So Elizabeth emails me about a blues show at Antone’s on Wednesday night, the first night of SXSW. I told her I’d probably go along, thinking to myself “I’ll go if it’s no more than $15″.
I got to the venue a tad early. Cover was $25. Quite a stretch. Rachel and Dave were talking about seeing the Soul Coughing guy at Buffalo Billiards, so I walked over there and found out that the cover was $10.
My mind was mostly made up, but as I went back to Antone’s to meet Elizabeth, I got a strange feeling that the Antone’s show was going to be pretty good. So I said to Elizabeth,
I’ve never been into blues, but the first set changed my mind. Sean Costello was HOT. People talk about music being “sexy”, and I never knew what they meant until now. He was so passionate. I felt the same way the little girls must have felt when they first saw Elvis’ girations on stage. It really moved me. The way his body swayed and his face contorted was as expressive as the sounds coming out of his mouth and guitar. His original work was excellent, but I’ll tell you this: I never really heard Bob Dylan’s “A Simple Twist of Fate” until I heard Sean sing it last night.
At the end of the set, Antone (THE Antone) came on stage to say “people ask me what’s happening in blues right now, and I say ‘Sean Costello’”.
After Sean’s set, some rearrangement took place. Then Sean returned to play a set with Hubert Sumlin. Sean’s really young. Hubert’s ancient. The juxtoposition was fantastic. Hubert is apparently quite famous, regarded as the best guitarist EVAH by Jimi Hendrix. Even though he was old, he rocked the house. But the best part was how ecstatic Sean was to be playing with such a legend. Sean would occasionally stop playing his guitar to point ecstatically at Hubert while he jammed out a killer guitar solo.
A couple songs into the set, legendary Blues pianist Pinetop Perkins shows up to jam with them. It was great. The guy must have been 85, but he played and sounded like he was 25. Amazing. The energy was wild, but familial, like old friends reunited.
Here’s the kicker: all of the sudden, ELVIS FUCKING COSTELLO shows up on stage to sing a song with the boys. Incredible! And I was maybe 10 feet away. He was so awesome, wearing his scarf and coat like he just popped in. I was so excited I almost peed my pants! THEN Antone comes up and says “thank you Elvis Costello, and thanks also to Robert Plant for coming to see the show!” Yeah, Robert Plant was in the same audience I was in. Fucking CRAZY.
So, like I said, this is what SXSW is all about. And that’s the best damn $25 I’ve ever spent.
Sean Costello’s “Simple Twist of Fate”: [ mp3 ][ stream ]
Hubert Sumlin’s “Look What You’ve Done”: [ mp3 ][ stream ]
Video clips: [ clip 1 ][ clip 2 ][ clip 3 ][ clip 4 ][ clip 5 ][ clip 6 ]
Note: I don’t think Sean and Elvis Costello are genetically related.
Tags: sxsw
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I’m totally jealous!
Glad to see you’re taking full advantage of SXSW. I never did. ::Regret::
austin comes alives at sxsw.
This is the FIRST SXSW show I had ever been to and to see Sean Costello, Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins and Elvis Costello was complete magic! I have listened to Sean’s CD (I bought it after the show) about 30 times now and it keeps getting better.
Sean is one of those players who people will say, “I saw him when…”
Wow…Can’t believe I didn’t know about this. Even more so, I still can’t believe I conned Sean’s booking agent into a little private party for me 2 days after this show. Did I mention that little private party happened to be my weddding? It was the coolest thing ever. We had the wedding that everyone will talk about for a while thanks to Sean, Melvin (bass), Matt (keys) and his fill-in drummer, Chris. It was the most incredible night of love and music that I’ll ever be a part of.
wow, i am seething with jealousy right now! what a beautiful addition to an already special day. that’s wonderful! can we see some wedding photos?
Congratulations!!!
This sounds like a great show… I’m jealous! I saw Sean and the fellahs a couple years ago up here in a little bar in Manchester, Connecticut and have been waiting for their return ever since… just found out they’re due here next week (of COURSE it’s next week, because I’m nine and a half months pregnant, and that’s how my luck goes).
Anyway, I digress. Thanks for posting the audio… glad you have found Sean! -d*
I’m in Atlanta, where we had the opportunity to discover Sean 10 YEARS AGO…He was great then…he is totally awesome now! I’ve turned many people on to him, he never disappoints, and we check him out whenever he’s in town. Sean ROCKS and props to Melvin and Matt. Can’t wait to see you guys when you get back HOME!
Man! I’m so grateful to have this, one more piece of the puzzle that is my friend, Sean Costello. He never bragged, he never lied, he just was. I’m lucky to have spent as much time with him as I did.