It's been a hard week. Everybody has been down in Austin and we have been here in nyc fishing (Phishing?) for new ways to entertain you but it sure hit me like there has been no here here. Stretching our brains for the fourth year in a row and finding stories has been harder than ever while the world is SXSWing
Not least because we haven't been hearing all that much out of Austin this past week. The highlight? Prince doing a 230am gig for Samsung. That's it? He played for longer than that in L.A. He did two hours in nyc and we felt gipped. Why doesn't it feel like such a huge story.
And the keynote speaker… Dave Grohl… really, how much do you have to pay him to shut up. The man does not stop gabbing for love or money. Ever since he formed the Foo Fighters he has over done everything he has touched and it is a real bore. I am sure lots of folks had something interesting to say at SXSW, Bruce had a funny line about the Beatles last year, and I am absolutely certain Grohl isn't one of them. he is a cross between questlove and Ronnie Wood: all fake well met by moonlight bonhomie and not much else.
The problem is a dearth of stories while as everybody networks in Texas, kinda an oxymoron but who can figure things out? All very a red city in a blue state, right? It's like Austin became a land of Liberal plenty where you can't throw a brick without hitting a musician even when it isn't hunting season. But i feel about it the same way I feel about Williamsburg. It isn't Manhattan so how serious can you take them?
But at least there should be some mind blowing band coming out of the days of rah rahing. You would think at least Savages woulda been signed to Sub Pop… but no…. Nothing, it is dead, so spend your time looking for money in all the wrong places.
And…
What else? Who broke out of Austin this year?
Nobody. That's who,