It seems only fitting that we spent half of yesterday with The Wandas, who we met at SXSW three years ago and who since have become good buddies of ours both back at home and on the road. After meeting up at the taco trucks on Red River, we ventured over to the Paste Magazine day party and wound up spending the afternoon taking in a ton of bands we’ve been wanting to see for ages but somehow have missed in Boston and elsewhere. Oh, and then we found Viva Viva and this incredibly rad photo of Fumika with her crazy rock goddess photo happened, and we were never the same. DAY 2: It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
RUBBLEBUCKET
As We Were Promised Jetpacks packed the outside tent at the Stage on 6th New England’s own (though they’ve relocated to Brooklyn) Rubblebucket took the stage. I haven’t checked in with them since they left our neck of the woods, but it’s good to see them grow into their own while staying true to their reggae-tinged roots. That said—“reggae” can be a pretty damning adjective when it comes to labeling a band and to say that Rubblebucket is a reggae group would be an outright lie, but they accolades they’ve reaped or their originality remain.
Photos: Jess Hodge
MAPS AND ATLASES
First time checking out these quirky dudes and DIY pros from Chicago, and those delightful poppy tunes were a fantastic palate cleanser between Rubblebucket’s explosion of sound and the straightforward rock that’s Blitzen Trapper’s calling card.
Photos: Jess Hodge
BLITZEN TRAPPER
I’ve missed these guys EVERY SINGLE TIME they’ve been to Boston over the past couple of years, so your damn straight I wasn’t gonna let that happen again. Blitzen Trapper filled the expanse of the Stage on 6th beautifully, so the legitimate twang and harmonies for days we missed when they opened for Dawes at Royale back in October weren’t lost on us this time around.
Photos: Mike Basu
BUILT TO SPILL
Pretty sure every dude I had a crush on in high school would’ve been totally jealous of the fact that we stuck around the Stage on 6th for the Built to Spill set. People were literally scaling the walls of the venue and squatting on the windowsills outside to get a decent look at the balding and benign indie gods from Idaho.
Photos: Mike Basu
VIVA VIVA
HOMETOWN HEROES! We trekked over to Bar 96, and for those unfamiliar with Austin’s geography this far from the stretch of 6th Street and home to bars with yards and bigger capacities. We caught the legendary Deer Tick/Dawes/Deervana set at the Lustre Pearl across the street in 2011, so it was kind of nice to stop for a second on the Bar 96 porch and catch up with Viva Viva as we reminisced about the insanity that took place steps away a year prior. All’s well with Dave, Dan, Chris, Fumika and Dom, by the way—they’ve been playing shows on their way down to SXSW this year, and the set the played for the Converse Rubber Tracks/Filter Magazine show last night was nothing short of sensational and chock full o’ new material. My favorite Viva Viva number used to be “Sympathy for the Devil’s Little Helper” (we all know I’m a Rolling Stones nut who needs a treatment program, come on) but I think it’s been replaced by “Halfway to Hell,” which according to Dom was the favorite of an old dude at a Kentucky bowling alley who saw them a few weeks ago. If it’s good enough for a grandpa outside of Louisville, it’s good enough for me.
Photos: Mike Basu
HEARTLESS BASTARDS
The latest addition to the Partisan Records family is sprinting out the gate with their latest album Arrow (which I reviewed before their show at the Middle East a couple weeks back) and their slot just before Delta Spirit ensured that the room would be busting at the seams and ready to rock. Rock they did, and if someone can get through “Simple Feeling” without thrashing about and getting their head in a situation of the banging variety I seriously question their musical tastes.
Photos: Jess Hodge
DELTA SPIRIT
Though the IFC Crossroads House had packed it in so hard that I was positive the fire marshal would show up and tell everyone to git on out, Delta Spirit (after a lengthy sound check, which the dudes who’d clearly never been to a non-arena show next to me were not pleased about) finally opened up with two songs from the new album that just dropped Tuesday. As they tweeted earlier, Delta Spirit’s gig at the IFC Crossroads House was their 14th SXSW show (I’m hoping cumulatively and not over the course of the past week, ‘cause DAMN) and their fourth of the day, and this was the show where they’d “leave their guts on the stage.” They totally did that. I was at the back of the house and could only see Matt Vasquez’s face every once in awhile as people shifted in the crowd, but as you can see from Jess’ photos, Delta Spirit tore ferociously through a 40-minute set that brought the crowd pleasers out (“White Table,” my own personal favorite, and closer “Trashcan”) and the new tracks in (namely “Tear It Up,” which DESTROYED the venue.) Delta Spirit play the Paradise on 3.27.12 and you can be sure that we’ll be there geeking out and dancing like crazy people.
Photos: Jess Hodge
SKRILLEX
As I would rather pull my teeth out with rusty pliers than go to a Skrillex live set, Mikey left the Delta Spirit photo pit for The Main (formerly Emo’s) to go see the dude with the awkward glasses and side-swipe haircut. Mikey thought it was pretty much the coolest thing ever, though, and came back to the hotel looking like he had taken a shower in front of the DJ booth as there was that much sweat going on at the place.
Photos: Mike Basu
THE HILTON AUSTIN, APPROX. 2AM
These are the photographers I’m rooming with, people. Jeff, when we come back next year, I want my own room.
