs free for the taking, Portals' BUSXSW was a display of how easy it is to do something incredibly awesome with a little bit of determination. While labels, publishing houses, and PR companies shovel big dollars into the SXSW money pit to rent venues who don't give out nearly enough guest spots or drink tickets, all you really need is a few bands, a PA, and a power source to throw a show. Running off of the electricity of the dimly lit bus, d'Eon sat on the floor smoking a cigarette with a beer in one hand while the other floated across his MIDI controller as he improvised over the synthscapes from his most recent output, Music for Keyboards. Portals brought forth the kind of intimate, one-of-a-kind experience that makes that makes that 20-hour road trip to Austin all worthwhile.
SXSW is full of randos, but I only saw familiar faces at this house party thrown by Adam of Austin synth bands SURVIVE and Troller. To the left, you'd see a member of Teengirl Fantasy sipping on ginger snap liqueur, Joel Ford chilling with Peaking Lights in front of you, and to the right Stefanie from Sleep Over and Ariel Pink tourmate Diva doing handstands and arm wrestling over a coffee table--it felt like the perfect place to seek refuge from the grind of too many official shows with terrible sound. Sun Araw, M Geddes Gengras, and a slew of other friends from Austin and LA played and the party raged late. Sleep Over didn't go on until after 3 a.m., but her new solo set was worth the wait. She even got to show off her singing saw skills, recalling the saw and tape loop experiments of Elephant Six's Music Tapes. Bonus points go to Stef for furnishing the floor with a double layer of bubble wrap.@ricleichtung
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