An indie music holiday

In its 19th year, SXSW, which started on Wednesday, has broken attendance records. Four days and nights of panel discussions at the Austin Convention Center and showcase gigs at 60 venues around the city have drawn more than 1,300 bands, 8,000 paid registrants and 1,600 journalists from around the world.

That isn't counting the thousands of people who come just for the parties and the unofficial shows, including a sizable contingent of Chicago music fans who have adopted the Texas capitol and this event as their favorite late-winter getaway.

SXSW 2005 will generate $30 million for the local economy -- a fact that should be noted by the newly formed Chicago Music Commission as it begins the difficult task of promoting our city's music scene and repairing the damage done by heavy-handed officials who cracked down on the club world in the wake of the E2 tragedy.

With all of that money at stake, and the major labels' untiring penchant for hyping their products, SXSW has always flirted with big business, even as previous keynote speakers -- independent spirits such as Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle and Daniel Lanois -- have lauded the ethics of operating outside the mainstream.

That's why Robert Plant seemed such an odd choice to launch the conference on Thursday morning.

As the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, Plant sold 200 million albums worldwide, and he has moved another 20 million units since going solo. The self-proclaimed "Golden God" has never been a struggling musician who's had to worry about paying the rent or selling enough D.I.Y. CDs to buy gas to get to the next gig.

With a new album, "Mighty Rearranger," being released by Sanctuary Records on May 10, Plant is nominally an independent artist now. But the amount of money the company is spending to promote the disc would keep 1,000 real indie musicians stocked with beer and burritos for life.

Plant was ushered onstage with a self-serving video heralding the new release, and VH1 executive Bill Flanagan -- the singer opted to do a "keynote interview" rather than give a speech -- proceeded to hype it some more. All of this star-struck glad-handing made SXSW seem more like a political convention than a musical celebration.

But when the 56-year-old legend finally appeared, he partly redeemed himself by talking about the joys of being a music fan.

When he was a teen, Plant's parents were so frightened by his love of black American bluesmen that they cut the plug off his record player, he said. But that love has abided, and he glowed as he spoke of meeting two bluesmen who performed on Wednesday night.

"Here was Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin and the Golden God," he said, poking fun at himself. "And I thought, 'How the hell did I get in here?' "

Plant talked about his love of world music -- the new disc evokes a cross of traditional Middle Eastern sounds, trip-hoppers Portishead and vintage Zep -- and said, "We have to keep pushing, keep opening new ideas."

Later, he added, "I hate the idea of the jukebox being just about mass acceptance of four or five songs."

That comment probably made Plant's aggressive marketing team cringe, but it was a reminder to SXSW's organizers that true fans just tune out the business and the hype and concentrate on the music.

Chicago soul-gospel legend Mavis Staples did just that when she preceded Plant with a special early morning performance in the main ballroom of the conference center.

Riding high on "Have a Little Faith," her first new album in a decade and one of the strongest in her career, Staples performed several tracks from the disc and a few of her trademark spirituals with stellar backing by country singer Marty Stuart on guitar and mandolin. She had the jaded and hungover crowd of industry veterans singing along.

Praising her current label, Chicago's Alligator Records, Staples noted that many other record companies passed on her new music, all too willing to confine this still-vital force to the dustbin of history. "All these companies, they want a Beyonce," she said, laughing.

"Well, I'm here to tell them, I used to be a Beyonce! And if Beyonce keeps on living, she's going to be a Mavis!"

Beyonce can only wish, Mavis.

A full report of Jim DeRogatis' highlights from South by Southwest 2005 will run on Monday.

LOCAL ARTISTS AT SXSW

Among the local artists performing at SXSW 2005, in order of appearance:

DJ Logic with Liquid Soul, University, Burning Bright, David Singer & the Sweet Science, the Watchers, Minsk, Redwalls, Devin Davis, Palaxy Tracks, the Zincs, the Jai Alai Savant, Like Young, Troubled Hubble, Reputation, Royal Space Force and Mahjongg.

Also: Mavis Staples, Novembers Doom, Nora O'Connor, Functional Blackouts, Tyrades, M.O.T.O., Head of Femur, Slicker, L'altra, Pelican, ZZZZ, Baby Teeth, Detholz!, Bobby Conn and the Glass Gypsies, Break the Silence, Tight Phantomz, Diverse, the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, Manishevitz, Edith Frost, Devil in a Woodpile, M's and Dark Fog.

And it just wouldn't be SXSW if the Chicago contingent of the legendary Mekons weren't here in force. This year, the assorted country-punk offshoots include Jon Langford & the Sexy Weary Boys, Sally Timms and the ubiquitous Waco Brothers.