Final SXSW Thoughts
So this was my first time heading down to SXSW. And while I plan to go again (and again, and again), I have to say -- it's not quite what I expected. I guess there were three big things that disappointed me:
(1) I didn't really discover anyone new. Part of that was my fault, given that I tended to see shows by bands I had already heard. Part of it was also that I wasn't that impressed by any of the bands I was hearing for the first time (the only exceptions to this rule were You Am I and Grand Champeen, who I had heard (thanks Sal!) but not seen prior to SXSW.) Finally, and most importantly, there's just too many bands. When you have 1,000+ bands to choose from, the only way to try to make sense out of it is to go with what you know. And, given that there really wasn't much in the way of buzz for any new bands, I ended up playing it safe.
(2) Austin's venues are disappointing. Outside of Stubb's, I don't think I went to a single club that I'd ever want to go back to again. Emo's is a complete and utter hell-hole, with the CBGB's-esque bathroom to boot. Antone's acoustics were terrible, and the room has zero personality. The Mohawk? The locals say the space is cursed, and I see why -- small, cramped, and it feels like a ski lodge. And then there's the Dirty Dog. Ah, yes, the Dirty Dog. The classy sports bar whose logo is a scantily-clad lady with a dog humping her leg. Worst venue ever? Close.
(3) Disappointing performances. Unlike CMJ, where a lot of the bands I saw put on incredible performances (Silversun Pickups, Birdmonster, Apples In Stereo acoustic, Figgs, Asobi Seksu, Thermals, etc.), there were very few performances that really blew me away. The few exceptions would be the Buzzcocks, You Am I and the second Figgs set (and the full-band Clem Snide was pretty cool too). Everyone else? Just ok. Birdmonster, The Little Ones, Asobi Seksu, and The Broken West, who I've seen put on excellent shows, were all kinda average this time out.
At the end of the day, I just didn't see that much memorable music. My memories of SXSW will be Smitty's BBQ, the Buzzcocks (and Matt's brilliant job getting us in), meeting Mike from WOXY, and the incredibly unfriendly night manager of the hotel we were staying at. (Indeed, the same jackass who got a Walkman arrested.) Hopefully next year my memories will be a lot more focused on the music.
That said, waking up, eating BBQ, drinking beer and watching bands from 1pm to 1am is pretty hard to screw up. So, yeah, I'm goin' back next year.
posted by Steve @ 11:54 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Howdy Steve,
Im the manager of the Dirty Dog bar in Austin, Tx. As I enjoyed reading your blog about SXSW (we have many of the same views), I got to the part about my venue be possibly the worst ever. I understand opinions differ and in no way mean this return to be rude, but only to get an honest opinion on what you disliked about the venue.
Thanks for your time,
Ben Davis
Manager
Dirty Dog Bar
ben@dirtydogbar.com
Hey there Ben:
Nothing rude about your post at all -- I can understand that you would want to respond to criticism of the venue. It's only fair that I respond in full.
First, let me say that, as a bar (as opposed to a live music venue), I've got no complaints with the Dirty Dog. In fact, it would probably be a pretty good bar to hang out at on any given night given how big it is and the number of TVs.
That said, I found it to be a pretty poor place to try to watch a band. While it's certainly spacious for a standard bar, the floor layout is less than ideal for a large crowd in front of the stage. I found the area in front of the stage to be uncomfortably crowded (shoulder to shoulder) in a way that that detracted from the show-going experience.
That crowdedness was made worse by the large pole in front of the stage. While I understand it's probably a structural necessity, any time you have a large pole in a music club, let alone close to the stage, it's going to create sight-line problems, and is going to cause the crowd to bunch up in the parts of the floor where there is a better view of the stage. That makes an already crowded room even worse, because you've essentially taken the area around the pole out of the equation of where people can stand. Indeed, this was compounded by the fact that there was a large garbage can sitting in front of the pole. Thus, not only was there a pole only a matter of feet from the stage, but the garbage can then, in essence, meant that a circle with a diameter of approximately 5 feet (I'm estimating), which would normally be a prime place to stand, was taken out of use. Again, people had to go somewhere, so the unobstructed areas got even more crowded.
As a result, we ended up standing to the right of the pole, near the corner/side of the stage. Bad idea. Because the door and main bar were behind us, but the bathrooms and rear bar were in front of us (and the make-shift bar along the wall with the beers in the tub), there was a constant stream of people pushing through the crowd during the sets. It was almost impossible to stand still for more than a minute or two at a time due to all of the movement to the rear bar or bathroom.
OK, so I've covered most of the logistical problems of using the room as a music venue, all of which are pretty important to people who go to a lot of shows. Beyond this, though, there were a number of other problems. First, on the night we were there, there was an unbelievably (and dangerously) drunk guy who ended up getting on stage. He nearly fell off the stage and broke his neck. Anyway, while one of the people setting up the stage helped him off the stage onto the floor, that was all they did. The guy was about as drunk as anyone I've ever seen -- he couldn't walk straight. He then proceeded to push into the crowd, fall against people, and randomly decide to stand where other people (including me) were standing. Yet the club's security did absolutely nothing, either to move this guy out of the crowd or, even better, out of the bar. We were sure that this guy was going to cause problems at some point -- luckily, he didn't. (At least not while we were there.)
Another small point -- we got to the bar at the very beginning of what was about a 5 or 6 hour set of bands (the Yep Roc Showcase). When we got there around 8, we'd been walking all day, and my friend's wife found a seat (one of 2, I think) near the rear bar. However, she wasn't there more than 10 minutes when someone claiming to work at the venue told her she had to get up because they were going to use the seat for beer sales. So she got up. Of course, the girl who took her seat never ended up selling beer. Instead, the beer tub was set up several feet away. Four hours later, when we left, the same supposed employee was still sitting in the seat, doing nothing.
So, that's my rambling (half-drunk) explanation. One notable point -- the acoustics, while not pristine, weren't too bad either. That alone probably keeps the Dirty Dog from becoming the "worst" venue I've ever been to (hello, Roseland Ballroom). However, were I to live in Austin, and I very well may soon, I can't say that the Dirty Dog is a venue I would ever be happy to see a band at. I'd drink some beers there, but that's about it.
Hope this explains things a little.
Steve
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