Yeah, quick update today whilst I prepare to leave (again) for South By Southwest. Sorry I haven’t filed daily updates, but the schedule has been too incredible hectic for me to do much of anything outside of listening to music and sleeping.
First, a run down of who I’ve seen thus far and who I’m seeing tonight (in a few hours, actually). After that, I’ve got some celebrity sightings and a story about another IP staffer and one of his devoted followers (who’re actually playing in a South By Southwest Showcase this week.)
WEDNESDAY: Blue Merle, Sleater-Kinney, The Donnas, Billy Idol
THURSDAY: Robert Plant, The Futureheads, Hot Hot Heat, Doves
FRIDAY: The Kills, The Raveonettes, The Vanished, Radiant, New York Dolls
TONIGHT: The Wallflowers, Aesop Rock, VANILLA ICE and a secret show from Coldplay that no one is supposed to know about but somehow everyone I’ve talked to does.
Story time, kids.
Last night, I’m chilling at the G2 Records showcase, being pleasantly surprised by One Up, a hip hop/rock act from Dallas. They were thumpin’, tight, and I was resisting the urge to break out into White Man Dance. I turn around, and standing behind me is Chris Blackwell…yes, THAT Chris Blackwell, the man responsible for giving the world U2 and Bob Marley. All I can do is shake his hand and say “thank you for giving me U2” and then turn and walk away like an idiot. I figure the man didn’t need to be bothered.
So I go to buy the One Up record, and they were getting some good business but I managed to come in at the tail end of it. The bassist sees my press creds and sees InsidePulse.com on there, and flips out. Says he reads the site all the time for the music news. And then, the inevitable happens.
He asks me if I know Aaron Cameron, and asks if he’s there.
I felt like the red-headed stepbeast of IPMusic. He says that Cameron is “dope” and “that dude knows his rap shit, man 50 Cent is so shitty and he called it” and all kinds of other stuff. By this point, I’m simply looking for the nearest exit in case he goes full-on fanboy with me. He wouldn’t let me leave, however, without giving me a copy of the record to send to Cameron for him to review.
I did try and bother Jon Landau, however, and ask him about that Jimi Hendrix Experience review he did way back in the day and see if maybe he’d changed his mind by now. He just waved me off like a fly and I felt about as big as one.
I bought a Shiner Bock for ?uestlove. That was interesting.
Best New Artists Of The Week:
1. Blue Merle
2. One Up
3. Radiant
Best Overall Artists Of The Week
1. The Futureheads
2. Billy Idol
3. Blue Merle
So it’s been fun, but my ears are bleeding and in desperate need of a reprieve. I’m going to go on a two-day musical hiatus starting tomorrow to let my ears stop ringing and heal.
That’s really all I have for today. I’ll do more next week, promise.
