The Cause Covers SXSW in Review: part 2

A little about myself: Anyone that knows me will tell you with the most serious of tone that I am an early riser. Regardless of the exponential terrors I forced upon and within my body the night before, I will be up early. Most likely before eight AM.

Day two of SXSW: I awake somewhere in the cloudy space between eleven and noon. This would be the case for the remainder of the festival for us all. We road night one hard and none of us were about to slow down. With that, we got ourselves some coffee from the lobby and made it to the Convention Center. The promise of free beer and giveaways was a great way to start any day.

Sunset never comes faster than it does on days when you don’t get out of the hotel until two PM. That being said, after meeting up with our friends we shared a few pints outside the artist lounge. However, our let start cut the good time short and the Convention Center was kicking us out promptly at six. PERFECT TIMING for us to hustle to Habana Bar and see Shit Horse!

Shit Horse is a gritty rock band that plays in front of you just as much as they attack you. The singer of Shit Horse, a man easily in his forties, is one interesting character. In his 1980’s style UNC marching band uniform he doesn’t seem to fit with this collective of twenty-something year old “kids”. But somehow it works. While I wasn’t dazzled at all by Shit Horse, they were a must see if for no other reason than their anthem, “Shit Horse (Is Gonna Ride)” which they played at the opening and closing of their set.

While this band’s sound isn’t going to see them headlining MSG anytime soon, I don’t think they care, and neither do I. Shit Horse isn’t the prettiest girl in school, but she’s the one that you’ll be in bed with after you polish off your eighth tallboy. All in all, if Shit Horse is going to ride…we’ll all be there! RECOMMENDED!

Post Shit Horse, there aren’t many places your night can go but down. I made my way over to Prague for Innerpartysystem. Having seen this band in Manhattan just before their debut dropped I was interested to see them again. Having shed a few members, slimming down to a three piece, I wondered if their show had taken a turn for the worse. Not that Innerpartysystem have altered their sound, but their live performance has gone from the feeling of watching a band to that of watching a DJ. The singer now sings behind midi controllers and keyboards and the guitarist traded what I remember being an SG(?) for another set of midi controllers and keyboards. Live drums, drum tracks, samples, and vocal effects have Innerpartysystem sounding just as crisp as they did years back. Fog machines and neon stage lights pushed the set over the edge. I was very impressed with some of their newer material live which I thought fell flat on the record.

The rest of the evening was spent at the Chugging Monkey with some friends, catching up. See you on day three!

www.innerpartysystem.com/
www.shithorse.com