Pete Tong Tour Diary:  Zona Rosa SXSW

Zona Rosa (SXSW), Austin, Wednesday night, 18th March 2009

There was definitely a buzz in the air as I walked down 4th Street toward the venue at 7pm for last night’s INSIDERS show. Forgive me for getting excited about the details as this was my first time at South By South West but I couldn’t stop smiling at the fact that the people on the street carrying cymbals, hi hats and guitar cases outnumbered those with cardboard coffee cups. Walking to your gig (or between your gigs) is what you do in this charming part of Austin.

Staging an ‘electronic’ show in the middle of a traditional guitar fest is not necessarily a home run, so there were some first night nerves.

The early energetic sets from Kissy Sell Out and Rye Rye got the party started in a call to arms fashion. The room wasn’t packed, the sun had just gone down, but they sent out a smoke signal saying something a bit different was going on at Zona Rosa tonight....

There are so many bands playing in such close proximity at SXSW that if you see something great you can literally run down the block and tell your 20 friends that they better come check it out, and that’s what it felt like. We were doing good stuff and the audience was swelling.

Lazarus:"Gotta pick a pocket or two”

I’ve known Damian Lazarus for many years as he used to A&R for me at FFRR/London in the ‘90s....but I hadn’t seen his new incarnation and I was in for a big surprise.

Wearing a black boater & cape and armed with a table full of gadgets, this was like nothing I had seen before.

The great thing about American audiences is that they will always give the performing act the first 15 minutes before passing any sort of judgment, with polite enthusiasm and an open mind .....we needed to get our heads round what he was up to!

By the end of the set everyone in the room was mesmerised, not only by the mad K-hole visuals but also by this unique and engaging character who looked uncannily like Fagin in Oliver Twist, mumbling, sometimes screaming into the mic (on an awkward 6” stand) over dubby dark and minimal techno beats. It rocked. Full marks for having the balls to do something original.

I came off the back of that and played a DJ set for about an hour as the temperature rose, setting up Deadmau5 for his show.

You know this guy

Big moments included my new mix (with Paul Rogers) of U2’s ‘Magnificent’ and Simian Mobile Disco’s ‘Synthesise’.

Following me, the mouse head walked on and hit the first note of ‘Ghosts & Stuff’, the cameras flashed and we were flying. Big dirty chords and a mouse’s head, genius.

Why did no one think of that before? I’m on tour with Joel (Deadmau5) this week in Texas we are going to have a lot of fun.

Michael Smith is a new addition to William Morris Electronic roster, a DJ who has taken programming music in social spaces to new heights, and he also played between bands and impressed on the night.

Finally, the boys from Berlin took to the stage for the closing set. Booka Shade are threatening to becoming a very big live band. If their next album contains just the faintest smell of a hit tune, I think it’s a certainty as they are one of a kind in 2009.

They are both musically and geographically entwined in the most creative area of underground music today - techno, and they have the ability and tools to deliver it with the power and excitement of the electronic godfathers like Orbital and The Chemical Brothers. They look the part, they sound massive—watch this space!

Great night in Texas. On to El Paso..

Pete