(deep breath)

..let’s do this.

I started the morning by catching The Big Pink in the Convention Center. Yeah, the bass was heavy but it wasn’t giving me heart palpitations like it did before.

My first new act of the day was Justin Townes Earle.

This guy is what Ryan Adams used to be for me (minus the drunk dramatics). He mostly performed songs from his upcoming album and they’re so beautifully written and his solo acoustic performance was so amazingly intimate that it brought the crowd to their feet. He is an act worth catching.

Grabbing a grilled cheese on the run, I caught Dinosaur Feathers at the Dickies party.

Not bad. I can’t wait to see what they grow into.

As I had time to burn and wanted to maximize the number of shows I saw, I ducked into the British Party @ Latitude 30 to catch D/R/U/G/S.

Goddamn, this kid is a turntable wiz. His tracks don’t do him justice. Catch him live.

After dinner I raced all the way across town to catch a New York band, check, a Brooklyn band, check, a… fuck, I can’t remember what neighborhood they were from but that’s how they identified themselves (wankers), a band called The Echo Friendly.

Aaaaanyway, these guys were okay. Not bad, not great.

I started my way towards the center of it all and caught Dillion Francis.

First, if you read my tweet, I wasn’t kidding about meeting this beautiful girl that danced like a demon. Sorry, no pic. To dazzled.

But I digress. The kid was pretty great despite being drunk. Worth a listen.

I then hit the molasses that was 6th street to see LA band, correction, the Echo Park band (wankers), NO.

These guys were pretty damn good. I gotta look them up when I get home.

Next door I caught The John Steel Singers.

Poor guys, the main sound tech was so drunk I think he was having his son run the board. The result was that their sound was awful. Bummer.

Next I caught another band I first heard at SXSW, We Were Promised Jetpacks.

I love these guys but I’m not the biggest fan of their latest album.

I wandered back into The Stage on 6th (no woman waiting to choke me this time) and caught a bit of Jimmy Cliff.

What can I say, he’s a legend.

I finished the night with The Heavy.

Man, they brought it so hard that they brought the house down.

And my pick of the day is… shit, since it’s the last day I’ll give you three of my favorites that speak to the diversity of SXSW, as well as my own tastes.

First, Justin Townes Earle.

Second, Dillion Francis.

Third, NO.

And that’s a wrap. Next stop, home.

Next fest: Sasquatch. I have two tickets. If you want to come with me, just write a 500 word essay about why you’d like to spend a sexy weekend with yours truly.

While they sounded very good, they weren’t quite doing it for me.

Next, I managed to snake my way into the SPIN party and caught The Big Pink.

Damn, could the bass be any louder. Yeah, these guys sounded good but a little less bass and I think I could have made out the rest of the band.

After a scramble back to the Convention Center I caught Blitzen Trapper.

They were rockin’ it out… gotta say I prefer their more quiet moments.

I then ran back to the SPIN party to see the act everyone has been talking about, Santigold.

Holy! She was amazing. Could easily be the best performance of the festival.

After an all too short nap I hit the Japanese Night for The Akabane Vulgars on Strong Bypass.

Man, these girls could really rock.

I was so pleased I hung around for Kao=S.

They were a much more traditional act than you usually see here.

It was very pretty but left me scratching my head (and not just because I’ve been elbow-to-elbow with dirty hippies all week).

Next I caught Bear Hands.

Not bad. I wasn’t blown away but that could have been because the band was exhausted and ready to go home (the lead singer said as much, more than once).

As I was just around the corner, I headed back to the Japan Night for Saito Johnny.

Goddamn, this kid is a bluegrass wiz, plus he covered “Video Killed The Radio Star” and “One More Time“. And if that weren’t good enough, the kid then strapped on the banjo and killed it.

I mean he was a demon on that banjo.

I then fought my way through the thick of 6th street to catch England’s newest rap sensation, Lady Leshurr.

My jaw dropped. Not only is she a tiny bundle of energy, she can spit rhymes like crazy, plus she has an absolutely infectious and winning stage personality. Hell, she was so good she got one of her back-up band members to come up and rap with her.

Feeling good, I decided to cap the night with more from the Japanese Night. I mean, it’s always been awesome in the past so why should this year be any different?

I could not have been more wrong when I caught Vampillia.

Think of a cross of Emo and Death Metal with insane theatrics. It was too much for me. I had to leave.

Can you guess my pick of the day? I went with Saito Johnny (although it could have easily been Santigold or Lady Leshurr). Enjoy.

…wait, I only have one more day? No fair.

Two hours, not for a band but for Franklin’s BBQ.

It was damn good BBQ.

I was then off to catch my first show, the lovely Ximena Sarinana.

Holy, she is a cutie, and she plays but accordion…

…but my heart will always belong to Julieta Venegas. Another girl also played with Ximena.

Also very cute, and very good, but it wasn’t doing it for me today.

I then ran next door (love that about this fest) to catch The Delta Spirit.

A few years ago I caught these guys at SXSW by pure accident and it was one of the best accidents to ever happen to me. They’re a great rock n’ roll band. I’ll have to pick up their new album when it drops.

After a quick nap (tons of food makes me sleepy) I hit up the Sarah Jaffe show.

She was very good but I wasn’t feeling it so I ran to check out Foam Lake.

Again, they were very good but they didn’t catch my fancy, which was apparently very hard to catch this evening. No, seriously, I wasn’t in a great mood and it was going to take a lot to break me of my bad spirit.

Next up was The Mowgli’s.

When I first heard their track, I was reluctant. When I saw them during their sound check, I was sure I was going to bail after two bars. To my surprise, they did something no one else could this evening: they made me smile.

Next it was a race across 6th to see Letting Up Despite Great Faults.

Despite the clumsy yet wonderful name, these guys were plagued by bad audio. All I could hear was the bass rumbling the last of the brisket in my belly.

I fought through the thickening crowd on 6th street to catch Chappo.

(I feel a disclaimer is in order here. I know a lot of my pics are kinda fuzzy. The lighting doesn’t help but also I don’t spend the whole show trying to take the perfect pic. I’m here to have a good time and catch a great show, not take a pristine pic.)

These guys were a complete riot. First, I loved the dress (are they Native?). Second, they did all kinds to strange things like blow balloons until they popped or shooting confetti canons at the audience. Plus they sounded pretty sweet.

(Okay, what I said earlier, that was kinda dickish. I do like taking a good pic but tonight I was in a bad mood).

With sore feet (thank God I got some new Puma for this), I hiked up to the very not-fire-safe 512 Rooftop to see Class Actress.

Oh, where do I start? First, I don’t like this venue. Second, she started 20 minutes late. Third, the sound was limp. Fourth, her character. As a filmmaker, I feel I’m allowed to critique her “performance”, especially if she’s going to call herself “Class Actress” (I used to be a teacher).

I know looking like you stepped out of an early 80s video is your thing but stop playing with your hair (first you run you hand from the back of your head to your face, then you turn away and whip around, then you do this again, and again, and again. What, are you afraid you’re not pretty enough so you have to hide your face?  Trust me, you’re plenty pretty.).

(Yikes! Man, I’m in a bad mood. Class Actress, I’m sorry. I’ll buy your next album, probably not see your next show, but I apologize… a bit.)

After elbowing my hundredth hipster, I escaped that fire trap and caught //TENSE//.

(He/they are there, I swear)

Ya know, dark dance music was exactly what I needed.

I ran up a block to next catch White Rabbits.

These guys gave a solid performance. I have to remember to pick up their album.

I jogged back down the street (no wonder my feet hurt) and caught the end of Prof.

What little I heard wasn’t bad.

My final act of the evening was The Peach Kings.

The one song of theirs I knew reminded me so much of The Kills (in a good way) that I was disappointed the rest of their stuff didn’t. Still, that girl has a got a great voice and damn she’s a cutie. She needs to get in the right hands and she could be shaped into a very successful act.

The end of day three. If you’ve been feeling my vibe, then you’ll easily guess my pick of the day: The Mowgli’s.

Hopefully tomorrow I’m in a better mood (but I wouldn’t bet on it).

These guys are amazing live. Not only do they sound like their album (no digital enhancements here) but their energy is incredibly infectious, like “zombie plague” infectious.

After a quick dinner it was off to wait in a very long (albeit fast moving) line…

… to catch the return (where did she go?) of Fiona Apple.

The girl is fucking ferocious live. And the songs. I swear, every bed should come with a built-in MP3 player loaded with Fiona. Sexy.

Next was a quick song by one of my favorite girls from 2011, K. Flay (see what I said here).

I finally made it to a restaurant-turned-venue for the Danish quartet, The Foreign Resort.

These guys sounded great and rocked the Hell out of that eatery. Damn, they were so good I almost made them my pick of the day. Almost.

Next I caught Total Unicorn.

If it weren’t for their awesome dance tunes, including a number about Dr. Who, they’d be the kind of stuff nightmares are made of. Seriously, just look at this before bed and tell me you don’t get night terrors.

(And if you do go see them, which I think you should, take some shrooms or acid.)

I then raced up the street into a coffee shop (I swore I was in the wrong place) to catch Emperor X.

This one man act was disarmingly charming and completely winning. His earnest, smart nerd-centric songs hit me so hard in the right spot that I was in a daze as I stumbled into the street after his short but very sweet set.

Next I caught the end of another 2011 favorite, Band of Skulls (here is the relevant post from last year). I waited around for Kimbra but after she was 30 minutes late, it was time to bail for my next venue.

Again, I caught the end of Kevin Devine and The Goddamn Band. They were good. Mental note: look them up when you/I have a moment.

The last act of the night was Right Away, Great Captain!

This one man act was good but every slow dirge of a song got me yawning. Next time this dude needs to pack the back-up band.

So while there were some very strong contenders, my pick of the day has to be Emperor X. Take a listen.

And with that, good night.

(I better not have any goddamn unicorn nightmares)

(Am I now a more popular Republican candidate that I’ve used a regional colloquialism?)

I landed in Austin and I immediately raced from the airport to the hotel to the convention center to the most famous BBQ joint in the greater Austin area (technically it’s outside of Austin but grant me this one since I’m just back to blogging). Yes, I finally ate at The Original Salt Lick.

…

Why no photos? Because I was all about the business of eating BBQ!

(I think my poll numbers just went up in Alabama and Mississippi.)

Afterwards I hung out with my best friend Rosie.

(she was there for the film festival portion of SXSW).

I did manage to catch one band, Saint Motel, and they were a pretty great “welcome to SXSW 2012″.

Obviously they’re my pick of the day. Take a listen.

Lastly, I also met a few new people and am posting this for my school-boy-crush-of-the-day. I’m bummed I missed this guy (he was scheduled for one show only. Boo!)

From now on, no regrets. SXSW, Ho!

(BTW, where are all the hos at?)

Yeah, I know, I’m SO fucking eclectic, right?

Enough. Time to pack.

First, the tribute. Margaret Cho took the stage and lord how I prayed an act of God would strike her from this earth. Yes, she was that fucking horrible. Thank the gods (man, I’m feeling mighty religious) Ryan Adams took the stage soon after. Yeah, he’s too cool for school but he still puts on a great show. The highlight was Dave Grohl who took to the stage like a crazed fan and rocked the Hell out of the drums.

Then came the concert. Bob was good but sloppy, kinda like I imagined he’d be. I’m glad I saw him but I’m pretty sure I never need to see him again.

On another topic, see, another post this week.

When I first got into U2, they were my sister’s band.  I rode along but once they became the douche bags we couldn’t stand (hello Rattle & Hum), I dropped out.  But then Achtung Baby dropped and it was epic.  To this day, this album sounds incredibly fresh and I’d say it’s still unmatched in its singularity.  I saw these guys on this tour when it hit Dodger Stadium and I’ve hardly missed a tour since.  Yeah, they’re on the slide again but I’ll give them another chance.

Next time, I dunno, I’m still adjusting to my new job and its schedule but more posts soon.

I have to admit, I wasn’t a big fan back in the day. I was a metal head, my sister was the alt music fan. It wasn’t until I got into Nirvana that I got into the Pixies. Luckly, I saw them when they first played Coachella and they fucking rocked. Will they record another album? Probably not, it’s kinda hard to get over a break up like that, but they’re still worth catching live.

Next week, the debut of a new musical movement.

It was with this band, with this album, that I started forming a new musical identity. I discarded the head banging of my earlier years and bought a whole ton of flannel. Looking back, what’s odd is that I was responding to their classic rock sound. I think it’s impossible to listen to Pearl Jam, especially this album, and not hear their 60s and 70s rock influences. I swear you’ll hear some Cream in just about every song.

But that was me. Just as this album dropped, the band blew up, big time. By the following year everyone was making claims about how they were into this band since the very beginning. Me, I had six secret weeks where I couldn’t convince a soul about these guys.

That’s it for this week. Next week, a surprise for both of us.