Mara's Diary

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March 24 , 2008

Hey all!

South By Southwest has come and gone leaving in its wake a cloud of dust, beer, barbecue and the rubble of over 1700 bands who destroyed 80 stages for 5 nights in Austin, Texas. And that doesn’t even include the hundreds of “unofficial” showcases and “no badge needed” day parties who made their presence known with free food and booze practically 24 hours a day. No wonder they call it Spring Break for the music industry.

I got into town on Wednesday evening with one goal: to catch REM’s midnight show at Stubbs. I’ve got this shortlist of artists I want to see live before they stop touring, and I knocked BB King off that list in January when I saw him at the Wiltern, which left only REM and Aerosmith, so I was pretty stoked when I saw the SXSW lineup. I met up with Panos Panay from Sonicbids for dinner before heading to the venue.

SXSW used to be a dream for me because badge-holders (they cost about $600) could skip the line and walk right in to any show, but over the past three years or so, the conference has changed. It used to be all unsigned bands showcasing for labels, but now it’s more the labels scheduling showcases for their newly-signed acts or buzz bands who just hit radio and they get corporate sponsors like MySpace and Yaris to kick in for the food and drinks to attract industry to the show. Because it’s a lot of more famous acts, SXSW attracts more music FANS than industry and the city just gets so overcrowded, which is fine, but results in my having to plan to wait an hour and a half to get into REM. Which I did, and Panos was kind enough to wait with me, even though he kind of hates REM.

Well, we finally got in three songs into the set and it was not what I had hoped. They played mostly new stuff, only one song of which I liked (something about a DJ) and only three or four songs that I knew. Normally I’m fine with new stuff, but it’s got to be at LEAST as good as the old stuff, and they don’t really do much in the way of a show, just kind of stand there and play. However, it was still cool to see Michael Stipe sing live, and at least I can now cross it off my list.

Next morning I went down to the trade show and took in a couple of Music Supervisor panels, since getting my music into film and TV is my primary focus this year. I learned a lot and made some contacts. I ran into my friend and fellow LA singer/songwriter Jessica Woodward and we grabbed some decent BBQ at one of those “unofficial” SXSW parties and caught up. Later, my friend Dan Steinberg, who books shows in the Pacific Northwest and will throw me an opening spot for lesbian comedians in Sacramento from time to time, invited me to dinner at a REALLY great restaurant called Vespaio. At dinner I met a whole bunch of other booking agents and promoters, including Chris Porter, who books a huge arts festival in Seattle called Bumbershoot and Lisa White who manages the famous 9:30 Club in Washington DC. Everyone was very cool and it was nice to get away from the madness of the conference for a bit.

After a fabulous dinner, Dan and I tagged along to for a drink at the Four Seasons where I met Marc Ross, who runs a fantastic charity called Rock The Earth, fighting for positive change for the environment on behalf of rock stars like Jack Johnson and their fans. From there, we went to check out a jam band whose name I can’t seem to find. Then we dropped in at Emo’s where a very interesting electronic act with two guys in spandex outfits dancing around had just begun, and sadly, I don’t know who they were either. After that we stopped at Stubbs to catch the tail end of Augustana, who seemed to have improved their live show since I saw them last year in LA, but still not as good as their album. Final stop: across the street to the Ticketmaster party. We hung out there and I bailed around midnight to get some sleep.

Next day I was back at the conference center catching up with some people I knew, and I sat in on a few more panels and sessions. It was gorgeous outside, so I decided to walk around and find one of the outdoor stages to hang out at. Across from Stubbs there was a makeshift stage set up by indie radio station The Current, so I hung out there for a while and caught Zooey Deschanel’s band, Her & Him. Billy Bragg was coming up after and although I had heard so much about him through friends, I had never seen him live, so I stuck around. So glad I did because he was BRILLIANT! He’s a charming British punk singer/songwriter with an electric guitar, great songs, a biting sense of humor, and a major political message. He only did a few songs, but I really enjoyed him. I got a chance to tell him so after the show and grabbed a photo, too.

Across the street was the SPIN Magazine party at Stubbs, where I saw big buzz band Vampire Weekend (endearing young men, but their songs all sound pretty much like their single) and LA punk legends, X. I ran into Abby White, who used to write for Performing Songwriter, and another fellow LA singer/songwriter, Libbie Schrader.  As we were watching X, who were amazing for being on the scene as long as they have, I found a few people I had met the night before in the audience, and Perry Farrell from Jane’s Addiction walked by and camped out with a group of people right behind me. I’m a huge fan and would have loved to have said hi, but I decided not to bug him while he was with his peeps.

There were a bunch of bands I wanted to see that night, so I plotted out my list. First was Fastball at one of my fave SXSW venues, Cedar Street Courtyard. They were so much fun to watch, and played new stuff (which was GREAT!) as well as my favorite old songs. Libbie met me there and we walked back up to One 2 One bar together where I caught the tail end of LA singer/songwriter supergroup, The Rescues featuring with my friend Kyler England, Gabriel Mann, and Adrianne. They were phenomenal, and ended with an acapella song that will blow your mind. Next I headed to Emo’s to catch British band, Does It Offend You, Yeah? (named after a line from The Office) who quickly became my official favorite find of SXSW 08. They were a super fun, high energy, synth-dance-pop out fit with live instruments, a laptop, and a dynamic front man jumping all over the place and getting the crowd crazy. I absolutely loved it, and I was extra happy because I had run into Marc Ross and Chris Porter along the way and convinced them to come along, and they had fun too.

One of the other guys at dinner had told me about a Canadian band called Plants & Animals so I went to see them…but didn’t stay long. Not my thing. Onwards to meet up with my friend Mike Gormley and check out Blue Rodeo and Friends who were great too. It was a showcase put on by the Music Managers Forum, so Mike introduced me around to Stevie Wonder’s manager and to a lovely gentleman who managed Pink Floyd.

At midnight, the night was young and I was off to catch up with Chris for two more bands; Fleet Foxes, a beard-rock band from Seattle, and Magic Christian, an all-star lineup of rockers from the past, including Clem Burke from Blondie, who I had met at Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp last year and ran into at the conference center that morning. On the way, I popped in to see The Cringe, whose lead singer is married to Rachel Ray. She was there, looking adorable and dancing with friends in the audience, and he dedicated a song to her, which was very sweet. Fleet Foxes was fun too, and I got to see Lisa White again before we all headed back to reality. I ran into a lot of people I knew at the Magic Christian show, which was PACKED, and the music was great. A very good way to spend the last night at SXSW.

On Saturday I caught up with some friends in town and spent most of the day in airports waiting for late flights, but I was in good company with fellow LA singer/songwriter Marina V who was on the same flight and had played a show of her own at SXSW.

As if four days of music weren’t enough, I got back to LA and my beloved guitarist Ante invited me to House Of Blues Sunday night to see his cousin, Krist Novoselic, play in a punk band called Flipper, opening for Bad Religion, who I’ve always wanted to see live. We went backstage after Flipper and hung out with Krist (who, by the way, used to play bass in a little band called Nirvana and is 6’7”) and I heard all about his political activism regarding election reform. This was their third HOB show in a row, so Krist headed out and Ante and I caught some of the Bad Religion show which was AMAZING! It was a crazy to see this deep, raspy voice coming out of the most clean-cut little man you’ve ever seen. Seriously, he looks like the Dad from Beverly Hills 90210 and he actually teaches biology at UCLA! But he and the rest of the band totally kicked ass, and they played my fave song of theirs, Los Angeles Is Burning.

WHEW! That’s it. I swear. I’m done.

See you soon!

mara

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