Wednesday. The dogs got me up at 7:00am. The music festival officially starts at 9:00am. My plan is to get downtown by noon and get a fast start on the day parties. In fact I don't get there til about 2:00pm, and even that is slowed by parking issues. Finally finding a spot by The Mohawk I gear up and spend the afternoon sliding back and forth on Red River, dropping in at The Mohawk, then Emo's Annex, then Emo's Lounge, then back to the annex, then the Mohawk, then back to the lounge finally ending up at Paul Collins and The Beat's set at Beerland.
I saw a lot of interesting bands, the crowds were light, the lines nonexistent. The biggest problem was sorting out who I was seeing as the bands sometimes didn't match the order on the list. I still have 5 bands from Wednesday's day parties to identify but some of my favorites included The Forms out of New York and Zykos from here in Austin.
I had to cut my day partying short at 5:00pm. I had set a goal of trying to see a few of the headliners and I was going to have to hoof it to catch my first, Van Morrison, scheduled for an early 7:00pm set at La Zona Rosa, 10 or 12 blocks away. I knew he would be prompt as the venue was to going to "flip" genres after his set. By the time I got to the gate the badge line was already 20 deep, the wristband line even larger and by the time they let us in the lines were of epic proportions, stretching far around the building in both directions. I doubt all the badge holders made it in, much less any of the wristband holders.
Van Morrison at SXSW 2008 - more photos... photo by Jeff Barringer - staff photographer
While I am sure that many people turned away disappointed, the 1200 people that packed into the club got a pretty neat experience.The photographers were 3 deep in the pit, I was right in the center, in the front, and there must have been 50 of us squished in there. Van ended up being so close to me I had a hard time getting my lense to focus down that much. I made somebody happy in the pit and swapped my front spot for theirs against the railing just to get a better angle. The club was hushed quiet during our 3 songs and between our allotted numbers the click click click of all the shutters from the pit was embarrassingly audible. Ushered out of the pit after my three songs, I would have loved to stay for the rest of his set, but I chose to go ahead and bail from the venue to clear a spot inside for someone else in line. I had 3 songs with Van Morrison from essentially better than front row so I left more than satisfied. Van sounded great and so did his band.
Concerned by the huge line for Van Morrison I headed over to Stubb's to see if I could get still get in for the R.E.M. show at Stubb's. Neither Christie nor Clint were going to make it so it was up to me to cover it. Christie has the real thing for R.E.M. so I know she was disappointed at not being there, but at that moment she was sitting only a couple chairs away from Lou Reed so she didn't feel too bad. That's not to say I am a slouch when it comes to things R.E.M. I saw them play back "in the day" on their first tour gig at Club Foot in Austin. The last time I saw them play was in 1988 at the old Austin Coliseum. I bought their first E.P. on vinyl the first week of release after hearing Radio Free Europe on KUT student radio's punk and new wave hour, back before punk or new wave had found a home on commercial F.M. and I currently have 10 R.E.M CD's in my collection now (including Dead Letter Office), which all reside on my iPod as well.
Jonathan Rice at SXSW 2008 - more photos... photo by Jeff Barringer - staff photographer
Splitting a cab with another photog, we got out at Red River and began working our way up to Stubb's. I took the time to stop off at Emo's Annex to check out Casket Salesman out of Corona California. I really liked their sound, kind of like Incubus stripped down to raw basics. Heading out after a couple songs the crowds along Red River, while thicker than the previous nights, were still pretty thin and even though I was way early for R.E.M.'s midnight set, I was surprised to find that there were no lines and I was able to walk right into Stubb's just in time to catch the set by Jonathan Rice.
What a great set too. A young singer/songwriter out of California, he kind of reminded me a lot of a young Tom Petty in terms of arrangement and energy, just not nasally or gravelly. He got a great sound mix and was a good match for the headliner. After getting booted from the photo pit I wandered back to the concession stands for a coke and some barbque and just listened to his set. It was the first time I had to relax since I got up so I wandered to the back and sat down at a picnic table to eat. Their placement, next to the port-o-johns, guaranteed a short engagement, so soon I was wandering back to the front again.
More photographers had filtered in by then and the line was starting to queue before Rice's set was over. There were a few photographers from the Van Morrison set, but no one I recognized. As soon as Rice's set was over they let us into the pit to get set for the next act, the Papercranes from Gainesville, Florida.
Fronted by Rain Phoenix I don't know if they got a bad sound mix, had an off night, or just had a hard time garnering enthusiasm, but I didn't get much out of their set. One photographer related that they sounded like "drowning a bag of cats". I thought they were probably a bit too ambient, or neutrally grey for their audience. Like grocery store music for the college radio crowd.
Van Morrison at SXSW 2008 - more photos... photo by Jeff Barringer - staff photographer
The same could not be said about Dead Confederate. Franky I was frightened by the prospect that the name held. Was it some god-awful Lynard Skynard clone? It turned out to be an excellent dronish dark metallic psychedelic band with just a hint of Georgia flavor. They reminded me a lot of The Black Angels with less structure and more grits. Frontman Hardy sounds like Bono's little brother. These guys are unlikely to score any top 40 hits but they sure are good. Based out of Athens, Georgia, if your into the whole drone pony experience, these are the guys to see. Slow, melodic and crunchy. Peanut butter and methadone. Way, way, cool. If you see them make sure it's on a drizzly gray late night in a smoky club to get the whole experience.
By the time we got ushered out of Dead Confederate's pit there were at least 60 photographers, so many that for R.E.M.'s set they planned on running us through in 2 groups. Stubb's was packed end to end by that point. Way sold out, the line outside stretched far into the darkness. No one else, badges, wristbands, tickets, was going to squeeze in.
I was anxious and excited. It had been 20 years since I had seen R.E.M. and I had really looked forward to it all day. I was not disappointed.
The first set of photographers was let into the pit, and I was left on the side mumbling something about outsiders surfing my beach. The first three songs seemed to go on forever. I could see Micheal Stipe over the top of the crowd, wearing a knit cap and not looking a day older than 20 years earlier. His voice was clear and strong, and the band sounded tighter than ever.
R.E.M. at SXSW 2008 - more photos... photo by Jeff Barringer - staff photographer
Finally after what seemed to be an interminable wait the third song was over, and as the first batch of photographers was ushered out, Stipe offered a farewell to the "members of the press". As they moved the second group into the pit I found myself at the very back of the line and there was a logjam of photographers right under Stipe's mic, everyone fighting for the "money spot". I pushed on past the knot of photographers and took a position stage right just as the band launched into "Drive".
The band was so good I had to continually remind myself to take pictures and not just watch the concert, but it was tough because I could literally reach out and touch the band I was so close. I have to admit I was kind of star struck. Luckily my instincts kicked in and I started snapping away. That worked right up to the point that Micheal singled me out, walked up to my camera, and got too close for me to even focus. I think he would have fogged my lense had it been colder. That really threw me.
Too damned soon our 3 songs were up as well and we were swept out of the pit, and I wandered to the back to settle in and watch the set. They played a lot of new songs as well as a lot of old songs, and their energy just surged from the stage electrifying the crowd. Stipe seemed to really be enjoying himself, working the audience like a master showman.
R.E.M. played for just over an hour and a half, ending just after 2:00 a.m. and their set was just spectacular, bordering on "religious experience". I loved the new stuff, I think it brings R.E.M back to it's core, and I loved the old songs as well. One of the best shows I have seen in the last 12 months. As I walked to the car I was humming "Second Guessing". It would be 5:30 a.m. before I crawled between the sheets for some sleep.
R.E.M. at SXSW 2008 - more photos... photo by Jeff Barringer - staff photographer
R.E.M. SXSW Set List
"Living Well Is the Best Revenge" "Man-Sized Wreath" "Second Guessing" "Drive" "Hollow Man" "Animal" "Auctioneer (Another Engine)" "Mr. Richards" "Fall on Me" "The Great Beyond" "Houston" "Electrolyte" "Accelerate" "Until the Day Is Done" "Final Straw" "Bad Day" "Horse to Water" "Walk Unafraid" "Supernatural Superserious" "Imitation of Life" "I'm Gonna DJ" "Man on the Moon"
