Friday review (page 2)

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It was at this point I was starting to realize there wasn't quite as many bands at SXSW as I first thought. Many groups play so many sets that you find yourself watching a band two or even three times. Of course the good news is that should you miss a band, you can always catch them somewhere else at a later date.

Over at Stubb’s Pete and The Pirates were going through some average sub-standard indie rock. Certainly nothing to write home about, and although it’s far from bad, it’s simply nowhere near as interesting as half the other bands playing at SXSW.

Peter Bjorn and John’s summery indie-pop didn’t exactly set the world alight either, and I wasn’t sure whether to blame today’s line-up or my poor choice of bands for the lack of really good music. Perhaps I had been spoilt after yesterday.



I trekked all the way over to La Zona Rosa to catch James Morrison. As he came on stage I was surprised by just how much he looked like Scott Matthews. I’d never noticed that before. A few songs in and he’s even sounding like Scott Matthews these days – what a coincidence. Now, most normal people would have figured out by this point that Scott Matthews had in fact replaced James Morrison, who was held up in New York or somewhere, but this had to be pointed out to me after I left the camera pit, such is my stupidity.

Amy Winehouse didn’t pull out, despite rumours that a cocaine habit was forcing her to cancel shows all over the place. The Jazz / soul singing sensation with the great voice / horrible accent is clearly one of Britain’s most talented musicians to date, and Dermott O’Leary’s not far wrong when he introduces her as the ‘two most important words in the English language’.



Finally it was another trip back to Stubbs. I’d found out that Razorlight were due to play as special guest after Amy, but I couldn’t stomach them two days running so plumped for Manchester’s Badly Drawn Boy instead. The singer is coming to the end of his American tour and opted to showcase mainly new material, like ‘Born in the UK’, which he dedicated to his son. ‘Silent Sigh’ was still included in the set for good measure, as was some amusing banter between BDB and the crowd; "Yeah I’m a w*nker, who gives a f*ck. I’m on stage not you, you c*nts.... and I’m rich". The crowd love it and both artist and audience exchange two finger salutes in mutual appreciation for one another.



Finally Damon Albarn’s latest project The Good, The Bad And The Queen take to the stage, and I decide to stick around an scrap my plans to see Pigeon Detectives and The Electric Soft Parade. It wasn’t a bad choice, and if anything it was worth it just to see the photographers excitedly scramble to get a picture of ex Clash bassist Paul Simonon. In contrast Albarn and former Verve guitarist Simon Tong barely got a look in.



Live the group don’t seem nearly as conceptual as the image that surrounds them, and I felt a bit a cynical about what Albarn describes as ‘a song cycle that's also a mystery play about London’. The theme is very Victorian London, and the crowd seem to love it, but Albarn spends the most of the set just standing there, staring blankly while Simonon works the crowd.

The third day at SXSW hadn’t been nearly as good as the last two in terms of bands, but that’s not to say it wasn’t just as enjoyable. There’s lots of little hidden gems that the festival has to offer, and even if the group you’re watching isn’t to your taste there is bound to be someone who is, just round the corner.

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