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 Beastie Boys answer some questions during the South by Southwest music festival in Texas last week. |
AUSTIN, TX - When the Beastie Boys kicked off their not-so-secret secret set in the backyard of Stubb's BBQ shack by spinning Rush's Tom Sawyer last Thursday night, it was unexpected but not at all unusual. At this year's South by Southwest music festival, many highlights came from small shows by big names, the outdoor Texan atmosphere, and the sound of Canadians.
The 20-year anniversary edition of SXSW, North America's premiere music fest, attracted more than 15,000 fans, bands and music biz types to the self-proclaimed live music capital of the world, where the streets are lined with more clubs than Beverly Hills has palm trees and signs restrict parking in official "musician loading and unloading zones." That the four days and nights of showcases and parties considered by some an "indie rock spring break" coincided with actual spring break made navigating the crowded fest even more daunting than years past. But with an overwhelming number of unofficial bashes running from noon to dawn alongside the hundreds of scheduled shows, there was more than enough music to soothe or assault the ears of every last patron. And if there was a theme to it all, it was perhaps a pure celebration of the last two decades in non- mainstream music.
The bar was set high on opening night with a joyous unannounced set by The Flaming Lips. The Oklahoma alternative rock statesmen turned the big top of the Fox And Hound club into a wonderful carnival, including a rousing cover of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, oversized balloons, an impromptu on-stage marriage proposal by a nervous fan and an encore cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs as a raucous duet between singer Wayne Coyne and Toronto's electro-clash diva Peaches.
"A lot of people say that SXSW is all hype," said Coyne, who declared the band's previous SXSW appearances highlights of their acclaimed career. "But the Flaming Lips are proof that good things can come of it."
It was glorious. So good, in fact, that the Flaming Lips repeated it the next night.
After that, rumours permeated around the festival like the smell of beer and BBQ sauce. Most tips were sadly unfounded: Keynote speaker Neil Young never did play; Ray Davies was scheduled but the Kinks singer didn't want to share the Austin Music Hall stage with Morrissey, apparently. But for those festival-goers who squeezed into high-profile, relatively intimate gigs by the Lips and the Beastie Boys, the Charlatans, Echo and the Bunnymen, or dance-punk legends Gang of Four were reminded that the best bands at SXSW aren't necessarily ones being blogged.
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Still, the search for the next Next Big Thing remained the main motivation for braving queues and rain showers and wading through hype like the Arctic Monkeys and the Magic Numbers. (How can any band be so cheery and yet so dreadful?). And once again, Canadian's emerging talent was on the lists and lips of many a SXSW trendspotter.
Edmonton rapper Cadence Weapon held a small court captive with his intelligent wordplay over dirty electro beats. Toronto's Small Sins celebrated the upcoming American release of its debut on Astralwerks by playing to a jammed packed house. Montreal's The Stills plugged their new disc Without Feathers at three high-profile showcases while not busy chatting with MTV. And Whitby's k-os delivered a spirited performance with ex-Hole/Smashing Pumpkin bassist Melissa Auf der Maur filling in with his band at the last minute.
But it was Metric that defined the Canadian contingent at SXSW '06. Playing to more than 2,000 people at prime time at Stubb's on Friday night, the four-piece outfit led by sexy surly girlie Emily Haines was confident, charismatic and, like Broken Social Scene and the Arcade Fire before them, laying down the moves and grooves that will define new music in the next year.