SXSW Music Day 1: Fol Chen, Dan Auerbach and Access

If you’re heading down to good ol’ Austin, TX for SXSW this week and you haven’t arrived yet, get reading to hit the ground running. I’m an Austinite myself (yes, that is our title), so I know the city back-to-front, but it’s always difficult to prepare for the throngs of people clogging the downtown streets.

Air travel was a nightmare (Dallas- Fort Worth’s airport was an anxiety-ridden scene of stranded South by Southwesters), and traffic on the freeway slowed me down even further, but once I finally joined the mob on Red River Street for Day 1 (March 18th), the feeling of joy was immeasurable…

After grabbing my wristband from the Austin Convention Center, I followed the sweet sounds of power-pop to one of Austin’s trendiest clubs, Beauty Bar. Since it was only a tad before 10 p.m., the line moved quickly, and soon I was soaking up the New Wave-infused glory of Fol Chen (above), who delivered their brand of (usually) production-heavy pop-rock with an erratic punk-rock twist.

Unfortunately, the competitive pace of SXSW required me to duck out a bit early so I would have a chance of making it into The Parish to see Dan Auerbach (of the Black Keys) performing songs from his new solo record, “Keep it Hid.” Now I don’t regret staying for Fol Chen, but even though The Parish was just two blocks down on 6th Street, I found myself joining a rather stagnant line full of disgruntled faces.

SXSW Lesson 1: If you want to see a big name show, get there early – REALLY EARLY (this was emphasized to me later on again when I rolled up to Stubb’s BBQ for The Decemberists at 12 a.m. and the venue had already reached capacity – but the new record sounded dope from outside!).

However, within minutes, I witnessed the magic of SXSW when I was able to negotiate a nominal price with one of the Parish’s managers to sneak up the back stairs and get into the show.

SXSW Lesson 2: There’s ALWAYS a way to gain access. If you’re stuck in a line, start networking, flashing cash, causing a scene, etc… You never know who might have the hook-up.

Once inside, I wormed my way to the front, and within minutes, I was watching Auerbach with his touring band, Hacienda, treating the crowd to a raucous hour-long set that included almost every track off Auerbach’s record, plus a few covers. Check out the photo gallery from this psychedelic blues-heavy extravanganza:

If you can’t tell from the photographs, Auerbach is a bonafide rock star, and a humble one at that – he graciously thanked the crowd after every song.

After leaving the Parish, I hurried over to Stubb’s BBQ and listened to the end of the Decemberist’s set from outside the venue (remember SXSW Lesson 2). Then, to finish off the night, I hopped a few blocks down Red River Street to Mohawk for the last half of Themselves, whose odd brand of intellectual hip-hop pumped me with just enough adrenaline to stagger out to a main street and flag down a cab.

All in all, day one was hit, but it will be nothing compared to tonight’s line up, which includes the Meat Puppets, Gomez, Andrew Bird and Ben Harper and the Relentless7 at Stubb’s BBQ! Check BeatCrave’s Twitter feed throughout the day for frequent updates and visit BeatCrave.com tomorrow for a full review of Day 2 (March 19).

Based on what you’ve seen and heard, what do you think of SXSW 2009 so far? Is the fest living up to the hype?

Fol Chen photo by Sergio Garza

Dan Auerbach photos by David Hall