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Now that we had made it through an acclimating day one with a big finish and an extremely metallic day two, it was truly time to ROCK. So many different kinds of music and events are represented during the always-craysee SXSW week in Austin, and on this third day we really began to take no prisoners.
Baseball season officially got underway and New England Metal and Hardcore Fest is coming up next weekend. Surely all is peachy in the world then, yeah? Not so much.
See you next week. New England Metal and Hardcore Fest!!
After the antics of the first day of the festival, I felt more than ready to get into day two with a healthy dose of music from the beginning. Unfortunately, that was not to be so for me, as at the time I thought I would be continuing on after SXSW into further ridonkulousness, all the way to a family vacation during Spring Break in Mexico….and today was the day that my renewed passport was meant to be FedExed to the flophouse where Vince and I were crashing.
When I had returned to said flophouse the night prior and to my surprise found an open couch in the living room right by the front door (where I was told FedEx homeboy would appear bright and early), I figured it prolly made the most sense to sleep right there on the ground floor as opposed to the stank upstairs sweat lodge where I would be sure to miss any sounds of door knocking.
Sadly, no FedEx arrived in the morning as promised — I was actually awoken by a phone call from Vince around noon wondering where the hell I had ended up last night. After a couple more hours my passport finally arrived, at which point I had to wait at least another hour for a cab to take me down to the action.
HOLY SHIT.
Where to begin? So many debaucherous moments — too many beers, not enough whiskeys, a shit-ton of BBQ, and a helluva lotta MUSIC….yes yes, it was another sleep-deprived week in Austin, Texas, and at the end of it all, it was the best one yet.
I couldn’t find any footage of These Arms are Snakes performing live that accurately captured the spectacle I witnessed first-hand on Wednesday, but this video for “Horse Girl” has some shots of the band rocking out so it’ll have to do for now. While I can see many of our readers not being able to get into this band because of the higher punk to metal ratio, just trust me when I say that I was the same until I saw them live; and you will be too. TAAS still have some live dates in the Western U.S. on their current tour, so if you live out that way make absolutely sure you go see them.
-VN
After yesterday morning’s scare, thankfully Kip turned up. On the couch downstairs at the flophouse we’re crashing at. Phew!
It was another fine day in Texas; 80 degrees, sunny, lots of metal. First up was Full Metal Texas, at which I saw Black Math Horsemen, Kylesa, Skeletonwitch and Fact. The End Records / MetalSucks showcase followed, at which Junius, Hull, These are They, Goes Cube, Tub Ring and Early Man rocked the confines of a tightly packed room that looked like an old European castle. My quick summary after the jump.
Wednesday has done and drawn to a close, and an awesome day it was. Highlights included Young Widows, The Bronx, Fighting With Wire, Jucifer, El Mariachi Bronx (The Bronx as a full mariachi band), Valient Thorr, Pack of Wolves, These Arms Are Snakes, and finally meeting MS contributor Corey Mitchell in person. There’s so much to be seen today, Kip has gone missing, and I’m hungry, so I’ll make this quick:
Myself, Corey and Kip have spent hours laboring over this document, my friends, so that all of you MetalSucks Maniacs can go forth and be fruitful at this year’s South by Southwest festival. This is what we believe to be the comprehensive guide to everything metal-worthy happening at SXSW this year.
Download the Official MetalSucks Guide to SXSW 2009 here, then print it, send it to your friends, put it on your iPhone, wipe your ass with it, whatever… and have fun!! And of course, come say hi to us at the official showcase for The End Records, of which MetalSucks is a proud sponsor.
See you in Austin.
-VN
So I was thinking back to the CMJ Music Marathon here in NYC last fall, and how Bison B.C. seemed to be the “buzz” metal band on everyone’s tongue. If you were there to see them you witnessed something awesome, and if you weren’t there you heard about it from everyone else and felt like a dipshit because you missed it. At the Scion Rock Fest last month in Atlanta the buzz bands were Krallice and Salome, depending on who you asked (there were, after all, four stages running simultaneously). So who’s it gonna be at this year’s SXSW? My bets are on any one of the awesome bands on The End Records / MetalSucks showcase, but your guesses are as good as any.
Here’s a live video of Bison B.C. performing in their native Vancouver. What are the shows you absolutely must see at this year’s hoedown in Austin?
-VN
As Vince mentioned a few times last week, he and I will indeed be dropping our respective bombz on Austin this week for SXSW 2009. We expect the festival will undoubtedly bring plenty of metal, mayhem, n MEAT a la BBQ (anyone interested in a debaucherous road trip to The Salt Lick?? You drive!)
Sadly, I could not find any songs in my itunes under the tags “barbeque” or “ribs”, but these two lil ditties should suffice:
–if you lived under a poop-stained rock last year, then you may have missed Protest the Hero’s epic album Fortress; here’s the first track:
PROTEST THE HERO — “Bloodmeat”, from Fortress (2008)
–if you’ve frequented a single strip club since 1993, there’s a pretty decent chance you saw a girl shake her teh-tahs to this old(ish) school alternarock gem:
MEAT PUPPETS — “Backwater”, from Backwater (1993) and Too High To Die (1994)
For those who will be swilling in the madness first-hand, please join us for the MetalSucks/The End Records rokkker on Thursday night, feel free to try your luck on line the next night to see the fartiest old farts of them all, and for god’s sake, above all, drink some free beer n eat that frickin meat!
-KW
From Austin360.com:
Austin Powell of the Austin Chronicle says he’s received confirmation from the Metallica camp that the metal superstars will indeed be playing Stubb’s on Friday March 20 at 10 p.m. as part of the “Guitar Hero: Metallica” showcase…
Roland Swenson of SXSW was not too happy with Thursday’s “Off the Record” scoop, however. “He didn’t get it from us,” Swenson said. “We were told not to confirm anything and we’re sticking by that.”
So, let’s say this is true. Is it even worth attempting to get in? Seeing Metallica in a 2,100 capacity venue would be a priceless experience, but is it worth potentially having to wait on line for hours? Yours truly and Kip will be blessed with press credentials, but I still find it hard to believe that 10,000 indie rock-loving pretend Metallica fans who also have badges/wristbands won’t be trying to get in, too. Worth a shot, I guess?
-VN
MetalSucks is proud to present, along with our friends at The End Records, an actual Official South by Southwest 2009 Showcase! Kip and I will be rockin’ with our cocks out in Austin, TX non-stop from Wednesday through Saturday while Axl and a particularly clever MS Mansion Monkey named “Higgins” hold down the fort here in NY. You’re likely to catch us at many of the awesome metal-flavored SXSW events going down this year (including but not limited to Full Metal Texas), but you will absolutely catch us at the kick-ass MetalSucks / The End Records showcase at The Ale House Pub on the eve of Thursday, March 19th. The killer lineup includes Junius, Hull, These are They, Goes Cube, Tub Ring and Early Man — holy fuckin’ shit!!
Set times and location after the jump. See you there.
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