Festival Coverage
FirstGlance Film Review: Face 2 Face
Director Katherine Brooks, who has directed MTV reality shows like The Osbournes and The Real World, shows just how alone people can really be, despite being connected to thousands of online “friends.”
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FirstGlance Film Review: Lost on Purpose
Along with a clever script and Kaczmarek’s great performance, this film boasts a solid cast of actors from start to finish, which truly makes this film damn good and sure to leave an impact.
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FirstGlance Film Review: Chasing Shakespeare
There have been numerous Shakespeare adaptations over the years, but none quite like this. With a unique take on Romeo and Juliet blended with some crazy Native American folklore, director Norry Niven delivers a wild and heartfelt story.
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SLUG Messes with Texas: SXSW 2013
Once again, SLUG hit South by Southwest (SXSW), the music festival that engulfed the city of Austin, Texas, for its 27th year. During the five-day adventure, we fearlessly messed with Texas and stayed hip to the music acts that dazzled our eyes and ears and munched on our hearts amid crack pipes, grilled cow hearts, topless bike cabbies and a rollerblading alien. … read more
SXSW 2013: Beliefs @ Empire Control Room 03.16
Being able to see Jesus and Mary Chain play with Beliefs would be unbelievable for both the band and me. For one thing, Beliefs came about because of their affection for ‘90s shoegaze at a party years ago, so naturally one would think that if Jesus and Mary Chain played with Beliefs the band would be ecstatic. Also, Jesus and Mary Chain would rub off on Beliefs a little more to strengthen some of the band’s weakness seen on Saturday. … read more
SXSW 2013: Parquet Courts @ The Red 7 03.16
Parquet Courts really put some work in! They subtly rocked out onstage, and though they all take turns with understated punk vocals, they had sweat stains on their clothes by the end of their set. Bassist Sean Yeaton busted out solo bass chording and played with octaves while drummer Max Savage set forth awkward rhythms. They inspired me to do what I would describe as a “crooked dance.” … read more
SXSW 2013: Baptists @ The Scoot Inn 03.16
Baptists have two, concurrent modes: metal face-clocking and riling the crowd into an abrasive disposition. The vocalist bashed into the crowd freely to generate mosh pits that would have otherwise been inaccessible for the band before an audience who found shade from the 3:00-p.m. Texas sun. Baptists thrash with a hardcore punk candor amid their “metal fur-ball convulsions” where their whole body takes on the motion of head banging. … read more
SXSW 2013: The Soft Moon @ Elysium – Moog/Switched On...
The Soft Moon is a post-punk three-piece form San Francisco with Krautrock subtleties. Their stage presence was cool—lots of smoke, darkness and a few laser lights to round it out. The show was fantastic aside form vocalist Luis Vasquez’s numerous vocal screams, emulating Robert Smith. The first couple were coo,l but the yowls became predicable by the fourth song. … read more
SXSW 2013: Austra @ Elysium – Moog/Switched On Showcase 03.16
Austra and their roadies took forever to set up (almost an hour)! They apathetically wandered around the stage while the audience waited patiently. Just as it looked like they were going to start, front woman Katie Stelmanis announced that drummer Maya Postepski, had lost her cymbals and that they couldn’t start until she found them. Seriously, how drunk do you have to be to you lose your drum symbols? … read more
SXSW 2013: Mikal Cronin @ The Perish – Merge Records...
I knew Mikal Cronin had played with Ty Segall and recently inked a deal with Merge Records, but I had yet to check out his music. When I saw he was playing SXSW, I added him to my list. The crowd drank up Mikal Cronin like he was the last beer of the night. Lots of NPR types and 40-something industry people crowed the front of the stage, acting like they were in college again. … read more