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Regardless of your thoughts about Spoon throwing their own "festival," it's undeniable that the supporting acts for this shebang are incredibly substantial. Though Spoon Fest might not be something worthy enough for your entire weekend, each night's full lineup is bound to be stout.
Thursday:
Tonight will tee off with some local flare from Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. The eight-piece soul-seducing entourage worked closely with Spoon at the burgeoning of their career around 2006. They collaborated with Spoon drummer Jim Eno on their debut album and in return Spoon invited them to tour, perhaps the fuel to their current fireball career. Lewis’ scanty screams deliver raw emotion along with the desire to let loose. The raw and bluesy aspects will coordinate nicely with Spoon's impressive scarcity.
Quasi is on the docket next, slowing down the tempo quite a bit with a mellow alternative pulse. The quirky three-piece formed in Portland, Oregon in 1993 by Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss. Since origination, they've had the opportunity to tour with the likes of Elliott Smith, Built to Spill, Bright Eyes, Heatmiser, Blues Goblins and The Takeovers. Expect a sound similar to Built to Spill, but slightly more energetic.
Friday:
Low, a band from Duluth, Minnesota, kicks off Friday's performance. Formed in 1993, the band includes Alan Sparhawk on vocals and guitar, Mimi Parker on vocals and drums and Matt Livingston on bass and vocals. Sparhawk and Parker actually met in the fourth grade in rural Minnesota and are now married with two children. Talk about long-lasting friendship. The group resonates with soothing harmonies and mild instrumentation.
Dale Watson is next, tossing up the entire weekend with his folky American beats. Coming as close to country with the risk of being lame, Watson exhibits a Johnny Cash-y voice and classic guitar licks.
Saturday:
Perhaps the night we're most proud of (and has nothing to do with the fact that we're presenting it) consists of Atlas Sound and The Strange Boys. Atlas Sound is full of whimsical tastiness and consists solely of Bradford Cox. His solo performance includes electronics, vocals, and guitar. While very low-key, his stage performance brings beautiful undulating rhythms to the entire venue and it's just entertaining to watch him operate the whole deal.
The Strange Boys have highly satisfying bluesy instrumentals, along with and underlying vibe of just being cool. It's hard to fully experience this without seeing them live, so we recommend saving your Spoon fix for Saturday night.
The openers for this festival are a strange mix indeed, but all the better for breaking musical genre barriers. Be sure to check out at least one night; these are supposedly the last of Spoon's Austin shows for awhile. Don't get too distracted with the openers, though. There's also some amazing after shows, including The Low Lows, Nakia & His Southern Cousins, and The Black.
Black Joe Lewis [Official] [MySpace]
The Quasi [Official] [MySpace]
Low [Official] [MySpace]
Dale Watson [MySpace]
Atlas Sound [MySpace]
The Strange Boys [MySpace]
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No mention of why Trail of the Dead got dropped as an opening act? Low is cool, but I bailed on Spoon-fest when Trail of the Dead was deleted from the flyers.
Seth
The lineups are... stout?
The opening acts are... substantial?
A burgeoning (and not beginning!) of their career?
"The raw and bluesy aspects will coordinate nicely with Spoon's impressive scarcity."
"The group resonates with soothing harmonies and mild instrumentation."
Is this kind of stuff composed using MadLibs?!
This shit makes almost zero sense-- often from a musical criticism/description standpoint, but definitely from an understanding of the english language/sentence composition standpoint.
C'mon Austinist editorial staff, work with your writers and help make 'em great. Please.
Coming as close to country with the risk of being lame? What does that mean? Dale Watson IS country, and he is most definitely NOT lame. The dude is true blue. Great live show.