SXSW Recap
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008Free Yr Radio Showcase: Times New Viking, Yeasayer, Simian Mobile Disco
This is the only showcase we got to on Wednesday, but it was a great way to kick off the week. Although the sound was a little shaky during Times New Viking (or maybe we were just standing right in front of the speakers?), they put on a great show.
Times New Viking is best seen live, I think. Their rapid-fire punky songs are well-complemented by their thrashy stage performance. Drummer and lead vocalist Adam Elliott was entertaining, at least, as he shouted out “Punk Song Number 156!” to announce the songs.
Yeasayer put on an amazing live show. Going into it, I was a little skeptical about their reproducing their studio sound for a live audience, so it was really refreshing to see how comfortably they pulled it off. I fainted during the second song (Sunrise), so Chuck will have to fill in the blanks on the specifics of their set, but I was elated by what I heard. Thanks for bringing me a cup of water, Chuck.
Simian Mobile Disco is just a ball of burning gas, as it turns out. This is what we caught from the back. The two James’s faced off and blasted us with wonderfully robotrontastic sheets of sound. The lighting effects were great. I don’t know how to describe this. Just look at the picture and imagine the loudest and most crowded of Scholartrons, but this time Public Safety doesn’t show up.
