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Rockin' nights, great food

Friday, Mar 24, 2006 - 12:01:28 am CST

Some random thoughts from last week’s 20th South By Southwest Music Conference:

* The coolest thing I saw all week was a “multi-media” presentation by Ray Davies.

The Kinks frontman had just released his first solo album, “Other People’s Lives,” and he showed a film he put together about how the songs on the disc came together, stopping to play some of the songs on acoustic guitar between segments of the movie.

The Austin Convention Center room where he appeared held about 250 people, which made things intimate. And the film, shot during Davies’ tour of the United States just after Sept. 11, 2001, and then in New Orleans, was a fascinating glimpse into his life and writing process.

* The best party I attended was a rooftop affair in downtown Austin that featured NRBQ guitarist Big Al Anderson, MusikMafia soulman Jon Nicholson, a free bar and a great view.

* The most entertaining show I caught, by far, was a tremendous set by The Woggles, an Atlanta, four piece that brings back the ’60s with a vengeance, complete with Nehru jackets and, for the showcase, a trio of go-go girls. It was a rock ’n’ roll dance party that almost got out of control.

* With 10,000 convention-goers, another 4,000 people who bought wristbands to get into shows, about 1,400 bands and artists that played official showcases and who knows how many thousands who wander down to Sixth Street during the four nights of the festival, South By Southwest nights have become a mob scene.

There are now lines, sometimes very long, for the most popular showcases, leading to massive disappointment for those left outside and plenty of whining. I don’t have much sympathy for the complainers. Things change.

Seventeen years ago, when I went to my first South By Southwest, there were about 1,000 registrants, wristbands weren’t heard of and there were maybe 100 bands. You could see anyone you wanted to see and no show was particularly crowded.

Soon enough, however, SXSW became the primary music industry convention and the crowds started to grow. But it has only been in the last three or four years that the lines have become a factor. So you have to decide which two or three acts you really want to see in a night and plan accordingly.

For example, I got in a very long line an hour before the New Pornographers and Belle and Sebastian were to play on Wednesday night. I got into Stubb’s no problem and so did the wristband folks who got in line with me at the same time. But if you’d arrived 10 minutes before the show, you would have been out of luck.

* Austin, like Lincoln, is now smoke-free. That made the showcases in small, packed bars much more enjoyable than in the past and my suitcase didn’t smell like an ashtray when I opened it at home Sunday night.

* One of my great pleasures at SXSW is catching up with old friends. This year, that included Lincoln native Matthew Sweet, who was in town to promote his forthcoming record with Bangles singer Susanna Hoffs. I’ll have plenty more on that when the record comes out next month. But Matthew also said he’s working on a new solo album that will likely be out sometime this year.

I also saw my old pal Scott Kempner, guitarist for the Dictators, who reports that about three decades after the New York proto-punk rockers started up and multiple reunions and rebirths, they’re likely now done for good.

* The question I’m asked most about SXSW is what was the best thing you saw?; the second most asked query is what did you eat? Here’s a rundown of my fuel intake during the five days in Austin: barbecue three times, the best was a brisket sandwich at Iron Works; Mexican food three times; chicken-fried steak at the Broken Spoke, one of the last real Texas honky-tonks; some very spicy bean-free chili at the Texas Chili Parlor; great Cuban food at Habana Calle 6 and a slice of pizza while wandering down Sixth Street one night.

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.