The Silent Comedy

Kristen’s SXSW ’12 Mix – Part 3

Posted on by Kristen

One of the things I love most about SXSW is the opportunity it provides every year to discover great new artists. The following mix reflects some of the bands and musicians I’ve added to my “watch list” as a result of SXSW 2012. Enjoy!

12. Defining Times– “Rite”

I hear potential in this band from Oklahoma City, OK…I like potential.

13. New Cassettes – “Silent Guns”

Okay, so I did see this band a year ago…but I had kind of forgotten about them until they popped up on my SXSW radar. I thought they deserved a second mention.

 

14. Morning Parade– “Headlights”

After listening to my mega SXSW mix en route to Austin, it was decided that Morning Parade was going to be one of our must-sees. We caught them one early afternoon at The British Embassy and they did not disappoint.

 

15. Brother & Bones – “Hold Me Like the Sun”

Is it just me or can you are you also craving a line-up of Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights, Brother & Bones, and The Silent Comedy after listening to this song? Just me? huh…

 

Listen! Learn! Love!

 

~ Kristen

Amanda’s SD Concert Calendar 3/26-4/1

Posted on by Amanda

I’m not sure what happened to by body clock but post SXSW is making it do some funky things. The first few days were fine. But now I’m sleepy around 10, go to bed around 12 am and am awake again somewhere between 4-6 am. Awesome. Not really. But, San Diego has some awesome shows this week!

Monday: Imagine Dragons @ 710 Beach Club
AND: American Royalty @ Soda Bar @9 $10
AND: Kathleen Edwards @ Belly Up @8 $19

Tuesday: Lee Coulter, Michael Tiernan, and Gayle Skidmore @Belly Up @8 $9/$11

Wednesday: Chris Pierce @ Lestats @8
AND: Galactic feat. Corey Glover and Corey Henry @ Belly Up @9 $27
AND: The New Kinetics @ Whistlestop Bar @9
AND: River City @ Riviera Supper Club @9

Thursday: Kevin Martin @ Bar Pink @9
AND: Mr. Gnome, Sister Speak, and Kelsea Rae Little @ Ruby Room @9 $5
AND: White Rabbits @ Casbah @9 $12/$14
AND: The Flowerthief @ Lestats @8

Friday: Hills Like Elephants, The Heavy Guilt, The Black Sand and Sundrop Electric @ Soda Bar @9 $8
AND: The Silent Comedy @ HOB Anaheim

Saturday: The Burning of Rome @ Soda Bar @9 $5
AND: The Nervous Wreckords, Maren Parusel, and Low Volts @ Casbah @9 $10
AND: Henry Rollins @ SD Women’s Club $27.50

Sunday: Aaron Bowen @ Lestats @8
Keep in Mind:
April 2nd- Heartless Bastards @ Belly Up
April 4th- Hunter Hayes @ House of Blues
April 5th- The Howls and Low Volts @ El Dorado @930
April 7th- Transfer and The Blackout Party @ Belly Up
April 7th- CityBeat Street Fest w/Nico Vega, Hyena, and Heavy Guilt
April 13th- Coachella Weekend 1
April 14th- The Rapture @ The Irenic
April 15th- Rise Against @ Viejas Arena
April 16th- Elvis Costello @ Humphreys
April 17th- The Hives @ Belly Up
April 17th- Yuck and The Makeup Sex @ Casbah
April 20th- Coachella Weekend 2
April 28th- Little hurricane @ Casbah
May 2nd- Say Anything @ House of Blues
May 4th- Thrice @ House of Blues
May 4th- Deer Tick @ Casbah
May 5th- Portugal. The Man @ 4th and B
May 12th- Delta Spirit @ Belly Up
May 30th- Horse Feathers @ Casbah @9 $12/$14
June 3rd- Mogwai @ Belly Up

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 3/26-4/1

Posted on by Kristen

Last week my body finally retaliated for all the stress I’ve been putting it through. I completely lost my voice and have a nasty head cold. I’m bummed because it forced me to missed some stellar shows. Tonight I’m heading out to The Avalon for Belle Brigade/The Good Old War. Hopefully I won’t regret it tomorrow. Here’s what else I hope to be well enough to do this week:

Monday: Infantree, Vanaprasta, and Voxhaul Broadcast FREE at The Satellite (9pm)
ALSO: NO FREE at The Echo (10pm)
ALSO: Patrick Park at Bootleg Theater (7:30)
ALSO: The Janks FREE at Bootleg Bar (10:30)
ALSO: Ari Shine, Adam Bones, and Jack Littman at Redwood Bar (9pm)
ALSO: Laura Stevenson & The Cans at The Troubadour (8:45)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)

 

Tuesday: The Stone Foxes at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: The Used FREE at The Troubadour (8pm)…playing songs from their new album, no lineups before 4

 

Weds: Ernie Halter at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)

 

Thursday: Shane Alexander, Chris Pierce, Brother Sal at WitZend (8,9,10)

 

Friday: Lady Sinatra and Indians at The Viper Room (10:30, 11:30)
ALSO: Nightmare & The Cat and Lovers Drugs FREE at Dim Mak Studios (AKA Cinespace) (11:15, 1)
ALSO: Mind the Gap at The Hotel Cafe (11:30)
ALSO: Justin Levinson at Room 5 (8pm)
ALSO: Justin Hopkins at WitZend (10pm)
ALSO: All American Rejects at The Troubadour (8pm)
ALSO: The Silent Comedy at House of Blues Anaheim

 

Saturday: Tyrone Wells at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: George Stanford at Witzend (11pm)

 

Sunday: Mariah McManus and Charlotte Martin at Bootleg Bar (9,10)
ALSO: The Elizabeth Kill FREE at The Other Door (9pm)

 

 

To Keep in Mind:
April 4th/5th: Dan Layus (of Augustana) at The Hotel Cafe
April 10th: Neon Trees at The Troubadour
April 11th: Mike Doughty at Bootleg Theater
April 12th: Joseph Arthur at The Largo
April 12th: Curtis Peoples at The Hotel Café
April 13th: Kill the Alarm at Room 5
April 16th: Band of Skulls, We Are Augustines, The Sheepdogs at The El Rey
April 18th: Dar Williams at The Largo
April 19th: Foxy Shazam at The Roxy
April 13th-15th AND 20th– 22nd: Coachella
April 24th: The Milk Carton Kids at The Largo
April 25th: Ben Kweller at The El Rey
April 25th: Dead Sara at Club Nokia
April 26th: Jasmine Ash at The Roxy
April 26th: Zoe Keating at The Largo
April 27th: Ingrid Michaelson at The Troubadour
May 2nd: Cage the Elephant at The Mayan
May 3rd: James Morrison at The Avalon
May 6th: Middle Class Rut at The Troubadour
May 8th: Snow Patrol at The Hollywood Palladium
May 10th: Jay Nash at The Hotel Cafe
May 11th: Imagine Dragons at The Troubadour
May 12th: Augustana at The El Rey
May 19th: Eric Hutchinson and Graffiti6 at The Troubadour
May 30th: Eve 6 at The Troubadour
May 31st: Greg Laswell at The El Rey
June 3rd: Deas Vail at The Troubadour
June 5th and 6th: Ben Howard at The Troubadour
June 13th and 14th: Phantom Planet at The Troubadour
June 16th: Thrice at Club Nokia

 

~ Kristen

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SXSW Recap: Saturday 3/17

Posted on by Amanda

Honestly, I’m not sure where to start this post. It might be due to exhaustion, lack of mental focus, or the blur that has been the last 5 days Honestly, I’m not sure where to start this post. It might be due to exhaustion, lack of mental focus, or the blur that has been the last 5 days catching up to me. All I can say for certain is that I had an enjoyable time.

Since I’m a little bit groggy, an in depth chat of the day will not be had. It started with Rachel Ray’s party with Bob Schneider and Imagine Dragons. It ended with an impromptu Daniel Beddingfield show (although I think Semi Precious Weapons was the proper ending). What happened in between was a blur of dancing and laughing with friends featuring bands such as; The Silent Comedy, Gary Clark Jr., K Flay, War on Drugs, Hey Marseilles, Jukebox the Ghost, Semi Precious Weapons, Husky, Ramona Falls, Graffiti 6, Nico Vega, Viva City, Tournament of Hearts, and Semi Precious Weapons again. All aforementioned bands are worthy of your attention. Let the pictures do the talking.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some sleeping to do before driving straight back to LA in the morning.

Oh and Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.

SXSW Recap: Friday 3/16

Posted on by Kristen

Today. Today was a good day. Nay, today was a great day! It seems that the severe lack of sleep and the intense physical pain of being on your feet all day that almost brought me down yesterday was nearly nonexistent today. Perhaps, my body is just adjusting to the sxsw schedule. As a result, spirits were high, adventures were had, new friends were made, and, of course, amazing musical experiences were around every corner.

Perhaps the good spirits stemmed from the fact that I got to sleep in this morning. We got up around 10:30 and made our way to the Motorola Moonshine Bar and Grill for a lovely breakfast of fried asparagus, spinach and artichoke dip, and a yogurt parfait. Of course there was also coconut water involved, because there is free coconut water at just about every event here (new trend?).

My morning musical selections were largely at Frye’s Showcase at Buffalo Billiards, with a brief interlude to the Paste Party where I was reminded of how much I enjoy The Lumineers. At BB’s, I got a taste of Tribes, my first Imagine Dragons set of SXSW, a lovely show from Honeyhoney, and a killer/blow your socks off/face melting experience with Dead Sara. The Dead Sara set marked the second afternoon mosh pit I’ve been involve with in the last two days (yesterday’s was Semi Precious Weapons).  Seeing them makes me so happy, but at the same time sad in the realization that they are soon to blow up and I’ll no longer be able to see them in such intimate venues.

Unfortunately, Dead Sara’s set started late and ended up conflicting directly with The Silent Comedy’s show at The Bayou Lounge. The upside of this was that it helped establish my afternoon plan of going over to Quantum Collective’s party on the Whole Foods Rooftop where we enjoyed eating Oogies popcorn (my fave popcorn brand) and dancing to Voxhaul Broadcast, The Silent Comedy, and Imagine Dragons. It was a little windy up on the roof and hats went flying during The Silent Comedy set, but the guys put on a great performance and sang us a new song.  A dance party broke out during Imagine Dragon’s last song…apparently this was filmed as we all had to sign waivers (who knows where an image of me looking ridiculous might end up).

After stuffing my bag with the delicious free snacks lying around (granola bars, pirate’s booty, popcorn, coconut water- of course) we headed back over to the east side for our evening. I rocked out to a couple songs from Bethpage Black before venturing to Stubb’s to see Ed Sheeran. Not only did I completely fall in love with this Brit and his tunes, I somehow ended up in the photo pit and was finally able to put to use my press pass on my camera. After Ed, I raced over to Rusty’s to catch a bit of Queen Caveat rock the main stage before heading to ND to enjoy Free Energy (one of the best dance parties in town!). My final planned stop of the night was the ATN Showcase at The Bayou Lounge to do some more dancing with Queen Caveat and Wicker. While there, I met up with a friend I hadn’t seen in nearly 15 years. She is a huge fan of Wicker so seeing them and then meeting members of the band simply made her day. I don’t know what was more fun, seeing some great music or watching my friend talking to a fave band for the first time.

At this point, I thought my day was over. However, there was one more adventure to be had. I was walking back to the apartment when I heard a familiar tune hit my ears. I paused, turned direction, and headed towards the music. I ended up at Band HQ jumping up and down front row for Saint Motel. After their set was over, I chatted with a couple friends for a minute and headed home. Then I spent the next couple of hours recapping my day and catching up with my lovely roommates who had sxsw adventures of their own.  Now it’s time to get some sleep and do it all over again tomorrow. Here are some of the events I’m looking forward to for Saturday:

  • 10:30: Rachael Ray’s Party at Stubb’s featuring Imagine Dragons (11:30) and Of Monsters and Men (12:30).
  • Quantum Collective’s Whole Foods Rooftop Party featuring Allen Stone (12:30), The Lumineers (2pm), Ume (2:45), Graffiti6 (3:30), Rachel Yamagata (5:45)
  • 4pm: Semi Precious Weapons at The SoHo Lounge
  • 7pm: The Hotel Café Showcase at St. David’s featuring Rosie and Me, Erin McLaughlin, Elizabeth and the Catapult, Michal P Hinson, The Milk Carton Kids, Jesse Thomas, The Lumineers, Madi Diaz, FIrehorse, Whispertown, LP, Rachel Yamagata
  • 11pm: Maverick Sabre at The British Embassy (Latitude 30)
  • Late night at the Pure Volume House featuring Shiny Toy Guns (1:45), Electric Touch (2:30), Youngblood Hawke (3am)

 

I can’t believe it’s almost over…also, Happy St. Patty’s Day!!

Also, got some sweet swag today:

~ Kristen

SXSW Recap: Thursday 3/15

Posted on by Amanda

I think the mantra for SXSW this year is “I Will Survive.” At least, that was my mantra today. I am now 5 badges and 10 wristbands into SXSW and made it to 13 shows today. While I’m certain I could have accomplished more, my body was unable to handle the pressure. Well, it wasn’t my body so much as my feet. You spend the majority of your (entire) day walking or standing and that’s a lot for some feet to take if they aren’t used to it.

Thankfully the adrenaline from the music was able to abate the pain and I was able to enjoy the day (when I didn’t want to take my feet off). My day started and ended with The Silent Comedy. They proceeded to tear down (or maybe melt) the Velveeta Room and finished the set with myself, Trina, and Lauren onstage dancing and singing with tambourines in our hands and Josh on the floor in the crowd. It happens.

The day also included a full band set from Tournament of Hearts, a sampling of Morning Parade and another helping of Twin Atlantic at the swanky Hard Rock Hotel show. By this point, my feet are none too happy with me from all the walking I’d done the day before. However, the draw of Neon Trees was too much to resist. I walked to Antones and made it in just in time. At one point, I contemplated not attending but I’m very glad I made it out. New music and old music along with overall shenanigans that singer Tyler brings. Made m way to the Filter party and proceeded to win $10 from Amazon, which was not the highlight. The highlight was seeing Kaiser Chiefs from the VIP balcony rocking out to a packed house! Talk about awesome!

Despite the desire to take my feet off, I managed to make it through Penguin Prison and Semi Precious Weapons. It was time to rest for a bit before going back out for the evening to finish the night with Eve 6, Standing Shadows, Vanaprasta, and Nico Vega, and The Silent Comedy. Somehow, despite all the idle pain, there is nothing but happiness during those moments of music and i think that’s part of what makes SXSW special. But now, it’s time to stretch out, hydrate, and rest up because we are going to do it all over again tomorrow!

SXSW Recap: Weds 3/14

Posted on by Kristen

Today was all about seeing music. I saw a lot of bands today. Last I counted it was 14 (two I saw twice). Too many band highlights to include them all. Free BBQ for breakfast, The double dose of both Tournament of Hearts and Queen Caveat, a shot of Free Energy, the Buzzband showcase with Dead Sara, Vanaprasta, and NO, seeing Marcus Foster for the first time, that casual run in with Eve 6…

Instead of detailing all the greatness, I’m just going to share a couple very important lessons I took from today.

Lesson 1: Always plan to change the plan

I would be completely useless without a plan. I have an 11 page detailed list of bands to see with times, places, and access levels. I live by my SXSW schedule. However, part of that plan is knowing that what you end up doing will probably vary from your first option.  Plan A this evening was to head to 1100 Warehouse to see fun. and my top pick Scottish rockers, Twin Atlantic. After getting in to the crowded sauna and waiting around for over 40min. we realized that this was just not going to happen. In addition, a couple of my favorite bands booked last minute shows at Rusty’s so we left and went there. I ended up having an amazing evening filled with many friends and a couple of my favorite bands. If I were set on sticking to the original agenda, my night might not have gone so well.

 

Lesson 2: It’s good to stick with your friends/high fives make everything feel better

I realized at the end of the day today that of the many bands I caught, only a small handful were ones I didn’t know or hadn’t seen before. I also spent most of the day in a group of people which is unusual for me when it comes to music-festival situations. However, I ended up having a blast! I love all the bands I got to see and the people I saw them with. We started high-fiving each other every time something worked out and I realized that high fives really do make you feel better. So many friendly faces up on stage or dancing with you in the audience just makes me happy and happy seems a very good thing. Side note: I cannot believe just how many people I know here in Austin. Seriously, every time I turn around, there’s another familiar face! I love it!!

I know all that isn’t very band or music specific, but hey, it’s nearly 5am and my free breakfast with Ben Kweller starts in just a few hours.

Speaking of tomorrow, there are several events I’m really looking forward to. Here are few of my musical suggestions:

  • 12pm: Tournament of Hearts at the ATN Showcase (Bayou Lounge 500 E 6th St)- yes, I just saw them twice today, but honestly, that makes me want to see them even more tomorrow
  • 1:15: The Chevin at Maggie Mae’s (323 E 6th St)- loved this Brits when I saw them in LA. Don’t want to miss any opportunity to see a great band that isn’t based in the US. They also play at 8pm at The British Embassy (512 San Jacinto)
  • 2pm: Twin Atlantic at The Cedar Door (201 Brazos St)- I missed them today. I hope this doesn’t happen again tomorrow. They are also playing 11pm at The British Embassy (512 San Jacinto)
  • 2:45: We Are Augustines (612 W 4th St at Rio Grande)
  • 3:30: Glen Hansard at Antone’s (213 W 5th St)- another must see SXSW artist
  • 4:45: Ben Howard at 715 Red River
  • 5:15: Semi Precious Weapons at The Cedar Door (201 Brazos St)- SPW invades Austin…YES!
  • 6pm: Adam Arcuragi at Second Stage Showcase/Hotel Piano (3401 S I-25). – Adam also plays at 1am at The Whiskey Room (503 E 6th St)
  • 8pm: The Roxy Showcase at Empire Automotive (604 E 7th St)- featuring Filligar, Nico Vega, and Imagine Dragons…of course I’m there!
  • 1am: The Silent Comedy at Velveeta Room (521 E 6th St) – I will end the day with a TSC dance party!

Happy SXSW!!

 

~ Kristen