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Home > Atlanta Music Scene > Archives > 2008 > March > 16 > Entry
South by Southwest wraps up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Melissa Young at the Victorian Room at the Driskill in Austin on Saturday night.
On the final night of the South by Southwest music conference and festival, Atlanta’s Melissa Young took the stage in the Victorian Room at the Driskill just past midnight. “This is my first time in Austin. I like it,” she told the audience. “I’m coming back. “The vibe and the energy are amazing.”
She’s right. For a gathering that includes so many music professionals and music geeks, there’s a remarkable lack of cynicism in the air. Most folks seem to leave that grumbling at home and just enjoy the work of the thousands of musicians that converge on the city. It’s a refreshing atmosphere that reaffirms the jaded listener’s faith in music.
The music part of the multimedia festival began Wednesday, when R.E.M. enthralled the throng at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q. The legends seemed reinvigorated, but they aren’t the real story here. That lies in the 1500-plus artists that are here to get their music in front of a wider audience. Among them is Dead Confederate, an Athens quintet on the verge that preceded R.E.M. on the Stubb’s stage Wednesday.
Dead Confederate’s Southern-fried blend of slashing Nirvana-like rock and Pink Floydian atmospherics made for a raging, riveting set. Word got around through the week, and if you mentioned that show to anyone over the next few days, you were likely to hear “I heard Dead Confederate was great” or, from the fans that were there, “they were awesome.” Yes, they were.
They weren’t the only fine band from Atlanta and Athens to impress listeners here in Austin. The Zac Brown Band’s rock, country and reggae blend won over the crowd with a delayed and truncated show on Thursday night at Club de Ville. It seemed that few in the audience had seen the band before, but by set’s end, they were begging for an encore that the stage managers wouldn’t allow.
Over the course of four days, many more Georgia acts did their state proud. Morning State, Anna Kramer and the Lost Cause, Trances Arc, the Whigs, the Pendletons, Atlas Sound, Modern Skirts, Elf Power, We Versus the Shark and Dark Meat are just the ones I managed to catch. There were easily 30 more that made their way from Georgia to the Texas capital last week.
Most of the whirlwind of live music wrapped up late Saturday (or, more accurately, very early Sunday morning), and Melissa Young’s performance was among the fest’s last official showcases.
The Atlanta resident and South Carolina native tells the crowd, in introducing her single “Just a Girl,” that she’s not interested in being what someone else wants her to be. If someone wants to change you, she says, “you tell them you can’t be anybody but you.”
She digs down deep for some heavy emotion on the wrenching ballad “Stay” and funks things up on “Mr. Shownuff.” She’s at her best with the sweet, sexy soulfulness of a tune such as “Rock With Me,” which just makes you want to cuddle with the one you love.
It seemed like a fitting end to this four-day valentine to the power of live music.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Paul
March 16, 2008 4:07 PM | Link to this
It is sad that they have had to add more “hip hop” thug music. How can it be music when you can’t understand what they are saying? Why are blacks allowed to be black only things like BET, black colleges, and black miss America? Yet they also get to go to “white” schools and they are in the normal miss America too. Why can’t we have a white only event?
By GerrenKeith
March 16, 2008 8:10 PM | Link to this
This comment is ignoranance at it’s best!! For one, it’s one of the more racial displays I heard. I see more whites buying,listening and viewing so called blacks only entertainment. BET has not only black viewers. I went to a HBCU and I saw white faces there. People exclude themselves from things because of ignorance(on both sides of the fence). I watch MTV as well, and I could say the same about that. Miss America is a big thing, but when have You saw it being be overshadowed by Miss Black america, By the way I never heard of. Theere are prgrams out there for eveyone and some may have a cultural background that may speak stronger to one person than the next. At the end of the day if you feel singled out,blame the man in the mirror.
By GerrenKeith
March 16, 2008 8:12 PM | Link to this
This comment is ignoranance at it’s best!! For one, it’s one of the more racial displays I heard. I see more whites buying,listening and viewing so called blacks only entertainment. BET has not only black viewers. I went to a HBCU and I saw white faces there. People exclude themselves from things because of ignorance(on both sides of the fence). I watch MTV as well, and I could say the same about that. Miss America is a big thing, but when have You saw it being be overshadowed by Miss Black america, By the way I never heard of. Theere are prgrams out there for eveyone and some may have a cultural background that may speak stronger to one person than the next. At the end of the day if you feel singled out,blame the man in the mirror.
By Larry VR
March 16, 2008 8:41 PM | Link to this
You should have written about Five Star Iris, local band, who played at SXSW. This band plays all over the Southeast US, Great Lakes area, and for our Troops all over the world
By stardom
March 20, 2008 10:02 AM | Link to this
Talent is in the beholder. We the www.thebogartemg.com would like to say she was wonderful and the event was great.WWW.CLUBBOGARD.COM
By stardom
March 20, 2008 10:04 AM | Link to this
Talent is in the beholder. We the www.thebogartemg.com would like to say she was wonderful and the event was great.WWW.CLUBBOGARD.COM
By stardom
March 20, 2008 10:04 AM | Link to this
Talent is in the beholder. We the www.thebogartemg.com would like to say she was wonderful and the event was great.WWW.CLUBBOGARD.COM
By Harry Bush
March 21, 2008 11:11 PM | Link to this
It ain’t a wrap up ‘til you talk to BUSH!
Hope you enjoyed Chain Drive!
By Harry Bush
March 21, 2008 11:11 PM | Link to this
It ain’t a wrap up ‘til you talk to BUSH!
http://www.mrharrybush.com
http://www.myspace.com/mrharrybush
Hope you enjoyed Chain Drive!