With my satisfaction at getting in touch with the singer-songwriter scene again, I decided to go out and explore in celebration. It didn’t take me long to find another showcase. I just hopped across the street to Maggie Mae’s and stayed because I saw The Rocketboys on the set list. With the grace of my wristband, I was lucky enough to up go upstairs and see these guys live.
After deciding I was utterly over The xx after five or six songs and grabbing some grub, I decided to head into The Parish where The Hotel Cafe showcase was being held – and to my surprise, singer-songwriter Laura Jansen was up next. I had been curious about her as an artist for a while but only because I tend to fall in and out of my relationship with the singer-songwriter genre. There is no doubt that performers who play shows like The Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles are talented, but sometimes it isn’t enough to entice me to go out and see a show.
With a location beyond the freeway, the walk was lengthy and I arrived to see a ridiculously long line for The xx at The Lawn Party. Knowing that they were scheduled to go on at 6 PM and that it was well past that point already, I regretted hiking all the way to a party to see a band I didn’t even particularly like. I’ve had an odd relationship with The xx’s latest album. There was an incredible amount of hype surrounding it during the end of 2009 and out of curiosity, I took a listen. My initial conclusion was that this was an indie rock band slipping into R&B territory, and that it sounded good but it also wasn’t anything extraordinary. My decision to walk to this party anyway was a way to give them a second chance. I thought perhaps I would enjoy them more live.
I stumbled onto The Henry Clay People while trying to catch the Biz3 showcase at Mohawks. While walking by the jangling guitars and keyboards drew me away from the long lines down the block to enjoy some good ol’ fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. Unfortunately I was only able to catch a few songs since I walked in around the last half of their set but I still managed to catch one of my favorite tracks, “For Cheap Or For Free.”
After catching a bus on the way back to N. Congress, I headed on over to a more familiar spot on 5th Street to see Titus Andronicus at Republic Live. However, when I arrived at the venue it turned out that the set times were horribly mixed up and bands were both behind and swapping around in the line up. However, I did endure bands such as Jukebox of Ghost as I waited for my chance to finally see Titus. Not only are their albums great, but lead vocalist Patrick Stickles really knows how to connect to his audience in the midst of all that punk shoegaze. It was also a surprise to see Amy Klein up on stage with the band since I wasn’t aware that the group now had a female member.
The first place on my schedule for SXSW Day 2 was Home Slice, a pizzeria. It may sound odd when I say I went to all the way to S. Congress to see a band at a pizzeria, but the best part about this mini trip is that Home Slice is one of the more well known pizza places in Austin. In fact, next to the original Home Slice, there was a building called More Home Slice. After having a slice of their Marguerita pizza, I could see why there needed to be an extra building of the same deliciousness.
One of the most surprising acts of the festival for me was Crystal Fighters, an incredible dance band out of the UK. I’m actually at a loss for words when trying to describe them but what I can tell you is they played several oddly shaped pieces of wood as percussion instruments…yeah. Good stuff.
SXSW continued for day 2 as I woke up on Thursday ready to see some more great music. Although Austin isn’t that huge, SXSW, itself, is quite large as there can be shows happening right in the middle of 6th street, beyond the freeway or a bus ride away. Thursday morning was the day I took the initiative to take a bus and see a show further away, and it turned out that it was very well worth it.
After careful consideration of Thursday night’s schedule, I decided to take on the Crystal Method and Steve Aoki who were playing Elysium. While the guys in Crystal Method may be nearing their mid-life crisis’, they can still hold it down on the 1’s and 2’s.
