We got a late start. Got down to the Jane magazine party around 3ish. Walked past Architecture in Helsinki at Cedar Street - the little I heard was pretty good.
At the Jane magazine party we caught the tail end of The Comas' set. It was really, really good. Then Scissors for Lefty - they were fun but the material wasn't all my cup of tea. Then Great Northern - good songs, good performance, good "look" but missing some oomph. Margot & the Nuclear So & So's were my least favorite band of the day. Sue me, I'm just not all that in to rackety dirges performed by vintage store retro-chic clad hipsters. Then...
Sloan. SLOAN SLOAN SLOAN!! It's probably redundant to say Sloan rocks, like saying Rio Grande River. But mah gawd Sloan rocks. And they rock so effortlessly and confidently, you know that their not rocking would be an unnatural state that would cause a disturbance in the force. The sun will rise in the east, Sloan will rock.
Sloan, rocking (duh) @ Jane Magazine partyQuick food break at 7... we caught a rickshaw (I think they call them pedicabs) over to the Convention center for the next couple shows.
8 PM - Annuals. This is where my South by Southwest dream came true: I got to see an awesome indie band whose material I really love, where the sound was really good, and for the entire show nobody bumped or shoved me, or blew smoke in my face or flicked ashes on me, or talked on their cell phone with bad breath near me, or moshed, or farted, or spilled a drink on the floor for me to slip on. Heaven. As for Annuals' music: it's awesome, their record is totally awesome, and live they play it all with awesome energy and awesomeness. Buy the record and see them the next time they are in town. Oh, and the members are all 14 years old and 3 feet tall. I was a little surprised by that.
Annuals @ Austin Convention Center
9 PM - Peter Bjorn & John. More total awesomeness at the Convention Center. Another great band, great sound, great show. Half the audience left after they played their hit ("Young Folks"), which just goes to show there's no accounting for taste because the show kept getting better as it went on.
Peter or Bjorn or possibly John @ Austin Convention Center10 PM - Via Audio. I was a little disappointed but I think that for any musician to escape the curse of Berklee music college and come out of there able to play a decent song without 14 time signature and key changes modulating all over the place is an accomplishment. They have a great song, but to memorialize the late, great Paul Sessums (RIP), every band has one good song so it's nothing to go on. I got their CD though so I'll keep my fingers crossed.
11 PM - Aqualung, AKA Coldplay's little brothers. Great songs, performance, blah blah and don't get me wrong I really liked the show and wish them the best but I cannot watch them and not think of Coldplay. It's a shame because they are probably more talented than Coldplay but seriously IT SOUNDS LIKE COLDPLAY. OK enough complaining - Aqualung truly is great and I've seen them a few times and every time they put on a great show. If you like Coldplay.
Coldplay @ Austin Convention Center12 AM - Maritime. 2 data points does not a representative sample make, but I'm wondering if there's an emerging mini-trend where a band records upbeat pop music then plays punk rock at their live shows. I really like Maritime's record (this song is great) and live they were fun but I kept having to ask people in the crowd "this is Maritime, right? Maritime, you're sure?" I couldn't really think of the scenario where they would do that. It could be that the real Maritime died in a bus wreck or something at the last minute and they found a Sex Pistols cover band and gave them a quick listen to the Maritime CD and shoved them out on stage and said "remember, you're Maritime." Or maybe Maritime really is a punk band and they got some hollywood producer who kept trying to smooth out their material to make it radio friendly and they think it's really lame and have returned to their punk roots live. I don't know. It could also be that the sound at Soho Lounge was the worst of any venue anywhere in the entire city for the entire duration of SXSW.
Maritime @ Soho Lounge1 AM - Josh Pyke. This guy is a supremely talented songwriter. It's hard to engage people and keep them listening with just an acoustic guitar so anyone who can do it is already ahead in my book. Plus he has some incredible songs like this one. I think he would be even better with a backing band but I can understand not wanting to fly them all in from Australia for a 40 minute set.
Josh Pyke @ Hilton Garden Inn
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