SXSW 2010 Showcases – RSVP now!
RethinkPopMusic is hosting two amazing days of officially awesome unofficial awesomeness!
Friday – 3/19 – Fado’s – FREE
http://bit.ly/bi2jra
Join us Friday at Fado’s feat our 6 artists and 6 of the best local Austin bands. Fado’ is located next door to the Filter Magazine Courtyard and will have free Spaten beer, Yak Pak giveaways all day and NO COVER! As an added bonus we have 2 world renown DJs Lindsay Luv of NYC and Jeremy Lloyd of Laissez Faire Club London spinning all day!
Noon - http://www.myspace.com/myeducation
12:40 - http://www.myspace.com/thegloriousveins
1:20 - http://www.myspace.com/zookeepersworld
2:00 - http://www.myspace.com/ohnoohmyband
2:40 - http://www.myspace.com/thesournotes
3:20 - http://www.myspace.com/theaviationorange
4:00 - http://www.myspace.com/eatsugarmusic
4:40 - http://www.myspace.com/thevanguardatmyspace
5:20 - http://www.myspace.com/shuttledebris
6:00 - http://www.myspace.com/ambassadorsband
6:40 - http://www.myspace.com/theyesway
7:20 - http://www.myspace.com/builtbysnow
Saturday – 3/20 – Chupacabra Cantina – FREE with RSVP
Free with RSVP at http://www.RPM-RSVP.com or with wristbands and badges.
RethinkPopMusic and Twogroove Presents: The Officially Awesome Unofficial SXSW day and night party featuring free booze, Yak Pak giveaways all day, Trevor Ray Thompson Photobooth and the following bands and DJs:
Day Bands
2pm Random Ninjas (Los Angeles, CA)
2:45 Jessie Torrisi & the Please, Please Me (Austin, TX)
3:15 Rook (Austin, TX)
4:00 The Yes Way (NYC)
4:45 The Static Jacks (NYC)
5:15 Ambassadors (NYC)
Day DJs
2pm – Greg Poneris (Eat Sugar)
4pm – Jeremy Lloyd (Laissez Faire Club London)
Night Bands
8:00 Whitman (Austin, TX)
8:45 The Vanguard (NYC)
9:30 Frantic Clam (Austin, TX)
10:15 The Aviation Orange (NYC)
11:00 The Factory Party (Houston, TX)
11:45 Eat Sugar (Cincinnati, OH)
12:30am STEREO IS A LIE (Austin, TX)
1:15am Heypenny (Nashville)
Night DJs
8pm – POSR
9pm – Jeremy Lloyd (Laissez Faire Club London)
10 pm DJ Scorpio (EZ Action! Austin)
11 pm Revered Of Rock and DJ B. Wonder Jones (Seattle)
12 am DJ Verse (Seattle)
1 am Kadeejah Streets (Seattle, Innerflight, Black Neon)
FREE with RSVP @ http://www.RPM-RSVP.com
The Vanguard interviewed on Planet Music, London
The Vanguard was interviewed on Planet Music, before their recent show at The Legion in London
Check out the review below, including insite on the new EP and some background on the guys in the Vanguard!
http://planetmusicreviews.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/the-interview-with-the-vanguard/
At the last Laissez Faire Club night at The Legion I was lucky enough to have the chance to interview The Vanguard. For those who dont know The Vanguard are a American band who played their first ever gigs in the UK a couple of weeks ago.
I strongly advise you all to take a listen to the music on the Myspace page (The link is at the bottom). The band consist of Aaron, David, Luke and Rasko.
01. This being your first time in the UK how has it been for you being in a country you have never been to before?
L: For some of us it is our first time in the UK and we didn’t know what to expect and its been wonderful absolutely wonderful. The people are really nice. The places we have been playing have been excellent. Laissez Faire Club has been wonderful to us booking all these shows together.
R: It’s great.
D: To summarise he’s been sleeping like 13 hours a day so it’s been great for him.
A: It’s great weather for sleeping really good weather.
02. Who would you say your musical influences are?
A: Mine change every week, but we like going back and forth.
D: There’s been a lot from oldies like The Beatles.
A: Zepplin.
D: What I mean I almost don’t listen to any of that stuff. Now I listen to Cut Copy and Hot Chip those are my influences right now.
03. If you were to collaborate with anyone dead or alive who would it be and why?
R: Jay Z for sure.
L: For me it would be Sigur Rós. I would just love to get in a studio with all of them.
D: Ringo (Starr).
04. What made you want to start a band?
A: That’s a toughie, maybe I don’t know if this is the right answer but I didn’t know what else to do really.It’s like the only thing I’m good at.
L: We all just have a passion for music and it’s kind of undeniable. We met and it’s been really good since.
05. Describe your music in 3 words?
R: Crazy, sexy, cool.
L: I say fun, uplifting.
D: Groovy.
06. Where do you get your inspiration from when writing songs?
L: A lot of times people are in the studio up late and they’ll come up with a little tidbit and that later on gets jump around from person to person and then it becomes a song later on.
D: We generally rehearse a lot. We come out with a bunch of ideas and I record them and we just turn them into songs.
A: Once a song is done it’s like ahh.
L: Next.
A: Whenever we nail that melody, the melody is there and it becomes like a little button and we go from there.
07. Favourite song to sing live and why?
A: I think Both Sides for me. With that we can bring people on and it kinda creates a fun, positive, party atmosphere. So people know it and they can sing with us or dance to it
D: We have a great video to it too.
L: For me it’s Take You Out. The song is completely different from our style and when we play usually people at first are you can see they don’t expect it and it’s nice to see when they all get into it. It’s not like a dancy, party up song. People just kinda fall into it and start dancing along and it’s really nice.
08. What was it like to play at SXSW?
A: It was crazy it was kind of like a game change at that place. All these different bands come from all over the place and they play on one little strip. Everywhere you look is music. You walk in the middle, you cant really talk on the phone because there is music coming from everywhere.
D: There’s just a full shoot of people going by non stop. Non stop for hours and hours. No cars just people, people, people, people and you have bars where music plays. When music is played people just stop by and hear them.
L: And the best thing is that it’s bar next to bar next to bar next to bar. There are so many bars next to each other and every single bar has a band playing. Sometimes there are bars that have a terrace as well so there’s bands up on top of the roof playing as well as inside. So you just walk a few steps and you hear different styles of music.
R: Basically it’s like a big party. The whole city is a big party for four days.
09. Who is your favourite singer or band at the moment?
D: Cut Copy.
A: The National.
R: Jay Z.
L: Friendly Fires.
10. What tips do you offer to any one wanting to start a band?
L: If you are really going to do it put everything and every single gig no matter what even if there is only 2 people there play your hearts out.
D: Make sure you find the right band mates that you really want to play with, you really want to hang out with and party with because you are going to spend a lot of time with them.
11. Tell us a little about the new EP Playtime?
L: We went through hell and water to get it done, recorded and mastered. Ben Fox was our engineer.
D: We did the design, everything for it.
L: We made the little dolls and there is 6 songs on there. We are very proud they are our little babies.
A: We are really happy with it. We are so happy with the way it came out. I’m happy with everything about it.
London Day 8
On our last night in London it was obvious we were feeling our candles burn at both ends.
Nevertheless, Eight Legs were kind enough to let two New York bands play their On the Bus showcase at Powers Bar and we were more than happy to soldier through.
We were able to find energy in the most random places
Ambassadors went on first and killed it as always
Next The Vanguard took the stage with a little help from their friends
The Vanguard played so well that we received our first encore of the trip and they were more than happy to oblige with “Take You Out”
While the night started out with a dozen Americans on the verge of passing out, it ended up being one of the best shows of the trip.
We even made some new fans who invited us to a 3am rave party… we never showed
Greenroom:
London Day 6
So they day finally came for the official Laissez Faire Club vs RethinkPopMusic showcase at The Legion.
The Vanguard kicked things off and despite the fact that Aaron could barely speak all day he was still able to play a terrific set… with a little help from his friends. Ambassadors took the stage next and had the crowd in hysterics despite the fact that Casey’s keyboard lost power half way through the last song of the set. Despite technical difficulties he handled it like a pro and the crowd was none the wiser.
My Tiger My Timing closed the night and then the real party began…
Jeremy was kind enough to invite the bands back to Chelsea for some after-hours fun, but didn’t exactly realize that there were thirty of us. So the entire entourage marched down the street and got onto the double-decker bus. We immediately commandeered the entire top floor and a jam session ensued.
After the INSANE jam session on the bus, which we have video evidence of, we headed to Jeremy’s. This is where things got weird… in the best way possible.
A little Eastern Europe Dance Party!
Gymnastics time?
I was confused
And then it was “chill” time
Or pass out time depending on the tolerance
The Vanguard on Balcony TV, London
While in the UK, The Vanguard got on Balcony TV for an awesome take on ‘Both Sides’:
Check out the full post here
London Day 4
After an insane night with the boys in Right Turn Left, we were all relieved that we didn’t have to play a show today. However, we did need to travel to Camden where The Vanguard and Ambassadors were asked to film episodes on Balcony TV.
The Vanguard played an amazing acoustic rendition of “Both Sides”
and Ambassadors played a version of “Keys” that may overshadow the original.
Performances should be online relatively soon!
After the taping we hung about Camden for a bit before heading to the White Heat party in SoHo.
We roll up to Madam JoJos 12 dudes deep and there is a line down the block. FUCK! Nevertheless, with a few “don’t you know who we are”s we miraculously go straight in and catch the end of Yacht’s performance… which was pretty much just like this:
The party itself was a good time thanks to the Absinthe and cheap Stella.
Oh, CobraSnake was there and we ended up on his website. Couple pics:
We play The Windmill in Brixton tomorrow… where Yeasayer played their first London gig and then the MASSIVE Laissez Faire Club show on Thursday at The Legion.
London Day 3
Our third day in London was far and away the most interesting to date. Ambassadors were scheduled to play The Tooting Tram and Social for the Sex Soup and Music party that Right Turn Left throws every week. Once again we found the name of a tube stop HILARIOUS!
The venue, Tooting Tram and Social, was amazing. It used to be an old railroad car depot and has these amazing 40+ foot cathedral ceilings that make the acoustics massive. The Ambassadors took the stage around 9:30pm and played absolutely brilliant despite having no monitors. The same can definitely be said for Right Turn Left, whom according to everyone there have expanded their musical prowess exponentially in the last few months. Regardless, I thought they were exceptional!
Unfortunately, The Tube stops running somewhere close to Midnight, so we had to decide whether to miss Right Turn Left’s set or the last train home. Fortunately, Right Turn Left made that decision quite easy when they informed us of their 6 bedroom house down the block. Assuring us that they, the entire bar staff and most of the crowd would party with us until The Tube began running again at 6:00am was all we needed.
As the entourage made our way through the streets of Tooting it instantly became clear that this was going to get out of hand instantly . We arrive at the house and a “Can’t Hardly Wait” style party is already in full affect.
Observations:
People had a lot of “energy”
Someone in our crew made out with the bartender
A certain musician got better looking as the night went on
The Vanguard and Ambassadors are the masters of the house party jam session
Kravetz doesn’t like annoying dudes who pretend to be “Pirates” form Atlantic Records
Seeing the sunrise gives me a sense of accomplishment
London Day 2
Today was a wild one with Sam (Ambassadors), Rasko and David (The Vanguard) flying in this morning and having to play separate Communion gigs in the evening. Because Ambassadors had to travel all the way to Brighton (1.5 hours by train) Jeremy and I elected to accompany them to Audio and leave The Vanguard to their own devices at Notting Hills Arts Club in London.
The train ride was a bit tedious, but the phrase: “Jeremy, your cunt is beautiful” never got old. (reference to the incredible countryside) Unlike The Vanguard we arrived to our gig on time for soundcheck and a threatening “ass kicking” by some degenerate footballl fan outside the club while having a cigarette.
Brighton and Audio is amazing! The venue sits on a road that hugs the coastline two blocks from a legit boardwalk… carnival and all!
Ambassadors took the stage around 8:30pm and absolutely killed it! At one point in the night I was convinced that Sam may break the stage.
Ambassadors played the best set I have ever heard from them, and the comments people were making, including the other bands were unbelievable. It was quite impressive!
Right after Ambassador’s set Jeremy and I hitched a ride with Adam from Virgin Records to meet up with The Vanguard, which was unfortunate because I would have loved to see La Shark. Such rad guys and a crazy unique sound.
While we missed The Vanguard’s set, it was obvious they had an equally great experience, when we noticed everyone in the crowd were wearing their pins.
Ambassadors play Sex Soup & Music at the Tooting Tram & Social w/ Right Turn Left. If the rest of the trip is even half as good as the first night we may never come home!
We have lots more pics and video content of the show, just missing a key charger and cord to get the rest up on here.
London Day 1
With half of the crew flying in Friday night and the other today we were able to avoid any pesky customs inquiries… in regards to work visas. However, getting piss drunk on the flight because Virgin Atlantic offers free booze throughout the ENTIRE flight is another beast all together. Just to get an idea of what I mean, myself, Noah and Kravetz drank every drop of beer and whiskey Virgin Atlantic had on board and at one point probably around 5:00am we were taking shots in the back galley while some of the female crew members watched in disgust/admiration? It was hard to tell…
I have to admit that the Virgin Atlantic staff was exceptionally accommodating and we certainly pushed them to the limit.
We arrived at Heathrow early Saturday morning which mildly confused and severely disappointed Aaron because he thought we were going to Disney World.
Shockingly customs was a breeze and thanks to Virgin Atlantic all of our gear came out in great shape. Because we are all staying in different parts of London (No Red Roof Inns) Casey, Noah and Adam of Ambassadors along with Kravetz jumped in a cab and headed east. Myself along with Aaron and Luke from The Vanguard elected to try The Tube.
According to Jeremy Lloyd (Laissez Faire Club) in his cute accent: “It’s quite obvious that you are Americans because they are the only riders who carry-on in conversation on The Tube.” I think the fact that we giggled like school children at every stop because a lady’s voice came over the loudspeaker announcing: “Last stop… Cockfosters.” Hahahahahahaha!
Anyways, I arrived at Jeremy’s flat in Chelsea as The Vanguard headed to King’s Cross. I spent the afternoon purchasing a cell phone and grabbing some food. That evening we hung at the local pub, until it closed at 11:00pm?! So Jeremy and I met up with the boys in Kingsize and went to some super sketchy basement disco party. After getting our fill on 8 pound drinks we began discussing a full European tour over the ridiculous rave rendition of Billy Jean. Around 3am I started feeling the effects of the jet lag/insomnia so we grabbed a couple Kebabs, a bottle of Jim Beam and headed back to the flat.
Observations from night 1:
Virgin Atlantic are enablers of drunk musicians
RethinkPopMusic will only fly Virgin Atlantic
Cockfosters is still hilarious
Chelsea is very much like the Upper East Side… chochbag finance guys included
I am going to spend waaaaaaay too much money on this trip
Today, I am going to meet with Jeremy’s contact at Virgin Records then we are going to Brighton for Ambassadors’ Communion show at Audio. Immediately after the set we are going to haul ass back to London and hopefully catch the end of The Vanguard’s Communion set at Knotting Hills Arts Club. Lots to do!
RethinkPopMusic is crossing the pond…
Thanks to Jeremy Lloyd and Laissez Faire Club:
RethinkPopMusic will be taking The Vanguard and Ambassadors to London to play a slew of shows. Thanks to Virgin Atlantic Airlines for helping us out with the tickets and supporting independent musicians everywhere!
Dates:
The Vanguard
Sunday 11 October – Communion @ Notting Hill Arts Club, London w/ Lunar Youth & Beans On Toast
Tuesday 13 October – Oakford Social Club, Reading
Wednesday 14 October – The Windmill, Brixton, London w/ Ambassadors & The Collectable Few
Thursday 15 October – Laissez Faire Club @ The Legion, London w/ Ambassadors & My Tiger My Timing
Saturday 17 October – Powers Bar, Kilburn, London w/ Ambassadors
Ambassadors
Sunday 11 October – Communion @ Audio, Brighton w/ Lyrebirds, La Shark & Hot Feet
Monday 12 October – Sex Soup & Music @ Tooting Tram & Social w/ Right Turn Left
Wednesday 14 October – The Windmill, Brixton, London w/ The Vanguard & The Collectable Few
Thursday 15 October – Laissez Faire Club @ The Legion, London w/ The Vanguard & My Tiger My Timing
Saturday 17 October – Powers Bar, Kilburn, London w/ The Vanguard
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Limited tix to our 1 YR Anniversary @BoweryElectric only available for presale http://rpm1year.eventbrite.com feat @TheYesWay @TheVanguard [RethinkPopMusic]
NYC Music
- Black Francis played 3 shows @ Joe's Pub (night 1 pics) September 8, 2010
- new Tallest Man on Earth EP & free MP3 September 8, 2010
- Mudhoney played Bowery Ballroom w/ Pissed Jeans & White Hills (pics, video & setlist), touring Europe (dates) September 8, 2010
- Iggy Pop (and The Strokes) playing Fashion Week?, played ATP w/ the Scientists, Mudhoney & Sleep (more pics) September 8, 2010
- Antony & the Johnsons annnounce Lincoln Center show w/ orchestra & film (on sale now), album & book out soon September 8, 2010
Chicago Music
- Illuminate the Night with Miami Horror September 9, 2010
- North Coast Festival Review: Saturday September 7, 2010
- North Coast Festival Review: Friday September 7, 2010
- Oval: Ah! September 7, 2010
- Ticket Giveaway: Hallogallo 2010 @ Lincoln Hall, 9/8 September 6, 2010
Pitchfork!
- Matador to Release Massive Anniversary Box Set September 8, 2010
- Echo Chamber: Kathleen Hanna on Ad-Rock September 8, 2010
- Video: Freddie Gibbs: "Oil Money" September 8, 2010
- Burial Guests on Final Mary Anne Hobbs Show September 8, 2010
- Listen: The Field Remixes Maserati September 8, 2010