Wednesday review (page 2)

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Over in the Dirty Dog Bar, Brighton all girl group Bat for Lashes were treating a half interested audience to their tribal indie delicacy, taking a range of drum beats, from processed sounds to hitting a pole on the ground. They generate a soothing tone, and create an interesting ambience, quite similar to Kosheen. Swapping instruments readily, and taking their time between songs all makes for a relaxing affair.



London duo Rubicks were wowing the crowd over at the tiny Co-Op bar, with their duel set up of bass guitar and lead guitar, played alongside a collection of beats generated by a drum machine. Petite lead singer Vanssa Redd makes up for her pintsized appearance with her energetic performance, leaping into the crowd while bassist Marc Makarov moves slowly back and forth, hiding behind his grunge hairstyle and providing the platform from which Redd launches her Debbie Harry-esque vocals.

I had to fight my way into Mohawk’s for Frightened Rabbit. The security guard eyed my UK driver’s licence with suspicion and passed it round all his colleagues before I was finally given the all clear. I couldn’t stay for long for the group, as I was hoping to catch Jamie T at Stubbs, but for the short space of time I was there they seemed far better than fellow Glaswegian’s The Twilight Sad (who were on next, for the second time today). Yet there are still plenty more brilliant bands on the Glasgow music scene at the moment, and I just feel that SXSW is far from sampling the best.

The photographers pit was rammed for Jamie T. Since when did he get this famous? The venue had even filled to capacity and the response to his set was nothing short of phenomenal. In a style similar to both Mike Skinner and The Arctic Monkeys, Jamie T delivers his everyday commentary about life on the streets of London with a droll and humorous uptake. It’s far better than I expected and Jamie keeps a strong grip on the enthusiastic crowd all the way to the end of his set.



By now I was shattered. Chasing bands around the city all day was proving to be exhausting work and the masses of people, the noise and all the hustle and bustle of an urbanised festival was becoming a bit too much for me. I needed somewhere to sit down, I needed somewhere to chill out. If there’s one thing this festival is lacking, it’s those quiet grassy verges where you can just sit and contemplate where and what you’re going to do next.

Thankfully, I managed to find my safe haven. Away from all the action was a small bar called Copa. I’d made an attempt to get there earlier to catch Simple Kid’s set, but kept getting side tracked. That’s the problem with SXSW (albeit a good one), you can’t walk anywhere without getting tempted inside by the sound of what could potentially be the next best thing.

I joined a small crowd who were all sitting down to listen to Cardiff’s The Gentle Good; a one man singer/songwriter who writes delicate folk songs in both English and Welsh. Tranquillity is the word I’d use to summarise the ambience of The Gentle Good’s set, and his poetic songs about subjects like ‘drinking with a tramp’s fish he’d agreed to babysit’ are sung with a quiet, heartfelt tone, despite the humorous lyrical content.

Finally, charismatic Irish-born Damien Dempsey rounded off a brilliant evening of live music. Dempsey’s charm and wit echoed the vibe laid down by The Gentle Good, and he invites the crowd to sing away their troubles. He pauses between songs to mention that Austin this time of year is “full of musicians”, and that he’s “never seen so many slackers” in all his life, thinking for a moment then going on to say “I’ve never felt so at home either”.



An exhausting day of live music over, and it’s all I can do to climb into bed. Yes, exactly – a bed. There are some luxuries of an urban festival that do surpass the whole ‘camping in your tent’ lark, and I can’t begin to say how happy I was at the opportunity for a good night sleep without having to use my emergency supply of toilet roll as a pillow.

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