R. Ring with Kelley Deal

Screaming Females

Christopher Cross

Too Old for Hardcore

Started out the day at the Cro-Mags/Fear show. I'm not really familiar with the Cro-Mags, as my hardcore tastes are pretty narrow. They put on a good show, but there's something really off-putting about all the aggro shit at hardcore shows. Actually, that sounds vague...let me rephrase: all the aggro shit at hardcore shows is really off-putting. I understand that the genre lends itself to aggression and violent imagery, but I get really nervous when I see a bunch of angry dudes swinging fists and getting all primal. And when the Cro-Mags started ranting about Bilderberg and "Street Justice", they lost me. It is possible to dig hardcore without being an angry douchebag. That's why I love Keith Morris and his peace-and-love surfer dude persona and Bad Brains' enlightenment version of hardcore. At least have a sense of humor. That's why I enjoyed Fear's set so much more; Lee Ving is a funny guy. Despite the fact that Mr. Boddy is starting to look like Ron Paul with a bad dye-job, Fear killed it. Given his extreme right-wing tendencies, maybe Ving really doesn't care about you (fuck you!), but his levity certainly makes it seem tongue-in-cheek.

Random observations about the show:

- I'm not sure if bringing your five-year-old to a Fear show is awesome or child endangerment - maybe both

- If you're going to crowd surf in a kilt, for fuck's sake, wear underwear

- Things that seem dangerous in a pit: skateboards, lit cigarettes, sticking your tongue out

- When did it become a thing to spray your beer or to hurl beer cans and cups into the pit? It seems excessively mean and a waste of beer

- The B.O., good Lord, the B.O.

Fear

Seriously, why waste beer?

Day One

I had a fairly laid-back first day in Austin, determined not to wear myself out too early in the week. After Vic and I met for dinner, we went next door to The Belmont to the Daniel Johnston Space Ducks launch party. I was there primarily to see Johnston and Built to Spill, but we saw several other artists not listed on the schedule. On the plus side, we saw Caveman (reminiscent of the Church, always a good thing in my book), Jeffrey Lewis, and Kimya Dawson. However, we also had to sit through a couple of solo acoustic guys that were less entertaining. After the Irish solo acoustic guy launched into a dreadful cover of "Hey Jude", I decided it was more than I could take, and Vic and I headed to Buffalo Billiards to shoot a few games of pool, missing Built to Spill and Daniel Johnston.

I had not been terribly impressed by Kimya Dawson in the past (though I'll admit that I only know her work as the Moldy Peaches), but I really enjoyed her set. In particular, a song that she wrote for her now five-year-old daughter got me all misty since I'm missing Eli so much this trip. I'm excited to check out her work with Jeffrey Lewis as The Bundles.