Barely a week into their tour in support of their sophomore release Sugar, Dead Confederate rolled into Mohawk with fellow Athenians Futurebirds in tow to take part in the 23+ acts event @ Mohawk cleverly billed as Red River On The Rocks. Sponsored by Makers Mark no less. Futurebirds brought the anticipated smile of delight to my face while Dead Confederate blasted away at their catalog, spending as much time on older material as the newest. For the band’s encore, three -fifths of Dead Confederate was joined by three young members of local band Flock of Spiders, (Ben Redman, Deven Ivy, and Max Redman) for the first single from Sugar titled “Giving It All Away”. And they gave it all..all rock.

Catch Dead Confederate on the road Read more

Dead Meadow brought the serious “rock” to Emo’s last Sunday night while on the road in support of their most recent CD/DVD release The Three Kings. A recommended grab for anyone familiar with the band, or in need of a solid dose of guitar, bass, and drums ala psych/stoner rock.

Photos: Mary Rehak

If you missed the sold out LCD Soundsystem show @ Stubbs on Tue, you’ll have another chance to catch them here in Austin @ this year’s ACL Festival. Word is that James Murphy and Co might be touring on their last tour this year. Let’s hope that’s not the case.

Photos by the talented Mary Rehak.

I have to admit, that I had been looking forward to seeing this Besnard Lakes show for awhile, which for me to be this anticipatory of a live show, doesn’t happen that often. Along with that though, comes the fear that the band might not live up to your expectations, leaving a nasty mark when they don’t. Canada’s Besnard Lakes proved any doubts or fears null and void with the performance that they delivered on Tuesday night at Mohawk. And for those of you who might have thought about going, and opted for some other lame activity, you missed out. It was one of those shows that you want to share with everyone.

While the band has the recent release The Besnard Lakes are The Roaring Night to push, they blended previous material into the set seamlessly, while still touching on newer fan favorites “Chicago Train”, and “Albatross”. An enthusiastic response from the crowd after each song prompted casual banter between the band an the audience, with band members displaying the additional talent of well imitated animated character voices. And just as things started to feel as if they were going to reach this beautiful musical climax, it all ended. No encore available, and no more time to play as a result of the noise ordinance. A disappointing jarring end to a set that was on the brink of musical bliss. Maybe more time should have been allotted for the headlining act? Maybe 2 bands instead of 3? One can debate a more appeasing scenario, but then the short amount of time that was spent in the musical presence of The Besnard Lakes would be wasted on wishing and wanting. And that’s just not necessary.

And to the asshole who stole the bands keyboard earlier in the day. You’re a D***! Go steal a television, or some video games. Something we could probably use less of in our lives, not someone’s tools for creating work and art.

And….Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010..I’m talking to you..make this shit happen. Bring back the Besnard Lakes!

Photos from Mary Rehak. Go check out her site.

The 3rd edition of Austin Psych Fest, found itself in yet another location, and attracting a very substantial audience for it’s 3 day of installment of mind expanding music from some of the genres standards and those stretching the genres limits. The Mohawk proved to be a comfortable setting for the fest, aside from a shortage in toilet access, with it’s multiple levels of decks while both stages drew audiences while never drawing from each other.

The ever growing in popularity Warpaint brought their beat driven psych jam early in fest along with the Danish duo Raveonettes. The Black Angels introduced us to their upcoming release, playing it in it’s entirety on Saturday night, following Spindrift who whipped their unique Western style of psych romp.

Overall a glowing success, and one fest that we hope to stick around for years to come.

A few years ago, I caught a little known band called Yeasayer opening for the burgeoning young band MGMT on the inside stage @ Emo’s. While the crowd was obviously focused on the blog buzzed band MGMT, Brooklyn’s Yeasayer made it perfectly clear that they were a band that was poised to be a contender in the modern rock scene.

Now, selling out 2 nights @ The Parish is quite the feat for a band, much less to have your shows moved to the almost twice the capacity La Zona Rosa for a 2 night sellout. That’s exactly what Yeasayer did this past weekend, selling out both Saturday and Sunday night playing to exuberant, dancing fans eating up everything that the band would toss their way.

What crossed my mind while watching all of this unfold on Sunday night, was the latest run in sold out shows around town. Not just selling out, but selling out quick. Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Portugal The Man, Beach House, just to name a few. What’s going on in this town, or more possibly, in the music industry? In a time when most of the country is still reeling from a recession that took some of us down like a kick to the groin, people are shelling out cash for live music. Is it possible that its a subconscious reaction to a negative situation, or maybe people are just tired of feeling shitty about life, and are seeking out that, that makes them feel good again? Or the less hopeful option would be that our little city of Austin’s music scene is just exploding? I’m going with people just want to have fun and feel good again. Which ever it may be, Yeasayer definitely made people feel good on Sunday night, and I would expect on Saturday as well.

Thanks to Mary Rehak for the photos

The self-proclaimed loudest band in Brooklyn, A Place To Bury Strangers made their 3rd stop in Austin in about a year at The Parish, this time performing opening duties for the bombast electro-rock outfit The Big Pink. My first thought on this musical road marriage was WTF? I had heard The Big Pink’s latest release A Brief History Of Love in addition to seeing APTBS the last few times that they were in town, and thought that the two were an unusual combination. APTBS usually bring a searing wall of feedback drenched in reverb that intensifies as the set progresses, while disorienting strobes and smoke leave you feeling that you just left a war zone. Maybe because they were the opening act, the set seemed a bit more tame this night, more controlled and a bit muted. Maybe it was attempt to specifically recreate the layered sounds of the latest release by the band Exploding Head. Maybe the addition of new bassist Dion Lunadon, replacing Jonathan “Jono MOFO” Smith previous to this tour created a different band dynamic. Enjoyable as the show still was, the anticipation of wall after wall after wall of slash and burn guitar feedback crushing everything in it’s path, while front-man Oliver Ackerman dances wildly with his instrument, never came to fruition. Maybe it’s not polite to upstage the headlining band?

And about the headlining band? Sounded like leftover NIN scraps stitched together with some Euro trash disco, barking like a pit-bull with a chihuahua body.

More photos from Mary Rehak and some video after the break Read more

Phoenix have been one of the biggest success stories of the past year, after years of achieving minimal success, the band has, as the kids might say “blown up”. Just months after performing @ La Zona Rosa to a sold out crowd, the band has sold out another upcoming date at Stubb’s.

The band recorded a performance in Sydney earlier last month and is making it available to fans for FREE!

Live In Sydney can be downloaded HERE.

One of the hottest bands on the indie-rock circuit in 2009 for sure, and 101x secured them for their annual December show. Chances are you’ll be hearing more Phoenix on the station over the coming year.

It’s been just over one week since Fun Fun Fun Fest 09 closed down, and left us with one of the most memorable festival experiences this year. These are the last images we left with on that wet and sloppy Sunday.

I wasn’t that familiar with Mission of Burma before, but the band’s set felt pleasantly familiar, and took me back to a time that I wish still existed.

As much of a fan I have been of Lucero’s for the past few years, I had all but given up hope that the band was capable of delivering a set in which Ben Nichols voice would last to the end, as well as the band remaining sober enough to play the songs to some recognition. I was pleasantly surprised to find them in great form, along with a horn section in tow, breathing new life into the road worn veterans who still deserve their day in the spotlight.

Crystal Castles set seemed interesting enough, but I was unfortunately distracted. Photo access issues that arose late in the day, were the only setback for the festival.

I haven’t really invested much time in the music of Of Montreal, which I should remedy, but the live shows are always an experience, fan or no fan. You can always count on great costumes, plenty of extras, feathers, and plenty of color.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, Valerie was forced to shoot from the crowd, but managed pretty well.

There was a conversation that I had with a friend of mine who was more than excited about the resurrection of the Detroit band Death, but had concerns about how good their show could be so long after their time in the 70′s.  Death quickly swept away any concerns when they took the Orange stage on Saturday night.

Arriving a bit late to the park, the band’s late start for their set didn’t upset any of the huge crowd of curious fans, many of whom weren’t even born before 1980. The band played tight and furious, to a the constant chants of “Death!” coming from the audience, an audience the size of which the band rarely if ever had played before. “Keep On Knocking” set the pace and “Politicians In My Eyes” closed out a set that had each member of the band grinning from ear to ear while receiving congratulations and high fives as they excited the stage. Well done Death, and well done Fun Fun Fun Fest.

Considering the fact that Athen’s Dead Confederate have only an EP and the 2008 release Wrecking Ball to their credit, seeing them at least a dozen times live, far exceeds any other band that has been around for that short of a time. Not that I wear this fact as some badge of honor, but for anyone that knows how judgmental I can be about live performances, it’s a testament to the band’s ability to deliver.

Taking the Yellow Stage, a scheduling decision much to my disapproval, the band drew a sizable crowd teeming with individuals obviously curious about the band’s performance. And as Dead Confederate are known to pay homage to other bands in means of covering their material, they launched into a lesser known track by a band that many may not be familiar with, including myself. “Smoke A Minor” by the band Officer May. The band then followed up with an unreleased newer song stirring curiosity as to if this was to be a preview of the next album from the band. Familiar ground took hold soon enough and the band performed all the Dead Confederate classics including the most accessible track for many, “The Rat” along with slower personal recording “Wrecking Ball”, and the ever present Sonic Youth cover.

While I could get descriptive of the performance from the band for those who haven’t seen them live, I’m more inclined to scold you for not having done so yet. The band’s constant touring schedule, and touring companions, including Dinosaur Jr, A Place To Bury Strangers, The Whigs, The Meat Puppets, and many more, should have given you the opportunity. What are you waiting for?

There’s word for a live album to be released soon, and the band is hitting the studio to record the follow-up to Wrecking Ball sometime around February. Expect the epic 6 minute plus songs found on the debut, to be replaced by tracks coming in around 4 minutes. This might be the change needed for the band to establish itself as one of the heavy mainstays needed in the world of rock-n-roll.

The announcement of the Jesus Lizard reuniting for a tour this year was some  of the most exciting music news for me this year and the very early announcement of them playing at Fun Fun Fun Fest ’09 was both welcomed and torturous.

Bearing witness to the bands blunt,destructive but precision like force in the 90′s on several occasions, David Yow’s announcement “this is going to be really fucking good” previous to unleashing the first notes , sent chills. As if snapped back in time, Jesus Lizard launched into “Puss” as David Yow took to the air and the crowd. Like some twisted madman, Yow writhed atop the crowd recounting the tales of someone understanding their own brush if not their existence in a world of insanity.

It’s not all about David Yow’s intense performance either. Drummer Mac McNeilly and David Sims lay down the thunderous beat while the sometimes overlooked guitar talents of Duane Denison drove the songs like the teeth on a chainsaw. “Gladiator”, “Mouthbreather”, and “Nub” rounded out a set that couldn’t have been more well executed by the veteran rockers who showed us and reminded some, of how it’s really supposed to be done. Let’s hope that some young kid left inspired enough that he’ll convince us of that, in the near future.