March 27, 2009 - The Austin Chronicle

MUSICSXSW 09 LIVE SHOTS CONTINUED FROM P.59THE CANNABINOIDS FEATURINGERYKAH BADUAuditorium Shores Stage, March 21To answer the question: No, the Cannabinoidsfeaturing Erykah Badu weren’t worth seeing.As a matter of fact, the hour the packedcrowd at Auditorium Shores spent waiting forBadu to show up was a complete waste oftime. The Cannabinoids, Badu’s 11-man DJcollective, used eight MacBooks and a coupleof keyboards to do what a single laptop coulddo. A DJ hollered, “Are y’all ready for ErykahBadu?” every few minutes until the crewwalked offstage to some vague announcementof Badu’s tardiness and a few well-deservedboos. They came back 10 minutes later withSHELLEY HIAMthe frontwoman and Dallas native, who wason for 10 minutes, singing “The Healer” and“Danger” and noodling on a drum machinebefore shouting, “South by Southwest, let’sblow up the sky!” alien-speak for “Explosionsin the Sky are up next.” Then she left. Onedisgruntled attendee summed it up succinctly:“Erykah Ba-don’t.” – Chase HoffbergerTHE KNUX/DEAD PREZVice/Austin Music Hall, March 21Though it fades slightly on the back end,last year’s Remind Me in 3 Days … was one ofthe most promising albums of 2008, hard-copyproof that hip-hop can sound like 1996 even ifartists can’t afford to use samples anymore.Knux brothers Krispy Kream and Rah Almilliolayed down completely original material, usedlive instrumentation almost exclusively, andmade 3 Days sound like OutKast’s ATLiens.That’s what made it so disappointing to seethe NOLA natives start album opener “TheList” with a DJ handling the drum duties anda guitarist and keyboardist riffing like sessionplayers. Krispy and Rah made up for it withtheir charisma, ripping through “Cappuccino,”“Bang! Bang!,” and “F!re (Put It in the Air)” intandem like inspirations Big Boi and Andre3000. Headlining at the Austin Music Hall,Tallahassee, Fla., duo Dead Prez ripped throughabbreviated versions of “Radio Frequency,”“That’s War,” and “Assassination Day” butcouldn’t hold the attention of a crowd visiblyfatigued at the Festival’s finish line. Only setcloser “Hip-Hop” whipped the audience into afrenzy. The rest was too methodical, uninspired,and split up by too much Dead Prez banterbetween tracks. Goes to show it was a longweekend for everybody. – Chase HoffbergerFUTOMOMO SATISFACTIONOpal Divine’s, March 21The Tokyo 10-piece that paraded down Sixth Street earlier in the day with homemadesigns to promote its stateside debut wowed a bewildered crowd with big-band covers and“the power of the bikini.” As the band launched into the driving spy-funk of the “PeterGunn Theme,” a trio of trombonists strutted onstage, one clad in a red kimono, the othersin bad-cop leather. The garb stayed in place for a single song before the bikini-cladhorns led romping covers of the Ramones and rocking jazz standards. At some point thebassist and keyboard player stripped to their Skivvies, the latter nearly baring all after awardrobe malfunction. Sure, the group has a fairly ludicrous gimmick, but it plays everythingfrom hardcore funk to screamcore punk with a dash of bossa nova lounge thrownin for good measure. After closing the set with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” the bandobliged raucous chants of “one more song” by recycling “Goro Goro Nyang,” its biggesthit of the night, where audience members mimed tiger claws in sync with wicked hornstabs. Bemused spectators shared what-the-hell-just-happened looks while Futomomofanboys snapped pictures and snatched up every last T-shirt for sale. – Thomas FawcettSANDY CARSONSXSW panelsDOUG SAHM’S ‘MENDOCINO’Austin Convention Center, March 21Although this lively panel was ostensibly about the Sir DouglasQuintet’s landmark 1969 single, “Mendocino,” anyone who knowsanything about the late Doug Sahm could guess tangential asideswould overwhelm the assigned subject matter. Moderator BillBentley chose the 1966 Corpus Christi dope bust that compelledSahm’s move to California as the starting point. “The judge said,‘You can’t come into my court unless you cut your hair,’” recalledSDQ organist Augie Meyers, “‘but before you cut your hair, mydaughter is a big fan, and she wants a picture of you.’” Once inthe Bay Area, Sahm appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone withson Shawn to represent the tide of Texans fleeing cultural repression.He also met girls, including the “teenybopper” who inspired“Mendocino.” “I had stepmothers in every corner of the world,”joked Shawn. “Mendocino” became a national hit, but to 15-year-oldfuture Chronicle Music writer Margaret Moser, the song’s Chicanosoul and country undertones encapsulated San Antonio’s musicalessence. From there, the discourse rolled from how SDQ stashedpot in microphone stands and Bob Dylan hiring Sahm to babysit sonJakob to George Lucas expressing interest in having SDQ appear inMore American Graffiti, only to be rebuffed because Sahm thoughtit might interfere with watching baseball. Off topic or on, the panelfound Sahm’s storied “groove” in spades.– Greg BeetsPHOTOS BY SANDY CARSONNEIL YOUNG ARCHIVESAustin Convention Center, March 21Ten minutes into his panel, Elliot Roberts’ phonestarted ringing. It was his most famous client, NeilYoung. Roberts declined to answer the call as he wasbusy with something more important. He was unveilingYoung’s oft-delayed Archives box set. Volume 1(of perhaps up to five) covers 1963-1972 and nowhas a firm release date (June 2). The panel even hadcopies people could touch. The bits demoed showhow ridiculously complete the set is, which shouldn’tbe surprising since Roberts and Young have hadsome kind of a collection in mind almost since theymet back at Woodstock. The real “wow” factor hereis the interactivity of the Blu-ray set (CD and DVD versionsof the Archives will also be available). Not onlycan one peruse several layers of associated artworkwhile listening, when new material becomes available(e.g., Motown’s Mynah Birds tracks just receivedclearance), the Blu-ray set will “phone home” and getthem for you. Young better hope fans still have theirjobs come this summer, because at $399 ($99 forthe CD, $199 for the DVD), this kind of cool doesn’tcome cheap.– Michael BertinWOODSTOCK: UNTOLD STORIESAustin Convention Center, March 21Woodstock occurred 40 years ago this August, but just talkingabout it can still draw quite a crowd. Author Holly George-Warren led a group of Woodstock veterans through a panel soenjoyable that it went 30 minutes over and no one seemed tocare. It started with a 10-minute teaser from the upcoming,newly expanded movie, coming this June, and then everyone hadsomething interesting to add. Musicians who were there, GreggRolie and Michael Shrieve of Santana, Stu Cook of CreedenceClearwater Revival, and Jocko Marcellino of Sha Na Na, ranthrough personal memories of the mud and how much they werepaid. Hugh “Wavy Gravy” Romney rambled on about how membersof the Hog Farm were flown in from New Mexico to act assecurity. Famed recording engineer Eddie Kramer gave insighton what he discovered and was allowed to use on the new DVDand CD, while festival producer Michael Lang gave backgroundon Woodstock’s beginnings while dispelling, and sometimesconfirming, rumors of what really happened. Among those in thenearly full room were several behind-the-scenes participantswho shed some light on what it was like in the trenches. Kramerremarked with a sense of amazement how “it still resonates witheverybody,” adding: “It wasn’t really three days of peace andmusic. It was three days of drugs and hell.” – Jim Caligiuri60 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E MARCH 27, 2009 a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m