W2G2 March 30 - April 4

Monday: Last day to catch Nico Stai at Spaceland. Tim James of The Movies open, along with The Grates (who I was happy to run into at SXSW). More Info.

Tuesday: Less Than Jake at the Avalon. This might not be the show you should go to, but it's where I'll be.

Wednesday: White Denim and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at Spaceland. More info.

Saturday: Great Lakes Swimmers at Spaceland. More Info.

Weekend Update 3/26

Friday: Changing things up. Asteroids Galaxy Tour and We are the World at The Echo. You know AGT's "Around the Bend" from an iPod ad, and We Are The World apparently put on a great live show. Review 1 Review 2
Info and tickets

Sunday: Seasons and boxViolet play at Space 15 Twenty at 1pm.

Video Encounter: My SXSW Videos

Advance apologies for the audio and video quality.

Kittens Ablaze at Wave on Friday.



Local Natives playing "Airplanes" at Wave on Saturday.



Cage the Elephant at Antone's on Saturday night.



Some strange electrical stuff that I'll explain more about later when I figure out what it is

W2G2 March 23 - 27 (a/k/a Rona's spring break)

This is a very strong week, including a few bands I missed at SXSW. Non-local bands predominate, thanks to my SXSW prep/planning.

Monday: Bishop Allen at The Troubadour. Ticket link. Also, at Spaceland is Nico Stai's continuing residency. I'll likely be taking the night off -- partially because of SXSW and partially because of all the good shows the rest of the week.

Tuesday: Light FM opens for Maps & Atlases and The Spinto Band at Spaceland. Ticket and info link.

Wednesday: Mother Mother (from Canada) opens for The Sam Roberts Band at the Troubadour. Ticket link.

Thursday: Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains, Princeton, and Beep Beep at the Knitting Factory. Ticket and info link.

Friday: Go West Young Man, Marvelous Toy, and Seasons at Pehrspace.

The SXSW Post

Here's how I will try to organize my SXSW plans. At bottom it's a pointless exercise because nothing will go according to plan, people I run into will have their own plans, etc. But if I don't even try, I'll be too lost.

First things first, I highly recommend just going to the SXSW show schedule site and listening to random bands. It's the definitive (although too long) list of indie bands out there right now.

I might Twitter during SXSW if I feel I have anything to say. The right side of the blog will have my last three entries. I don't like Twitter.

How SXSW Works

Not too complicated, but the sheer magnitude of events happening is what makes it complicated. Parties during the day throughout downtown Austin (parties meaning free shows and free booze). They typically start at around noon and go into the early evening. The best, although incomplete, list of these are at Sched's SXSW site. Also during the day for badge holders are panels at the Austin Convention Center (and a day stage). At night there's showcases everywhere in downtown Austin. For the showcases you really need a badge or wristband. There's also parties at night, although not as many as during the day.

Many parties require RSVPs, or at least recommend them so you can avoid the lines and/or be on the list for the open bar.

Now, down to my plans.

Bands I Must See Or I Won't Be Happy

Kittens Ablaze ("Ra Ra Riot meets Cursive") (showcase only)
Harlem Shakes
Matt & Kim (showcase only). This isn't looking likely.
Oh No Oh My (no showcase?)
Hold Steady
The Morning Benders
Great Lakes Myth Society
Local Natives

Local LA Bands I Want to See at SXSW

Local Natives - obvious pick, I want to see how they're received outside of their home state. And if there's going to be a breakout LA band at SXSW they're it. It doesn't hurt that they're playing 8 times during SXSW. Here's their SXSW flyer (and they've just posted a new song on their myspace):




Afternoons: They don't play enough in LA, and they're amazingly better live than recorded; the three-part vocal harmonies don't put chills down your spine when you listen on Myspace.

Henry Clay People: Because they're great, even though they have the April Spaceland residency.

Others: Great Northern, Earlimart, Airborne Toxic Event, Castledoor

Daytime Parties

For other suggestions, see Austin Town Hall Music Guide

Wednesday:

Throwdown at Maggie Mae's (323 E 6th Street) sponsored by Spaceland and MySpace Records. Three stages, quality bands. RSVP link (to skip the line). I'm probably just going to park myself here for the afternoon.

Future of the Left (1:25), Natalie Portman's Shaved Head (2), We Were Promised Jet Packs (2:30), Harlem Shakes (3:20), Titus Andronicus (4:10), Nico Vega (4:45), Wavves (5:30)

Hype Machine Radio Launch Party Party at The Lounge @ Peckerheads (402 E. 6th Street) . This one leans more towards bands with dance/electronic elements. Hockey (3), Casiokids (4), and The Golden Filter (7) play. RSVP link

Austinist Presents Gonna Get Down party at Mohawk (912 Red River). Akron/Family (5), The Mae Shi (4:40), Elvis Perkins (4), Kevin Devine (12:15), Telekinesis (11:45 am). No RSVP.

Thursday:

Quack Media Party at Red 7 (611 E 7th Street) with The Hold Steady, No Age, and Lucero. Great Lakes Myth Society also play. RSVP link


Paste Party at Radio Room (507 E. 6th Street). Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Cursive, Bishop Allen, Au Rivoir Simone, Cursive, The Wrens, etc. Link and RSVP

Vaya Con Tacos party at Peckerheads (402 E 6th Street). Link and RSVP Henry Clay (5pm), Le Switch (6pm), J. Tillman (6:30)

Friday

Buzzbands LA Party at Cheers (414 E 6th Street). Harlem Shakes headline at 6, and Red Cortez and Local Natives play right before. Apparently no RSVP needed.



Hot Freaks Party, Friday edition, at Club Deville (900 Red River) and The Mohawk (912 Red River). Start at The Mohawk and then go next door to Club Deville. Then go 0.2 miles to the Buzzbands show. RSVP

The Mohawk Patio features has The Wrens (12:00), Bishop Allen (1:00), and the Henry Clay People (2:00)
Club Deville features American Analog Set (2:30), The Thermals (3:30), and The Hold Steady (4:30).

There's also The Onion AV Club Party at The Radio Room (507 E. 6th) with The Thermals, Trail of Dead, and Ra Ra Riot. No RSVP needed.

And there's the Fader Fort party with Solid Gold (3); The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (3:45), Women (5:15), and Peter Bjorn & John (7:45). Link and RSVP

Saturday

Lots of options, but nothing definitive.

- The strongest party is probably at Maggie Mae's, with New York Dolls, Ra Ra Riot, Airborne Toxic Event, and Edwin Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. It's partially sponsored by Rachel Ray. Don't know why. Link Noon - 5pm

- 40 Watt Athens Day Party at Sidebar (602 E. 7th). You can rarely go wrong with music from Athens, GA, but the only band I'm familiar with is Maserati. Instrumental, but rocking.

Outside Stage 12:00 - Mean Creek 12:40 - Winter Sounds 1:10 - Still Flyin’ 2:00 - Holy Liars 3:00 - Gentlemen Jesse 4:00 - Modern Skirts 5:00 - A Armada 6:00 - Maserati
Inside Stage 12:20 - Dancer Vs. Politician 1:00 - Venice Is Sinking 1:40 - Quiet Hooves 2:30 - Gift Horse 3:30 - Dead Confederate 4:30 - Twin Tigers 5:30 - Pride Parade 6:30 - The Dumps

- Mess With Texas 3 Show at Waterloo Park (12th and Red River). Saturday. 11:30am-9pm. Two stages, over 20 bands. Link

- Mos Fuk Dupp Day Party (clever, I know). Would be the last chance to see Oh No Oh My if I haven't yet. They're on at 1:30. RSVP

- Coffee! No Pants? Party. Harlem Shakes (2:15), Princeton (3), Lonely Dear, Titus Andronicus. RSVP

- Hot Freaks Party, Saturday edtion.

- The Big One at do512 HQ (2208 S. Lamar). Red Cortez (5), Afternoons (6), and Dead Confederates (7). RSVP.

Night Parties

Wednesday

SXSW Stimulus Party at Paradise (401 E. 6th). Tigercity (8), Morning Benders (9), Harlem Shakes (11). The party starts at 11am, but this is when it gets good. No RSVP apparently needed.

Saturday

Blastro Networks. Link and RSVP. The Von Bondies, Glasvegas, The Knux, and Manchester Orchestra.

Other Parties

Purevolume.com has parties each day and each night. As would be expected with Purevolume it leans heavily emo. RSVP

Showcases

Wednesday: Cut Off Your Hands (8:45), Von Bondies (9:45), Peter Bjorn & John (10:45), and Glasvegas (11:45) at Vice (302 E 6th).

Thursday: There's way too much tonight.

There's an early showcase at Auditorium Shores Stage (which may be a bigger hassle than necessary). It's at Lady Bird Lake--Riverside Drive & S. 1st Street. Elvis Perkins (6), Cold War Kids (7), M Ward (8).

Later showcases: 5 options.
- 1) Music Gym Patio (815 E. 6th) with The New Wine (9), and Lemonade (10).
- 2) Emo's Main Room (603 Red River) with Wild Light (10) and Peter Bjorn & John (1 am)
- 3) Opal Divine's Freehouse (700 W. 6th) with Matt & Kim at 11:15.
- 4) Sup Pop Showcase at Radio Room (508 E 6th)
- 5) Central Presbyterian Church (200 E. 8th St) with Amanda Palmer (11), Elvis Perkins (12), Local Natives (1 am)

I'm leaning towards ending the night at #5 with Local Natives and Elvis, getting to the Church at around 11:30. Before that it's wide open, but I lean towards #1.

Friday: Kittens Ablaze at Wave (408 E. 6th). Kittens is on at midnight. Unfortunately the openers aren't too great. But I need to see Kittens Ablaze.
Start the night at Mohawk Patio (912 Red River) with Bear Hands at 8 and The Blakes at 9.

Saturday: A good amount of options tonight, but not as crazy as Thursday. Start early at Antone's then over to Parish. (If you don't go to the Blastro party).

- LA Bands @ Antone's (213 W 5th). Afternoons (8), Happy Hollows (9), Silversun Pickups (Midnight).
- Barsuk/Merge Show at Parish (214B E 6th). Say Hi (11), Rosebuds (Midnight), Ra Ra Riot (1 am)

Some of the Non-LA Bands I Want to See

Peter Bjorn and John, Post War Years, Hesta Prynn, Ida Maria, M Ward, Bishop Allen, The New Wine, Out From Animals, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Glacier Hiking, Casiokids, Akron/Family, The Golden Filter, Blitzen Trapper and the entire Subpop showcase, Harlem Shakes, Hockey, Bear Hands, Tigercity, Telekinesis, Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, Simplifires,
Say Hi, The Knux, . . . Trail of Dead, Dressy Bessy, Titus Andronicus, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head, Great Lakes Myth Society, Von Bondies, Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains (playing the Knit on March 26), Nico Vega, The Hold Steady, Wild Light, The Thermals, Amanda Palmer
Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Kevin Devine, Kraak & Smaak, Women, Freeway, Camera Obscura, Matt and Kim, Kittens Ablaze, Via Audio, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Beep Beep (playing the Knit on March 26), Maps & Atlases (playing Spaceland on March 24), Okkervil River, The Wrens, Mother Mother (playing at Troubador on March 25), Tigercity, Palomar, Oh No Oh My, Manchester Orchestra, Anni Rossi, Savoir Adore, Willowz, Pomegranates (playing Silverlake Lounge April 30)

W2G2: March 10-16

One week to SXSW . . .

March 12: Avi Buffalo and Castledoor are at the Echo supporting Plants and Animals. I'll be getting there early to make sure I don't miss a Castledoor set for the third time.

March 14: Light FM (at midnight) and Divisadero (11pm) at Silver Factory Studios downtown (915 Mateo St.). Light FM remind me of The Rentals, and everyone's talking about how the 90's are back. Maybe Everclear can come back strong. "We can live beside the ocean . . ."

March 16: Great Northern at the Silverlake Lounge. Nico Stai also has his residency show at Spaceland. I'd probably go to one if I wasn't flying to Austin the next day.

The Roots are Jimmy Fallon's House Band

I was not aware of this. I might have to DVR the show once or twice.

Rolling Stone interview with ?uestlove
(interesting legal nugget: NBC won't pay for published music, so The Roots have to play all original music)

CER Featured Band #1: Local Natives

It only makes sense that CER's first featured band is Local Natives, since their December 8, 2008 show catapulted me into LA's local music "scene." It was 1) my first ever Silverlake/Echo Park show, 2) my first time at the Silverlake Lounge, 3) the first time I had gone to see a band after hearing them on Indie 103.1's local music show "Check One Two . . ." (R.I.P.), and 4) quite a performance. I was lucky enough to catch two of their February residency shows at the Silverlake Lounge, and they're not the secret that they were back in December; their last residency show hit capacity just minutes after their set began. I'm looking forward to seeing them play at SXSW before a foreign crowd.

At the top right of the blog (in the "gadgets" section) are four of their songs, courtesy of iLike. Embedded below are tracks posted by Matt Frazier, the band's drummer, on iMeem, including three songs that have never appeared on LN's Myspace. After hearing "Camera Talk" on Check One Two on December 7, it was these iMeem songs that convinced me to head out to Silverlake the next night to see them. Glad I did.

Pictures from each of the three LN shows I've seen are courtesy of the mediocre camera on my aging AT&T Tilt.

Local Natives

Weekend Update 3/6

I'm taking a break this weekend after seeing eight shows in eight days (more on that later), but that doesn't mean there's nothing worth your time this weekend.

Friday: The Voyeurs headline Exposure: A Photo Show at Where.

Saturday: Olin & The Moon @ Home in Silverlake. This is the only one I may go to this weekend; I'm curious about how you put on a show at a restaurant. And it's Olin & The Moon.

Tonight: Two Shows with a Stop at Amoeba

Trying to go to two shows in one night is usually just not possible for two reasons: 1) They're happening at the same time, and 2) They're nowhere near each other.

Tonight, however, the stars have aligned. And it's all free.

First, start with Army Navy at Space 15 Twenty at 1520 N. Cahuenga. Outdoor show in their courtyard, and AM should go on around 8.

Then, just blocks away at 3 Clubs (1123 Vine) is this month's Rumble LA show with Here Here and Avi Buffalo. Here Here is a chamber pop band from San Fransisco, and you can never go wrong with chamber pop.

Doors to Rumble open at 8. I would guess set times are 9, 10, 11. Some blogs are reporting that Princeton is playing instead of Fitz & The Tantrums. Princeton didn't say anything about that at their show last night, so I'd say its doubtful. Fitz sounds fun; they have an oldies/soul sound.

The show is free with an RSVP on this site




So you park, walk over to Space 15 Twenty, see Army Navy, grab some food, spend some time at Amoeba, and then walk half a mile to 3 of Clubs. It's easy. And fun.


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Video Encounter: Princeton's First Music Video

Princeton just released their first music video. Cut off Your Hands opens for them on Wednesday at Spaceland. This is the show of the week.


Princeton "The Waves" from Alexander Klein on Vimeo.