SXSW Day Four… Dirty Boots Party!!
April 11, 2009 by Sam
Filed under DirtyBoots LIVE
So I have finally managed to blog the SXSW DirtyBoots Party and I must apologise for the delay… but to make up for it there are a **** load of pics and links at the end of this blog.
It has been such a whirlwind couple of weeks since SXSW and we have loads to report but thought I better let everyone know how the SXSW Party went first.
I honestly could not believe how much of a success the day was, every band seemed to play an absolute blinder of a set, the sun kept shining and the people kept on flowing in… by the end of the day you could not move in the venue! This certainly puts DB’s in great shape for next year’s SXSW… more about that later but firstly here’s a little bit about each band.
So the day started perfectly with the blissed out sunshine sounds of Skibunny, I love the way that this band can adapt to the setting and mood of their surroundings. This was a very different set to the party jumping gig I had caught a few days before but somehow seemed to work just as well in the Texan midday sunshine. By now though I should expect this of Tanya and Mark as they seem to be able to turn their hands to anything, just check out their remixes and you will get a good idea.
Next up were Dublin’s very own and fantastic Sick Boy, fronted by identical twins Colm and Giles. The band thrashed through a rumbling bass heavy set, pulling influences from the Clash and Iggy with a huge helping of Joy Division and Mary Chain, although a lot of bands are doing the same thing at the moment, I really liked the way that Sick Boy played and they had some killer tracks thrown into the set notably their track ‘Objects’. I enjoyed the set so much I ended up going to see them again that evening, one thing I will say is their dark sounds are perfect for a late night venue.
Cantora Records and DB’s very own Rumspringa were next on the bill … Joey and Itaru just get better and better and apart from a technical issue (involving a Margarita machine and the venue’s power supply) Rumspringa played another faultless set. I am so glad that we are working with these guys, they are doing something totally different and manage to bring influences like early Beefheart and Dr John into their sound whilst still making it sound fresh and new… Make sure you keep reading the DB blogs as we will have full reviews / photo’s and live tracks of all the recent Rumspringa UK shows.
Black Box Revelation were next and another two piece that make a storming sound. Hailing from the unlikely city of Brussels they blast through a US garage heavy set that includes the killer ‘Gravity Blues’. It seemed to buzz by in the blink of an eye and they finished the set with Jan Paternoster standing on top of the Bass Drum stamping down as his guitar strings snapped one by one… Rock and Roll!!! But it was rather unnearving as it was the only bass drum we had and there were still another 5 bands to play! Good news was the drum just about survived ready for Kissy Sell Out to play.
As you know we have already had Kissy play a SXSW warm up show at DirtyBoots in London and fittingly they played the DB Party as their final show in Texas. Kissy and Dan have a great rapor onstage but for me it’s all about Aicha, she manages to keep the set super tight throughout and definitely gets the biggest cheer of the day so far when Kissy bigs her up mid set… Kissy finished the show with a cover of EMF ‘unbelievable’ that gets the crowd singing along and it creates a lovely vibe as the crowd hang around in anticipation for FiN to play.
I spent most of my time in Texas hanging out with FiN and they are an amazing bunch of guys. This year’s SXSW was their first tour outside of the UK and what roller coaster US debut it was. For those who don’t know the guys this included Luke losing his voice completely before a huge show, cortisone injections, a comeback gig and a storming SXSW finale. I have always liked what fiN do musically and although it is not the most fashionable sound in the UK at the moment, I really see them building a fan base in the US. Luke has always been a great frontman and Jonny is a fantastic songwriter and guitarist but but it is since they have been joined by Kerry on Bass, locking in perfectly with Simon (drums) that the band have really found their sound. The crowd at DB’s absolutely loved the set and seemed to lap it up… which only adds to my theory.
Cage the Elephant were meant to play next but the dreaded voice bug hit Matt and he needed to be on point for their huge Antoine’s gig that evening. The whole band still made sure they were at Dirty Boots and stood at the front for the fiN show cheering the boys on. In some ways I’m glad they rested up as the Antoine’s show was an absolute stormer and definitely got them a huge room full of anticipant new fans… taking them one step closer to breaking the US. Can’t wait to have the guys back at DirtyBoots again!
As you know Starfucker were one of my highlights of this year’s SXSW and I was over the moon when they said they’d be cool to play as Cage’s replacement at the Dirty Boots Party. I had been determined to get them on the bill since the first time I saw them and in a strange way this was all working out perfectly… The Texan sun was now beating down on the Wave Bar’s roof terrace and it couldn’t have been a better time for Starfucker to win everyone over with their twisted sunshine pop. I love the way this band lure everyone in with their melodic lo-fi tracks at the start of their set, sounding like an electronica Shins. But then once the crowd are fully under their spell they start pulling out killer dance tracks. ‘Medicine’ had everyone dancing along and by the time they pulled out the Vocodas for the encore I was totally convinced that these guys will be huge by next summer.
By far the biggest buzz band of SXSW 09 were the Local Natives, so I was chuffed to bits that the band could play DB’s and they certainly pulled in a crowd. People were queuing outside and watching the band from the street as the venue was at capacity. They played a perfect set and the four part harmonies sounded amazing as the Texan sun slowly started to ease up a little. On record, a lot of people have lazily compared them to Vampire Weekend, but live you can totally see that they have their own thing going on. If anything I can hear CSNY fronting Arcade fire which, although sounds a little weird, really works. They finished with ‘Sun Hands’ that ends up with a Doors-esque wig out that had all the industry honchos reaching for their cheque books.
Alessi’s Ark closed the party and what a beautiful way to end the first of many DirtyBoots SXSW Parties. Alessi has the most charming way about her and, although she looked very shy and slightly akward up onstage, this only added to her charm. Alessi has recently signed to Virgin and I can totally see why. What a gorgeous voice… with hints of Joni Mitchell and Bjork. She manages to close the day’s music perfectly as everybody waits for her final breath of the set before they leave the venue.
By this time I am totally exhausted but to be honest, I couldn’t be happier with how the day had gone. What a great way for DirtyBoots to enter the US and watch this space as we will be back next year for a full SXSW takeover. If you thought this was a good line-up just wait until next year when we will have to book at least 40 bands over the four day festival.
Sam DB x
www.myspace.com/sickboyofficial
www.myspace.com/theblackboxrevelation
www.myspace.com/cagetheelephant
