Roky Erickson with Okkervil River
Roky Erickson and Okkervil River together... two musical styles and generations my mind would have never put together--> and what a wonderful result. Ranging from Roky-infused garage psychedelia to eclectic indie rock artistry to where-did-that come-from balladry-- there was much texture created and gained by adding Roky + Okkervil. Much to my delight we heard some Roky classics like "two headed dog" and "i walked with a zombie".. about a third of the audience, perhaps the younger third, looked at each other in grinning disbelief during the opening notes of "you're gonna miss me". without drugs, i seriously burned a few synapses during that song, joyfully. if there were okkervil songs played, um, i don't know what they were. however, okkervil's rock chops were a solid foundation for roky's songs, and they embellished with instruments like the trumpet, harmonica, and maracas-- rendering these songs of Roky's not an old-schooler given the chance to do his thing one more time, but inventive music in the moment-- old songs brought to a new level. LOVED it. i think the first-afternoon-of-SXSW vibe in an outdoor venue had some of the crowd distracted during the quiet "true love cast out all evil"-- this is the title track of Roky's new CD (ahem, album) which he recorded with Okkervil. this song was quite beautiful, very different from the rest of the gig, and a testament to the power of old meeting new. (post note: after reading more of roky's personal struggles and the recording of his new album True Love Cast Out All Evil, i am only filled with more awe and admiration.)
The Dutchess & The Duke
Imagine a SXSW gig performed with no microphones (at a venue!). Kimberly Morrison and Jesse Lortz, publicly known as The Dutchess and The Duke, made no grand entrance to ignite the start of their performance. At a multi-staged indoor/outdoor coffee shop venue a few miles north of the downtown craziness, the Seattle-based duo sat on the edge of the stage and began plunking away at their acoustic guitars. Most of us in the middle of conversations took a few minutes to realize the show had started, but quickly scooted our chairs up close just as the sun set. The soft glow and flicker of Christmas lights behind the stage were the only stage lighting, giving off a campfire feeling. Most of The Dutchess and The Duke's songs have the duke on lead vocals, with the dutchess on backup and harmony. Their flavor of folk-rock (with some subtle blues) bends your ear and mind directly to pre-1970 Stones and Dylan (some listeners connect them to the Kinks, Velvet Underground, even Leonard Cohen). If you can imagine the rawness and sincerity with which all of these greats once started, there you have The Dutchess and The Duke. They don't imitate a sound, but create something simultaneously true to themselves and steeped in the reverberation of the 1960's-- completed with botched chords, soul searching/darkly toned lyrics, two part harmonies, and momentary song-stopping emotional choking. Their voices complement each other perfectly, with the duke's being forthright and gritty and the dutchess' being silken and reflective. In the middle of the world's largest music conference, this intimate and completely acoustic performance was nothing less than precious--I will remember it for a long time to come.
Demolished Thoughts
did you ever eat punk for breakfast? well, now i can say i have. it was in fact 1:30pm, but on SXSW time, 1:30pm is still morning to many of us. it was freeezing cold this saturday-- rare for Austin in mid-March-- but molecules got buzzing real quick when Demolished Thoughts took the stage. i'm no punk expert, but in the opening minute this was clearly the real thing served on a platter. Demolished Thoughts is a supergroup -- though not permanently "a band"-- made up of Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore, Dinosaur Jr. songwriter/guitarist J Mascis, Sonic Youth producer Don Fleming, Awesome Color's Awesome Allison (drums), and established new-schooler Andrew W.K. (bass). later i learned Demolished Thoughts was something Thurston Moore put together as a tribute to punk and hardcore music-- a chance to bring together talented musicians to sweat out the songs they love. (two i remember: "boiling point" and "i hate sports".) anti-establishment 20-second poetry/ranting read by Moore from a hand-held paper/his brain introduced most of the thrashing 2 minute punk covers, complete with anti-authoritarian and anti-mainstream bitter fuck-you-ness: raw, partially spontaneous (meaning, was this even rehearsed?), angrily rejected, fast, youthfully rebellious, and.. perfectly executed. Moore and the players belted it like there was no tomorrow. a mosh pit formed before 2pm. surrounded by angst and testosterone, why was i so happy? this was the (potentially one-time) convergence of hand-picked talents to pay homage to punk and hardcore for SXSW only. and simply, there is never more hope for "sticking it to the Man" than when the two guitarists on stage are raging and grinding with musical precision and long gray hair.
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