SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST DAY THREE
Still, Glauber can run a panel on the subject of preparing a record for radio like nobody's business. With new artist Pete Yorn and Guster's Ryan Miller representing the artists' point of view, while booking agent Frank Riley, manager Jim Grant, WNNX Atlanta's Leslie Fram and Universal SVP Promotion Steve Leeds picked apart the conundrums that bands face in appeasing radio, it was a lively, spirited meeting of the minds. And that says a lot, considering that it started a mere nine hours after the bars closed.
The highlight was Leeds getting an e-mail on his two-way from a manager complaining that spins on one of his bands had dropped by half at a station, despite their commitment to do said station's upcoming show—while he was sitting on the dais. The amount of knowledge that bands should have about the performance of their records was debated, with Miller noting that while he once had sleepless nights before add days, he no longer tracked his band's BDS numbers. The division of labor between artist and label was discussed, as it was at every single other panel, only this time it was broken up by a guy from the audience talking about his band and how they were “almost signed.” Glauber may have picked up a “Moderator Of The Year” nomination when she said, “And your question is?”
Great. Soon it was time for the panel on Creem magazine, moderated by Jim DeRogatis. Creem was arguably the greatest rock & roll magazine ever, and this panel was determined to remind everyone within earshot that it might have gone under 13 years ago, but, gosh, they were really passionate about what they did. Great—but it seems awfully self-indulgent and rockcrit-ish to obsess about that now. What have you done for me lately, Dave Marsh?
Soon it was off to parties. Super-hot buzz band Death Cab For Cutie delivered an excellent afternoon show to a full house at Emo's. Then it was off to the Launch.com party, where ex-Pavement guy Scott Kanneberg's new band played, before a set by another super-hot buzz band, White Lines. Luckily the beer was free. Perfect for a dot-com party.
It was now time to rock…which turned out to be a matter of chasing the A&R posse around all night. At the outdoor stage, Junior Brown was playing. Too crowded and poor sound, though the shrimp on a stick was worth the cab fare over. So we hit La Zona Rosa for the New Pornographers, who were joined for the set closer by keynote speaker Ray Davies. Very nice.
Next up were the Strokes. The crowd of 500-plus included a pack of at least 100 A&R guys. One unnamed weasel proclaimed that the band was a guaranteed major-label signing—but he still didn't buy me a drink. Still, the Strokes' Rolling Stones-flavored PoMo was choice. And it inspired the night's next move—waiting in line for the Black Crowes. We never did make it in; the staff at Stubbs apparently doesn't care whether people are press or not. At any rate, the group's V2 April 8 release “Lions” should be pretty kick-ass. So it was off to see Los Angeles' Bluebird, a brilliant combination of Led Zeppelin and Fugazi. A&R heavies there too. That would be a bold signing, though deserved. The band's got the dynamics down, but they're much closer to Fugazi than Zep. Maybe At The Drive-In has opened some doors.
One more day of panels, including Jeff Rabhan's, and some potentially great shows—Creeper Lagoon, the Cult and Red House Painters—then it's back home. Assuming my liver transplant is successful.
