The Donnybrook Writing Academy

Thus, the great musical migration begins. The time of year when the preening musicians shed their downy winter coats and the musical industrialists begin their violent rutting, and both travel to the balmy shores of Austinland to begin a vigorous coupling ritual that has existed since the mid-nineties. The music journalists too–a symbiotic species, not to mention hermaphroditic and incestuous–begin their annual masturbatory phalanx for the musicians. Truly the 8th wonder of the natural kingdom, and I, dear reader, the respected and feared Bartender, intend to observe with watchful eye this unique spectacle.

That’s right folks, I’ll be navigating my way to that fleck of gold floating in a sea of shit – to Austin, Texas. This year, instead of enjoying myself, I’ll be reporting back with video and words the greatest musical festival in the world. I’ve picked a few bands I want to see, a genre I want to focus on (metal), and this year I’ve got a mother-fucking press wristband.

You may or may not know this already, but SXSW music is more than a simple festival. It’s a general migration of musical talent. My guess is that SXSW started as an event that brought industry and new talent together in the hopes of making music better, which it did and does still. However, after more than a decade, the event has grown into a place that the public can come to see unheard-of bands and make their own opinions instead of the industry making opinions for them. The democracy of such a thing is incredible, and from the heart of Texas – the irony! Although some of the public does just come to star-fuck a star before they become stars. (Perhaps we all do that a little bit.)

This year The Bartender will be traveling with a local Denver band called Adai (www.myspace.com/adai), a brutal two-piece metal band. The guitarist, Devin, is my door-guy, which you may remember from my Dirt Nasty review as the angry fellow who kicked out all of Dirt’s groupies.
Traveling with musicians is something I’ve always wanted to do, and being able to fit that into my SXSW trip is perfect. We’ll be leaving Tuesday night to play a show in Amarillo, then leaving either that night or the next day for Austin. We fully intend on destroying everything in our path, and I will record as much as I can with my video camera on the way. Forewarning, mine will be crappier and more destructive than any band tour ever..

This year I’ve made a small list of bands to see. Because I’ve decided that my focus will be mostly metal, it’s taken a lot of stress off of seeing EVERYTHING else. I’ve chosen metal because of the mysterious but scientifically-proven fact that if you grow your hair out to Samson-like lengths, you suddenly like metal for no apparent reason, and my hair is at an epic length.

Here’s my short list:
Early Man – Fast, epic, with appropriate noodling.
Goes Cube – Punishing metal with indie-pop sensibilities.
Trash Talk – hardcore/thrashy punk.
Junius – melodic metal.
Rusted Shut – “worst shit ever.”
Ringo Deathstarr – Jesus & Mary Chain style breathy rock.
Peelander-Z – awesome live show.
Orphan – loud punk/metal.
Kylesa – more metal.
Priestess – “70’s camaro rock.”
Wolves in the Throne Room – straight-up death metal.
Tub Ring – Avant/metal electro shit.
Ungdomskulen – dancey, poppy, indie but those licks are fucking metal.

Most of these bands are playing in the same showcases, like:
Weds. @ Emos Annex has Trash Talk and Priestess
Thurs. @ Ale House has Early Man, Tub Ring, Goes Cube and Junius.
Fri. @ Headhunters has Peelander-Z and Orphan
Sat. @ Headhunters has Ringo Deathstarr and other bands I’m interested in.

That’s just the night shows too!! I haven’t even looked at the day parties yet.
Well, that’s about all I got for now. If you want to read my blog about being a cheap fuck during SXSW I encourage you to read my blog: http://godonnybrook.com/home/?p=491. Don’t think I haven’t abandoned my cheap fuck ways – I’ll still be sneaking into hotels to rock those free continentals and going anywhere that has free booze and food. This year I have a mission – an out-for-blood death metal mission.

Stay-tuned as we all at Donnybrook will be keeping journals…

Also… If I’ve left any other metal bands I should know about please let me know!

Keep Drinking and Tipping
The Bartender