dispatch from sxsw

[bridget]

I kinda skimmed the other threads. Do we have any other eye-witness accounts from anyone actually at the show?

My dear friend, who introduced me to mmj back in '04 was at the sxsw show last night and sent me a long, rambling email that more than anything I would love to just paste in here because it's so heartfelt, but it's woven with too many personal references on both our parts, so I won't... but here were some of her thoughts...

"This was a hugely ballsy thing for mmj to do and I love them for it. Seriously, how was this pitched to them? 'So, for your third time playing these songs live, would you mind if we recorded the show? Archived it and sent it out into the universe to be heard by everyone, whenever they wanted, so that they might form an opinion three months in advance of the release of your labored-over and pristine record?' And mmj said, "you bet. no problem." There's a 'winners want the ball' truism in there somewhere. This is what you want from your artists. Fly in the teeth with it. I hope people recognize that."

"The show vibe was kinda... weird. This being sxsw, it was an industry-heavy crowd, which was kinda... weird. Most of these people are in town to work and can't really afford to camp out at one show all night - I get that - but it was really weird to see throngs of people up and leave in the middle of songs. The new Music Hall is huge and gorgeous and freakin' loud (** by way of explaining - the show was in the newly renovated Austin Music Hall and it holds abou 4000 people - about 1000 more than Stubb's, the last place mmj played in  Austin**) I had a great sight line upstairs, first row, lookin' right at the guys, but the crowd got so thin, we went downstairs for the encore and just walked up, 6 people back from the stage on Jim's side - no problem - for the last four songs. Never been to an mmj show where I was just standing there with a foot of space around me on the main floor. Kinda freaked me out."

Feelings on new songs:

"Evil Urges took a second to kinda register and then it was over... need to hear it again."

"Highly Suspicious gave me that... tingle? Do guys get that? Is that a girl thing? That thing you get with some songs. Never been a Prince fan, but I imagine this is why some people freak over him. And then the chorus made me feel like I was in a Transformers cartoon. An odd mix, but this is the song that stuck - Jim's falsetto playing over in my head, now three hours after the show."

"I truly feel bad for all the epileptics in the world who will never be able to enjoys mmj live. They had a serious strobe goin' and I actually thought for a minute, 'Am I?... having a seizure?... Is this?... what a seizure feels like? It definitely fucks with your sensory perception. In a fun way[ch9786]"

I'm Amazed / Thank You, Too
"I don't totally hear it yet. I love the mystery and ethereal thing in Bear, Gideon, Wordless... Something about these two seems too straightforward? or... simple's not the right word but that's all I'm coming up with."

"Same with Sec Walkin' and Smokin From Shootin, actually.
The instrumentals - intoxicating. Jim's vocals - as always - kill me. But I'm missing something with the lyrics? Missing that mystery thing you want to sit with and puzzle out for yourself?"

***I want to say, she goes off a bit here about how this is a problem on her part, not the boys'. I love that she thinks of it like that. MMJ has long been her favorite band, and they owe her nothing - do whatever you're going to do and I'll follow the best that I can, but the music is always right, it's up to her to get on their planet. She had a hard time getting lost in the show it seems to have provoked a bit of existential angst on her part. I love that***

Touch Me p.2
"Aw yay - they finally fully incorporated the omnichord into a song. The omni's always been too digitized and computery for me to warm up to - but the intro to this song? Stunning. And then that zing he does to launch you into the song. I get the feeling this is gonna be my favorite from the record. I don't see how I could ever get tired of this song. This one's got the mystery in it."

Sorry if this was a bit disjointed. That was the gist of it. I won't have time to hear the npr feed 'til probably this weekend. Thanks be to Kory for recording it[ch9786]

TGIF y'all. Oh how I wish I were home in sunny sunny Austin.

[ms. yvon]

bridget thanks for posting your friends comments!  so good to read some personal accounts after reading the professional blurbs.

i had no idea the venue was so huge!  how disorienting to have been in an ebbing and flowing crowd.

[bridget]

Yeah - I always prefer the personal to the professional too:)

I'm here to add that The New York Times is my homepage and there's Jim -  front page - first thing you see. How many thousands of people around the world are on nytimes.com at any given time?

Um. I get the feeling this is gonna be a big year.

[Dorothy_Mantooth]

Oh how I wish I were home in sunny sunny Austin.

i needed sunscreen yesterday. However, I will gladly suffer through random heat waves if it means i get to live in a city where tacos are served and eaten at all mealtimes. god bless tacos.

[ms. yvon]

I'm here to add that The New York Times is my homepage and there's Jim -  front page - first thing you see.

Um. I get the feeling this is gonna be a big year.

dude.


and:  ¡TACOS, SI!