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(photo: Brother Ali raps for all he's worth at Emo's)
No better way to start the day than with a hearty late-morning breakfast of Taco’s with all the fixings and Bloody Mary’s at Guero’s, a local institution up on the top of South Congress Street. Foolhardy played a noon set there and more than lived up to their promise of delivering “honest pop for SXSW,” with melodic tunes falling somewhere between Flaming Lips and Nada Surf.
After getting my fill, I headed back downtown to SXSW’s epicenter (6th and Red River) and caught Dengue Fever at Side Bar. The L.A.-based combo is fronted by Cambodian pop star Ch'hom Nimol, who flat out tore the place up with an exuberant performance that left the audience begging for more. Her songs are in Cambodian, some reminiscent of MIA, and her band backs it up with a fat sound with multiple worldly influences.
Spilling out onto Red River after the show, I found Asakusa Jinta, a hardcore Japanese marching band, doing an impromptu street set with lots of curious onlookers. Next door, at Spiro’s, The Lovemakers rocked the SF SXSW showcase. I just missed Maldroid, also from the Bay Area, but did manage to talk to them as they loaded up the U-Haul, ready to head off for their next gig, in Vegas. Lead singer Ryan Divine filled me in on their Devo-inspired antics and was justifiably proud of the video for “He Said, She Said,” which won YouTube’s Best underground video contest. anticsvids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1367738218. I also caught a rocking set from N.Y.-based. Head Quarters (www.myspace.com/headquartersband) before heading off for a much-needed siesta before the night shows.
Rested up and once again at Guero’s (mmm, tacos, and this time beer), Porsches on the Autobahn put on a hilarious show that had the lead singer literally climbing trees and scaling the walls of the courtyard in a wild Borat-inspired set. More on these wild and wacky lads from Germany later.
By now I was all ready to get into hip-hop/rapper mode. From my friend’s apartment, we got a good listen to Public Enemy’s big show a block or so away at Auditorium Shores. Couldn’t get into the spirit of that because they seem like they’re just cashing in at this point,. My friend put it best: “Man, it sounds like karaoke.”
Later that night at Emo’s, Brother Ali more than made up for the sins of his predecessors. He did give a big shout out to Chuck D and Flavor Flav, but unlike them his show was urgent, political and commanding. Guess we’ll have to see where he’s at in twenty years, but I expect the Muslim albino from Minnesota’s new album The Undisputed Truth, due out April 10, to be a big breakout.
(photos, l - r: Foolhardy; Dengue Fever; Asakusa Jinta; The Lovemakers; Head Quarters; Maldroid)
