The marathon SxSW ’08 has become finally came to its peak last night, on the fourth night of shows. By Saturday morning, everyone in the household was feeling the pain of hours of standing, roaming, gorging on food, and drinking heavily. We opted to forego any and all day shows (only a few, to be honest) and stayed home to drink from the keg and eat Doug’s culinary delights. By 8pm, we finally started to rise from the self-induced comas and ready ourselves for the night.

Doug took the reigns on the gigs tonight, and herded us down to Red 7 for a night of Punk Rock goodness. Good choice, I must say. Saturday night turned out to be one of the best full on shows and gigs for SxSW ’08. And that’s keeping in mind the loads of douchebaggery that evident all around.

First up, a cheeseball band by the name of The Heart Attacks. Actually, they weren’t that bad. Rock’n roll with a little too much bad attitude. I don’t know, but complaining about SxSW when you’re PLAYING there doesn’t really do it for me. Still, they passed the time.

Next up was the Nekromantix, a favorite Psycho-Billy band out of Denmark. I’ve never had the opportunity to catch this trio before, and I don’t plan on missing them again. The show was just that good. The only issue was the pre-teen retards that don’t understand that a dance-circle/mosh pit should be in the middle-front of the gig, not on the far right side of the stage. Still, the rockabilly sounds of the band were simply righteous.

Red 7 did a great job of setting up the gigs, moving from the indoor to the outdoor stages almost seemlessly. We went right from the the Nekromantix to and indoor punk rock show from some Austin locals called the Krum Bums. A slice right out of 1983 hardcore, the band did a good job of keeping me mildly occupied while I drank my beer.

A pick from my list, Roger Miret and the Disasters put on an awesome display of Punk Rock’n Rock in the classic NYC style. They started off slow, to be honest. But the energy levels intensified into a full blown frenzy. The doubles when they started playing Agnostic Front covers (Miret’s other band, apparently). Still, the guys pumped out a great 35 minute set that I won’t soon forget.

Back outside for what I thought would be the gig of the night, The Horrorpops. I’ve seen the bad before, and they’ve always put on a good show. Tonight was no exception. They mixed up the older tunes with the newer material, while Patty slammed on her huge upright bass like a tattooed goddess. While only a three piece now, the ’Pops sound did suffer slightly with the rhythm guitar. Still, the sound was on-par to the last time I saw them play a few years ago, so no problems in the end.

Next up on the bill was The Cute Lepers, another Doug pick. The lead singer from The Briefs (who had opened for the ’Pops several years ago) fronts this new band out of Seattle, and does it well I might add. Great power-pop/punk sounds (not unlike the briefs), the Lepers put on a really great show. It even drew in members of the Dollyrots, who we ran into during the show unexpectedly.

For years I’d heard of the Lower Class Brats brand of old school punk/hardcore. Unfortunately, several fights broke out while I was trying to catch the gig. While they were good, three songs (and just as many fights) kind of hit my max. Back inside we went.

The last gig of the night turned out to be the best one of all, and that was one hell of a surprise. 4 Elvis Presley impersonators took to the stage and belted out some of the best punk rock I’d heard in the long time. Just then, GG Elvis himself swaggered onto the stage, and things got even better. Elvis, punk rock, and lingerie all mixed up together into one tasty treat. Fucking brilliant show, and a great way to end the night.

All right..that’s it for now. Have a craptacular day.

-grim

Complete Gig list:

The Heart Attacks
Nekromantix
Krum Bums
Roger Miret and the Disasters
Horrorpops
The Cute Lepers
Lower Class Brats
GG Elvis