By the light of the moon: PJ Harvey and John Parrish at Stubb’s.
South by Southwest peters out with… Peter, Bjorn and John. Actually, not really – I dig those Scandinavian whistle-bait popsters and they were playing multiple shows – but there were other less familiar artists and rare diversions to seek out on Saturday, March 21, in Austin, Texas.
The sweet ‘n’ sunny Saturday morn started with slowly with some quality, low-price thrifting at Texas Thrift Store (Joanna Newsom and folk-psych gals would have appreciated the dusty rose, homemade patchwork vest and nautilus-shell purse) and a visit to western wear superstore Shepler’s, both off I-35. Then off to the Convention Center – which, by the end of the week during each SXSW, starts to seem a little like home (that is, if home was strewn with fat bundles of The Austin Chronicle and free bottles of Fuze green tea). There, Neil Young’s famed manager Elliott Roberts and his documentarian Larry Johnson talked up Young’s forthcoming series of box sets, starting with Neil Young Archives Volume 1 (1963-1972), on BluRay, DVD, and CD. Pretty amazing stuff – the BluRay edition will offer interactive components that will allow Young and company to offer up new photos, music, and film when they become available (one example, Robert said, are the Mynah Birds recordings made by Young and Rick James, which aren’t the now-locked box set – they just managed to license the tracks from Motown so when they’re available the BluRay owners will be notified and can likely download them directly).
Mystery crust theater: Imperial Battlesnake takes aim.
Pedal mettle: Increased bike presence at this year’s SXSW and surrounding day shows.