MATT DRISCOLL: MONOTONIX MAYHEM >>>
My liver aches and my eyes look like death. My right arm is covered with welts and dark purple bruises. I awoke this afternoon to find my hotel room covered with burned kernels of popcorn and cigarette ash.
For all intents and purposes last night was the big sticky climax of SXSW 2008, and judging the state I find myself and hotel room in, it seems I had fun.
Yesterday I had a solid plan. I arrived in downtown Austin around 4 p.m., and bounced from bar to bar for a few hours searching for the strongest drinks and the best band I'd never see again. I stumbled into a joint called Side Bar, and an Athens, Georgia showcase. The Dumps, a heavily bearded, heavily testosterone driven metal band that look like the confederate Metallica were ripping up the small stage inside, while 20 or so metalheads pumped their fists in approval. Athens is a long way from Tacoma, but if the Dumps ever make it to T-Town they're thunder will be appreciated.
After a $5 bratwurst on the street I found myself in Agave â€" a narrow
little joint with atmospheric blue lighting behind the bar and a
bartender who's only grabbed five hours of sleep since SXSW started.
She was on top of her game though, and something tells me the money's
been worth it. I've spent a considerable amount of time during the
festival trying to gather whether the locals in Austin enjoy the
madness of SXSW, and while some are surely put off by the massive
influx of Yankees, traffic, and street closures â€" if you work in the
bar or service industry SXSW equals dollar signs. Who doesn't like
dollar signs?
Somewhat unexpectedly, the highlight of the night, and in fact the entire festival, happened at Bourbon Rocks at 8 p.m. Monotonix, a punk band from Tel Aviv, Israel, who performed at the Brotherhood Lounge not long ago, played outside â€" and anyone lucky enough to have been there will never forget it. I know I won't.
But I'll get to Monotonix later.
I spent the bulk of my night at Emo's, where Joe Lean and the Jing Jang
Jong, the Raveonettes, the Donnas, and X gathered for one of the most
highly anticipated shows of the festival. Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong
is, perhaps, the hottest indie band emanating from across the pond in
England, and they' have the look and sound to prove it. Though their
set was short, their skinny pants indie pop is more than just hype.
While there's no guarantee that being London's flavor of the month will
equate to anything more than the momentary attention of American music
writers and an increase interest from UK groupies, Joe Lean and the
Jing Jang Jong are a band to keep your eye on.
Rumor has it that Rolling Stone's David Fricke discovered the Raveonettes
at the SPOT music festival in Denmark. He saw the band, raved about
them in print, and before anyone knew it guitarist and vocalist Sune
Rose Wagner and bassist and vocalist Sharin Foo were fielding offers
from major labels. Since that's all history, and the Raveonettes have
already been overly "discovered," there's no need for me to go on and
on about their '50s style harmonies and arty guitar riffs. The
Raveonettes are a very sheik band, and they've got a well-developed
strut to prove it. Their performance at Emo's last night wrapped up a
flurry of SXSW activity for the band that saw the Raveonettes play
nearly 10 times over four days.
Surprisingly enough, the Donnas
weren't lame. There was a time, when I was much younger and easily
swayed by the idea of sexy women playing rock music, that the Donnas
were down my alley, but times have changed. I thought the Donnas were
something I'd grown out of.
Supporting their latest record, Bitchin', the now grown up rock
and roll foursome from Palo Alto came to play last night at Emo's.
Maybe it was sharing a bill with X, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong and
the Raveonettes, or maybe it was the fact that last night's show
concluded a long tour for the band, but the Donnas proved, to me at
least, that there's slightly more in their bag of tricks than
adolescent sex appeal. That said, they've also gotten hotter with age.
It was a win win.
X is who most people came to
see, and their nostalgic performance didn't disappoint. John Doe,
Exene, and Billy Zoom took the stage at 12:30 p.m. to a roar of
appreciation. Though the band is showing the wear and tear of years of
rock and roll service, their sound doesn't seem to be. X was obviously
having fun last night, and that fun carried over to the crowd. Amidst
the sweat and Lone Star beer, X still had it â€" to the delight of many,
including myself.
But as I said, the highlight of SXSW 2008 happened before any of this. Monotonix is the BEST LIVE BAND EVER. I swear to you. I have the bruises to prove it.
Though the band played only a handful of "songs," they delivered more
than most were probably ready for. Monotonix took the stage on Bourbon
Rocks' patio, and quickly ditched it for the warmth of the
gravel-floored pit. First, the singer headed out into the crowd,
inspiring patrons to dump full beers over him while he fanned the
flames. Next, the guitarist headed out, slamming into people and being
covered with beer himself- never missing a note. Next, perhaps lonely
on stage, Monotonix's drummer, who looks something like Borat on
amphetamines, dragged his kit into the fracas, leaving only dumbfounded
security guards to watch from the now vacant stage.
It's hard for me to find words for what transpired next. Monotonix
played their entire set from the center of the pit, and between
snapping pictures and finding myself in shocked utter amazement, I
looked around to see the crowd growing exponentially. I felt sorry
anyone who was missing it. Bands were playing in ever nook and cranny
of Austin, but Monotonix was in the middle of putting on an epic show
that should be part of the rock and roll history books.
Monotonix didn't just play in the middle of the crowd, they became part
of the crowd, and the crowd became part of the band. At one point the
shirtless and crowd surfing lead singer fell on the back of my head
while I was distracted and transfixed on the possessed drummer. The
singer is a small man, with thick curls of Middle Eastern chest hair,
and I lifted him (with plenty of help) and pushed him on his way. A
hand from nowhere snatched the beer away from me and dumped it on the
guitarist. A few moments later, the drummer's bass drum was being
hosted above the crowd, while he carried on with the snare. Four or
five of us kept the bass drum beat with our fists. I began to bleed
but kept going. I was in the moment. We all were.
As I prepare to head out for barbecue and a much needed, laid back
closing evening, if I remember one thing about SXSW 2008 it'll be
Monotonix. In fact, I'll never forget Monotonix's performance last
night. It'll be forever stored in my memory bank, as the most crazed
rock and roll performance I've ever seen. Something tells me it'll be
a long time before someone matches it. I've seen a lot of bands in my
day, but never anything like Monotonix.
I will be serving chicken nuggets, steak, lamb, pork chops, ham, and Cocker Spaniel at this week’s dinner. Why? Seeing this guy made me hungry for meat. Thank you PETA guy in a chicken suit.
As for our cold beverages, I’ll be getting it all from Gabe’s Auto Stereo. Why wouldn’t you buy your beer from a stereo place? Apparently that’s how Texans do it, so how wrong could it be? I suppose if we want to rent a DVD later, we’ll have to go check out the local pet store, right?
Every good music festival not only needs good bands, but they need good merch girls. Janelle Browning and Kirsten Detec sold CDs like no other merch girl I’ve seen. Perched up there on your stool, sellin’ those CDs, you work hard for the money, don’t you? C’mon ladies, let me treat you to Dinner with DeRosa. 
Along with good bands, and good merch girls, you need good music venue protesters. When I asked Shawn about his sign, and to tell me what he was protesting, he couldn’t answer me. He said he had no idea, and that some guy had paid him to stand there and hold a sign. Oh, where I could go with this … the jokes I could make … I have somethin’ I’ll pay him to hold, I have a sign he could have, yadda yadda yadda. I’ll let you use your imagination and pick where you’d like this paragraph to go.
So then there are the freebie people. Free shit is good. Just ask Matt Driscoll. Monster energy drinks are not good, though. At least that was my opinion three sips into this monsterly-sweet crap drink. Ew, yuck, and barf. I’m inviting the Monster girl to dinner so that I can help her find a different job. Someone needs to stop these people from polluting the streets with shitty free energy drinks. Consider it a public service.
Lastly, I’m inviting Olivia Parriott from San Francisco. I like this girl, and what she has to offer. She has created a Web site to help promote local bands from the San Francisco music scene. Included in her Web site are videos, mp3s, and artist information including performance dates. She even said they were trying to put out a two-CD set of local bands. One CD would be the bands performing their own original stuff, and the other CD would be the bands covering other S.F. band’s stuff. What a great friggen idea! We need one of those for Tacoma!
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