SXSW Matador showcase.
Also playing were Mogwai and Stephen Malkmus.

Matthew Seligman's tour diary from underwatermoonlight.com
Before the gig
Before the gig was quite along time because we arrived Thursday and played Saturday. Long flight from Gatwick (where Morris left his jacket behind) to Fort Worth (where Kimberley left his luggage behind). After telling us it was the Ides of March Kimberley read a book and Morris and I talked. We wondered what would've happened if the Softs hadn't split up back in 1981 and we decided not much, based on the wrong place wrong time theory. We all used the satellite phone and spoke to our lovelies. Did I say lovelies? Sorry. We landed in Austin and I thought that as it was dark we should go out because we're in a band and that is what bands do. That applied particularly to me and Morris who haven't been in bands as much as Kimberley and Robyn recently. We need the practice. Almost immediately two girls (sorry, women) ran up and jumped into the taxi and Morris and I decided that definitely wouldn't have happened if we hadn't split up in 1981. They just wanted a lift to EMO's where we were going. We didn't get in to EMO's that night because the queue looked ridiculous but I went back the next day and it looks like a really nice gaff. I speak to the woman selling t-shirts (see below). By the third bar and the third half-drunk-drink-and-move-on, Morris and I were falling asleep on our feet, literally, so that can't have looked very good so we went back to the hotel where Robyn and Michèle hadn't arrived yet, but there was a message saying they were on the way. He arrives shortly after Kimberley's bag. We are reaching the US in stages.

Next morning, Friday, it was just me and Kim down at breakfast. We talked about the Waves and his brushes with fame. Kim sees himself as a songwriter. I don't think he realises what a brilliant guitarist he is, I really don't, and that's probably why he is. He always plays the song, not his guitar. And this You'll have to go Sideways thing, it makes me blush when he really hits it. We discuss the set list and whether it's right to start with Tonight, Sideways and Pervert which might be a bit of a brainful. I want to put Destroy you or something in early, but Kim's happy to leave it a few gigs. We'll see. We go upstairs to look at the website. He's really impressed. He brings a pen to note 'improvements' but doesn't write anything down. Another book could be written about what Tracy has done here, and Theo too. That's two books, what with them and John Eichler. Kim points out that 'Only the Stones Remain' wasn't on UM I because it hadn't been written yet and goes next door. UM1 was 10 songs when it was born, then a few more, then a few more. This is UM III or IV at least in terms of track lists (although I think it's actually the fifth time there's been a UM release, but one of them was just a straight re-release). That is like writing the same book a few times.

A whole day to fill and apart from a brief glimpse of Robyn and Michèle on the way somewhere with Matador, I don't see the others so I decide to pursue my t-shirt plan. It's been on my mind for a while, pretty obvious really, but it might look good over Robyn's shoulder in live photos. I cannot be unbusy or I will go mad. Ambling round the town, not eating, and meeting all the people who could help, a silk-screen printer for the t-shirt run, and a one-off guy who'll make some prototypes. Austin is such a friendly place. How can they all be in a good mood like this - it's not fair. I think the t-shirts look nice and you can see them modelled by a map of texas, two coat hangers and me. Should we sell them through the site? There's 3 but the kanji and japanese on the sleeves might be upside down because I met a guy in the lobby who wrote out soft boy in chinese and japanese characters for me, but when I got to the printers, we forgot which way up it should be.

Friday night I went to Japan night at Jazz on 6th/214E and saw two bands. Both great but the second, Bleach, were just A-M-A-Z-I-N-G - the other Softs wouldn't probably have liked it, cos you couldn't hear any tunes, but their energy and brilliance and anger and beauty is the building bricks of rock and roll. You must hear then do Shikai No Haba. They're going round the states (New York - Elbow Room 3/19, Chicago - Empty Bottle 3/20, Seattle - Sit 'n' Spin 3/22, Los Angeles - Spaceland 3/23, San Francisco - Paradise Lounge, 3/23). That bass player in Bleach is the best I've seen for years. I mean that nicely. Music isn't a competition, but she was just brilliant. Like the rest of the band ('she' and brilliant, that is). And because it is Japan, they will arrive when they say they will, like the trains. I want to tell the guy beside me but I don't. They do. Sleeping standing up again means hotel time. There a note from Kimberley and a voicemail from Robyn saying the same thing - interview in the lobby at 11.45 tomorrow am. Good, just time to listen to the Fulham game through the FFC website.

Now it's 8.50 am Saturday, and I have to put my Fulham shirt on and listen to the match. Boa Morte (which means good life in Portugese) scores after 14 minutes. And again after 69. And Crystal Palace don't. It is going to be a good day, St. Patrick's day....

Near the gig
Lunchtime, Saturday - I'm getting nervous.... we meet Nils from Matador who's sweet and good at his job like all the Matadorians, then we do a Yahoo tv in the conference centre (thanks for the fridge magnets) and Robyn is sharp but I muck up the questions about "cleverness" ..... then they ask us if we think UM is one of the best records ever made and I say "No" which sounds ungrateful - it's better when I'm drunk....cameras role and we play very quietly again, that's twice in a row, and it's "Reptile" and "Sudden Town" which are OK, particularly "Sudden Town" but before that while we're soundchecking we do a really nice acoustic version of "Sideways" which is even better - Kimberley is never without his ebo... I am totally falling in love, it should be the music for the new Dr. Who - Kim says Thomas Dolby must play on it when we do SF..... the orders are meet for the gig proper downstairs at 4.30.....

There are no finished lyrics for Sudden Town yet but Robyn tells the little crowd that has gathered it was written in Austin which must therefore have "poles that can only be used for overhead wiring"...... somewhere or other, anyway..... and something about moonlight so we could just add it to the ever-expanding record

The gig
We sound check no fuss and get vanned off to a costume shop on South Congress to do MTV2 ...... I speak with Jo Silver who is writing Robyn's autobiography and get back to the gig to sort out the mp3's...the sound man for Matador's webcast (Chris Mickle) says he'll give us a feed if Nils doesn't mind.... I fall asleep (jet-lag kicking in) on a sofa by the stage listening to the support act and Donovan the Matadorian finds me and wakes me with 5 minutes to go.... by the 4th number, which is Prawns, I still haven't woken up so I water myself and Pervert and Queen of Eyes are a bit more something or other. This is our first gig on a big stage and we're not connecting much with each other or the audience, but the reaction is OK, it seems anyway. Things warm up towards the end with Sudden Town, and Insanely Jealous is really good, but Robyn breaks a string so we go off after only 45 minutes. We didn't play Kingdom of Love or Only the Stones Remain which I'm sure didn't look like forgetfulness and a broken string but it was. Not a great gig but OK for starters given the jet-lag and all. Need to think a bit about this before New York.

After the gig
I'm dog tired again, but the mp3's sound OK which is a bonus. Meet another Matadorian, Patrick, who is really nice too - all these 'kindred spirits'. Morris says the t-shirts were HIS idea, someone called Mindy tells me (it's a little full, our dressing room, but nice to see everyone). WelI, "words on shirts" was his idea I suppose? Good, that makes it a band thing. I need a rest from all this work... it's 4.30 am and I'd better go to bed or I'll sleep through Baltimore too....

Matthew


[The soundcheck] thrilled me to the bone. Instead of hearing the songs coming out of a car stereo, the band was only a short distance away. After playing the songs, they sang a few harmonies, to check the mics and PA, I guess, and they sounded wonderful.

The band walked out of the building to get into a car for dinner, and Robyn encountered a long line of traffic cones. "Nice cones!" he said to the facilities guy who was moving things around. "You have to align them properly. Don't you feel the force field they give off?"

And then I waited in line in the cold drizzle to get into the show. Mark Eitzel and his band opened. Mogwai and Stephen Malkmus followed the Soft Boys (and the Matador records people were handing out shwag and promo CDs by the bucketload).

Then the band came on. Here's a breakdown of the details:

1. Robyn: blue/white Telecaster; blue t-shirt, green flowered pants, and black boots. There was no blinking, but a lot of flipping his bangs out of his face. His hair is entirely gray, silver, and white, and shorter than the last time I saw him.
2. Morris: a red, three-piece kit, with two Zildjian cymbals, and a neat tiny tambourine on his hi-hat. He wore sunglasses for the whole set and seemed to be having a real good time.
3. Kimberly: the grinning gnome face action was in full force. He jumped around a lot, too. He is a Laugh Riot. He played a white Stratocaster.
4. Matthew: he played a black Fender Precision bass (iirc). He wore the only Soft Boys t-shirt I saw that night.

The only things for sale was Matador records stuff. Not a single Soft Boys t-shirt for sale anywhere. The one Matthew was wearing was white, and simply had the words Soft Boys in black in a sans-serif typeface. It sure woulda been nice to have been able to buy one.

The performance? Amazing. They only had time for a short set, so Robyn kept the banter to a minimum. The songs didn't have the piss-and-vinegar that they did back in 1980 (like, say, they did at the Maxwell's gig back then), but they still rocked. The songs were more "comfortable," I guess. The coolest thing was that they all played the songs as though they had lived with them for a very long time -- it didn't sound like they had rehearsed them for a month after not playing together for 20 years; Matthew in particular
surprised me with the numbers of new fills and feels he found in the songs. He is one helluva bass player.

- Gene


I have a picture somewhere of me barging into the SBs dressing room after their set in Austin. Robyn was understandably confused by this, as the whole back stage was a ghost town. I and a friend had gotten all access backstage passes from Gerard Cosloy, who used to be one of the heads of my old bands label, Homestead. He was and is still at Matador. The band were great that night, and I got to see it all standing near Matthew’s amp. I went backstage to tell the band I’d wanted to see them since the early 80s and they sounded great. I quickly scurried off after that…

Mark W