The uber-cool Spin Magazine party has been a staple of South by Southwest for thirteen years officially, and twenty one years unofficially and today's party proved why.
The great lineup of X, The Whigs, The Raveonettes, Vampire Weekend, Diplo DJ set and more is why.Vampire Weekend performed a top notch set, but their sceney tinge is becoming a tad yesterday and even at this "exclusive" party, people weren't obsessing over them. They were good, but far from great.
Their greatness was quickly overshadowed by the Hard Lessons, who were energetic and clearly not following the latest trends. Their music was diversly influenced, spanning obviously from the most obvious commercial rock to the most obscure underground stuff - without sounding like they're simply a mess.
Were it not for the amazing version of Neil Young's 'Hey Hey My My' the band closed with, they would've been great, but unfortunately the band chose such a great song and performed it in such a great way to close with that they couldn't possibly compete.
With great performances from all of the above mentioned bands, two deserve extra credit:
The Raveonettes just oozed cool as though it were naturally perspirating through their pores. From the new stuff like 'Heartbreak Stroll' to material from their earlier albums the band had the sweaty audience in the palm of their hands.
The headliner, however, blew the audience away. It was the almighty X (not the Australian one or the Japanese one - the American one!) who came on stage in the hot afternoon sun and belted through some classics.
The audience clearly loved the band's signature tune 'Los Angeles' with air punches flying in time with the punchy melodic breaks.
Thanks to the high energy of the clearly aging, but never slowing John Doe and Exene Cervenka the band wowed the audience fifteen years after their last release. Put quite simply, it was one of those gigs that can only be described as "a moment".
Today was just one of the many great parties thrown in and around Austin. We'll keep you posted on the many more great bands we check out.
