Got to catch the Young Knives at the Hot Freaks! showcase at Club Deville on the last day of SXSW. It was the first day we had visited Club Deville and were really enjoying the vibe. Great raised stage in the corner of a large outdoor patio, beautiful day - and really strong drinks.

One of the challenges with recording at SXSW is the uneven sound mixing. Since there's no real opportunity to sound check, and since most bands use the "house" sound guy, there's a lot of room for mixing "error." In defense of the sound people, they usually have not heard of the dozen or so bands they are going to be mixing for on any given day. This in turn leads to some off mixing since they don't have a sense of how loud the guitar should be versus, say, the xylophone.

With that said - all praise to the Club Deville (and for that matter, the Mohawk) Sound Guys. Great mixing all day long.

One of the benefits of recording outside is that you usually get better recordings than shows that were played inside a venue. Simple reason for this - when a band plays outside, you have to mic every instrument to compensate for the "open air." When a band plays inside they don't necessarily mic every instrument at the same level. If a guitar is cranked up through the amp, the venue doesn't need to pump that through the venue speakers at the same level, thus causing "quieter" guitars in a soundboard mix.

Why the ramble? It's just a prelude to say that this show (and the upcoming Menomena show that will get posted tomorrow) sound really, really nice. ;)

So, onto the Young Knives. I've mentioned before that this years SXSW was a personal smorgasbord of musical stylings, and Young Knives filled the "post-punk" piece of the SXSW pie. Not only did they play a fun, rocking set - but they brought a very dry, self-deprecating, and British sense of humour to the stage with them.

Oh and I really liked the tweed outfits. Enjoy.

Live MP3s:
Part Timer
The Decision
Mystic Energy
Brochures
Loughborough Suicide
Fit For You
Weekends And Bleak Days
Here Comes The Rumour Mill
She's Attracted To

Labels: austin, Club De Ville, concerts, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw