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SXSW Review Dallas Observer Online
By Zac Crain
On the other hand, Guided By Voices' free show on
Saturday night at Waterloo Park — in front of more than 10,000 onlookers — was
nothing but fun, just the kind of big rock spectacle frontman Robert Pollard has often
striven for yet just as frequently fallen short of. Even a little girl surely not a minute
more than 4 years old sitting on her daddy's shoulders was singing along, swirling to the
beat like some future hippie chick. Sticking to the band's more recent catalog, the
concert was as close to the arena as indie-rock is likely to get, a foot-on-the-monitor,
Bics-in-the-air, we-love-you-too light and sound extravaganza that was as good as
GBV's previous performances at SXSW were bad.
More than anything, the concert was proof of just how much Pollard has turned the band into a solo project since founding member Tobin Sprout split for his own career a few years back. Playing songs off Pollard's albums and GBV's last few discs — including Pollard's recently self-released Kid Marine and GBV's currently shelved Human Amusement (At Hourly Rates) — the band sounded like the weirder version of Cheap Trick Pollard always intended it to be, all big guitar hooks and swing-the-microphone bravado. Live, at least, he's finally accomplished it, thanks in no small part to his new backing band, which includes former Breeders drummer Jim Macpherson. (The group even paid tribute to Macpherson's old band with a cover of the Breeders' "Shocker in Gloomtown.") {Webmaster note : OUCH!!!)
Almost more than anyone else at SXSW, Guided By Voices came to Austin looking for a deal, after Matador Records and Capitol both refused to release the band's new Ric Ocasek-produced disc. It's a shame for all three parties, because Human Amusement is the first GBV album that is fully realized, and it wouldn't sound too bad on the radio either. The last noise that could be heard at Saturday night's show was Matador and Capitol taking turns kicking each other in the ass.