It’s day three at SXSW and the weariness has kicked in as a result from watching Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Alt-J the night before, then writing an article until 4am.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, SXSW, Photo By Anna by Anna-Maria Megalogenis
All 3 acts were formidable, however the Yeah Yeah Yeahs took the performance to a ethereal level. Karen O clad in a bewitching rhinestone studded yellow pant suit and hat cuts an imposing figure. She is the ultimate performer in every way possible. Her antics are beguiling and the crowd can’t take her eyes of her. She bends over backwards with the mike in her mouth and it’s an emotional moment when they perform “Maps.” “Austin I feel the love tonight. This is the Yeah Yeah Yeahs love song” states Karen O. Sometimes a song resonates more strongly with the crowd and this is one of those songs. Karen O feels it too when she grabs the mike and thrusts it into her breastbone, at the song’s conclusion. It is really difficult to pick a highlight since the calibre of bands at SXSW is very high and the performances defy description, but so far the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are at the top of the list.
Back to Day 3, and the morning commences with a key note address by none other than Dave Grohl, the video of which can be seen on the Noise 11 website in its entirety.
Shortly afterwards it’s off to see the interview panel on 50 years of the Beatles, with musicians Rodney Crowell, Ron Sexsmith, Robyn Hitchcock and music historian Bill Flannagan on the panel, being asked a serious of questions by Bob Santelli from the Grammy museum in LA. Next year it will be 50 years since the Beatles first came to America, and the panel today focused on the influence the Beatles had over other artists, the influence on the panelists, on rock and roll and what made them so successful. Hitchcock sums it up perfectly when he states “It’s like having 4 colour separation for colour pictures. Any one of those colours was too much, but put them all together and it’s magic.” At the end of the session Bob Santelli informs us that the Grammy museum is having a comprehensive Ringo exhibit this summer.
The new ballot system for some of the more high profile bands this year is a contentious issue. All badge holders go into a ballot system and those who are lucky enough to be selected are granted a ticket that they need to collect and are guaranteed entry to the event, whilst everyone else, badge holders and those with wristbands need to queue up and entry is not guaranteed. To add further insult to injury, Citi card holders who purchase the Sound City Bluray DVD for $25 get free entry to Sound City Players, which features a star studded line up at Stubbs tonight.
Sound City is a grungy, rundown analogue recording studio in San Fernando Valley that was going to be torn down which prompted Grohl to make a documentary about the studios and the artists who recorded albums there. Tied in with the documentary release at SXSW, the Sound City Players take to the stage at around 8.45pm. Grohl has his stalwart Foo fighters members drummer Taylor Hawkins, guitarist Pat Smear, and violinist Jessy Greene. Through the course of the evening Grohl introduces musicians onto the stage who have been influential throughout his musical career. The inimitable Stevie Nicks is up first, firing up the punters with her rendition of “Stop Dragging my Heart Around” sung with Grohl. Queen of the Stone Age’s Alain Johannes is on guitar with Chris Gross from the Masters of Reality assisting with vocal duties. The sound is hard, bass driven, loud rock, just the way we like it.
As he introduces each star onto the stage, Grohl mentally checks off his “bucketlist.” It’s endearing to see Grohl’s expressions when watching his idols upon stage. He looks more like a starstruck fan than a peer.
Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen on guitar and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor on vocals thrash out a couple of Cheap Trick covers including “If You Want me” and “Surrender.” Later Rage against the Machine’s drummer Brad Wilk joins the band for a couple of tracks.
Rick Springfield draws the loudest screams from the female member’s of the audience, adding that star quality as he tosses his guitar up in the air and entertains us with a few of his hits, including “Jessie’s Girl.” Lee Ving of Fear also sings a few of his original Fear material and John Fogerty draws screams from both the male and female members of the audience, performing “Proud Mary” and “Bad Moon Rising” amongst others that the punters sing along to. A poignant moment is when Grohl introduces his old Nirvana band mate bassist Krist Novocelic to play bass. The star studded line up proved a hit with the crowd and kudos to all those who played for the entire over two and a half hour set. Grohl stated that it may be the last time the Sound City Players play a show, but who knows?
