Thursday, Mar. 4th 2010

SXSW, That Great Gig in the Sky, Monster Grand, Visqueen at Neumos

By DaveMusic

I suppose in these parts we all know what SXSW is, the revered and glorious musiclal festival down Texas way, down in Austin where no bands of mine have ever played, though I did go to a wedding there once. No worries on not ever playing there though. I don’t think any bands of mine have ever even applied to SXSW. Perhaps we’ve been lazy. I suppose it’s like what they say about the lotto, can’t win if you don’t play, or rather can’t play if you don’t fill out said application with said application fee. And well, it seems a few of the local musical groups have done just that. And they won! I’m envious. As much as I like recording and studio work, live is the thing, live is where we strike the chords that set nights on fire.

I heard Pink Floyd on the radio today, Money, not their best tune, but thinking as I was about SXSW and playing live I was reminded of another Pink Floyd tune, That Great Gig in the Sky. An old band of mine in Ohio played that at a few gigs. The keyboard player, Stephanie, suggested it during a soundcheck one night before a gig at The South Heidelberg (RIP) so we gave it a shot. It was an instrumental version as neither Stephanie nor our other singer/drummer, Frank, had any chance of hitting those beautiful notes Clare Torry did in the recording.

I remember clearly that first night we played it. Stephanie called out the chords during the sound check, and I wrote them on a piece of paper that I put on the stage in front of my bass amp. There was a foot print on the left side of the paper, and the paper itself was actually stuck in place given all the grime of spilled beer and cigarette ash and marijuana ash and whatever else on the stage. We’d just finished one of our songs, In Memory of Sir Dane Bramage, a lament for a lost bong, and Stephanie went right into the piano intro for That Great Gig in the Sky before the applause died down. We were all a bit nervous as that evening’s sound check was the first time we’d ever played the song, but Stephanie was channeling Richard Wright (RIP). The Korg turned into a monster grand, and she got a little bolder, leaned a little to her left, head back, eyes closed. A woman in the crowd cheered.

Stephanie continued. The guitars came quietly in. There was a slight swell. Frank hit the snare, and POP! That Great Gig in The South Heidelberg. The descending bass line, the snap of the snare, the guitars playing vocalist and assorted keys. I leaned towards the keyboard amp. I wanted to be wrapped in that monster grand and had no need of my paper on the stage. We channeled as a unit.

When we finished the song, there was a silence in the bar, not the kind of “What the fuck was that shit?” silence, but more the “I can’t fucking believe that shit. That was awesome!” silence. We knew it. The crowd knew it. There wasn’t any need to acknowledge it. We looked at each other on stage. I took a sip of one of the Rolling Rocks I had on top of my amp. Stephanie was looking down at the Korg that still seemed a monster grand. Frank said, “We’re gonna take a short break.”

And well getting back to SXSW, this weekend at Neumos there is a SXSW Sendoff Bash featuring Visqueen, Hey Marseilles, Mash Hall (formerly known as They Live!), and Fences. I haven’t seen the other bands, but Visqueen alone is worth the price of admission. I saw them at Easy Street Records in Queen Anne, and even on the horrible PA there they were a little pop, a little punk, and a whole lot of fun. I don’t suppose they’ll talk about That Great Gig at Easy Street, but they may just do so of Neumos, or if you’re in the mood for a serious road trip, SXSW.

SXSW Send Off Bash at NEUMOS
Fri.Mar.05.10
Neumos, The Stranger, and 3 Imaginary Girls Present SXSW Send Off Bash at NEUMOS, Visqueen, Hey Marseilles, Mash Hall (formerly known as They Live!), Fences :: Doors at 8 pm :: $10 adv :: Advance tickets on sale at: www.ticketswest.com, Moe Bar, select QFCs, Rudy’s Barbershops [Buy Tickets Online] :: 21+