Scenes from SXSW

Who needs credentials? At South by Southwest, the best in free music abounds

If you were looking to catch popular acts at South By Southwest (SXSW) Music this week in Austin without a conference badge or wristband, there was no need to queue up for a slim chance to catch an oversubscribed official evening showcase. Thanks to the hundreds of unofficial daytime parties and other events, there were plenty of options for free music and (and sometimes free food) for all.

You could check out some of the hottest acts in town just by getting up early. Each weekday during the music conference, KGSR Austin produced a daily live radio show in the lobby bar at the Four Seasons Hotel. The morning broadcasts, a South By Southwest tradition, offered conference attendees and locals alike the chance to get a taste of some of the festival’s most popular acts (plus breakfast tacos and pastries) from 6-10 a.m. in exchange for a $5 donation to a local charity. KGSR’s performers this year included John Hiatt, She and Him, BoDeans, the Texas Tornados, Jakob Dylan, The Court Yard Hounds, Rogue Wave and Raul Malo.

In previous years, Lyle Lovett has been known to sit in with the KGSR crew to read the early-morning weather forecast, although a tour of New Zealand and Australia kept him from his meteorological duties this go around.

The KGSR broadcasts have grown dramatically in popularity and now regularly spill out of the lobby bar into the packed foyer of the hotel. Among the celebrities spotted this year during the morning broadcasts were Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Bill Murray.

Once breakfast was over, endless opportunities for unofficial musical entertainment presented themselves.

The always-popular New West party, which moved this year from its longstanding location at Club DeVille on Red River to The Belmont on West 6th Street, seemed right at home in its new site. The club's multi-tiered, indoor/outdoor structure offered improved sight lines and better acoustics. George Fontaine, Jr., head of New West’s Athens office, pointed out the new location offers the added benefit of avoiding sound bleed-over from the heavy metal acts at a next-door party, a frequent issue in the old locale.

Performers included New West recording artists Buddy Miller and Hiatt, who took the stage wearing the same dapper jacket and tie that he had worn for his early-morning KGSR appearance at the Four Seasons. In addition to songs from his new album, The Open Road, Hiatt and his Combo blazed through favorites like “Tennessee Plates” and “Riding With The King.”

New West had extra reason to celebrate this year following their Academy Award win. The label’s Crazy Heart Soundtrack claimed the prize for Best Original Song for “The Weary Kind” by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.

Across town, right beside the former site of the Armadillo World Headquarters, the mecca for music lovers in Austin in the 1970s, things were hopping at Threadgill’s. Music Fog, an Internet video blog venture started by former XM Radio Americana program director Jessie Scott, filmed a four-day schedule filled with talent for future music videos.

Texas music legend Joe Ely shared the Music Fog bill with Americana luminaries Ray Wylie Hubbard and Gurf Morlix. As patrons crowded into the back room, Ely performed acoustic versions of favorites like “Slow You Down,” “A Little Like Love,” David Halley’s “Hard Livin’“ and Billy Joe Shaver’s “Live Forever.” Post-concert, Ely greeted fans, posed for photos, and stuck around for lunch with friends. Among the many well-wishers stopping by the table to greet Ely were noted music critic and rock historian Dave Marsh, who had just finished interviewing Smokey Robinson at the SXSW keynote session, and Peyton Wimmer, head of Austin Art and Music Partnership.

Ely will perform in Houston April 17, when he brings a full band featuring guitarist David Grissom to the Houston International Festival.

South Congress also presented many fine options for daytime entertainment indoors and out, with many of the largest crowds gathering for the show in the parking lot of the trendy Hotel San Jose.

At the South By San Jose Parking Lot Party stage, musicians performed all afternoon and into the early evening. Billy Joe Shaver, who headlined the line-up, entertained the San Jose crowd with a raucous set that included “The Hottest Thing In Town,” “Try and Try Again” and “Honeybee.”

Long famous as one of Texas’ finest songwriters (recorded by everyone from Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings to Elvis Presley),Shaver recently got some unwanted notoriety in connection with charges stemming from a 2007 Waco shooting incident. According to the Austin American Statesman, Shaver’s trial date has been set for April 5, when he will be represented by superstar Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin.

unspecified

Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

---

Queer is now playing in theaters.

movies film