SXSW 2011

Welcome to what is probably my final South by Southwest update. Yes, I'm getting too old for this. I'd say there's a good solid 51% chance I will not go back in 2012. But let's not dwell on that now. 2011 was a mighty fine festival, with many great new bands discovered and many previously-seen bands enjoyed anew! My friend Jay and I once again purchased official badges and pretended to be music industry bigwigs. So let's get right to the Excel spreadsheet. Grayed out items are bands that were on the list as options but were missed. Bold items were the ones I saw, and links on band names go to my Flickr photo uploads.

SXSW 2010 Recap

I am pleased to report that once again my friend Jay and I have survived another SXSW music festival, although I gotta say, this one almost had a Donner Party ending with the frigid temperatures on Saturday night.

Every year I make an Excel document with all the acts I’d like to see, and this year’s list was larger than most, but I only had two “must-see” acts on it: Broken Bells (James Mercer of The Shins, and Danger Mouse of everything else) and Metric (who I have seen recently but I heart them so much I want to see them again every day). My must-sees ultimately turned out to be disappointments, but there were a higher-than-average number of unexpected surprise discoveries that made this festival a rousing success.

There were no Oompa Loompas this year, but one day we did see a guy jacking off in the street around 10:30 AM, and I think we got to experience a Bill Murray meme being birthed via Twitter.

3/17/10

Road trip to Austin: Jay suggested that we deviate from our usual route and stop for lunch in Lockhart, TX, The Barbecue Capital of Texas. I’m okay with this plan. I have a tooth that may be needing a root canal or extraction soon, but lately I’ve gotten pretty good at favoring the other side of the jaw, and worst case, I could certainly enjoy a hearty bowl of barbecue sauce. We arrive at Smitty’s BBQ and get in what appears to be the lunch line. I’m a bit puzzled, because we’re standing outside of the main room, next to the smokers, and instead of a menu, the signs on the wall just list the prices of the meats per pound.

“I think this is the To-Go line. I think we’re supposed to go inside to that other counter,” I say, pointing to that other counter I can see through the door. No, Jay points out that everybody is getting their meats here. And sure enough, everybody is going up to the smoker attendants and ordering a pound of this and a half pound of that, and having their meats presented to them on a big square of butcher paper which they then fold up and carry into the main room.

So I order a half pound of “lean” and one link of sausage, I pay the smoker, and then I make a hobo bag out of my butcher paper parcel and go inside, where there is another counter where you can buy stuff like pickles and iced tea. I buy some pickles and an iced tea. There is no sauce. There are no forks. We sit at a long picnic table, and today, next to us there is a mother with carnivorous babies alternately sucking on and spitting out meat pacifiers.

The sausage was pretty good, but I didn’t think the “lean” meat was very good or very lean. But the pickles totally kicked ass.

The New Ginger Man – Last year we mourned the impending demise of our traditional SXSW home base pub. The original location on 4^th St. was going to be closing just days after the 2009 SXSW festival, having been forced out by douche bag condo developers, and a new Ginger Man location was being prepped just around the corner on Lavaca Street. Tradition dictates that we visit the Ginger Man to drink our initial beers and map out our festival strategy, so we visited the new location. On the plus side, it’s still got a bazillion beers on tap. And it still has friendly locals who will chat with you. But on the minus side, it now has an obnoxious kitchen P.A. system that every few minutes keeps blasting out things like, “SMITH, your order is ready, SMITH, your order is ready.” I’m not feeling the classic Ginger Man vibe here.

On to the shows… Night one was entirely devoted to the showcase at Stubb’s.

Visqueen – Really just caught the last song, and didn’t hear enough to form an opinion. Seemed like pretty straightforward pop/rock. I cannot in good conscience discourage you from patronizing this band, even if I don’t personally remember anything about them.

The Walkmen – I liked ‘em. Anthemic, passionate, grandiose rock goodness. (my pix)

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings – Philly soul lives! If you see only one throwback band this year, I heartily recommend you see Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings instead of  Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. (my pix)

Broken Bells – An early must-see I can cross of my list! Okay, so go listen to the music at their Myspace page, crank up the volume and turn off your lights. That was the concert experience. They played mostly without lighting, and they didn’t noticeably deviate from the recording. I do like the recording, and the volume is much better than I can do with my home stereo, so I did enjoy this performance. But it ain’t a contender for Best of the Fest by any means. (my pix)

Spoon – This is a band I love on record, but whenever I have seen them live they have usually disappointed. Maybe because most of their recordings are minimalist masterpieces, it’s harder to “nail it” live, and so they overcompensate with gratuitous delay effects and other gimmicky crap. I dunno. But THIS! This performance! This was good stuff! I didn’t leave this performance disappointed! This wins the coveted “Didn’t Disappoint Me As Much As Usual” award. (my pix)

3/18/10

At approximately 10:30 AM, while heading south on the 900 block of Red River St. toward the Convention Center to see Smokey Robinson deliver the 2010 SXSW keynote address, we witnessed one Caucasian male, between 30 and 45 years of age, pleasuring himself right out there on the street in front of the cops and God and everybody. He wasn’t exposed, per se; he was just making exaggerated hand gestures within his shorts that implied there might be some masturbation going on.

We had to walk by this fellow. Now, I’m a trouper. As much as I may personally dislike people jacking off on the sidewalks, that guy is probably a taxpayer too. I’m not dragging along any kids behind me or anything, so I am prepared to pass by without incident and let somebody else with a valid reason do the complaining. Besides, as we have been approaching, his jacking has slowed. Maybe he’s losing his erection. No need to make a mountain out of a molehill.

But as I pass, I just have to look that crazy bastard in the eye. Is it a primitive male dominance thing? Maybe. But I can’t let this guy think he’s jacked me into intimidation. I look him straight in the eye as I pass. And he looks at me. And I see in my peripheral vision that he has now resumed jacking at his original furious pace. I look straight ahead and keep walking. Dammit, okay you win this time, Jack.

Pre-Smokey Robinson keynote – The legendary Alex Chilton , who’s band “Big Star” was scheduled to play Saturday night, kinda just died on Wednesday. Me, I now potentially have an open slot on Saturday night.

FORESHADOWING, or, slap in the face had I been paying closer attention: SXSW “Express” passes are available in limited numbers on a daily basis. All of us shmucks who spent hundreds of dollars on badges could stand in another early morning line at the convention center to get one “Express” pass per day, which would allow us to jump ahead of other badge holders in line at the venue of our choice.

Smokey Robinson – I respect and appreciate his legacy, even if his music is not necessarily 1^st or 2^nd or 99^th on my personal playlist, but Smokey Robinson is a great interviewee and storyteller.  He even makes me wanna visit Detroit some day.

Grammatics @ British Music Embassy – This is the first of many unexpected surprise discoveries on this trip. Can’t really see them very well here as the venue is packed (free food free beer) but I definitely feel the vibe. They are loud and tight and energetic and they touch my musical soul. I will seek them out again, oh yes I will. They’re a contender for the coveted “Best of the Fest” award. (my pix)

Mini Mansions @ Annie’s – Holy crap, nearly passed them by unnoticed! We were headed for Little Woodrow’s to kill some midday time but we got there before Little Woodrow’s was open. Dammit! Oh well, let’s keep walking westward until Woodrow’s opens. Then we passed by Annie’s, and this band was in there, playing to an audience of less than a handful. Not sure what caught my attention, maybe it was the fact that it was a 3-piece making a noise much larger than 3 people. The drummer was working a minimalist kit masterfully (snare, tom, cymbal, tambourine, andthatsaboutit); the bass guitarist was also working the usual guitar parts, the vocals and harmonies were tight and put me in the mind of such late 60s stalwarts as The Turtles… and then they went and did an awesome grungy cover of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass.” I was sold. Also, I’m sure there is a better word than “grungy,” but I am tired. I’m sorry. They’re a contender for the coveted “Best of the Fest” award. (my pix)

Little Woodrow’s – Finally opened. We drank a lot of beer. A LOT of beer.

Amaral @ Spain Tent – Was okay. Was pleasantly surprised to see people in the audience singing along to the songs. Apparently Amaral is kind of a big deal in Spain. (my pix)

Ray Davies @ La Zona Rosa is tonight’s “must see.” Sorta like with Smokey, it’s more about seeing a music legend before he is dead. We get to La Zona Rosa early and see a little bit of The 88, which was okay, but they didn’t blow us away. Then Ray Davies came out and played a bunch of acoustic stuff. We weren’t much on acoustic stuff, and we now had seen him alive, so we left. (my pix)

The Cave Singers @ Club de Ville – This is how The Waterboys would have sounded if they hadn’t been so hung up on that Irish shtick. They’re a contender for the coveted “Best of the Fest” award. (my pix)

3/19/10

The weather forecast says that there will be rain and near-freezing temps on Saturday. WTF? After brunch, we must go to the nearest Academy Sports & Outdoors store and stock up on Navy Seal gear. It’s not so cold today, though, so we just don our hoodies and head out.

Brunch at Threadgill’s. Jay has chicken fried steak. I have a 5-veggie plate (2/5ths of my veggies have meat in them, just so you know). The food is excellent, and the service is attentive. The waiter repeatedly sneaks up from behind and appears from out of nowhere to refill our iced tea glasses, filling us with a conflicting sense of awe and unease.

Academy Sports & Outdoors – We buy frog costumes.

Back to the hotel – Next we’re going to head out to the Village Voice day party at La Zona Rosa where we can see The xx, Surfer Blood, and Superchunk, allowing us to scratch a bunch of acts off of our nighttime lists.

But then Jay discovers that his hoodie is missing. It was last seen at Threadgill’s. We go back to Threadgill’s, and I wait in the car while Jay goes inside.

The waiter denies ever having seen the hoodie. Or Jay. He then throws down a smoke bomb and disappears. Jay returns to the car crestfallen and hoodless.

“Waaah waaaaah hoodie waaaaaah,” he says, snot bubbles popping from his nose.

“There there,” I say, patting him on his head and giving him a biscuit. “There will be other hoodies. Sometimes, if you truly love a hoodie, you just have to let it go.”

Freakin huge line at La Zona Rosa -- no Village Voice party for us

Nexcyx @ Barbados Talent Show Day Party – Mostly impressive rock/soul kinda thing. I say mostly because I heard backup singers when there were no backup singers visible on the stage, and that always makes me suspicious.

Fangs @ British Music Embassy – I remember being put in the mind of 80s new wave and Elastica. (my pix)

Spindrift @ Red Eyed Fly – Another contender for the coveted “Best of the Fest” award! This was like, spaghetti western music fused with psychedelic jams and tribal chants. I bought all the CDs they had to sell at the show and we listened to one of them on the drive back home, and I honestly don’t know yet if the recorded music will hold up to repeated plays on the iDevice of choice, but the live show was certainly spellbinding and highly recommended. (my pix)

Mini Mansions @ Red Eyed Fly – Holy crap I still really like them! They’re still a contender for the coveted “Best of the Fest” award. (my pix)

Metric @ Stubb’s - COCKBLOCKED BY MUSE! Dammit! This was my one true “must-see” show for the festival, and MUSE had to go and fill in an open “special guest” slot at Stubb’s, and because they couldn’t keep it secret all these MUSE fans flocked to Stubb’s and prevented me from being able to get in and see Metric. I freakin' hate Muse. And worse, I see people cutting the line with these “Express” passes which were mentioned before the Smokey Robinson keynote but I ignored because I didn’t understand at the time. Dammit!!1!

Scars on 45 @ Maggie Mae’s – Hmph. So, since I can’t see Metric I will scope out my alternates. Scars on 45 is okay. They’ve got a great name, and they’re kind of like a British Toad the Wet Sprocket with a female co-vocalist. (my pix)

Dan Black @ Emo’s – Caught the end of this set, and it was pretty impressive. DJ with guitarist and whatnot. He was rockin’ the Emo’s house, yo. (my pix)

Twin Tigers @ Emo’s Annex – I don’t remember anything about this show. I am sorry, Twin Tigers. (my pix)

Solid Gold @ Club de Ville – Ditto Solid Gold. They mighta been great but I am old and it was late. Their Myspace stuff sounds pretty good, though.

3/20/10

The rain moved out early, but the cold remained. Jay and I don our frog suits and head to the Convention Center to get our stupid “Express” passes for the Alex Chilton/Big Star “tribute” show scheduled for tonight at Antone’s.  Fortunately, because we crapped out kinda early on Friday, we are there before the rush on Saturday. The Antone’s pass *is* the hot ticket, according to the workers at the convention center.

And even if we crap out before the Alex Chilton tribute, we kinda feel like we are still “stickin it to the man” by taking two of these scummy passes out of commission.

Lynhurst @ The Bayou – Kinda like a mix of Spoon and Hilary Duff. (my pix)

Broadcast 2000 @ British Music Embassy – Surprisingly cool glockenspiel rock. (my pix)

Aussie BBQ @ Maggie Mae's – Good bands but I didn’t learn who they were. I’m sorry, mates. If you recognize yourselves in the photos, send an eShrimp to my iBarbie and I will correct the captions. (my pix)

Athlete @ Cedar St Courtyard – Apparently this was the stripped-down acoustic version of the band. Eh, it seemed pretty good to me.

HOLY CRAP!!1! What is this? The building that used to be the GINGER MAN PUB is STILL STANDING!? We were told it was going to be demolished a year ago! WTF? WTF? WTF?

It is now “The Ghost Room”. Supposedly the douche bag condo developers backed out at the last minute (apparently the real estate market hasn’t been so great lately), so the owners of the Ginger Man renewed the lease on this old building even after they opened their new place around the corner. Now this place has been largely gutted and refurbished into a music venue. Cool!

Red Room Cinema @ Ghost Room – This is how Mogwai would sound if they wrote music for the Weather Channel. (my pix)

Exene Cervenka @ The Ginger Man – WTF? Exene Cervenka at the Ginger Man?

Boxer Rebellion @ Cedar St. Courtyard – I don’t remember them. I think Jay had a snarky comment though. I’m hoping he will leave it in the comments. (my pix)

Frightened Rabbit @ Cedar St. Courtyard – This is one of Jay’s picks for “Best of the Fest.” I might have been either too distracted or too exhausted, but I wasn’t moved to such a declaration myself. (my pix)

Guadalupe Plata @ Sheraton – They made a joyful noise in our hotel lobby. (my pix)

Grammatics @ The Phoenix – This pretty well clinches it for me… I like this band a lot. I don’t care if the guy is wearing a dress.  (my pix)

Free Energy @ Cedar St. Courtyard – I’m likin’ the power-pop! (my pix)

Kam Franklin @ Prague – First off, SORRY KAM that I didn’t stay for more than one song, but my associate and I were on a pretty tight schedule and there was a blizzard in Austin that night. The song I heard was pretty sweet though.

MyNameisJohnMichael @ Maggie Mae's – Oooh! Oooh! This is kinda tickling my Clem Snide / Weakerthans funnybone.  It’s a healthy 80% of Americana with 20% freakout noise.

Am I a bad person? Is this wrong?

Jessica Simpson's dog snatched by coyote

Let's see, that's about an 8 lb. dog, right? Genetic hybrid of breeds chosen to emphasize "cuteness" at the expense of other more beneficial survival traits? Probably spent most of its life being carried around in a designer tote almost as expensive as the dog itself?

"Snatched" by a coyote.

"Uh, yeah, I think I may have seen your dog downtown yesterday. Her head was shaved, and she was handing out pro-coyote pamphlets."

Bonus SXSW09 Anecdote

Saturday morning, leaving the hotel room and headed for the elevators.

"Do people still say 'badonkadonk?'"

"What?"

"Like, 'badonkadonk butt?'"

"I don't know."

We get in the elevator, and another couple of guys hurry in behind us. They slap hands and fistbump each other. One is wearing sunglasses.

"Whew," he says, "we made it to the end, didn't we? Man I am exhausted! I had a Candian festival all last week and then came straight to this. And man, can you believe these Texas women?"

Yeah, hoowee, you said it, right on.

He continues, "And they're everywhere, and they're so f*cking HOT!"

Yup, we agree. He continues.

"And they just come right up to you and literally throw themselves at you! Seriously, they just come right up to you and say, 'f*ck me.'"

Yeah, tell me about it.

He looks at me and says, "Hey, you look like a reader, have a bookmark. Here's one for you too, you both look like readers."

Thanks. We're at the lobby, and he and his friend say goodbye and hurry out ahead of us.

We look at our bookmarks.

"Do people still say 'douchenozzle?'"

SXSW Music Fest 2009 Recap

Another year, and another successful SXSW fest under my expanding belt. Once again, my friend Jay and I purchased all-access badges that made us look indistinguishable from music industry bigwigs. We mingled with celebrities, or at least near them. We were lavished with luxurious "swag bags" full of swanky promotional items, including FREE CONDOMS, which is nice because now I can throw out the ones from last year's festival. We drank FREE SANGRIA and ate FREE ENERGY BARS. We chewed FREE GUM. We plugged our ears with FREE EARPLUGS. It was awesome.

On to the obligatory recap:

Wed 3/18

Hilary York @ The Ginger Man - We traditionally start our festival each year with a trip to the Ginger Man. Last year we learned that the pub was going to be demolished soon to make way for condos, so we were pleasantly surprised to find that it hadn't happened yet. In fact, the pub would be closing after THIS weekend, and reopening in another building less than a block away some time next week. Now, in all honesty, we didn't *intend* to see Hilary York at this time and place, it was just the gentle Hand of God making it so. Hilary used to work at this pub as a bartender circa 2001 when Jay and I were first setting the tradition, and in subsequent years she would remember us and greet us warmly, and in even more subsequent years she would be playing a set somewhere and we would make a point to go see her. This time around I had her on my list, but it was an early show on Wednesday that we had already missed, as we were still in Houston eating lunch at that time. So it was a very nice surprise to find that she was just starting a set on the Ginger Man patio as we arrived. How bout that gentle Hand of God, eh? (my pix)

Ladyhawke @ Stubbs - Hmm. I'm hearing a lot of 80s synthesizers here. I guess maybe it's cooler if you didn't live through it during the actual 80s. (my pix)

Heartless Bastards @ Stubbs - Holly Hunter infused with equal parts spirits of Melissa Etheridge and Patti Smith. (my pix)

Avett Brothers @ Stubbs - I kinda liked them. Kinda country, kinda punk. Kinda like an Appalachian Pogues. (my pix)

The Decemberists @ Stubbs - I'm a late fan of the Decemberists. Basically I "discovered" them with their last album, The Crane Wife, which I loved, suffice it to say. And I saw them on the Austin City Limits tv show so I knew that they could put on a great live performance. And I had heard that they were going to be performing their not-yet-released new album, nay, ROCK OPERA, in its entirety at this performance. So I designated this as my one pre-determined "must-see" performance of this year's festival. Did it live up to my expectations? Eh... okay, so technically it was an excellent performance, but it was all unfamiliar material to me, and only once or twice did I find myself really getting into the zone. The band didn't really interact with the audience, probably because they were performing a long-form work of art as opposed to a set list. The new vocalists seemed to be having fun. The blonde girl reminded me of a young, idealistic Hillary Clinton circa the flower-power era, you know, before Bill got his paws all over her.  (my pix)

Thu 3/19

Dananananaykroyd @ Dirty Dog Bar - This band wasn't on my radar until a friend o' mine mentioned that this was a band she was going to try to see. Said friend was in town for the Wed-Thu portion of SXSW, and though many text messages were pingponged, we didn't actually manage to meet up. BUT! It did result in me seeing this band, which was playing an early day show to a mostly empty venue. And they were frenetic and fun and bouncy, and they have a really cute bassist. They have a couple of vocalists and a couple of drummers, and they have a really cute bassist. And band members leave the stage and jam with the fans, and hug the fans. And they have a really cute bassist. They put on such a good performance to such a small crowd, they were already a contender for the coveted Jim Porter "Best of the Fest" award before we even had a chance to see them work a real crowd at an official showcase, which we vowed we would do on Friday. (my pix)

Music of Spain @ Brush Square park - Okay, so last year we went to this Spanish music day party and discovered a contender for last year's "Best of the Fest" award, a band called We Are Standard. This year? Well, there was still the FREE SANGRIA. And Jay was doing pretty well for himself chatting up a cute girl there too, until her mother showed up. Her mom was pretty cool, though. (my pix)

Airborne Toxic Event @ Bat Bar, Convention Center - I really want to like this band. In fact, I think I "iLiked" them on Facebook recently. I'll have to undo that. They've got the "passion" part down. Jay said, "Ah, it's The Killers." I was leaning more towards Arcade Fire. I don't mind influences occasionally bleeding through into imitation, but the lyrics really pushed me too far. "We were only seventeen, We were holding back our screams," and "I was only twenty one, I wasn't having any fun." God dammit these cliches are coming to fast. Let's get out of here and go see the Meat Puppets and Gomez at Stubbs. (no pix, thanks to anti-camera nazis out in force)

Meat Puppets @ Stubbs - I admit I was never into the Meat Puppets. I was familiar with the name and I know they hold a place of honor in the history of punk or thrash or one of those other genres that never got played on the radio. So I figured I'd go pay my respects, and go with an open mind, and at the very least I'd be there early for Gomez, a band I *do* know and like that was slated to go on next. Stubbs wasn't full, but there was enough of a crowd that we were back far enough, and if there was a Sphere of Influence I don't think it reached back as far as we were. Plus, to me they seemed rather *tame* for a hardcore punk band. Maybe it's because they're older than me, I dunno. Jay indicated that the Meat Puppets weren't doing anything for him either, so we consulted the schedule and considered our options. We could stick it out here and see Gomez, but, ya know, I've seen them before, and they do kinda seem to be trending toward Dave Matthews territory in recent years. OR! HEY! There's the Sam Roberts Band playing a gig over yonder (another band that I want to see that *isn't* trending toward Dave Matthews territory), and that would still leave us equidistant to this venue where Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip is playing later (an act that Jay wants to see). So, we bail. (my pix)

Sam Roberts Band @ Cedar Street Courtyard - Okay, this is possibly the worst venue for official SXSW showcases. It's a courtyard wedged between two buildings. It fills up quickly. The stage isn't exactly elevated. And Sam Roberts is, well, kinda short. We did manage to work our way into one of the side buildings and find a fishbowl window view to the side of the stage, and it looked like he was putting on a pretty good show, but the sound wasn't very good from where we were. I enjoyed it, but I don't think Jay got a very good introductory Sam Roberts Band experience. (no pix. I have some, but they're all crap)

Ebony Bones @ Aces Lounge - We have now arrived at the venue where Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip is scheduled to play at 11pm. It's about 10:30pm. It appears that this showcase is running behind schedule, as the 9pm band, Vivian Girls, just finished up as we arrived. We take advantage of the fan turnover to situate ourselves in a primo front-row balcony spot. Who's on next? What boring act do we have to wait through before we get to see Scroobius Pip? The schedule says Ebony Bones. Never heard of them. The band is taking the stage now...

Huh. This is interesting...

What are those, Oompa Loompas?

Holy crap, this is awesome! So it's like, start with Diana Ross and the Supremes, but replace the Supremes with hyperkinetic Oompa Loompas, and infuse it with P-Funk mothership weirdness. This performance wins the coveted Jim Porter "Best of the Fest" award for 2009. And I'm pretty sure it also won the not-unrespectable Jay Lyall "Best of the Fest" award too. I know we both remarked about these strange new feelings of attraction we were feeling for Oompa Loompas. Later Googling would reveal that they were playing another show tomorrow, so that would be marked as a last-minute must-see. (more pix)

Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip  @ Aces Lounge - WTF? He cancelled? What happened? Who's this "Rye Rye" act? We leave, hoping to catch Easy Star All Stars playing next door.

Kraak & Smaak @ Vice - Well this was a pretty neat little DJ / live band combo thingy. I can't really remember much about them, but that might be because all the thumping bass was shaking up my colon and I realized I probably oughta go back to the hotel and poop pretty quick. Easy Star All Stars, I'm sorry. (my pix)

Fri 3/20

Idle Warship @ Cedar Street Courtyard - Woohoo! Another waycool accidental discovery. Just happened to be passing by the Cedar Street Courtyard at the right time. (my pix)

Gomez @ La Zona Rosa - I got to see part of their set at the Village Voice day party. Pretty damn good, and not too Dave Matthewsy after all! (my pix)

We Were Promised Jetpacks @ La Zona Rosa - Settling in for a showcase of Scottish bands at La Zona Rosa. This was a good, impassioned performance by a band that seemed to be awed by the fact that they were playing to a large crowd at a SXSW showcase. They got some charm and some chops. I'll keep my eyes open for them in the future. (my pix)

Dananananaykroyd @ La Zona Rosa - Woowoo! They can work a big crowd too. This might've been the Best of the Fest, if not for those meddling Ebony Bones kids.

Bedouin Soundclash @ Cedar Street Courtyard - Might've been pretty good, but damned if they weren't in that damned cramped Cedar Street Courtyard. Dammit.  (my pix)

DEVO @ Austin Music Hall - Tried to go see them, but the showcase was running late, so we opted to bail and take our chances elsewhere. (my pix)

BM Linx @ Vice - They look like Foghat. I initially thought they sounded pretty classic rockish, but after listening to the Myspace streaming, I may have just been projecting. But they were pretty damned good. And seriously, in a cage match, I think they'd kick Foghat's ass. (my pix)

The Willowz @ The Parish Downstairs - I saw em' a couple of years ago and liked them, so I figured I'd check in and make sure they're still doing okay. They are. Oh and they have a cute bass player too. The rest of the band kinda looks like Foghat though. (my pix)

Sam Roberts Band @ El Sol y La Luna - Ah! Now I've got a front-row spot at a good venue! And this was a definite contender for Best of the Fest. The only thing he was missing was an Oompa Loompa or two. (my pix)

Sat 3/21

Ebony Bones @ Peckerheads - This was a day party for Rolling Stone magazine. Another excellent performance, although it was plagued by bad sound problems. Fortunately there was still plenty of frenetic Oompa Loompa goodness!

Quote of the Fest from Jay: "I think the Oompa Loompa with the purple hair is the one I'd most like to doompity-do."

Zillionaire @ Ginger Man - Okay, we're back at the G-man for our final beers before they close it down. I don't remember anything about the band, as I was too distraught. I did mange to get my picture taken with other heartbroken patrons though, mostly because I was wearing the right shirt at the right time.

Farewell, sweet, sweet pub. And here's hoping the new location gets a cool vibe quickly.

The Whip @ La Zona Rosa - Jay's got a "must-see" performance, The Crystal Method, at La Zona Rosa later tonight, and because our legs are now battered and bruised from the week, we decide we'll pretty much just camp out at La Zona Rosa for the entire showcase. Jay also says The Whip is a pretty cool band. And now, I concur. This was a DJ / band, dance music thing. Very tight, very energetic performance. I'm not a dancer, but I was bobbing. And the band has a cute drummer. (my pix)

Dieselboy @ La Zona Rosa - Just a DJ. (my pix)

Kaskade @ La Zona Rosa - Just another DJ. (my pix)

The Crystal Method @ La Zona Rosa - Two more DJs. But hey at least I like they stuff they're twiddling a little more. Okay, don't get me wrong, I realize that it's an art and a skill and all, but for me it doesn't really make for a visually compelling performance. Did I mention I don't dance? (my pix)

Ra Ra Riot @ The Parish - I really like 50% of their new album a lot. And the other 50% sounds like bad 80s synth rock. So I went to this performance for the first 50%, and was not at all disappointed. Plus, they have cute girls playing stringed instruments. (my pix)

Bobby Bare Jr. @ Maggie Mae's Gibson Room - Only caught the last song on my way back to the hotel after technically already having called it a night. But the last song was an acoustic cover of the Pixies "Where Is My Mind" so it's definitely worth mentioning. (my pix)