This was my longest time in Austin. I extended my stay by attending SXSW Edu before attending SXSW Interactive and Film. It meant I was fully acclimatised before Music began.

I managed to catch around 150 artists this time. It felt like I caught far fewer bands than in previous years. Some of my ‘core’ day parties had shifted to Rainey Street and I always seemed to be up at 6th and I didn’t feel like heading down there to find queues. Plus, I managed to get some nasty blisters during SXSW Interactive so decided to take it easier. Going on my step count, where one year it hit about 230,000, this year I was down at ‘only’ 150,000 steps. So I did far less walking.

The most unusual thing about this SXSW this year was there wasn’t a buzz around the place. There weren’t any rumours of big bands playing secret shows. There was no Jack White turning up in his mobile shop. There wasn’t Prince turning up. There weren’t rumours of Paul McCartney playing with Dave Grohl. And there wasn’t anything as big as Obama turning up during Interactive. There also appeared to be less rap at the festival. I suspect the lower buzz kept away the Spring Breakers who usually turn up looking to hit the free events causing the overcrowded streets……

…….And SXSW was all the better for being quieter.

It felt like the year where there was the best opportunity to find new bands and to catch the bands who are just starting to create a buzz without being distracted by the big names and queues to get in venues. In fact, it was pretty easy to get into most venues.

This year I’d tried to get a photo pass. Sadly, as I don’t photograph for anyone, it proved impossible. I had hoped that I would be allowed to take my Sony A7iii into venues as the guidance on SXSW website says that none professional cameras are allowed. I assumed that most door staff would let it through because it’s clearly not a big professional SLR. Unfortunately, it turned out so many of the US togs were using Sony’s that I was quickly rumbled and ended up leaving it my hotel room. I instead dragged around an old Sony NEX6 with terrible autofocus, so the quality of the shots in this blog post reflect the fact that I was often manually focusing while drunk. It’s far easier being a drunk dancing photographer with my Sony A7iii! So the quality of my photos was lower than my normal standard, but using old gear meant I wasn’t too concerned about it getting damaged or lost.

Most days followed a similar pattern. I would hit either the conference centre to catch an early performance or head to the Paramount, Stateside or Alamo cinemas for a film or documentary. Then it was off to my favourite venue, the British Music Embassy to watch an early band and grab a free lunch.

The evenings followed a similar pattern. I would usually identify the bar with the earliest official performance – usually BD Riley’s. Then bounce between ‘pins’ in the schedule catching some of the bands I know or wanted to see. The aim to catch as much new and varied music as possible. If the performer wasn’t interesting, it was a case of moving on to the next venue.

While Rainey has all the ‘cool’ bars and often had the bigger artists. 6th Street and Red River continue to be my preferred stomping ground. There’s a good twenty venues you can usually bounce around in the space of half a mile and moving up Red River was always pretty easy as the crowds tended to stick to 6th Street.

I’ve included a list of the performers I know I saw. For the majority, I saw at least one song from them. For some of the UK bands who I knew I could catch at home, I often left after half a set to try and catch somebody else.

So who were my highlights.

Top of the tree were a ‘home band’. A band from my home town. Avalanche Party. I’ve seen them several times in London. They put on a very good show and I wanted them to see some home support. Us Teessiders stick together. I had intended to only see them once but then I bumped into some of the band members casing out Valhalla the night before their set and felt I should make the effort. I was really glad I did, the second show was as explosive as their first. I really hope they see some traction from SXSW.

I had several bands on my list. Bands who I’ve been listening to their album but not had a chance to catch as they rarely tour the UK. Priests, Illuminati Hotties, The Beths and French Vanilla were on my list. Priests and The Beths have toured the UK but I’ve never managed to catch them.

French Vanilla played what has become one of my favourite venues, Cheer Up Charlies. I caught a few bands play there during SXSW and found the staff to be really friendly and it had a nice relaxed vibe. French Vanilla weren’t relaxed. The lead singer Sally Splitz bounded around the stage taking us through a set that had me dancing.

Priests are a band I had heard great things about from friends who caught their London shows. Playing in the early afternoon sun in leather trousers, probably wasn’t the wisest decision the lead singer made (and she said so). But the whole band were excellent. I have to admit, I was surprised by their guitarist. I wasn’t expecting him to be as limber as he is. At times he was like a ballerina with a guitar. They were so good, I immediately ordered a ticket to their 100 Club gig in May.

Sadly, despite many good reviews from friends who had seen them during their UK tour just before SXSW, the Beths did very little for me. The songs I heard were bland and the performance not that exciting and I moved on after a few songs.

There were two hyped UK and Irish bands, that I wanted to catch before they got big. Fontaine’s DC and Black MIDI. SXSW is often a good place to catch home bands in small venues.

So many of my current favourite bands are what we tend to lazily call ‘post-punk’ . If any band deserves that description it’s Fontaine’s DC. Their lead singer paces around the stage with a detached stare that many have compared to Ian Curtis. I can see why. They have driving riffs and rhythms and at times almost anthemic lyrics. Often the lyrics are pure poetry. They’re a really good band live and the audience at the early afternoon show at the Mohawk, knew they’d seen a new great band. They also had the most memorable lyric of the week. ”Dublin in the rain is mine. A pregnant city with a Catholic mind”. A definite highlight. They’re going to be big.

Black MIDI are a different case. It’s not easy to categorise their genre. Some have called it art-rock. To me, they sound like they grew up listening to Primus with vocals that at times are sung so quickly that they sound like gibberish. The lads, all with black ‘x’s on their hands, are too young to drink in Texan bars. But play with a maturity far beyond their years. The drummer is pretty amazing, with an almost jazz like style. Apparently the boys are graduates of the Brit School. While, it’s generally produced pop artists and actors, in the last few years, there seems to have been a few indie performers appearing. These lads are setting the bar very high for future Brit school graduates.

The week continued to throw up surprises. I almost moved on to a new venue when I saw a band called T-Rextasy, assuming they were a T-Rex cover band. Thankfully I didn’t and saw a brilliant performance.

One evening, I decided to grab a pint to rest my weary feet, and caught Bizou. A band featuring a former Smashing Pumpkin. Excellent they were too. It’s these little surprises that makes SXSW for me. As you’ll see from my list. A significant proportion of the bands I saw, were new.

One band I caught several times was Gurr. They’re one of my favourite live bands, playing infectious music that always makes me feel twenty years younger. It’s the same feeling I get every time I put on Teenage Kicks. I think everyone needs a band like that in their life. Gurr are mine.

I also took the opportunity to catch lots of bands I’ve seen before. London band the Abjects, are always good value. The Joy Formidable are regulars at SXSW and although they played a short set at the British Music Embassy, still a great live band. Then there were bands like Teen. A band I always seem to play SXSW the years I’m there. They’ve become a tradition.

I’ve not yet discovered the best way to tackle SXSW Music. I always want to discover great new bands that become part of my life. So I rush around between venues, savouring little bits. I guess to me, SXSW is the Tapas of music festivals. I love the randomness of moving between Chinese electronica, to a punk band in the next door venue.

I know many, tackle the festival as a ‘greatest hits’ festival, researching every band possible moving around on a strict timetable. I suspect no matter which way you tackle it, SXSW is the marathon of festivals.

I guess no matter which way you approach the festival, by the end I think everyone is tired and ready to head home. However, as in 2016, I decided to stick around on the Sunday. Heading to Beerland for their annual post-festival all-dayer. Sadly, I also wasted an hour walking in over to Waterloo Records to see Arthur Brown, but when I got there I found he’d cancelled. (I figure he’s not got many more years left before he calls it a day). But it was clearly the place to be, as both Steve Lamacq and Huw Stephens were catching the Wants before catching their flights home.

Last time I visited Austin, I said I didn’t think I would be back. The cost cripples me for 18 months and last time felt just too busy. This time, it felt right. I’m not really sure what was different this year. I do SXSW on my own. I hate living our of other people’s pockets. I do SXSW my way. But this year there were quite a few people I knew attending. Although I didn’t arrange to meet any of them, I guess it felt more like my usual London scene, with friends around the corner, which meant I often bumped into people I knew. I think this helped make the event more relaxing. I think having the extra few days also meant that I was more ready. In fact I had such a good time this time, I know I will be back. I’ll have to pay this one off first. So sadly it won’t be next year. But SXSW 2021 watch out. I’m coming back.

Listed below are bands I know I caught. If they’re listed in bold, they’re a band I liked. If they’re in italics, they’re a band I’ve seen before.

A

Abjects, Alex Riegelman & Friends, Annabelle Chairlegs, Andy, Anemone, Another Sky, Anna Altman, Aquarium Blood, Avalanche Party

B

Balium, Bambara, Bane’s World, BBQT , Beshken, Big Joannie, Big Phony, Bizou , Black Belt Eagle Scout, Black MIDI, Blank Tapes, Blinders, Bloods, Bones Garage, Bruisey Reed

C

Calico Blue, Chkbns , Christine Su, Cosmic, Crucifixion Nails

D

Daniel Brandt, Das Body, Deeper, Desert, Devon Mulvaney , DJ Confucius Jones, Doofus, Dyldo & the Darlins

E

Eme Alfonso

F

Fathersons, Fontaines DC, Florry, Fragile Rock, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, French For Rabbits,  French Vanilla, Frosty Palms

G

Geowulf, Glove, Gold Cage, Gravy’s Drop, Gurr

H

HÆLOS, Haley Heynderickx

I

Illumanti Hotties, I know Leopard

J

Japanese Breakfast, Jess Williamson, John Paul White, John Wesley Coleman, Jonathan, Jonathan Bree, Juiceboxxx, Jvcki Wai

L

La Mojarra Electrica, Late, Lia Lia, Lilly, Lucia, Lovelorn

M

Mavi Phoenix, Magnolia, Merry Jane & The Fondas, Minke, Monstruos del Mañana , Moonwalks, Mr Jimmy, Munya, My Life as Ali Thomas, Murray A. Lightburn

N

Native Sun

O

‘Oddonis, Oddonis’, Oh Pep!, Orchards, Otoboke Beaver

P

Pearl and the Oysters, Phony Pppl, Pip Blom, Pleasure Venom, Priests, Prom Threat, Pscience, Public Practice, Puma Blue

R

Raquel, Ratboys, ROE, Rose Ette

S

Saint PHNX, Sam Eagle, Say Sue Me, Scott Yoder, Seazoo, Shy Boys, Skull Shaker, Sofia Portanet, Soft Kill, Sophia Johnson, Sorry Girls, Spendtime Palace, Spiral Stairs, Squid, Stereogirl,  Stitched Up, Sun-Sahara, Surfbort, Sweet Spirit

T

Taco Mouth, Teen, Terminal A, The Beths, The Bright Light, The Brummies,  The Chills, The Dunts, The Flytraps, The Fur, The Joy Formidable, The Medium, The Munsens, The Other End, The Small Glories, The Soul Notes, The Upside Down,  The Wants, Think No Think, Thumpasauraus,  THYLA, T-Rextasy, Twen, Tyson Meade

U

Ume

V

Vaarwell,Veronica Bianqui, Viagra Boys, Vonne

W

WAAX, Wand, Warmdusher, Warm Human, Wet Dreams, whenyoung, Wild Moccasins, Worn-Tin

Yola, Yves Jarvis

Z

Z

With so many bands around, it’s now possible to catch gigs from the first day as some of the corporate parties have bands play and this was the case this time, with the White Denim playing on the first evening. But even before SXSW started it was possible to catch some of the great local Austin music by simply walking into any of the dive bars on 6th street.

2016 was a bit of an odd year. Yes, there were hundreds of great bands around but despite the fact that it was SXSW’s 30th anniversary, there wasn’t the buzz of previous years. There weren’t any massive bands playing secret shows and during the day and there seemed to be less parties. I think part of this is due to Austin trying to reduce the crowds turning up for the free parties. But I’m not sure this really is working, the crowds were still massive and they seemed to be mainly walking around on the streets. It didn’t help that Austin police had decided to introduce some crowd control measures that made it very difficult to move between venues.

One of the reasons why I loved SXSW was that it was so easy to move between dozens of venues and catch bands. If you didn’t like the band, you could then move across the road and see another one. So it’s been a great place to hear lots of different types of music and discover new bands.

This year, the venue density was lower. Last time I was here, quite a few showcases had shifted to Rainey street but there was still a good core set of venues on 6th and Red River. This time, some venues had shifted out east of I35. These tended to be sponsored venues with the bigger bands and I think part of the reason is to encourage people to stick to the venue. If you’ve queued to get into a venue that’s out of the way, you’re going to stay. Unfortunately, the venues that were left on 6th had changed. At my last visits, The Parish and Maggie Mae’s offered five stages that you could loop around in 10 minutes and catch a lot of music. The Parish was now a single venue and Maggie Mae’s split their stages into separate venues so you had to leave one venue to go back in. Maggie Mae’s also seemed to have switched to programming electronic and rap music and this unfortunately was also the case for several other venues.

In all honesty, rap is the biggest problem facing SXSW. The increase in rap programming seemed to encourage massive crowds who were seeking free gigs hoping that big name rappers were going to turn up. This also encouraged ‘rappers’ turning up often with massive crews trying to push their rap albums on the crowds on 6th street. I’m not sure if rap had led to issues at previous SXSW’s but it seemed like they’d concentrated rap programming into single venues often with heavy security. But this mean that whole venues disappeared off my ‘bounce circuit’. At times 6th street was literally at a standstill.

Unfortunately, the thing I really loved about SXSW was the ability to bounce around venues. I go to SXSW to discover new music. I tend to plan lightly with just a few bands I’d like to see and then just bounce up and down 6th and Red. With the increased crowds I just wasn’t getting to see the same level of bands I’d expect to see each day. Don’t get me wrong, during the music part of SXSW, I was still seeing 20-30 bands a day but it took a lot of effort to catch this number and it took a few days to optimise my route to maximise the amount of bands I caught.

It sounds like I didn’t enjoy myself this time. This is far from the truth. I had a brilliant time watching some great bands in venues ranging from churches to dive bars.

There were the usual programming surprises, where you stumble upon a band you hadn’t realised were playing SXSW. For example going to a venue to watch the excellent Ezra Furman and realising that Mercury Rev were on afterwards. So getting the opportunity to see a great band in a relatively tiny venue.

Them there was the opportunity to see music that I’d never otherwise catch, such as the South Korean band Jambinai who mix traditional Korean instruments to create some really good ambient rock music.

It was also an opportunity to catch many British bands that I hadn’t managed to catch at home. Often they were playing the frankly excellently organised and managed British Music Embassy. YAK, a band I’d been unable to catch in London, I caught playing an excellent set at the British Music Embassy.

In total I managed to catch over 130 bands. This isn’t the complete list as I didn’t catch the name of every band but as you can see it’s a pretty diverse range of bands

[Alexandros], Abjects, Amber Arcades, Autobahn, Avec Sans, Baby Shakes, Basia Bulat, Big Thief, Big Ups, Black Fast, Blaenavon, The Blind Suns, Bombino, Boy Toy, Burn Out, CallMeKat, Capsula, Castillo, Caveman, Chad Valley, Chocolat, Ciaran Lowery, Clean Cut Kid, The Crookes, Demob Happy, DEXSTRINGs, Diet Cig, Dilly Dally, The Do Aways, Dude York, Elanor Friedberger, Enemies, Ezra Furman, Faith Healer, Fear of Men, FEWS, Fior, Fizzy Blood, Get Inuit, Gold Class, Golden Boys, The Gooch Palms, Guerrilla Toss, Gwenno, GYMNSHORTS, Haelos, Harts, Heaters, The Heavy, Hinds, Hooton Tennis Club, Houndstooth, Jack Garrett, Jane Weaver, Judah and the Lion, Juiceboxxx, Kat Dehlia, Keeps, Khruangbin, Laura Carbone, Lazyeyes, Lushes, Lusts, The Parrots, Petite Noir, PMS and the Mood Swings, Jambinai, Julia Jacklin, Luke Sweeney, Magic Is Real, Mainland, Mercury Rev, _Methyl Ethyl, Modern Sons, MONEY, Mothers, Moustache Prawn, Mr Lewis and the Funeral, Nancy Pants, New Berlin, Night Moves, Obn IIIs, Oh Pep!, The Outfit, TX, PARTYBABY, PHASES, PINS, Phebe Starr, Poliça, Power Trip, Protomartyr, Pure Bathing Culture, Queen Suitcase, Ritual Howls, Rozi Plain, Rubblebucket, Runaway Saints, The San Juan Project, Sara [], September Girls, Seratones, Sister Fuzz, Slingshot Dakota, Sorority Noise, Spooklyland, Sons of an Illustrious Father, Spook School, Stealing Sheep, Sunflower Bean, Sweet Talk, Sweet Spirit, Sugarmen, Tacocat, TEEN, Tele Novella, Tiger Town, Thelma and the Sleaze, Trash, Trevor Sensor, Twin Limb, VACATION, Violet Skies, Warprty, Waxahatchee, The Weather Station, Welshly Arms, White Denim, White Lung, The Whistles and the Bells, Wild Belle, Yak, Yonatan Gat

I’ve highlighted bands who stood out. I thought Yak and Yonatan Gat stood put in the best performances of SXSW. But bands such as Sunflower Bean, Ezra Furman and Mercury Rev put in really strong performances. Then there were some great unusual situations that enhanced performances, such as thunderstorms forcing the Barracuda to move their outside stage inside their venue with the bands being playing in a circle in the centre of the room surrounded by the audience. GYMNSHORTS’s performance really was enhanced by this and I’m not sure I would have been as impressed if they’d played outside on a stage.

My only disappointment was missing the Kills. They were playing two venues that according to Twitter, always seemed to have queues so I couldn’t be bothered spending time queuing to see a band I’ve seen numerous times and that I’ll catch again in the UK.

From a photography point of view. Getting a good shot wasn’t a priority. So although I had my Sony A7s with me, as soon as music officially started, I left it in my hotel and just carried a pocket camera and if there wasn’t an opportunity to get to the front, just grabbed a shot simply to document out who I’d seen. I also decided towards the end of SXSW to try and capture some of the atmosphere of SXSW and captured lots of short 20 second clips of video.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcuA-R0pCTw]

Joy Formidable

My plan for the rest of SXSW Music was to get in as many days parties as possible (hopefully with free beer) and to bounce around venues to catch as many bands as possible. I have a one song rule. I give a band one song to convince me to stay for more. Each day I had a short list of bands to see. These were usually bands I’ve been trying to see or bands I’ve already seen and are good. But I don’t let the list dictate my night. So if there was a queue outside a venue, it was on to the next.

Overall, the plan worked well. With the close proximity of so many venues around 6th Street, it was easy to bounce between venues and I managed to catch some really good bands. But the week didn’t start well, On Tuesday I decided to try and catch the Japandroids at Viceland. This was a temporary venue setup in a parking lot on Caesar Chavez street, over the road from the conference centre. The entrance was through a warehouse. The queue looked short. But we soon found that this was only the queue to get into the warehouse. An hour later, I was still waiting. The venue was at capacity and everyone was staying for Japandroids. It’s not fun listening to the band from inside a warehouse. Eventually I was luck to get into the venue just as they decided to close the queue and kick everyone out. But I’m not sure it was worth it. Japandroids are an excellent band who I’ve seen before. But the venue was far too crowded with most attendees without a SXSW badge. Made worse by a poor sound system. For the rest of the week, I went back to plan A. Sticking in the main to the venues around 6th street.

Last time I was at SXSW, the Foo Fighters played the Interactive closing party and I missed it. So although I’m not the biggest Foo fan, it was still a major disappointment to miss the Foo’s play a small venue like Stubbs. This year Dave Grohl was giving SXSW’s keynote and his documentary, Sound City was playing in the film festival. So there was an expectation that that Sound City Players would be playing and true to form it was announced that there would be a lottery for tickets to see the Sound City Players playing at Stubbs.

Dave Grohl giving a highly enjoyable keynote

Luckily I managed to get a ticket for the gig. I did debate whether it was worth wasting an entire evening watching one band. But there were rumours flying around that Paul McCartney was going to attend. 99% of me didn’t believe this. But the 1% that did, didn’t want a ‘Foo Fighters’ moment where I missed something I would regret.

The Sound City Players lineup is pretty amazing. With the Foo Fighters as the backing band, the lineup changes between each venue. Tonight the ‘Players’ consisted of Alain Johannes (QOSTA & Them Crooked Vultures), Stevie Nicks, Rick Springfield, Chris Goss (Masters of Reality), Brad Wilk (Rage Against the Machine), Lee Ving (Feer), Nirvana band mates Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear, Corey Taylor (Slipknot), Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick) and finally John Fogerty (Creedance).

With such a varied line-up, the evening was up and down. Rick Springfield was a bit too ‘cheesy rock’ for me and Stevie Nicks’ voice isn’t what it used to be. But that’s not to detract from the evening. There were some real highlights and it was a chance to see some really influential musicians enjoy themselves playing loose with Dave and his band and it was clear that every one of them was thrilled to be part of the project. But the biggest highlight for me was John Fogerty’s Creedance set as they played ‘Born on a Bayoo’, and the fantastic ‘Bad Moon Rising’. So after nearly 3 hours, I wasn’t left disappointed.

For the rest of the week it was back to venue bouncing catching as many bands as possible. It was interesting seeing bands I know well playing their first US gigs and seeing the reaction of the crowds. Some were really well received such as the Savages, others bemusing the audience (and me) such as Paloma Faith. Then there were bands I probably wouldn’t pay to see in the UK such as Reverend and Makers, playing excellent ‘festival’ sessions that buoyed up the small US crowd. There was also the interesting experience of seeing Billy Bragg playing to a US audience in Texas (and getting out alive). Even when a band wasn’t very good, it wasn’t a disappointment, just an opportunity to try a different venue. I really love this music festival. There’s just so much to listen to, that there’s really no excuse for seeing a bad band.

The list below are the bands I have a record of seeing. Overall I recorded  that I saw nearly 100 bands, but in reality the list is probably much longer. These are only the bands that I wrote down. A number of these bands I’ll be trying to catch up with over the next few months.

The Majority Says, Skinny Lister, Joy Formidable, St Lucia, Divine Fits, Kiven, Elijah Ford & The Bloom, Y Niwl, Lucy Rose, Tall Ships, Jess Williamson, The Carper Family, You Me & Us, Girl Names, California X, Audacity, The Coathangers, Kassidy, Kodaline, Kid Karate, Squarehead, Mirror Travel, Let’s Buy Happiness, Story Books, Icky Blossoms, North Mississippi Allstars, Japandroids, Deniro Farrar, Anuhea, Josephine, John McCauley & Friends, Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale, Black Violin, Islet, Catlin Rose, The Savages, Charan Po Rantan, Paper Lions, The Revivalists, Wildlife Control, Boy + Kite, Max Gomez, Walk Off The Earth, Cinnamon Chasers, Toy, Peace, The Bears, Okapi Sun, Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds, Holy Balm, Hiatus Kaiyote, The Life Electric, Heavy Rock In Gibson, Iron Tom, Phlos, Wet Nuns, The Trews, Atomic Tom, The Blue Van, Royal Teeth, Tango in the Attic, Great Hip Hop Hoax, Young Fathers, Black Lips, Billy Bragg, Amanda Palmer, Andy Clockwise, The Falls, Summer Flake, Metz, Christopher Smith, The Staves, Paloma Faith, Suburban Living, Fort Lean, Against Grace, Wampire,. White Lung, Teen, Ex Cops, Thermals, Thurston Moore, Reverend and the Maker, Against Grace, Sound City Players, Eagles of Death Metal, Civil Twilight, San Cisco, Rah Rah, Hey Marseilles, Tyler & The Shakedown, Imaginary Cities, Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, Funeral Suits, Emma Louise, Blitz Kids, D.A.Calf, Rites Wild, Mary Epworth, Jonathan Boulet, El Vez

Flickr Photos

[AFG_gallery id=’5′]

The first thing to say about SXSW Music is that it’s a cool festival. For many, SXSWi  is considered to be the ‘cooler’ but for me SXSW Music was far better. It’s just so chilled and everyone I met was there for the music.

SXSW takes place in venues across Austin. If there’s space for a stage, then it will be turned into a venue. Everything from courtyards and churches to the Austin Conference Center become temporary venues to a wide range of music.

I’d never been to SXSW before. With 1900 bands I wasn’t sure how to approach the festival. Do you concentrate on bands you know or go to random venues? My initial approach had been to listen to SXSW radio before leaving for Austin to identify bands to listen to. This approach didn’t last long.

The great thing about SXSW is that many of the venues are in clusters around the town. About half of the venues are clustered around 6th street so it’s easy to jump between venues. I’d expected it to be difficult to move between venues, and it’s true the bigger venues with the big big names bands can be difficult to get in. But I never experienced any problems moving between the smaller venues. I think the longest I waited was 10 minutes. This meant that I could catch many more bands each day.

The great thing is that during the day there’s numerous official and unofficial showcases. Many are country related or organised by companies such as Sonicbids. There were also a number of stages around the main Conference Centre and I found that I alternated between spending the afternoon around the Conference Centre and flitting between unofficial parties.

The full Music badge or the Platinum badge gives access to the SXSW conference. This featured talks about many aspects of the music business with several big named speakers. The only session I attended was the keynote given by Bob Geldof.

Many who lived through the 80s view Bob Geldof with an almost saintlike status. We know he’s a gruff, miserable bastard, but he’s also the person who along with Midge Ure managed to bring the world together to act over the distressing events in Ethiopia. He’s achieved things that no one believed could happen. The standing ovation at the end of this Keynote highlights that no matter what he says, you can’t separate this action from the man.

Bob Geldof’s keynote was a rambling but enjoyable monologue that touched on the terrible inequalities in the world, how America’s becoming tired and how rock and roll can change the world but that now it’s a bit crap. His belief is that that rock and roll is at it’s most powerful and dangerous when it’s used as a voice for the disaffected. Whether it’s Bob Dylan or the Sex Pistols, rock works best when it stands up and tries to change things. He wondered why, when the world is in financial turmoil and bankers who’ve caused it walk off with massive bonuses, today’s rock music isn’t challenging this. He has a point.

He also managed to annoy a large percentage of the audience by dismissing the power of the Internet to support actions. In his opinion, people writing on the Internet are all wankers who just want their voice heard. As there’s nothing pulling these voices together, as he did with music, these voices end up being noise. But it’s amazing how he managed to dismiss the power of the Internet with all everything that’s happening in the Middle East right before our eyes.

The thing I loved about SXSW was that it gave me a chance to listen to loads of new music. Overall, the standard was pretty good. There were only a handful of bands that  I didn’t like but it just gave me an opportunity to move on to a new venue. The quality of the venues varies considerably. Also with so many changeovers, there was the odd sound problem. But none of this distracted from the festival.

I think over the four days I saw around 70 bands. These are the bands I noted down, but there were many more:

Dutch, Dicta, Said the Whale, Boat People, Ximena Sarinana, James Vincent McMorrow, DeVotchaKa, Chapel Club, The Black Angels, Black Joe Lewis, Shilpa Ray, Woodsman, Erland & The Carnival, Harrys Gym, Blaqstar, White Denim, Adanowsky, Gustavo Galindo, DJ Yoda, Streets of Fire, Kinch, Matthew & The Arrogant Sea, The Black, Mr Lewis & The Funeral 5, EatLiz, Dry the River, Fences, Mr Heavenly, Jonquil, Clock Opera, Bobby, Bell Gardens, Josh T Pearson, The Loom, Twin Atlantic, Admiral Fallow, The Hounds Below, The Bangles, King Creosote & Kid Canaveral, Thavius Black, Pitch Blond, Screaming Females, The Joy Formidable, The Kills, Austra, Little Comets, Esben and the Witch, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Burning of Rome, Endless Hallway, The Black Cloud Collective, The Belle Brigade, Scars on 45, The Republic Tigers, Veronica Falls, The Jezabels, The Seedy Seeds, The Bangles, Suck Piggy, Joan of Arc, Dinosaur Pile Up, Pulled By Horses, Filligar, The Chevelles, Capsula

The highlight from this long list was The Joy Formidable. I’d been hearing that they were a great live band. Before heading out to Austin I’d purchased the album and a ticket for their London gig in May but it wasn’t my plan to catch them. But like many of the UK bands, they were seemed to be playing everywhere. Taking the opportunity to play as many gigs as possible while in the US. So I ended up catching two of their gigs. In both cases I just happened to walk past venues they were playing. Both gigs were warmly received and rightly so. The Joy Formidable were amazingly tight and despite being a three piece, have a sound that fills venues. Bryan the lead singer,  storms through the sets like she’s possessed. Definitely worth catching.

SXSW Photos

Videos

[youtube PkMrMAfhP30 600]

[youtube P2ahBkFiK2Q 600]