Thropping
A few hours after arriving, Austin did certainly seem to be buzzing - at least around the Festival Headquarters last night. But that buzz turns out to have been only a gentle murmur compared to the full-on excitement along 6th Street this evening, which has been closed off and pedestrianised - and is the very embodiment of the word "thropping"...
One curious thing I notice as a Londoner is that the crowds are largely white or hispanic. It was slightly surprising there weren't more Afro-American or Asian people out on the streets enjoying the carnival atmosphere. But then most of the music was white, too.
The Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing showcase at the Rio Grande Mexican restaurant was packed and overflowing - with Florence & The Machine already onstage and a queue of fully accredited people with passes and wristbands that ran literally around the block. I figured - what with Huw, Lammo, Bethan, Stuart and Matt already in attendance - that our showcase would be pretty substantially covered without any help from me. So instead I went to see something altogether more sparsely attended. Despite the best obstructive efforts of the US Immigration Department, our friends the , did finally made it to play in Austin. But, shamefully, it was to an audience of about 20-30 people. Frontman Sohrab has a charismatic stage presence comparable - but in no way similar - to back when U2 were playing the pubs and clubs of London. The music, too, is as different as you might expect - with a lineup of keyboard, bass and trombone.
Then up a few blocks along 6th Street to watch Latvian duo playing a small stage in the front room of . They have the same guitar/drums lineup as but there the resemblance ends. No catchy, memorable tunes or singalong choruses to speak of - easy listening, it isn't. In fact half the time it's sheer bloody perverse noise of the kind John Peel would have played to annoy heavy metal fans at Reading - but the music is never less than daring, and at its best, it takes the breath away. With the help of long delay effects, looping, distortion, detuned bottom strings and sheer virtuoso technique Edgars Eihmanis's guitar sound like an entire band on its own.
I had planned to watch Glasgow's excellent Make Model next door at Friends but - having timed my arrival to coincide with them taking the stage - it was too late. The crowd stretched out into the street and nobody but nobody was going in or coming out - always the sign of a hot band with a good word of mouth.
Thence down for a more determined attempt to get into the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing show at Rio, where at least 200 people were still queuing in the vain hope of getting to see MGMT who were just taking the stage. I texted stage manager James Stirling who nipped out of the stage door to escort me in to the back of the stage. But that too was heaving, with no room to stand. Over the heads of the privileged I could just make out a couple of the band but not much of what they were singing and playing.
On my way home to come and write this up, I was accosted - bizarrely - by a nice man who had recognised my photo from the 6 Music website... (see video)
