Music has finally arrived in Austin Texas. Actually, it never leaves here, but there's never more of it than during SXSW.
I had a very musical evening, after sleeping most of the day. Boy, I'm gonna miss sleeping this much when I go back to work next week.
The first band I saw was called Canopy. According to the SXSW web site, the group is a live-performance project of a videographer. Mostly a four piece band, they were joined occasionally by two more musician, a cellist and a saxaphone player. They were good, their music had a bit of a 60s influence, with some modern sounds mixed in. The audience was sparse.
Next up, Ann Vriend. She was excellent. A Edmonton, Canada-based singer-songwriter who plays piano, she has a crisp and clear voice with great range. Her voice reminded me a little bit of Maria Muldaur. Elle magazine has compared her intensity to Aretha Franklin, her piano skills to Nora Jones, and her songwriting prowess to Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen. I found her to be a complete delight. She has two more performances on Thursday. I encourage anyone here to see her. She's damned attractive, too.
Next, I saw Angus and Julia Stone. A brother-sister team from Australia. Their voices blended well, but the songs all sounded the same: dull.
So on I went to the evenings main event, Echo and the Bunnymen. This well-known band hails from Liverpool. I remember another band from there. I videoed one song of theirs, included in my video report below. I only stayed for about five songs. My feet were aching pretty badly, so I headed back to the hotel, getting here around 2:30. I spent the rest of the night writing this and editing the video. It's morning already. I can tell I won't get much done today.
A taste of 6th street, and Echo & the Bunnymen from David Fell on Vimeo.
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