SXSW 2011 - Wednesday Reviews: Flogging Molly, DeVotchKa, Yuck, Smith Westerns

SXSW 2011 Wednesday

words by Elliot Cole and photos by Randy Cremean

DeVotchKa
ACL Live at The Moody Theater

The Moody Theater was made for shows like this.  DeVotchka – a longtime Soundcheck favorite – haunted the new space with cuts from 100 Lovers, the latest album released just weeks before SXSW.  The huge space of the venue also permitted DeVotchka to unravel its best trick: under a sensual red light, two scantily clad girls gave a performance that was part gymnast, part burlesque, flipping and curving in the air using only curtains to keep aloft.

The curtain dancers entranced the crowd, which eagerly clicked cameras and craned necks to the rafters.  Still, it was just a sideshow to the band, which did its own dancing through European genres, delicately intertwining Spanish rhythms with Slavic melodies.  Accordions, tubas, guitars, and violins interweaved under Nick Urata’s passionate, evocative croon.

While the band integrated plenty of new material (posters for 100 Lovers hung off of light poles all over downtown), Urata and company made sure to indulge fans with a few hits, including Little Miss Sunshine’s poignant “How It Ends”.  The set was a far cry from the small stages DeVotchka has played at SXSW in the past, and proved that DeVotchka is at its best in the dark, where it can do its ghostly drift through the crowd.

Flogging Molly
ACL Live at The Moody Theater

“What time is it?”  Flogging Molly front man Dave King inquired.  Sure enough, the clock had struck midnight, ushering in St. Patrick’s Day with Irish folk-punk panache.  The Moody Theater was the only place to be at the start of St. Patrick’s Day, with the Guinness flowing readily courtesy of the fancy Moody bars.  A healthy mosh pit erupted in the crowd a few songs in, permeating the majority of the set.  If this was the first mosh pit in the new venue, it was worth the title.  One fan raised his only remaining flip-flop above the masses as he ricocheted off bodies, his feet covered in dirt and beer.  Just how it should be on St. Patrick’s Day.

Yuck
Club de Ville (Fat Possum)

Yuck didn’t have as much buzz as the band playing after it (Chicago’s Smith Westerns), but the alt-rock worshipping London band stole the stage nonetheless.  With a sound tinged in 90s and indie rock, the group’s sound was perfectly tailored for the sunny outdoor stage.  Despite playing numerous shows, the group displayed impressive energy, bouncing through tracks at a brisk pace.

At times, it’s difficult to distinguish SXSW bands from each other.  We’re all lost in the same haze of tacos and free alcoholic energy drinks.  Still, sincerity always comes through.  Yuck seemed genuinely happy to be playing and sincere in its attempt to entertain the crowd.  Furthermore, despite the band’s frayed, guitar-driven stylings, Yuck sounded surprisingly polished.  Few notes were missed, the vocals were always on key, and the band reveals a live savvy that doesn’t often grace SXSW day stages.  As other writers have noted, Yuck is actually better live than it is on record.

Smith Westerns
Club de Ville (Fat Possum)

Smith Westerns are the epitome of SXSW: a young band riding the buzz of an acclaimed album – see Dye it Blonde, a stellar debut for a bunch of teenagers – to make a name for themselves to the drunken journalists and fans clustered around each stage.  They were also one of the workhorses of Southby: the group seemed to be on a dozen different bills, and if you missed them, you simply weren’t out enough.

The Smith Westerns set at Club de Ville, however, revealed a certain type of ennui; the band seemed engaged at times, but also drifted through songs, occasionally losing touch with the audience.  Maybe the group’s washed, fuzzed-out stylistics are a natural reason for the hazy set, but Smith Westerns just didn’t foster the type of high-energy atmosphere you would expect from a bunch of scraggly kids playing some of the most important stages of their lives.  We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt – again, the number of shows probably played a factor, as did the heat – but the group seemed disengaged, particularly after an awesome showing by Yuck.