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AUSTIN CITY LIMITS MUSIC FESTIVAL 2005
HEAT, MUSIC, AND MORE HEAT
September 24-25, 2005 - It was the hottest three days of the entire
year. With three days where the heat hovered near 107 degrees,
Zilker Park was transformed into a dusty bowl of sweaty people and a
ton of bands. As much as that all sounds, it turns out the
three day music festival isn't all that bad. Click here
for the complete ACL 2005 recap. |
THINGS TO DO IN AUSTIN WHEN YOU'RE NOT DEAD
SXSW 2005
March 15-19, 2005 -
Austin's annual musical extravaganza attracts over 1300 bands from
all parts of the world. Taking on all comers, the weeklong film
festival and interactive events finally give way to the main event, and
the city moves to a different beat. With a musician playing in
every club and every streetcorner, parties too numerous to even admit
they exist, its easy to get lost in the sea of alcohol induced musical
bliss while watching the intrepid souls who make the trek into town.
For more on the week that was, check out the the
full SXSW story here.
FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING
IN
ACL FESTIVAL 2004
September 17, 2004 - Austin, Texas -
With copious amounts of work to get done in preparation for the big
painting show creeping up in three and a half short weeks, I never even
entertained the option of picking up a pass to this year's version of
the festival of all festivals in Austin. But as the day of
reckoning drew close, I started to feel the urgency that I needed to be
there, if for no other reason to catch Franz Ferdinand live. (more..)
NOTHING LIKE A LITTLE ROCK AND ROLL
TOP TEN LIVE SHOWS
September 16, 2004 - Austin, Texas - With the ACL Fest in
town again this weekend, I've been rummaging through my brain trying
to come up with the ten best live shows I've ever seen. It was
a pretty tough chore to pare down the list to ten, leaving off a few
Neil Diamond performances, the Cows, a couple of Foreskin 500 shows,
Jon Spencer, Dub Narcotic Sound System and oddly enough, an all too
enjoyable Engelbert Humperdinck performance. So with some
possible glaring exceptions, here they are, judged on sound,
performance, and impact to my little insulated world: (more...)
FIERY
FURNACES, PRETTY PLEASES
June 10, 2004 - It was suggested to me by a friend, so went
out and spent fourteen of my last dollars to see the Fiery Furnaces
and their opener, Austin's own Pretty Pleases. It was a great
show... (more soon..)
TORTOISE
June 7, 2004 - A couple of my new housemates took me to
Emo's to see Tortoise. While there, two fisting PBR tall boys,
I couldn't help but thinking that an overweight Calvin Johnson was
onstage before my very eyes... (more soon..)
NO DOUBT
July 14, 2003 - Yup,
after living in quiet denial about just how much I love
No Doubt, I decided to come out of hiding and purchase
their latest CD, a collection of their best singles over
the years. My purchase wasn't without anxiety, I
was prepared to tell the guy behind the counter it was,
um, 'for my girlfriend.' No excuse was necessary,
the transaction was completed harmlessly and I went home
with my hot new CD in hand.
(more..)
SWEARING AT MOTORISTS
March 17, 2004 - March 17, 2004 - My friend Chris
and I met Doug outside the Cactus Club in the sunny heat of
mid-winter. As St. Paddy's Day festivities raged around us,
along with the buzz of the start of the annual SXSW music festival,
Doug was trying to draw a crowd for his free set. He told us,
'there's free food at the club down the road too, free beer too, you
should head over there and get some". we headed over to grab
some beans and rice, and soon found ourselves back at the show, Doug
setting up onstage. (more..)
DRESSY BESSY &
THE STARLIGHT MINTS: CHAOS ON SIXTH
March 10, 2004 Austin, Texas - Most
nights are best laid without any plans. I wavered for hours on
end trying to decide if I should've bought a bottle of Night Train
to drink before the show or not. It may be the only way I was
drinking all night, with cover taking up the rest of the available
funds. I eventually decided against it, and finally convincing
PE to head on to see the show, I walked into the Parish (formerly
the much cooler sounding 'Mercury') and much to my dismay, Dressy
Bessy was already on stage. (more..)
BUILT TO FORGET
October 17, 2003 Austin, Texas -
With two opening bands hardly doing anything inspiring to draw a
crowd (one played a horrible cover of the Band's 'Weight'), I met up
with April and Paul at Casino El Camino and was coaxed into drinking
on an empty stomach. Perhaps that's the reason why I was able
to make it through the entire Built to Spill set, which was a
complete and utter disappointment. (more...) |
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RED HEADED
STRANGER LIVE
October 15, 2003 Austin, Texas -
Where does one even begin to describe the anticipation and joy
of experiencing Carla Bozulich live? The first thing I noticed upon
entering Emo's was Nels Cline drinking at the bar. It was
sometime later when Carla made her entrance - quietly and calmly
cutting through the crowd to check out the merchandise stand.
Before long, Nels was onstage and beginning his audio assault...
(more...) |
HOLLY GOLIGHTLY
October 9, 2003 Austin, Texas - The
night began with a few pitchers of beer, a sour attitude and looking
for any excuse to get the hell out of Emo's. By the end of the
night, I was a giddy schoolboy asking Holly for her autograph.
(more..)
ACL FESTIVAL
September 19 - 21, 2003 Austin, Texas -
Take a look at the weird images produced by three days of music, beer
and general insanity. Although rainy clouds hung over the
collectively passive and un-rock and roll like crowd all weekend,
everyone managed to brave the rain and have a damned good time. More on the show to come soon, but for now
take a look at these pictures:
ACL THREE DAY PASS:
SCHLIEFKEVISION DOES ACLFEST
ACL SATURDAY:
CHRIS
TAKES HIS DAUGHTER TO LUNCH DAY
ACL SUNDAY:
CHRIS
PERUSES THE SCENE
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STARLIGHT MINTS:
SWEET DISCORD @ THE MERCURY
August 14, 2003 Austin, Texas - I
walked into the Mercury with a curious, newfound swagger. A
slight buzz emanated through my head as I approached the doorman
without a ticket. He looked down at the guest list, 'Michael
Schliefke +1' and we were off, upstairs in a flash, to be greeted by
one of the freshest bands out there... Norman, Oklahoma's Starlight
Mints. (more...)
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MODEST MOUSE:
HIPPIES EXTREME
July 26, 2003 Austin, Texas - After a
casual lunch at Casino El Camino turned into a mini-marathon of
story telling, drinking and more drinking, I ended up being
fashionably (four songs) late to the show. I met up with Paul
and his girlfriend Amy again at the show, and they warned me the
place was packed with hippies. Looking around, I noticed all
the tell tale signs: bra-less girls, dancing circles, that annoying
rhythm-less swaying dance catching my eye everywhere I looked.
It was true, Modest Mouse was now big time, and boy, did hippies
love them. (more...) |
THE FALL
July 16, 2003 Austin, Texas - Nothing
breaks up the relative calm of a Wednesday night like some caustic
punk music to fill the veins. Old school British punk Mark E.
Smith hit the road with a rag tag collection of band members for
some exclusive tour dates across the states. Sober and experienced,
Mick Jagger ain't got nothing on this one.
(more...)
RUBBER ROBOT
RETURNS TO ROCK ROOM 710
July 14, 2003 Austin, Texas - An air of anticipation crackled
through the club as a modestly strong crowd made its way over to the
stage. For the second time ever, Rubber Robot was about to
take the stage.
(more...)
ORANGE MOTHERS: PLANE
CRASH CITY CD RELEASE SHOW
July 11, 2003 Austin, Texas - The show has the casual buzz that normally
fills the Continental Club. Laid back, a good crowd, I walked in
behind a tattooed rockabilly girl who could've definitely kicked my ass.
(more...)
THE DRUMS WERE
NOTHING IF NOT THERE
June 26, 2003 Austin, Texas - Of course I've heard of the White Stripes.
A punk rock revival duo from Detroit, classily clad in red and white,
'brother' Jack White plays guitar, 'sister' Meg White drums. But I
hadn't actually heard them before. Until tonight.
(more..)
FLAMING LIPS CURE ALL
THE WORLD'S PROBLEMS, THEN HEAD BACK HOME TO OKLAHOMA
June 11, 2003 Austin, Texas - Playing before a full capacity crowd
at Stubb's outdoor amphitheatre neatly tucked away in downtown
Austin, Wayne, Michael and Steven of the Oklahoma rock band 'the
Flaming Lips' taunted the weather, told people not to worry about
death, and proceeded to rock out while video of giant topless
women exercising were projected onto the video screen behind them.
(more...)
WILLIE NELSON - 70 AND STILL
ROCKIN'
May 10, 2003 - The opportunity to see a big hometown
show doesn't come along often. Of all the shows I've seen I can only
count Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in New York City in 1997, U2 at Slane
Castle in 2001, and the Butthole Surfers in Austin in 2002. And now, I
can add Friday night's sold out Willie Nelson show at Stubbs to the
list. Willie, even at 70, is a star performing, played all the classics,
broke out some strong new songs, and just rocked Stubbs. It was the
first show I walked into without a ticket, free of charge, as my new
connections in the music industry are suddenly paying off.
SCHLIEFKEAUDIO dotcom OFFICIALLY
LAUNCHES. SCARCITY OF NEW MUSIC LYING AROUND THE STUDIO ALREADY A WORRY.
March 29, 2003 - An attempt to make some sense of my musical tastes
launches today. I'm not sure where all this is going, but it shouldn't be
anal at all.
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