Tag Archives: SXSW

WATCH: The Magnetic Fields’ “Quick!”

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The Magnetic Fields posted this new video today from their latest album Love at the Bottom of the Sea which I reviewed earlier this year. So far, one of the more charming albums of the year, this video is just as much so with its quirky 2-minute tale of trash-can inhabitants. Both the song and vid are adorbs, but the album has perhaps received the most traction from its single “Andrew in Drag,” which gay frontman Stephin Merritt told CBS News “he wrote the song on a night of blackout drinking, waking up at home to a notepad with the lyrics written and an empty driveway.”

The closest TMF got to Dallas while touring for this album was in Austin at SXSW. Now the band is on its European leg of the tour, but I’ll cross my fingers they swing back by this way.

Watch the video after the jump.

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—  Rich Lopez

Concert Notice: Parade of Flesh brings Screaming Females to Queen City Hall on May 5

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Whoa. This almost snuck by me. Punk trio Screaming Females has had a hefty touring schedule since appearing at SXSW last month. They’ve been all across the country but head back this way in time for Cinco De Mayo. Fronted by lesbian guitarist Marissa Paternoster, the band’s buzz has only grown with their 2012 album Ugly. Which is well overdue being that this is their fifth release.

Local promoters Parade of Flesh bring them in to play the East Dallas venue Queen City Hall with Leg Sweeper and Final Club. And tickets are only $5. That means I can get in and buy a beer. Maybe two. You can purchase them here prior to the show.

Watch the video for “It All Means Nothing,” the first single from the album after the jump. FYI, if you’re squeamish about blood, then cover your eyes.

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—  Rich Lopez

Perez Hilton did Dallas Friday night with Richard Curtin, Jenna Skyy and a Kardashian

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While I was making the Big D BearDance rounds downstairs, celeb blogger Perez Hilton made an appearance upstairs at Station 4 Friday night touting Ty Ku spirits and hanging out with the bears and drag queens. Khloe Kardashian even stopped by. I did find these pics online. Hilton Twit-pic-ed himself and Kardash with a drag queen and Jenna Skyy posted a pic of her with Hilton.

Richard Curtin even snagged him for a rather poignant and enlightening interview on Hilton’s new outlook on life and blogging — whilst in the bathroom. See more after the jump.

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—  Rich Lopez

GIVEAWAY: Win tix to see MEN with Romy on Friday night at The Loft

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We had a comment on our Facebook page about what a waste SXSW was because “you’re spending all this money to see a bunch of bands no one has ever heard of” and “why not promote gay friendly artists like Rufus Wainwright?” The thing is, that’s where most of the legitimately LGBT bands are — in the folds of the indie and the obscure, and those festivals are ideal for actually discovering new sounds and not relying on being spoon-fed by the radio.

MEN didn’t play SXSW this year, but the indie avant-popsters, headed by Le Tigre’s J.D. Samson, are doing it for themselves with their own tour and stop in Dallas on Friday night at The Loft. We first mentioned the show way back in December. So if you want to discover a band you’ve never heard of, but are a little reluctant to shell out the 12 bucks, well, we got tix. How about five pairs? Just email me with “Gimme some MEN‘ in the subject line and we’ll get your name on the list.

And thanks for your bravery.

—  Rich Lopez

WATCH: Uh Huh Her at House of Blues

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I was sad to not have made it out to the Uh Huh Her show this past Monday at the House of Blues — especially after talking to Camila Grey, half of the duo for last week’s ish. She and Leisha Hailey (from The L Word) came to town after a four-day stint in Austin at SXSW, but looks like they drew a decent crowd at Cambridge Room inside HOB. Just watch out for the vertigo-inducing sideways turn the video takes.

The band also debuted their new video today for their newest single “Black and Blue” on RollingStone.com, which also the title track to their current EP. Minimalistic video, but I’ve been digging the song. And who know Leisha could rock out? Watch it after the jump.

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—  Rich Lopez

WATCH: Where do gays fit into SXSW

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Dallas resident Daniel Villarreal has been covering this year’s South By Southwest festival. He spoke with “#sxswhomo hashtag co-creator Aaron Bailey” for this piece about the presence of LGBTs at the multimedia festival.

—  Rich Lopez

Uh Huh Her to stream tonight’s SXSW performance before stopping in Dallas

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In this week’s issue, I spoke with Camila Grey about her band Uh Huh Her and how they have approached their second album. You might recognize them more as “that band Leisha Hailey is in.” The L Word star started out in music with another pop duo, The Murmurs.

UHH is doing the SXSW bit right now before heading up to town, and you can watch them live tonight via streaming web for a sneak preview of what their Monday show might be like. It’s just a 25 minute set so hopefully your buffering won’t act up. The band performs tonight at 10:30 p.m. for the Sessions at the Factory and the gig will be livestreamed here.

—  Rich Lopez

TBRU XVI: With TBRU and SXSW going on, we did a little wondering if they were combined

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I took advantage of the very little time I had on my hands today to ponder the weekend. While I have credentials waiting for me to catch the Perez Hilton showcase at South By Southwest in Austin, I also feel inclined to stick around here to cover Texas Bear Round Up XVI. What to do? But then I started thinking, what if these two had a baby and merged into some big music bearfest ( preferably right here in town)? What bands would play? Heck, most of the indie bands at South By are grizzled, bearded gents minus the girth, so half the battle is done.

Yes, this is how I think — and subsequently, this is what I came up with.

Grizzly Bear — Yes, it’s obvious, but you can’t go far with stumbling onto a band nowadays without the word “bear” in it. Trust me. But GB seems to be the only one with gay members and lyrics geared toward the gay ear. Loving!

The Growlers — This California band is performing at SXSW but we think a certain app would be more than happy to sponsor this show. Besides, how can you not love some good surf rock, especially if it’s titled “Gay Thoughts.”

More after the jump.

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—  Rich Lopez

Shunda K debuts new video and set to play SXSW

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Now that Shunda K has gone solo, she’s making sure she has a heavy impact on the industry and that looks like she’s starting with her first video from her new solo album The Most Wanted. This is her contribution to Dan Savage’s It Gets Better campaign, but it’s a lot heavier than just giving viewers the message.

Shunda K’s “I’m Da Best” clip is a direct assault on the Westboro Baptist Church (WIKI) and concerns a young boy who is harassed by his peers, faces even more tension at home and how, with the help of his faith and the support of his role model Shunda K, he overcomes these obstacles to stand tall. The video is Shunda K’s contribution to the ongoing “It Gets Better” Project (itgetsbetter.org) started by famed syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage as a place where young people who are lesbian, gay, bi, or trans can see how love and happiness can be a reality in their future.

You can catch Shunda K at SXSW in a couple of week at the Art Disaster event at the Beauty Bar March 15. If anything, she’s one of the first real gay acts I’ve found at SXSW this year. I’m sure there are more, but damn if its hard to pinpoint those smaller bands.

—  Rich Lopez

SXSW to host ‘What Would Gaga Do?’ session

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I’ve been scouring the roster of the bands appearing at SXSW this year and while it’s always an impressive list, the gayish vibe wasn’t hitting as hard as I had hoped — but with tons of bands, it’s easy to miss some of the smaller ones, so I keep looking.

Still, one single event might trump anything else gay about SXSW — a discussion panel titled What Would Gaga Do? Facebook’s Meredith Chin moderates the event which includes the Queen of Mean himself Perez Hilton and Semi Precious Weapons singer Justin Tranter along with VEVO’s Fred Santarpia.

The session is described as “Lady Gaga has said that she has ‘embraced the Internet in a pop-cultural kind of way’ by thinking about what pop artists of the 70s and 80s would have done if they had the social technologies we have today. With the disruption of the music industry, artists, managers and record labels discuss the importance of evolving with technology and embracing the power of the Web.”

So perhaps it isn’t really just about Lady Gaga as much as it is about the collision of music, media and the web, but it would appear she’s the spark that led to this session.

WWGD is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. March 18 at the Austin Convention Center, Room 18ABC, 500 E. Cesar Chavez.

—  Rich Lopez