The sun came out just in time for the first day of South By Southwest in Austin, and the big venues filled up to packed crowds as the day went on. Free Energy followed by The Freelance Whales created a line outside The Galaxy Room two blocks long.
We started the day around noon time at Emo’s to see Rural Alberta Advantage followed by The Morning Benders. RAA belted out one catchy song after another, as the sun rays beamed in through the shackle roof to light up the stage while the band played “Frank AB” and “Don’t Haunt This Place.”
“Don’t Haunt This Place” – Rural Alberta Advantage
By the time the Morning Benders got on stage, it took them 10-plus minutes to get the soundcheck right, and as a result, they were only able to fit in four songs – three from their new, critically acclaimed LP, Big Echo. Nevertheless, they got the crowd to clap and sing along with them on their most popular recent songs, “Promises” and “Excuses.”
“Excuses” – The Morning Benders
Next it was over to The Galaxy Room just in time to catch Philadelphia‘s 70’s FM pop rock (in a good way; think Cheap Trick) band Free Energy. They put on an energetic, engaging performance that had a packed crowd really going – definitely one of the most inspired shows of SXSW’s Day One. Half way into Free Energy’s set, the line outside The Galaxy Room had grown down the block and around the corner on Red River Street. Free Energy, a young, talented band have built a strong following in the past half year, and have been an IRC band to watch. The recent release of their album, Stuck on You, proves why.
“Dream City” – Free Energy
Following Free Energy at Wednesday’s Paste Magazine showcase was Freelance Whales, yet another recent phenomenon to hit the “indie rock” scene in the past year. The band of musicians from the various boroughs of New York City fuse keyboard new wave pop with banjo-picking, stellar choruses and perfectly-timed bass, drums and guitar that round out a sound uniquely their own. By the time Freelance Whales were into their second song, the people outside in the line – including those with the all-mighty badges – were pretty much stuck there – no one was leaving at that point. And for good reason.
“Hannah” – Freelance Whales
Next it was over to Red 7 to see New Jersey’s Real Estate perform a number of their widely acclaimed songs, including “Beach Comber,” “Suburban Dogs” and “Green River.” The band are likely to follow up their praise from CMJ last fall to even bigger buzz post-SXSW. They are scheduled oddly enough for only one official SXSW show, but are actually performing seven ‘unofficial’ shows by the end of Saturday. The only problem with the Real Estate show at Red 7 was that the vocals were not loud enough, and thus some of the songs sounded more like instrumentals, and still they pulled it off marvelously – which says much about any band’s musicianship.
“Green River” – Real Estate
Official SXSW at Night: Good Luck Getting into the Best Showcases
That pretty much put an end to the day shows, which, interestingly enough, are not even considered official SXSW shows. In fact, the official SXSW Music Pocket Guide does not even list the day time shows. This is an interestingly separation as one spectator pointed out today. The day time shows, which are usually free, and somewhat easier to get into than night time shows, offer many regular folks who cannot afford – or get into – the exclusive, and official, evening showcases, a chance to see talented bands. The daytime shows also expose bands to a more diverse audience, and provide a better chance to connect with non-industry people, not to mention the perfect conditions for making new fans.
The interesting thing about the night time shows, is that not even the folks with the expensive badges, can get into a venue once it has hit capacity. The same goes for wristband holders. Many of the evening showcases are open only to badge and wristband holders, who tend to be music industry and press people. But it’s still about capacity.
This was the case tonight at Stubb’s, where the bill included The Walkmen, Broken Bells and Spoon. The line was extremely long, and not moving enough to create hope of seeing those bands. Before The Walkmen even completed their set, venue staff were telling people in line that they might as well go somewhere else because the joint was at capacity and badge holders, if there was capacity to let anyone else in, would get first priority. Basically, even badge holders were not guaranteed entry because any sane person that actually got in to Stubb’s this evening wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave, especially since Spoon wasn’t scheduled until 12:15am. For many of us, not getting in was a big let-down. OK, get over it fast, and hit another venue with a solid showcase that may be a better shot.
So, we dashed across the street to Club De Ville in hopes of seeing Here We Go Magic, The Middle East, Bowerbirds and Califone. Unfortunately, it was pretty much the same deal. Club Deville was filled to capacity with little chance of getting in no matter how long you waited.
One thing you find out pretty fast about SXSW, especially at the official, popular night showcases, is that you may not get into see a lot of bands you planned on seeing – regardless of who you are, or whether you have a badge or wristband.
Leaving the Deville and weaving our way through the huge crowds in the closed-to-cars streets of downtown Austin, we headed over to The Galaxy Room to catch Denmark’s Choir of Young Believers, and an awesome set from London’s Fanfarlo.
After those shows, it was looking doubtful that we’d get into The Parish a few blocks away in time to see Codeine Velvet Club, We Were Promised Jetpacks and Frightened Rabbit. After 20 minutes in a long line, the staff informed everyone that it was sold out.
“Vanity Kills” – Codeine Velvet Club
“Swim Until You Can’t See The Land” – Frightened Rabbit
Still, we were able to get into Wave, and proceeded to ascend to the relatively small, cramped rooftop area to see Florida’s Surfer Blood, one of the most influential new bands, partly responsible for a wave of popularity in the “indie” surf rock trend that started to take hold in 2009, and is showing no signs of slowing down in 2010. Fans of bands like Pavement and Built to Spill are most likely to be interested in Surfer Blood. One indication of a new band’s popularity is the number of profile views they have on MySpace. Surfer Blood’s MySpace page already has well over half of a million profile views.
The band played an amazing 40 minute set, but it was literally the most packed crowd yet. Whether we liked it or not, the person in front and back of you were pressed up against you – through no fault of their own. Thankfully, we had a really fun, and tolerable, group of people that were having a blast and took for what it was worth – after all, it’s SXSW, and St. Patrick’s Day.
During Surfer Blood’s set, the band grooved on their psychedelic surf rock sounds on tracks like “Floating Vibes” and “Take It Easy,” saving their most well-known song, “Swim (To Reach The End),” to close out the set. During “Take It Easy,” front man JP Pitts, took his name a bit literally and jumped into the crowd who caught and held him up perfectly, giving many people the first chance to see a band member because the stage was so low only the people right in front saw the band – unless you were seven-feet tall.
“Floating Vibes” – Surfer Blood
See other Surfer Blood posts with more songs
By the time, Surfer Blood finished, it was 2 am, and time for the festival to close up until 10 am this morning, when dozens of daytime showcases will kick-off and go on all day throughout Austin, with a brief break, usually between 6-8 pm, before the big nightime shows started.
No matter what one does when they visit SXSW, there is no way you can see most of the bands you planned to, not only because they are playing at the same time in different dozens of venues. So, the best one can do at SXSW, is to hope and to get to see as many shows as possible. But after 15 hours on your feet, it starts taking it’s toll.
There were many other artists and bands that we wanted to see today that we could not for no other reason than having to make tough choices about which showcases we wanted to see, and which we had the best chance to get into, preferably where you can stay for at least a few sets in a row. Some of the shows we missed today, unfortunately, included Titus Andronicus, Beach Fossils, Neon Indian, Small Black, Washed Out, and Japandroids, to name a few.
“Time” – Beach Fossils
“Phone Call” – Washed Out
One of the saving graces when missing shows by artists you want to see, is that many play more than one – in some cases up to eight – other gigs during the four-day festival, many times at unofficial SXSW showcases. And yet, no matter how well you plan and try, there are going to be bands that you want to see that you simply will miss.
Thursday is yet another big day for SXSW, although it will lack the same energy and green attire and costumes that Day One/St. Patrick’s Day offered.
The Austin Convention Center has a great day showcase featuring The Walkmen, Frightened Rabbit, Codeine Velvet Club and Dr. Dog.
“The Rat” – The Walkmen
“California” – Dr. Dog
However, the Bay Area Takeover Party at the Beauty Bar (617 E. 7th St.) offers a splendid lineup for the entire day, including The Ferocious Few, Sonny and the Sunsets, Leopold and His Fiction, Sleepy Sun, Man/Miracle, and so on, not to mention the “other” Beauty Bar (distinguished as “Palm Door” at 401 Sabine Street), which is hosting Bear Hands, Yacht, Fool’s Gold, Banjo or Freakout, Growlers and Active Child.
“Too Young To Burn” – Sonny and the Sunsets
“Hot Sprawl” – Man/Miracle
“Upside Down” – Banjo or Freakout
The Fader Fort (1101 E. 5th St.) will host Everything, Everything, Best Coast, Neon Indian, Local Natives, The Morning Benders and others. The Galaxy Room, with an inside and outside stage, will have Shearwater, Miles Kurosky (of Beulah), Lou Barlow, The Lonely Forest, The Low Anthem, The Middle East, Black Prairie and Dinosaur Feathers.
“Sun Hands” – Local Natives
“Blood” – The Middle East
Check back tomorrow for more about the Thursday night shows, news of the day shows, and some videos, photos and more as they begin to pile up. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook for lots of updates that we send out during the entire day and night events.
As we are putting this together at a ridiculous time of the morning, we’re still debating how we can see most of our top-pick shows tomorrow, while also considering heavily the logistics.