Text by Ned Lannamann | Photos by Minh Tran

Now THAT'S what I call a show.

David Byrne filled the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on Tuesday night for a show that celebrated his various collaborations over the years with producer/oblique strategist Brian Eno—who himself was nowhere in the building, but didn't need to be. Byrne has worked with Eno so many times that the concert functioned as a nearly complete overview of Byrne's career, whether it be the landmark albums with Talking Heads, or My Life With the Bush of Ghosts, or their newest collaboration, last year's surprisingly good Everything That Happens Will Happen Today.

Before I talk Bat for Lashes, I'd like to address the gentleman in the crowd who screamed, between songs, "you are really good at music" to frontwoman Natasha Khan. Thank you, sir. Your loud comment was far better than any yelped song request, the obligatory "whooooo," or whatever people yell at artists while on stage. It was sincere, absolutely stupid, and sort of the concert equivalent of this. Seriously, thank you.

As for Khan and her revamped Bat for Lashes crew (Ben Christophers, Charlotte Hatherley, Sarah Jones), they were quite spectacular. On a dark stage awash with tinsel (it looked exactly like the backdrop of the Enchantment Under The Sea dance), Khan and company performed nearly her entire catalog, leaning heavily on her slower, piano-based, material. Sharing a keyboard bench alongside Hatherley (just like Archie and Edith), Khan seemed relaxed, if not a bit timid, as she belted out songs in a voice so refined and crisp it initially sounded like she was supported by backing tracks (she wasn't). A pair of encores later, the band closed up with Two Suns' most upbeat moment, the disco-pop of single, "Daniel."

Now to just kill time before that Wonder Ballroom show...

All photos by the excellent Minh Tran.
More after the jump.

Yesterday I finally hit the wall. All the music, parties, booze, and sun caught up with me, and between not sleeping and blogging, along with writing a feature for next week's paper, I had to hit the brakes early in the evening. But I was able to get a lot of work done on the story, which was absolutely necessary. But there isn't a lot to report, and I took even fewer pictures. I missed out on shows from Dananananaykroyd, All the Saints, White Denim, Camera Obscura, Devo, Okkervil River, and a rumored 2 am show on the Lamar Pedestrian Bridge that was to feature the likes of Vivian Girls and Shaky Hands.

Bummer. Still, at SXSW, you have to pick your battles.

I spend the entire afternoon on the far east side, bouncing between the Levi's/Fader Fort and Ms. Bea's Backyard BBQ. There couldn't be two more different venues. The Fader Fort is a huge corporate monstrosity, with logos posted everywhere, designed and landscaped to oblivion. Ms. Bea's, however, is a shack with a dusty parking lot, a shitty PA, and kids crammed every which way.

I don't remember where or when this happened yesterday, but it was on my camera. It's just one of the many things that are a blur in these continuing SXSW adventures. I couldn't tell you what it sounded like, or why the girl on the right is playing garbage, or why the girl on the left is playing a large triangular bass. (Is that an oud? Is that a thing?)

Yesterday was relatively restrained compared to the frantic, overeager marathon of Wednesday; I paced myself better and got more into a comfortable groove, despite a very late start—yesterday's blog posts took an incredibly long time to get live because of this dribble of a hotel internet connection and the number of pictures. I'll try not to be so longwinded today, and since I saw fewer bands, there will be fewer pictures. (You may start seeing diminishing returns on these blog posts. By the end of Saturday I may be reduced to a burbling wreck, my posts just consisting of: "BleeaaaUUUURGG MUSIC!!!"

I should mention that I have been specifically asked not to blog about tacos. Perhaps because it is a distraction from the music? Perhaps people are tired of the gimmick? (It is what we folks in Journalistland call a "hook," and this exact same hook has been replicated on some other local music blogs that you might find yourself reading.) So, as I continue on a wrap-up of yesterday, the question remains: Will I follow this request? Will I stick to talking about music, and keep things professional by leaving tacos out of it altogether? Read on and find out, gentle reader!

(Don't start here! Start here!)

.... And after.

After our disappointing Mexican food adventure, I get a text that the Van Pelt are about to play. I completely missed this band the first time around, but here they are, playing at Waves, a frattish, spring-breaky island themed bar with fake palm trees and iguanas on the wall. The Van Pelt does not fit in here, but they play a set to happy diehards. The lead singer reminds me of Ted Leo (my second association of the day) but then someone informs me that he is Ted Leo's brother. Ah, so that explains it.

Before the deluge...

Yesterday was an insanely busy, crazy day at SXSW, the first day of four and I tried to cram in as much as I possibly could, in the form of music, booze, and tacos. Things came up strong on the music front, but booze was relatively restrained (except for the Jager-Red Bull incident, about which more later) and tacos were near non-existent. I had one taco yesterday. One! Shameful. But perhaps you're more interested in hearing about the music.

Last night saw the final show of M. Ward's three night run at the Aladdin Theater. Liza Lubell was there for Sunday's show, and was kind enough to share her photos with us. Capturing M. (which stands for Matt, or "Montgomery," as Monday night opening band Tu Fawning joked) at these shows was no small feat, since the stage lights were dimmed to a level somewhere between "romantic" and "blackout drunk." So maybe M. was feeling a little shy, but it was very effective for capturing the mood, as was the stage backdrop of stars moving through a night sky as framed through a window.

I attended Monday's show, during which Ward moved through a series of songs from throughout his catalog, with a big portion of material coming from 2006's Post-War. Ward's sultry voice notwithstanding, perhaps the highlight of the set was his solo instrumental guitar centerpiece, an improvisational rag that incorporated bluegrass and flamenco. Ward gave the audience two brief encores, playing all the way up to Aladdin's curfew of 11:00 pm. He played a number of excellent covers, including a wistfully extended take of Don Gibson's "Oh, Lonesome Me" (made famous on Neil Young's After the Gold Rush), Buddy Holly's "Rave On" (which might be the strongest track from Ward's new Hold Time album), Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven" (rightfully reclaiming the song from its usurpers, ELO), and John Fahey's "Bean Vine Blues, No. 2." Ward shifted from guitar to upright piano, and the band was unsurprisingly excellent, with Norfolk & Western's Adam Selzer on bass and guitar, Mike Coykendall on acoustic guitar and bass, Nathan Jr. on keys and guitar, and Scott MacPherson on drums. Paul Brainard came out to play pedal steel for a few songs, and Rachel Blumberg sang and shook tambourine on a tune.

Photography by Minh Tran; minhternet.com

Broken Social Scene took the stage of a sold-out Wonder Ballroom on Wednesday night and played for nearly two and a half hours, taking ingredients and garnishes from all the different nooks and crannies of the Broken Social Scene pantry. Justin Peroff anchored the sprawling band from behind the drum kit, while the massive front line rotated guitars and basses and keyboards. The addition of a horn section (including special Portland guest of Justin Harris on sax) left no question that although much of BSS appears to be spontaneous collaboration, their highly orchestrated—nearly symphonic—sound they create is very deliberately thought out.