Wednesday, February 7th, 2007

The Hot Freaks

So here we go. This is something I’ve been working on with my comrades in blogging at You Ain’t No Picasso. My Old Kentucky Blog, Gorilla Vs Bear, Largehearted Boy and Rock Insider for the last while and which we’re finally ready to unveil – The Hot Freaks!

It’s an event we’re putting on at SxSW this year and it’s looking pretty bad-ass if I do say so myself. We’ve got 32 bands playing over two days and three stages at Fhe Mohawk and Club DeVille in Austin on March 16 and 17 and we’re talking some top-notch talent – mostly hand-picked (or begged) by us. Can you guess who mine were? Probably. There’s names both new and familiar in the mix, and over the next month as I get acquainted with or excited about various acts participating I’ll be posting my thoughts here – de facto content. Gotta love it.

Also kind of loving the idea of not having to run all over downtown Austin for those two days (if not nights). But I’m very happy to be able to announce all this today because I’ve been sitting on it for over a week now while we got some stuff hammered out, and it’s been driving me a little nuts. And this might not be the end of it!

But enough jabber – check out the sched… and maybe a little musical accompaniment… And check out the flyer from San Francisco’s Andy Hawgood.

MP3: Guided By Voices – “Hot Freaks”

Friday, March 16

Mohawk (outside):
12:00 pm – Catfish Haven (MySpace)
1:00 pm – Thunderbirds Are Now! (MySpace)
2:00 pm – Apostle of Hustle (MySpace)
3:00 pm – Imperial Teen (MySpace)
4:00 pm – Annuals (MySpace)
5:00 pm – Shearwater (MySpace)

Mohawk (inside)
12:30 pm – Briertone (MySpace)
1:30 pm – Sea Wolf (MySpace)
2:30 pm – St. Vincent (MySpace)
3:30 pm – Midnight Movies (MySpace)
4:30 pm – Bishop Allen (MySpace)

Club DeVille (Insound stage)
12:30 pm – Apes and Androids (MySpace)
1:30 pm – The Black Lips (MySpace)
2:30 pm – Walter Meego (MySpace)
3:30 pm – Shout Out Out Out Out (MySpace)
4:30 pm – Pelican (MySpace)

Saturday, March 17

Mohawk (outside)
12:00 pm – The Early Years (MySpace)
1:00 pm – Malajube (MySpace)
2:00 pm – The Ponys (MySpace)
3:00 pm – Viva Voce Asobi Seksu (MySpace)
4:00 pm – Menomena (MySpace)
5:00 pm – Special guest headliner from Dallas, TX.

Mohawk (inside)
12:30 pm – White Denim
1:30 pm – Page France (MySpace)
2:30 pm – Twilight Sleep (MySpace)
3:30 pm – Young Galaxy (MySpace)
4:30 pm – RJD2 (MySpace)

Club DeVille
12:30 pm – Prototypes (MySpace)
1:30 pm – Land of Talk (MySpace)
2:30 pm – The Young Knives (MySpace)
3:30 pm – The Rosebuds (MySpace)
4:30 pm – Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s (MySpace)

And that’s not all – on Thursday the 15th, I’ll be co-presenting, along with My Old Kentucky Blog and An Aquarium Drunkard and in conjunction with LiveDaily and Spaceland, another day show at Antone’s. The lineup for that one is as follows:

Blonde Redhead (MySpace)
Annuals (MySpace)
Mando Diao (MySpace)
Datarock (MySpace)
Dirty On Purpose (MySpace)
Tally Hall (MySpace)

So as you can see, my SxSW 2007 is looking pretty damn busy. But if you’re in Austin that week and happen by one of these shows, do say hello.

Bradley’s Almanac has got a live Shearwater set from Boston last September up for downloading. Needless to say, I’m ecstatic about their headlining our Friday show.

And just so that the hometown doesn’t feel too neglected today, I’ll point out that Frog Eyes have booked a show at Sneaky Dee’s for May 24. Pitchfork talked to Carey Mercer about their new album Tears Of The Valedictorian, also due out in May.

Also, The Long Winters, The Broken West and Stars Of Track And Field are at the El Mocambo on March 27 (via For The Records). On one hand, Long Winters and The Broken West are guaranteed to turn out some ass kicking power pop. On the other hand, March will already have killed me five times over.

And finally, the new album from Feist is indeed called The Reminder and will be out May 1 in North America, the week before in the rest of the world. Grok the album art at All Things Feist.

By : Frank Yang at 8:07 am
Category: Uncategorized
RSS Feed for this post17 Responses.
  1. claire says:

    WOW, what a great set of shows. and as a chicagoan, i am very happy with the hometown representation. you and your co-bloggers should feel very proud about this.

  2. uwmryan says:

    Wow Frank — busy, busy. Looking forward to SXSW so much more now. Nice work.

  3. alan says:

    awesome work on the shows.

  4. david says:

    Thanks for the exclusive SXSW news, Frank. These are truly awesome shows.

  5. dug says:

    hey awesome frank — i didn’t realize you were involved in the spaceland show at antone’s. looking forward to seeing you!

  6. Karl says:

    Congrats to all of you on putting those lineups together! Very impressive.

  7. karen says:

    did you guys know that there used to be a bar in the upstairs part of what is now the mohawk, and it was called hot freaks? you probably didn’t and i’ve just outed myself as an austin townie dork, but i think it’s kind of a funny coincidence.

  8. Alan says:

    to karen (above)

    from the Hot Freaks website that Frank et al have set up:

    "Hot Freaks! was named after one of Austin’s most beloved and short-lived watering holes (as well as a great Guided By Voices song) that formerly graced what is now the Green Room at The Mohawk."

  9. karen says:

    aha! thanks. and sorry for not investigating far enough.

  10. Mike says:

    Do me a favour, if you have a chance, convince Viva Voce and Midnight Movies to come back to Toronto for a show!

  11. Carrie says:

    I already told you this, but I’ll say it again – this is a kickass line-up! Awesome job.

  12. Aussie Chris says:

    For a bloke who is quoted as saying he is no gig promotor, this is pretty big. Good onya Frank. Now I just need a return flight ticket from Aussie to the US.

  13. James says:

    I will be there in some way, shape or form. And if it’s cool, I’ll be bringing my new Edirol R-09 digital recorder so maybe you can post some stuff from the shows…

  14. Frank says:

    thanks everyone, I’m really quite happy and excited about this event – and we’re not done yet. Look for some more band additions in the next few days (though you’ll have to haul your ass out of bed early to enjoy them).

    And James – sure thing. I’m not sure how this is all being recorded for posterity, but the more the merrier. And I assume you finally figured out how to turn that thing on?

  15. Jules says:

    Looking foward to SXSW even more now.

  16. Bryan says:

    busy busy Frank! now i just hope I get to go and enjoy these awesome shows, who cares about playing?

  17. Bloggers congregate in Austin, throw a party | MP3 Music at MixBurner says:

    […] form of a day party. The past few years I’ve been very lucky to have been able to help put on some fantastic parties with some of my favourite blogger buds. And while the Hot Freaks marque has been […]