Bill’s Top 10 SXSW 2009 highlights

by Bill Pearis

…..3. Hot Leg (SPIN party at Stubbs, 3.20.2009) Hot Leg On a similar yet entirely different note, Justin Hawkins mounted a roadie’s shoulders for Hot Leg’s final song, “Cocktails,” and rode him through the audience while playing a guitar solo. It’s a stunt Hawkins also did in his old band, The Darkness (whose first album I still listen to regularly), but it actually seems more appropriate here with the even more over-the-top Hot Leg. Where the Darkness were more Thin Lizzy, Hot Leg is the Sunset Strip circa 1986, complete with hairspray, makeup, and a studded leather jumpsuit. And posing. Every second of their performance was a photo op. That said, the band are tight and can really play all that stuff live. The songs, unfortunately, are a little to jokey this time around, even for Hawkins who wrote a love song to a genital wart. But as live spectacle, Hot Leg are something else. (Videos below from a different SXSW show, by JohnEbrownTX)

www.brooklynvegan.com for full SXSW reviews.