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March 19, 2006

I managed to finish my philosophy paper on the drive down to Austin last week. On the drive back this afternoon, James and I hammered out the shooting schedule for GDMF, which will be lensing in less than two weeks. Everything in between has become a 90-degree motion blur. I got home an hour ago to discover that Dallas flooded over the weekend. My brother went canoeing out in the street in front of his house.

I saw three films yesterday; only one of them was good, and thus ending grace note of SXSW was musical, rather than cinematic.

Nick and Kara assured me I'd fall in love with Lavender Diamond and lead singer Becky Stark; and indeed, they know me too well. Amy bought me their EP as a birthday present, and I've been listening to it a lot - but after seeing the live show, it's actually pretty underwhelming. Stark is one of those unique old young souls, impervious to recording equipment; there's no way a CD can do justice to the simple clarity of her voice, or her stage presence. Every time she uttered the titular accusation of You Broke My Heart, she'd point a finger at a gentleman in the audience, making gentle, knowing (almost forgiving) eye contact and ensuring undivided devotion as she climbed towards the song's triumphant crescendo.

The Theater Fire made their SXSW debut this year, and their show was, of course, the one performance we had planned on seeing from the beginning. The venue was packed; halfway through the set, I heard strangers beside me whispering to each other about how amazing the performance was. We were all very, very proud. The band's new album, Everybody Has A Dark Side, will be released by the end of the month (look for the album cover pictured above in record stores everywhere); in the meantime, head over to their MySpace page to listen to a few new tunes (sadly unavailable for direct download at the moment). In particular, check out These Tears Could Rust A Train, which was going to be featured in The Outlaw Son until I decided it fit the film a little too well.

As soon as their show ended, we made our way over to a quiet, high-steepled Presbyterian Church where Anti Records were going to present a midnight hootenanny. The lineup would include Jolie Holland, Marty Stuart, Billy Bragg, Tim Fite and others, but word on the street was that Tom Waits would give a surprise performance. We arrived early, finding perfect places in the front pew. The microphones were all lined up on the altar, with an extra one placed high up in the pulpit, adorned with a purple sacramental banner (a cue for me to start fantasizing about fellow Anti-artist Nick Cave making an appearance as well).

That microphone went unused, and Mr. Waits never did step out onto the stage, but the show was so staggering that he was hardly missed. Tim Fite impressed the hell out of me: Billy Bragg sang a cover of Tupelo Honey that left Van Morrison in the dust; and the star of the evening was 75-year old Ramblin' Jack Elliot, who, after performing a handful of his own songs, was joined by the rest of the lineup in a rousing sing-along cover of Leadbelly's The Bourgeois Blues - slightly altered and updated to The Bush War Blues. Between the blue politics, devout Gospel tunes and classic folk music, I don't think I've ever spent a better three hours in a church. It was an appropriately religious experience.

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I saw twenty eight feature films and forty shorts over the past nine days. In spite of whatever bias I might have (having seen the rough cut, appearing in the credits, etc), I think I can honestly say that the best picture at the festival was LOL. After the screenings, Joe and his cast/crew passed out copies of Kevin Bewersdorf's MIDI-composed soundtrack - which is also available for free on the film's website. Releasing the soundtrack is a triumph of copyright-free art, but it's also a pretty smart marketing move; I doubt there was a single audience member who, after watching the film, didn't want to go home and listen to those songs - especially the infectious My Heart Still Beats.

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Capsule reviews coming tomorrow.

Posted by David Lowery at March 19, 2006 10:20 PM

Comments

Posted by: brad at March 20, 2006 11:00 PM