U.K. three-piece the Noisettes plays music very similar to the unbridled rock propelled into the mainstream long ago by Guns 'N' Roses and others from the L.A. scene. The differences? For one, their grooming is much more meticulous than their Sunset Strip forefathers. For two, female lead singer Shingai Shoniwag adds in pop posturing a la Gwen and smoky, soulful pipes a la Billie.
The grooming makes sense -- the long-dirty-hair aesthetic is no longer king, and the Noisettes were, after all, playing a daytime set being filmed for DirecTV. Everything had to be perfect inside the convention center ballroom/faux Texas saloon (really?). Light- and sound men running around the perimeters, directing the audience to applaud as they began taping. But once the TV-sausage process ended, the acoustics and lighting became an added bonus, improving the look and sound of a band that's undoubtedly making its way toward a crack at the mainstream.
Last night was my first trip to Shinsei, and I fell in love their their sake sangria. (I also fell in love with the rock-shrimp lettuce wraps, but that's another story.) The fruity, light sangria, pictured above, is everything you want in a pre-dinner cocktail: Not too sweet, not too strong, and topped with a yummy lychee garnish.
A group of friends and I stopped by Expo Park Cafe last night for their weekly karaoke Wednesdays. (I had no idea this existed until last week.) It's run by a guy who calls himself "Cliff the Karaoke Bato." (Pronounced "vato" to you, homes.) He uses a laptop and last night was wearing all black, including an extremely tight black turtleneck that showed off his man-pecs. What is it about karaoke guys that makes them so weird?
The vibe started out mellow, but the place turned out to be really fun. The crowd was diverse: Young, old, sketchy, etc. An older guy, kinda tipsy, had a deep, bellowing voice like Pavarotti and sang "My Way." Another skinny guy in glasses brought the house down with "Bust a Move." A wisp of a girl who looked about 18 blew everyone away with her spot-on rendition of Alicia Keys' "Fallin'". And yours truly sang Expose's "Let Me Be The One," which, I discovered, is totally out of my range. Oh well. (As a sidenote: Props to my friend Glenn for having the guts to sing NKOTB's "You Got The Right Stuff.")
The waitresses were friendly and kept our drinks coming. Even the water glasses were always full.
My teensy only issue was that the Karaoke Bato would interrupt the line waiting people to sing his own songs. (Including one in Italian?! Like I said, strange.)
I'd go back, though. Gotta think of what I'm going to sing next time...
I just woke up in Austin with my laptop standing over me, telling me it needs to be fed. So [cough] good morning.
The music portion of South by Southwest started yesterday -- a day most attendees reserve for standing in line in the convention center, schmoozing and waiting to pick up a badge and/or wristband and a big, heavy bag of crap. As soon as I had accomplished most of those tasks, I got the hell out of there as soon as I could. The less time I have to spend at the convention center overhearing coversations between hipster bloggers and blogging hipsters (and there's totally a difference), the better.
First thing I did after putting the aforementioned bag of crap into my car was head to the NX35 party at Momo's, a laid-back second-floor venue on West 6th with an outdoor deck. There I saw Sarah Jaffe, Baptist Generals and Record Hop entertain a sizeable crowd at the annual Denton music day party. I'm always surprised at how many folks make it out to this thing so early in the week and all. I would have taken a random sample to find out if there were many non-Denton folks in the crowd, but I was too busy talking to the Denton folks. Whaddayagonnado?
When the sun went down, I caught a few official showcases, at the same time realizing (like I do every year on the first day) that I'd overbooked myself. "Five showcases in four hours? What was I thinking?" I wondered aloud, before asking the most important question you can ask at SXSW: "Is that a pizza stand?"
The pizza hasn't settled, but last night's live music has. The highlights:
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