The Fader Fort at South by Southwest was a confusing maze of chill-out rooms and swag tables, outfitted with a Levi’s boutique and a guitar tech. Outside was a stage and enough room for a few hundred hipster types to stand around drinking SoCo punch and Bud. It was one of those flossy party spots that represent the most New York-ified aspects of the SXSW experience–the place was crawling with industry types, thick with attitude, and so ostentatiously exclusive it had its own hierarchy of badges and wristbands, separate from the festival’s system.
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Judging from the conversations I had in Austin, it’s not just Chicagoans who sense that something exciting is going on here. There’s no “Chicago sound” for people to latch onto, but that’s only because there are so many Chicago sounds–the scene seems to be closing in on a critical mass, with great bands proliferating in many genres at once. Subscenes that stay segregated in other cities are overflowing the walls that separate them: punks and hip-hop kids and indie rockers and metalheads all feed off one another’s energy, and there’s a great spirit of collaboration, communication, and mutual support.
I saw my first Chicago band, the 1900s, on Wednesday night. Like a lot of acts at SXSW, they’d booked several gigs in town to make the most of the trip–I caught their sole official festival show, for an enthusiastic crowd in the small downstairs bar of a Cuban restaurant. The band had covered most of the highway between Chicago and Austin in one marathon van ride the day before, but despite that they were as fresh and bright as their sunshiny 60s-style pop.
My posse dawdled at the Scoot Inn long enough for me to miss Qualo’s set on the Beauty Bar’s back patio, which had apparently turned into a mini showcase of underground Chicago hip-hop–Kidz in the Hall, Hollywood Holt, and the Cool Kids all jumped into the mix. Based on the reports I got when I showed up, it was one of the best shows I missed all week. (The Flameshovel showcase that night at the Soho Lounge–the Narrator, the Race, Maritime, and Russian Circles–was by all accounts another.)
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Frank Swinder, Biz 3.
