SXSW 2010: Alex Chilton, Big Star tribute concert
AUSTIN, Texas -- The 24th South by Southwest ended in the early morning Sunday at a jam-packed Antone's, the legendary blues club on 5th Street, with a poignant, powerful reminder of how music can redeem even the most tragic events.
The late-night, conference-closing slot was originally set for Big Star, the Memphis band that made three albums in the '70s, then faded into obscurity, only to endure as a guiding light for countless guitar-based pop and rock bands in subsequent decades. The performance turned into a wake and a tribute when one of the band's cofounders, singer-guitarist Alex Chilton, died Wednesday at 59 of a heart attack in his New Orleans home.
The remaining members of Big Star -- founding drummer Jody Stephens and bassist Andy Hummel, and Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer, who joined in the band's '90s comeback incarnation -- carried on in Chilton's name with a host of guest stars. The show became an 18-song tribute to Chilton's Big Star legacy, a procession of music that veered from harrowing meditations to ebullient rockers. Stephens, Auer and Stringfellow were the three constants, holding down the stage as the likes of M. Ward, Evan Dando, R.E.M.'s Mike Mills, and Chris Stamey took turns on lead vocals.
"It was 40 years that Alex and I shared," Stephens said as this transformative night ended. "You've wrapped your arms around us, and we appreciate it."
Big Star tribute set list (with lead vocalist in parentheses):
1 Back of a Car (Jon Auer)
2 Don't Lie to Me (Jon Auer)
3 In the Street (Curt Kirkwood)
4 I am the Cosmos (Jon Auer)
5 When My Baby's Beside Me (Chris Stamey)
6 Big Black Car (M. Ward)
7 Way Out West (Jody Stephens vocal, Andy Hummel guitar)
8 Daisy Glaze (Ken Stringfellow)
9 Jesus Christ (Mike Mills)
10 For You (Jody Stephens)
11 I'm in Love with a Girl (John Doe)
12 The Ballad of El Goodo (Sondre Lerche)
13 Thirteen (Jon Auer)
14 Feel (Ken Stringfellow)
15 Thank You Friends (Chuck Prophet)
16 Nightime (Evan Dando solo)
17 Try Again (Amy Spease)
18 September Gurls (Susan Cowsill, Watson Twins)
Please tell me someone recorded this!
Greg replies: Yes, it was recorded. Jody Stephens has the tapes. I don't doubt there will be some kind of release.
Posted by: Jess | March 21, 2010 at 08:31 AM
greg - you are a lucky man for getting to see what will probably be known as one of the greatest impromptu tribute shows ever. i wish i could have been there. long live the memory of big star and alex chilton.
Posted by: urban h | March 21, 2010 at 11:20 AM
What happened with the panel that had been scheduled for earlier in the day? Did it go on as planned?
Greg replies: Yes, very reverential look back at Chilton's career. No big revelations.
Posted by: Christy | March 22, 2010 at 10:21 AM
I just discovered Big Star last fall via their former drummer's appearance on Greg's show Sound Opinions, and it doesn't take that long to fall in love w/ their music. Slow tunes like "I'm in Love with a Girl" really are amazing, and anyone who digs early-Bowie/T-Rex/70s pop rock who hasn't already grabbed those first two Big Star albums should snag em and enjoy (I believe you can buy them as a bundle, although prices for new discs have now probably gone up ... Now there's a random story idea, Greg -- an analysis of post-mortum sales spikes in light of Chilton's death and the Hendrix album sale, which I think puts Jimi up with Elvis and Johnny Cash for Gold Records released after the artist's death).
Also worth mentioning that judging from some archived NPR interviews, Chilton was a normal-sounding, straightforward, humble guy, and the unpretentious nature of his interviews illustrate party of why this band was great. With song lyrics like "Haning out / down the street / doing in the same old thing / we did last week," what person can't relate to those kinds of teenage years??
Posted by: Chase | March 22, 2010 at 12:26 PM
What I wouldn't give to hear M. Ward's version of "Big Black Car"...
Posted by: Marc Horton | March 22, 2010 at 06:08 PM