SXSW 2006: Friday
Black Lipstick at Bella Blue Boutique
I hadn't actually seen these guys before and I have to say they totally rocked out. I had heard some of the Octopus Project remix album of their stuff a long time ago and honestly have to say I wasn't too impressed with it. Their performance was lively and the songs were very engaging. I also thought it was totally cool that they have a chick drummer. She was really good, too, although there were a few instances during a song where I kind of had the feeling she was making up the drumline as she went along. I don't know how else to explain it. I liked it, though- I felt like it worked.
During the finale of the performance, the band was joined by Josh Lambert and Toto Miranda of the Octopus Project and so they had like 6 guys with guitars all playing together, facing away from the audience and everytime they hit the end of the chord progression everybody leaned backwards to look at the crowd upside-down. It was pretty funny. I have to give them full marks for being goofy. I think what made it even funnier was that they kept on doing this like 50 times. You kept thinking, ok, this is the grand finale! Then they did it again. Then you're like "Ok, surely these guys are getting sick to their stomachs by now from leaning over like that." Then they did it again! and again! etc, etc. I got a kick out of it.
I bought one of their cds so I may be able to blog more about them once I get to listen to it and refresh my memory about their sound.
Palaxy Tracks at Bella Blue
I think I saw this band once before and I liked their kind of tripped-out space-rock sound. But for some reason I just couldn't get into them this time. I got bored and went into the boutique to look at cute girly stuff and drank a beer.
The Octopus Project at Bella Blue
I had shown up so late that I thought I would only get there in time to see these guys (who were, after all, the main reason for my going to the show at all), but the show was runnign about an hour and a half behind. I thought they sounded as awesome as ever, even being outside like that were the acoustics weren't exactly perfect. There was a fence behind them that probably helped. Everybody in the band seemed to be really enjoying themselves.
The band was augmented by the inclusion of a new guitarist, namely the dude from Palaxy Tracks, Brandon (I got less lazy and actually looked up his name on the web site). Josh's bass licks were as potent as ever, and Toto looked at several moments like his arms were actulaly going to fly off of his body while he played drums.
I've noticed at the last several OctoProj shows I've been to that Yvonne has really gone to town on the theremin. I've only been listening to the band for about 2 and a half years now (since I first arrived in Austin) so I can't say for sure, but it seems to me like her ability on the instrument has vastly increased. On no individual song is this more evident than on "Rorol", a cut off their debut album, Identification Parade. It's clear even from listening to the recorded version that her technical prowess has increased, since she's playing more complicated phrasing and, based on my impressions of the song, her accuracy has increased. Of course, seeing her play is a sight to behold.
They played one new song that I hadn't heard before, while I was waiting in line for the bathroom (unfortunately, the one beer made its presence known and I just couldn't wait until the end of the show...) The girl behind me in line and I agreed that the new song, which is rather upbeat and catchy, made a good "bathroom-dance" song.
They finished the set with a cover of a song I didn't recognize. It paled in comparison to the quality of their originals.
----
We were all too lame and tired to go out and see their midnight show that night, so we went home and watched a movie instead.
I hadn't actually seen these guys before and I have to say they totally rocked out. I had heard some of the Octopus Project remix album of their stuff a long time ago and honestly have to say I wasn't too impressed with it. Their performance was lively and the songs were very engaging. I also thought it was totally cool that they have a chick drummer. She was really good, too, although there were a few instances during a song where I kind of had the feeling she was making up the drumline as she went along. I don't know how else to explain it. I liked it, though- I felt like it worked.
During the finale of the performance, the band was joined by Josh Lambert and Toto Miranda of the Octopus Project and so they had like 6 guys with guitars all playing together, facing away from the audience and everytime they hit the end of the chord progression everybody leaned backwards to look at the crowd upside-down. It was pretty funny. I have to give them full marks for being goofy. I think what made it even funnier was that they kept on doing this like 50 times. You kept thinking, ok, this is the grand finale! Then they did it again. Then you're like "Ok, surely these guys are getting sick to their stomachs by now from leaning over like that." Then they did it again! and again! etc, etc. I got a kick out of it.
I bought one of their cds so I may be able to blog more about them once I get to listen to it and refresh my memory about their sound.
Palaxy Tracks at Bella Blue
I think I saw this band once before and I liked their kind of tripped-out space-rock sound. But for some reason I just couldn't get into them this time. I got bored and went into the boutique to look at cute girly stuff and drank a beer.
The Octopus Project at Bella Blue
I had shown up so late that I thought I would only get there in time to see these guys (who were, after all, the main reason for my going to the show at all), but the show was runnign about an hour and a half behind. I thought they sounded as awesome as ever, even being outside like that were the acoustics weren't exactly perfect. There was a fence behind them that probably helped. Everybody in the band seemed to be really enjoying themselves.
The band was augmented by the inclusion of a new guitarist, namely the dude from Palaxy Tracks, Brandon (I got less lazy and actually looked up his name on the web site). Josh's bass licks were as potent as ever, and Toto looked at several moments like his arms were actulaly going to fly off of his body while he played drums.
I've noticed at the last several OctoProj shows I've been to that Yvonne has really gone to town on the theremin. I've only been listening to the band for about 2 and a half years now (since I first arrived in Austin) so I can't say for sure, but it seems to me like her ability on the instrument has vastly increased. On no individual song is this more evident than on "Rorol", a cut off their debut album, Identification Parade. It's clear even from listening to the recorded version that her technical prowess has increased, since she's playing more complicated phrasing and, based on my impressions of the song, her accuracy has increased. Of course, seeing her play is a sight to behold.
They played one new song that I hadn't heard before, while I was waiting in line for the bathroom (unfortunately, the one beer made its presence known and I just couldn't wait until the end of the show...) The girl behind me in line and I agreed that the new song, which is rather upbeat and catchy, made a good "bathroom-dance" song.
They finished the set with a cover of a song I didn't recognize. It paled in comparison to the quality of their originals.
----
We were all too lame and tired to go out and see their midnight show that night, so we went home and watched a movie instead.
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