the songs I\”ve downloaded cracked me up, they are still appealing (love their homestate of Florida) but are more typical Southern swamp music than I expected, good at it though

another CD I should have bought years ago as recommended, they are amazing, from indie to mariachi, will have to suffer and be a latecomer

just didn\”t impress, that bland white-boy soul rap aura (they\”re black though) which annoys me, they\”re actually more of a funk band

made me long for my beloved mambo CD

horrible sound, big crowd situation, even if could have heard him wouldn\”t have liked him, whine and weirdo

MyGirlFriend was bitter and wanted to leave, they’re typical country rockers, sure the lyrics are entertaining, heard three songs

Sting’s new music from the album Sacred Love was vastly better live than his rehash of The Police. To fans of the latter, that’s sacrilege but Sting works so hard to make classic tracks like Roxanne sound fresh and interesting that they are often borderline tragic. He attacks his solo work with more energy (see Never Coming Home) and they stand up better in the vast pavilions and auditoriums where he perennially finds himself. Sting has always been effortless at using music to create a mood (see If I Ever Lose My Faith or A Thousand Years) and his shows tend to take a turtle approach to performance, slow and steady. Even opening the show with the one-two punch of Send Your Love and Synchronicity II, it all seems so…deliberate. Some artists thrive on spontaneity and others have a fixed notion of artistry, a point of view if you will, that they want to convey quite specifically to the audience. Sting falls into the latter category. The music is gorgeous (the naked silhouettes gyrating on the screens behind him I could have done without) and the energy occasionally undeniable (This War) but at times calculated and cold. Annie Lennox sat out her duet on We’ll Be Together which they had been performing together during the tour.

09.18.2004 Sting with Annie Lennox Sacred Love Tour Woodlands Pavilion, Woodlands, TX

Opener: Dominic Miller
We have lawn seats, so nothing to watch but just to listen to the music and maybe drink beer and lay back under the sky. Houston, depending on the year, is the second or third worst polluted city in the United States.

In Houston, Annie Lennox had trouble finishing her main set (the nature of which was indiscernible to the audience) and during the encore break, it wasn’t clear that she was coming back out. The house music even came on momentarily until the band came back out on stage and she belted her way through the encore without missing a beat. She was later absent on her duet with Sting, who performed the song “We’ll Be Together” solo. Both acts trimmed their setlist by a song, possibly a nod to the atrocious Houston weather and their desire not to be out in it. Or maybe it was an acknowledgement of how long they had been on the road this summer, with dates still stretching into next month. Either way, while Houston is known for wretched humidity and even more wretched mosquitoes (carrying the West Nile Virus, no less) the evening was actually a pleasant balmy and a nice breeze came over the top of the open-air venue to cool down the fans sitting on the grass.

The Woodlands is a planned community north of Houston that cleverly hides its gas stations, malls and fast food restaurants behind a wall of trees. In every direction, the roads take on a deceptive sameness and also cleverly veils the vile nature of Houston itself. The venue is modern and pretty nice. But no amount of trees or newness can avert the tragedy that is lawn seats. You get the bottom of the barrel mixed in with fans who truly wanted to be there and couldn’t afford upwards of $125 plus fees. This venue rents lawn chairs, but I simply sprawled out on a blanket laid on the grass. The thing about lawn is you never know if the person next to you is going to flail around like a maniac to “Desert Rose” or quietly sing along to “If I Ever Lose My Faith.” Or gorge their way through the concessions and leave a pile of litter in their wake. Mostly, lawn seats guarantees you all three.

In an interview with the Houston Chronicle during the week, Annie Lennox revealed that she is returning to the studio to record a new album at the end of the tour. A greatest hits is also in the works, but likely will have to wait until the promotion is done for the rerelease of all eight Eurythmics albums, digitally remastered and tagged with live and rare tracks this fall. Another Eurythmics greatest hits is also being produced (the main benefit of which, I hear to tell, is the remastered production, although BMG seems to be of the opinion that nobody brought the original cds anyhow. No kidding, a direct quote from the record label.)

Annie Lennox Setlist
Legend In My Living Room
Little Bird
No More ‘I Love You’s’
Pavement Cracks
Cold
Here Comes The Rain Again
Waiting In Vain
Walking On Broken Glass
Missionary Man
I Need A Man
Encore
Sweet Dreams
Why

During Dominic Miller’s short set, you wouldn’t even have known he was playing from the lawn. The sound was muted and far away. People hadn’t really settled down, and weren’t seated until well after Annie Lennox had already started. Dominic Miller sat alone and strummed away, I couldn’t even tell you if he sang a note. He did, however, bring out Sting for a duet on “Shape of my Heart.”

moody voice, good trick-back blues

carried by her gorgeous grittier Mazzy Star voice and good lyrics because be it guitar or piano her melodies are simplistic and repetitive, creates a great atmosphere but not variety

soccer referee drummer, spiritual rocker to modern rocker costumes too, from classic to 80s rock music, they do rock, behave as if already classic, music is already classic, too formulaic perfect?

great story (quit factory job when inspired by a Stephen Stills song) but borrrring

more rocking than expected, bigger sounded, played my old favorite “Bittersweet” (grading in blinding heat through these last two bands)

MyBestGirlfriend pick, writes the songs that everyone from Dixie Chicks to Tim McGraw makes famous, best aspects of country music-storytelling, humor, wry bragging, brought wife Kelly Willis and baby on stage, hilarious song called “What Would Willie Do?”

the favorite whispered band of both SXSWs and the fucking crowd was so massive it was like hearing them in distant stereo, still disappointing after all-not so rocking, very similar to Spoon, once got over lack of rock they were good

near top, looked like hair metalists and behaved as such but meadow crooners, 90s dreamy indie rock, good melodies, watched clouds and found peace

crowd adores him (Phish lead singer of course), he\”s one of those wise-soul life-lovers and music transmits that, soul-jumping Caribbean boogie was choice for the songs I heard, great

MandolinWoman is thankful each time she sees him b/c he will soon die and BestGirlFriend’s brother the blues aficionando adores him, 80 years old, good old strong gospel blues, a legend apparently

the first band recommended to me in Austin and the one I have never seen, walked by them twice and quite enjoyed the quality rocking country and bluegrass I heard

always link them to Aaron Neville 90s nastiness but they are a classic funk outfit, so I saw them

loved them but they weren’t representing Bob Marley (his old band) or what I’d expect, played dub and then Jack Johnson (I think) joined them on stage and it was groove rap-a la Sublime

good voice, so typical I was lulled to nap

noisy pop, so loud I left after one song

trite obvious politics in that annoying singing-to-a-child voice, lesbian crowd

basic blues rocks but really enjoyable jam moments

make me laugh, they’re good “really good” for a minute in the escalation of the jam and then it’s the same old same old

sounded like good complicated modern rock but felt so distant literally and by the chattering crowd that proper attention could not be paid, per Chronicle “belle of the ball at SXSW Toronto-revolving core of members from other acts such as Metric and Stars”

have seen them on t-shirts forever and they did please me, happy songs annoyed me shitty but when they got serious it was tight and swirly, per Chronicle “Liverpool…experimental…blues rock…mad scientists”

crowd was nauseating-teenagers-possible in college and I just don’t know it, all of their music is just about like the radio hit, disco backbeats, low-growl vocals, enjoyable

she\”s somewhere between her wholesome long loose curls and crack-whore later years, very polished show, ass-brushing miniskirt, Lance Armstrong jokes, played all her new songs, I left a bitter bitter girl

09.14.2004 Evening with Siouxsie Stubb’s B-B-Q, Austin, TX
My attempt to find anyone in the world as into Siouxsie as I am has so far failed. This will only be the second show in my history that I attend solo. However, as much of a bomb as my previous experiences with Siouxsie have been, her music still blows me away. This tour was rescheduled from dates in May and June, and at that time, I planned a road trip around seeing Siouxsie at the House of Blues in New Orleans on May 30, 2004. For the rescheduled dates, Austin seemed easier.

The most recent album by the Creatures is exquisite. Recording with percussion legend Leonord Eto, they put together a fucking beautiful collection of songs. Now they are touring with him. That alone forces me to go, even though my previous two dates with Siouxsie were pretty bad. The tour was originally scheduled for May and June, 2004, so I bought tickets to the New Orleans date on May 30, and my friends and I built a road trip around this date so I could be there. Cancelled due to a sinus reinfection. For the rescheduled dates in September, I decided the Austin date was easier to attend because the closest she is coming to the east coast is New York City, which is not really any more convenient than flying to Texas. The performance is listed as being a mix of Banshees and Creatures songs, but I am primarily interested in stuff off of the new album Hai!.

The show was billed as an intimate evening with Siouxsie Sioux incorporating songs from her time with both the Banshees and the Creatures. The set was devoted to Creatures material including an opening collection of songs from the new album. There were also a scattered mix of b-sides in promotion of the anticipated release of the Banshees’ four disc b-sides collection in November. Leonard Eto and Budgie took the stage alone for a five minute dueling percussion introduction to “Say Yes!” that fairly mimicked the version off of the album. Joining them onstage were two back up singers, a bassist, and a keyboard player, and of course, Siouxsie Sioux herself. She wore a dark kimono gown with white flowing sleeves. No geisha make-up, but a head piece in a Japanese style. She had on a pant suit underneath, stunning with cleavage. And despite massive sinus problems that closed her throat completely in March, she sounded the best I had ever heard her.

Mixing influences from her two bands turned out an inspired performance. The Creatures’ tribal beats snuck into Banshees’ songs “Kiss Them For Me” and “Happy House” while the Banshees trademark fuzz showed up early during “Standing There” and stayed late for “Take Mine.” The highlight of the hour plus show were the new songs, breathed to life with Siouxsie’s fiery vocals (and rather distracting arm waving) and the pounding drums. “Godzilla!” was monstrous. A reworked “Kiss Them For Me” almost sounded like a U2-pop song, and it was no fluke – “Another Planet” had the same All That You Can’t Leave Behind vibe. The main set closed with an extended Calypso version of “2nd Floor” that had Siouxsie on a drum kit with Budgie. Eto came back on the stage for the length of the encore, flavoring some old songs with a Japanese influence.

The Banshees have a b-sides collection set for release this year and all of their albums are getting remastered make-overs for 2005.

Setlist
Say Yes!
Around the World
Seven Tears
Godzilla!
Standing There
Miss The Girl
Face To Face
Christine
Killing Time
Shooting Sun
Kiss Them For Me
Another Planet
2nd Floor
1st Encore
Prettiest Thing
Take Mine
Pinned Down
Happy House
Not Forgotten
2nd Encore
Right Now