SXSW News: Saturday
By Ken Lieck, Fri., March 17, 2000
Burning Down the House
No, David Byrne didn't show up at any South by Southwest 2000 showcases that I know of (not even Harvey Sid Fisher's like he did last year). The Daily Chronicle, however, almost found itself waking up in a house on fire Thursday night, when its headquarters at the swank Radisson Hotel had to be evacuated right in the middle of reaching that night's deadline for the Friday morning edition. Apparently, suspicious smoke, which amazingly enough was not coming from the room inhabited by the Daily Chron team, led to hotel management chucking out their guests and calling in the fire department's hazardous materials team. It wasn't only journalists who found themselves inconvenienced and out in the lobby, of course -- musicians who hadn't been able to find a free couch for the weekend were also occupying rooms at the Radisson, including some with showcases to get to. As far as the Daily Chron was able to ascertain, no one missed their chance in the spotlight due to the fire scare, but a number of musicians found themselves hauling heavy equipment lobbyward when the alarm went off. Others with cool heads, like the High Fidelity, simply assumed the whole thing was some sort of joke and calmly sampled the alarm for later studio use.
Ushering in a New Era
Okay, one more time I'm unashamedly plugging what many of us at the Chron think is the coolest thing to happen to live music since someone first wrapped a comb in tissue: the Alamo Drafthouse cinema's series of silent movies with live band accompaniment. Space rockers ST 37 have truly found their calling in creating and performing a new score for the Fritz Lang classic Metropolis, and there's no way to argue with the logic of the Drafthouse's press release, which explains that they're utilizing the "beautifully restored imagery and modern, swift pace" of Giorgio Moroder's tinted and re-subtitled 1984 salvage job, yet "by adding live musical accompaniment, we are avoiding the Moroder horror soundtrack by Pat Benatar, Adam Ant, and others." Metropolis runs Saturday at midnight, with discounts for SXSW attendees. Then, on Sunday at 3pm, the Drafthouse screens the 1924 Douglas Fairbanks classic Thief of Bagdad, accompanied by the exotic Persian sounds of Austin's Kamram Hooshman & 1001 Nights Orchestra. On a related note, the Asylum Street Spankers, fresh from their showcase at the Austin Scottish Rite Theatre, have plans to tour with their performance of Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush, and rumor has it that plans are apace toward actual video/DVD releases of classic silents with the new band recordings. Personally, I can't wait to see/hear Guy Forsyth's funny and dead-on score to Buster Keaton's The General again, but truth to tell, getting ST 37 into the studio to work on Metropolis is far more urgent. For every person they save from having to sit through the Ant/Benatar version, the closer the real future of our world will be to becoming a utopia.
Mixed Notes
For those who've been waiting with bated breath to find out just one thing, the answer is "Yes," Beatle Bob will indeed be in attendance at the Dung Beatles' SXSW show on Sunday... Local songstress Kimmie Rhodes has somewhat higher aspirations than simply ensuring she attends a set wherein the lyrics of the Fab Four's finest are altered to center on poo-poo. She's arranged to be the next Austinite to make an appearance on the Late Show with heart surgery survivor David Letterman. Dave and company welcome the Austin-based singer-songwriter on Wednesday, March 22, to perform her song "West Texas Heaven," backed by her son Gabe Rhodes and the Late Show Band. Look for her next CD, Rich From the Journey (which is not about the trip to the Ed Sullivan Theatre) to come out April 25 on her own Sunbird label... Yard Dog? Try "mad dog." It was tail-chasing time at the packed-as-always afternoon festivities Friday at the South Austin gallery, when both the Blacks and Alejandro Escovedo didn't show up for their respective appearances. Split Lip Rayfield also appeared to have, well, split, but managed to show up just a bit late. Some people, however, you can always trust to make an appearance, as the Ex-Husbands note with surprise from the stage, "Hey! There's our lawyer!"... It pays to visit non-SXSW venues occasionally. Actually, make that non-music venues. Billy Gibbons was spotted both Wednesday and Thursday night at Lucky Lounge, just a tubesnake boogie away from Antone's. In fact, a couch-surfer at my house got his autograph there and tells me he also handed the ZZ Top frontman my home phone number and suggested he give me a call. Sorry, Billy, but this is the final issue of the Daily Chronicle for the year -- I'm afraid you waited too long for me to try to help that li'l old band of yours get a foothold in the industry. Better luck next year... In real Antone's sightings, a healthy Susan Antone was spotted at her own club for the first time this year. We're not sure whether she was there with a wristband, a badge, or on a weekend pass... Hey, I've just been told that Jad Fair has moved to town and is working on a new album as we speak at Pete Stiles' studio. Now that I think of it, he should already have that Lucky Sperms disc he recorded last year with Daniel Johnston out in Waller, Texas, ready to go at any time... Big Foot Chester axeman Bill Anderson, member of such past fave acts as Poison 13 and the Horsies and guitarist for Johnston's gig Thursday, apparently has no trouble keeping busy. His next move, I hear, is to tour as a member of Neko Case's band... Also set to continue on the road is Hamell on Trial, who must've written his song "I Wish Bill Hicks Was Alive" after hearing himself tell one too many lame between-song turtle jokes. Word is that he's off to hit the dusty trail with Ani DiFranco... Hopefully both those tours will last longer than Hank Williams III's set at Stubb's Friday night: HW3 skipped his traditional country opening, went straight to the rock, and then pretty much skipped the rock as well. People who were there will argue for years whether this soon-to-be legendary set lasted 12 or 15 minutes. The reason he gave the crowd: His amp was busted and he didn't want to use anyone else's. Quick SXSW New Math lesson: 1,000 artists times an average of three amp-holders per act means that young Henry passed on a minimum of 3,000 potential replacements within the ranks of the SXSW Music Conference alone. Adding in the number of bands performing at unofficial and anti-SXSW showcases, gigs, and private parties, the count gets so high that the computers at the Daily Chronicle's remote Radisson Hotel sub-headquarters were unable to calculate the number without the resultant smoke setting yet off yet another alarm...
Contributors: Christopher Gray, Raoul Hernandez, Andy Langer
