SXSW Music 2009: Day Three

The Thermals
Energetic, fun. If I was young and relatively new to the whole seeing bands live thing, I'd be crazy excited.

Little Boots
Does one song barely listened to count as having "seen" a band? Yeah probably not.

American Analog Set
Yay! Reunited to play The Golden Band from start to finish, the hot sunny environment wasn't ideal for Amanset (nor were the dubious acoustics of Club DeVille) yet the material, performance, and my own engagement carried the day. Lovely.

Pains of Being Pure At Heart
I hate the rigamarole for Fader/Levi wristbands and so just don't bother. No problem as a security guy saw me mouthing the words to "Come Saturday" and practically forced me inside. Another band I probably would have flipped for years ago. Enjoyable.

Phosphorescent
Wanted to see this show based solely on the idea of their Willie Nelson tribute album. Have to agree with friends who saw them the day before, technically proficient but lacking in spark.

Alash
Tuvan throat-singing otherwise known as xoomei!! Though I'm a huge fan of Tuvan music, I haven't kept up with the current state of it and thus hadn't heard of these guys. Turns out they're all national champions of various styles or instruments and they absolutely killed. The cognoscenti in the audience loved it and the uninitiated freaked over the sound. If you're not familiar with the style, check them out. Some day I will go to Tuva.

Camera Obscura
Inert. They didn't seem like they were having any fun at all which was in sharp contrast to the ebullience of the terribly monikered Dananananaykroyd who played right before. Just saw the last couple minutes of Dan, etc. but the singer closed their set with this plea, "I don't want to leave!" It was cute. Anyway, Camera Obscura couldn't muster much enthusiasm so I moved on.

The Rosebuds
Never much cared for this band aside from the great song "Leaves Do Fall," but figured I should give them another chance. Conclusion: Just don't do it for me. After "Leaves" and a quick "much respect to you" to Mac McCaughan, I took off. That's the nice thing about SXSW, there's always another option.

Eating. Got to keep the energy level up. Caffeine helps too.

Tricky
Man I loved (still do) his first three albums, everything since not at all. Only saw the last half of the set, but dude if you've only got 45 minutes to re-introduce yourself to everybody don't waste time doing extended versions of old songs that far outstay their welcome. Plus, Devo is up next so I can't get into you at all.

Devo
So very very good. If this was the first time I'd seen them, I think I would have had a hypertrophic spazzmodic episode (Ed note: Not a real medical phenomenon). As it was the 3rd time in four years, I pretty much knew what we were going to get and still swooned. Wheee! The one drawback of the show was that I only had demonstrative fans on one side of me, the kind that jumped up and down, sang along to the call-and-response bits appropriately, etc. Otherwise, it was stand-very-still-and-applaud-sedately. Oh to be up front with the be-flowerpotted.

Setlist:
Don't Shoot, I'm a Man (new song)
Peekaboo
new song
Going Under
new song
Girl You Want
Whip It
Secret Agent Man
Satisfaction
Uncontrollable Urge
Mongoloid
Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA
Gates of Steel
Devo Corporate Anthem
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Freedom of Choice
Jocko Homo
Gut Feeling/Slap Yer Mammy
Beautiful World (sung by Booji Boy)