Sunday, March 21, 1999
Tigerlilies play Austin at last
BY LARRY NAGER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
AUSTIN: Texas — “From Cincinnati, Ohio, the home of great music, the Tigerlilies!”
With that introduction, the show that's been a year in the waiting begins.
The Cincinnati quartet tears into “In Your Eyes” as if they've been counting the days until they could be here, on the stage of this funky little rock club in the heart of the city's Sixth Street entertainment district.
It's 1 a.m. Friday, the final South X Southwest showcase of the night at Maggie Mae's East. Heavy thunderstorms earlier in the evening thinned the ranks of music industry folks on the streets, but in the crowd, more than a dozen pink SXSW badges can be seen.
And one Cyclones cap. Chris Moore, 35, of Westwood, is a seven-year SXSW veteran. He's not in the music business, just a fan who pays $65 for an SXSW wristband pass. “I came here to support the local guys,” he says.
The Tigerlilies at last are in Austin, a year after the group's first trip was cut short by a drunk driver in Dallas. The crash totaled their van, injured the four band members and killed road manager Craig Falbe.
To get here, they've driven more than 1,200 miles in three days, sleeping on floors, eating greasy, heat-lamp road food. Hardest of all, they had to face down their fears of returning to Texas.
The tensions of the previous night's show in Dallas are gone. At Maggie Mae's, the band plays hard but not desperately, rocking through a 40-minute set of British-accented power pop.
The Tigerlilies are part of why the SXSW music showcase started 13 years ago - unsigned bands coming to this nightclub-filled city in hopes of winning that major-label recording contract.
Increasingly, SXSW has become dominated by the big names, major-label acts who perform at the five-day event to generate an industry buzz. British Invasion guitar whiz Jeff Beck played an intimate club show Wednesday night. Thursday, Kettering, Ohio, native Kim Richey performed under a huge green-and-white tent at the Waterpool Brewing Co., previewing songs from her new CD, her third for Mercury.
But there are still hundreds of unsigned young bands at the event, playing their music in hopes that somehow it reaches sympathetic — and influential — ears.
The Tigerlilies are ready for their chance. Singer/guitarist Pat Hennessey, his singer/drummer brother Steve and bassist Brian Driscoll have spent a decade honing their style. Guitarist Denny Brown has been with the group almost five years, intricately entwining his guitar with Mr. Hennessey's to create the Tigerlilies' trademark sound.
Along the way, they've seen labels landed by their contemporaries, bands such as the Afghan Whigs, the Ass Ponys and Over The Rhine. And they know that the dreamed-of deal is no guarantee of success. But with ages ranging from 31-36, they're ready to take their shot.
Dim Sum, their new, three-song demo CD, arrived just in time for Friday's show. They have T-shirts, stickers and, in keeping with the Asian theme, promotional fortune cookies. (“You will make an important contact in the near future,” the fortunes read, listing the band's Cincinnati phone number and e-mail address.)
But no matter what happens, says a sweaty Mr. Hennessey, packing equipment after the show, “It was worth it. We had a good time. We played good.”
the hardest part.
And the Oscar goes to ...
Best supporting trivia
Kazan should be honored for his work, not actions
Sunday show seems to be inspired idea
Will we choose cages or classrooms?
One of the faces of AIDS
Parents investigate police shooting
Ditka coaches 10,000 Catholics
Race St. tower to be razed
Turfway tries to get untracked
Tuxes can't hide bawdy behavior
Tigerlilies play Austin at last
Luken undercuts GOP's optimism
UK fans score basketball tickets
Politician helping Bush in Ky.
Boone Co. developments move forward
Cincinnati Country Day School to rebuild bigger
Governor's Award honors arts innovator LoveLarkin
Historic church gets ready for 150th year
Lebanon hires Laidlaw buses
Loss can't dim fervor for Mason fans
Maybe a poem is just a poem
Newport native son unknown
Sharonville reviving tie to railroad
TRISTATE DIGEST
