Last night, following Arcade Fire’s outstanding show at Austin 360 Amphitheater, core members of the band headed over to Continental Club for an intimate show. Frontman Win Butler got the night started by spinning some records under the moniker DJ Windows 98, and band members Will Butler, Jeremy Gara, Tim Kingsbury, and Richard Reed Parry performed a set of cover songs as Phi Slamma Jamma. That moniker is borrowed from the nickname of the University of Houston Cougars basketball team in the early 80s, which consisted of players like Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Arcade Fire is, of course, from the Houston area.
Phi Slamma Jamma’s set included an incredible list of covers, which I’ll list in full below. The band has done this a few times now, and I felt lucky to have this show go down in Austin. It’s awesome to see a group of guys at least trying to regain the incredible feeling of the early days of being a band, playing small bars and clubs and just having fun. Win Butler did join Phi Slamma Jamma onstage for one song, the closer, Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time.” I was particularly enthralled by the band’s inclusion of The Modern Lovers’ “Government Center,” as Jonathan Richman is a personal favorite, and someone who I feel is left out of conversations where he should absolutely be included.
When Win Butler jumped onstage, cellphones were immediately drawn to capture the moment, but Butler began slapping the cellphones out of fans’ hands, half fell off the stage and into the crowd to grab one, and knocked a mic stand over into the front row. Will Butler followed suit. These actions could have been a result of following the guidelines of publicists and PR personnel, although I’m dearly hoping that both Butlers’ actions were an attempt to get fans to appreciate the immediacy of this incredible moment. Will did apologize after the final song and check to make sure no phones were broken. Regardless of the reason, I put away my camera when these antics began out of respect for the artist. Although I love documenting music and performance and view photography as an important artistic medium, everyone deserves the right to not be photographed. There is one photo (adjacent) where Win Butler can be seen, barely visible, in the dim background. After the show, in an appropriate move, a giant iPhone shaped piñata was hanged and destroyed before DJ Windows 98 resumed spinning for the remainder of the night.
The “secret” show was an amazing counterpart to an already awesome evening with these musicians. Below, after the setlist, you can see a few more photographs from the night. Check out our full Arcade Fire concert coverage here. All photographs © Bryan Parker & Pop Press International. Click any image to open in slideshow viewer.
Phi Slamma Jamma Setlist
“Bird Dog” – Everly Brothers / Joan Jett
“Come on Baby Let’s Go Downtown” – Neil Young
“Hey Tonight” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
“Run For Your Life” – The Beatles
“You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhwere” – The Byrds
“Anna” – The Beatles
“Wheels” – Flying Burrito Brothers
“Government Center” – The Modern Lovers
“Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World” – The Ramones
“The Last Time” w/ Win Butler – Rolling Stones
