The week in review

It was a bit hectic this week, just as I knew it would be.

First, I'll address the closing of Sloppyworld. Now, I know everyone and their dog has already raised a big stink about the police shutting the place down. "It's not fair!" "Dallas doesn't care!" Blah, blah, blah... Did you ever stop to think that maybe Sloppyworld was shut down because John wasn't following the rules? Yes, it's a shame, because it was a good place, and yes, I know that the paperwork and all of the hassle of trying to get permits is a drag, but the bottom line here is that the rules were broken, and now the consequences must be faced. I encourage those involved to correct me if I'm wrong (djelmacho@gmail.com). I want to see live music thrive in this area again, and I want to see more venues hosting live music, but at the end of the day, if you can't follow the rules, no matter how dumb you think they are, I can't feel sorry for you.

I spent Tuesday night at Fallout Lounge for the debut of Disqo Disco. The kids from Sydney Confirm brought the Pretty Vacant crew out with them to play some tunes, and the crowd there loved just about every minute of it. I heard ELO's "Last Train to London" blaring over the PA system early on. I've threatened to play that song for the longest time, and now I've been beaten to it. I think Disqo Disco and FEVER are great complimentary bookends for the week. Let's see if they can keep the momentum up.

Wednesday night, while everyone else was heading to Austin, I stayed in Dallas to catch The Cribs at The Loft. I hadn't been there yet. It's a nice place, and the drinks were priced well. I think you'll see FEVER doing something there before too long. I got to the venue early enough to catch The Burning Hotels from Ft. Worth, and I'm glad I did. The only way I can describe them is that they sounded like The Stills on speed, and that's not a bad thing at all. The Cribs were just as good as I thought they would be. Loud, bratty, and very loose on stage. It was a good show.

We arrived in Austin on Thursday just in time to see Los Campesinos! I mean that literally. We walked in the door, and "ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!" It was almost as if they were waiting for us to show ourselves. I haven't been this jazzed about a band since I first heard JJ72 over nine years ago. They were clearly having a lot of fun on stage, and delivered a flurry of two minute punches throughout their set. I left impressed.

Friday started with the US debut of Fanfarlo. I first heard about this band through the cats at Mondo in New York. I hear a lot of British Sea Power in their sound, but there's a bit of Echo & the Bunnymen in there as well. They will be getting a lot of attention over here in America before the year is out. You heard it here first.

Ed Harcourt was at Red Eyed Fly... on the inside stage. First off, there is no inside stage at Red Eyed Fly except during SXSW time, so that gives you an idea as to how small the space was. Second, it's Ed freakin' Harcourt! Wasn't he playing Stubb's a few festivals ago? How quickly the industry forgets. Despite the half-ass sound guy, he and his band still put on a great show, and I hope he comes back through the states this year.

Once Ed was done we sat down for a quick bite to eat, and happened to look down out the window on another Los Campesinos! performance. Yes, I got to see them twice. We had some time to kill before Autolux, so we caught a bit of Evangelicals. I'm not sure if I liked them or not. I thought they were great musically, but I couldn't understand the lyrics because they were drowned in too much reverb. I'll have to give them another chance.

We ended the day with Autolux. It was loud. It was good. Eugene was having some bass issues, but they still put on a killer show. They should have something new on the way very soon, which means they'll be touring again. I can't wait.

That's what we did musically. We had to do it on the cheap, so we were only able to partake in day shows. Next year, I think I need to do it properly again, because there's so much I missed that I really wanted to see. Oh well, live and learn I suppose. Now it's time to relax for a bit.