Then out came Modey Lemon, a mostly instrumental trio with an eight-foot-tall gorilla on drums that played a solid twenty-five minutes of fuzzed-out experimental psychedelic droning, riffing, howling protopunk noise. And I mean solid - they set up and started playing, and segued from one song to the next without pause until a stagehand reached out and tapped the guitarist on the shoulder. The guitarist nodded, steered the band into a climax, then said "Thanks" and the band left the stage. It was fucking awesome. Here's a clip of them live which gives you an idea, but what we saw seemed noisier and out of control:
We then wandered a bit, checking into Red 7, where we saw Canopy:
These guys got screwed by horrible sound, so it was hard to judge the songs. This kid appeared to be having fun, though:
Inside, on the main stage, Austin metal band The Sword was following their annual tradition of performing somewhere at SXSW as a cover band. This time, they called themselves "Zombie Eaters," and performed a note-for-note cover of Faith No More's first record. We left after three songs, not knowing the backstory and not really believeing that we had just spent ten minutes watching a FNM cover band. We stopped by the nearly abandoned Beauty Bar and saw a couple of minutes of punk duo Pity Party:
Mark got a guitar pick (there were plenty):
We then headed over to Red Eyed Fly, a deceptive venue that looks from the front like a one-story bungalow.
I was a bit confused, as we were there to see a couple of bands that were too big for the apparently tiny space. We walked in and found ourselves in a low-ceilinged bar, crowded with people clustered around a small stage in the corner. On this stage were Restaurant, a two-piece band (one of many duos we saw). At first glance nothing special, though the guitar player was pretty good:
Upon closer inspection, however, the drummer appeared to be playing a collection of crap he dragged out of his basement, using two-foot-long, inch thick wooden dowels:
We then went back past the bathrooms through some double doors, and - surprise, found the venue proper, an outdoor stage overlooking water, packed to the gills and waiting for White Denim.
These guys were amazing and one of the highlights of the week. They reminded me of a punk rock Canned Heat (of Woodstock and "I'm Going Home," not the relic that wanders the state fair circuit to this day). These clips are of the actual show we saw:
They were followed by The Octopus Project, an Austin electronic instrumental band. They were good in spots, with a theremin for goodness sake. Here's my crappy picture, and some sample video:
They had some nice high points, but they were pretty much eclipsed by the Black Diamond Heavies next door at Beerland. Another duo, consisting of an average-looking dude on drums, and a skinny, mustachioed biker playing 1 metric ton of organ. Again, my crappy picture and some sample video:
They were great, and by the time they were done, I was ready to eat. Adam Brown had arrived, and Doug, Adam and I went to eat and plan our attack on the evening shows at Chez Nous, a French place right off 6th, which was really good.
After dinner, we headed over to the Mohawk on Red River, where we spent the rest of the night. We saw Fatal Flying Guilloteens on the main stage. They were OK (again, my crap photo plus a sample from youtube):
The Guiloteens were followed by The Plastic Constellations, who were kind of radio-ready pop punk (I won't bother with the youtube, but heres the crap photo):
Mohawk is a really nice bar, by the way; and the upstairs had maybe the nicest bathroom I saw the whole time I was in Austin. After a couple of boring minutes with the Plastic Constellations, I walked into the inside stage and promptly had my mind blown by the Mae Shi. This band played tight, crazy spaz-rock with each of the members rotating instruments, sometimes on drums, sometimes on guitar, sometimes clutching cheap keyboards hooked up to various processors and pedals, the songs broken up and punctuated by animal shrieks, unison harmonizing, and the spreading of a sheet across the front of the crowd to create an ad-hoc revival tent. Oh, did I mention they were born again christians? These guys were incredible, and we ended up seeing them three times (again, my shot, then a youtube sample):
We then saw The Big Sleep, a Brooklyn shoegaze outfit. They were pretty good, but by this time it was getting really cold, and I had not worn my jacket, so I was a little distracted.
At that point the bars were shut, and we wanted to save our strength for the days ahead, so we didn't seek out any late-night shows and headed back to the hotel.
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