We are in the full swing of SXSW craziness over here in Austin. I have been keeping a low profile until today due to the fact that I picked up a cold the night before I flew out here for all the madness. My day was supposed to start at 12:30pm with John Flanagan but sadly I was still in bed sleeping off breakfast and trying to catch up on rest from the night before. However, I did manage to get myself out of the hotel room in time to catch Nicole Atkins at the Antiquiet show at Rusty’s. From there it was a very short walk outside to the patio to catch Sad Robot for the Swinghouse Showcase.

 

 

The fact that I was still up and running after two shows seemed like a good sign (as opposed to yesterday) so I journeyed on a caught a touch of Wounds at the Annex. They were not what I had anticipated and although I appreciated the idea of getting in the crowd to sing and mosh, it seemed like too much energy for me to deal with at that moment in time. The beauty of SXSW is that everywhere you turn, there is music. So, I wandered up the street with Kristen and caught the last two songs from No at the Empire Control Room. We stuck around debating our next plan of action (we sometimes have to take this hour by hour) when The Crooks came on the stage. They were new to me, very enjoyable, and not to be confused with Crooks, mind you.

  From there it was a semi-mad dash over to the west side to catch what we thought was Dear Boy’s first show of SXSW but it was more of a interview with a cover song. Not complaining mind you because afterwards, we ended up right across the street at the W Hotel for the Music Media Welcome Reception. Complete with tasty snacks like a small lobster stuffed sandwich, cheese filled puff pastries, and a potato mousse with avocado on top. Pretty swanky. We made some new friends and watched the Mayor of Austin speak. After he was done, they featured a lady named Jazz Mills, who had a beautiful voice. We picked up some swag bags on the way out which included some coupons, a few cd samplers, ear plugs, a harmonica, and some other fun goodies. We had to swing back to the hotel to drop off our swag before getting back to Rusty’s patio to catch the very first band we saw last year, Moon Taxi. Moon Taxi was the first band of the day to make me dance around. I’m not sure if it’s because I was feeling good or they just had the tunes. They played old favorites like “All The Rage” and “Mercury” as well as new ones like “The New Black” and “The Morocco.” Seriously good fun.

The dancing only intensified later on in the evening with Dear Boy’s first full out SXSW show at the BMI showcase. En route to catch The Silent Comedy tear up the Crave showcase at Rusty’s (are you picking up a theme here?) we caught part of “Howl” from Beware of Darkness. As expected, The Silent Comedy put on a crazy good show and played all new tunes. There was a quick dash to catch Meg Myers over at Red Eyed Fly and a quick dash back to catch Semi Precious Weapons, who also played new music. They had a surprise guest show up in the form of one Lady Gaga. Needless to say, it got a little crowded up in there. But Semi Precious Weapons put on a hell of a great show, ending with a stage dive/crowd surfing from frontman Justin Tranter.

 

 

Honorable mention goes out to Queen Caveat who I heard were “on point” tonight. I had already wandered back to the hotel to save my energy for the madness of tomorrow. We would also like to take a moment to think about all those affected by the deadly car accident here at SXSW. We are thankful that all our friends are safe and our hearts go out to those affected by the incident. Tomorrow is not likely to let up on the insanity. Here are some of our top picks.

• Wind-up Records party at La Barbecue (1200 E 6th St) f. Jillette Johnson, Crobot, The Revivalists, Great Good Fine Ok
• Badass Bands Blog show at The Jackalope (404 E 6th St) f. No Small Children, Little Wild, The Shakers, The Heavy Heavy Hearts, The Janks, The Soft White Sixties
• We Met Tomorrow 1pm at Austin City Hall (301 W 2nd St)
• Parade of Lights 3pm at The Brew Exchange (706 W 6th St)
• Sir Sly 4pm at Bar 96 (96 Rainey St)
• Nightmare and The Cat 4pm at The Brew Exchange (706 W 6th St)
• Sam Smith 4:30 at Fader Fort (1101 E 5th St)
• The Kin 5pm at MUVE Music Showcase ‘Fish Bowl’ Stage (4th and Congress)
• Queen Caveat 6pm at Amped Downstairs (300 E 6th St)
• Brick + Motor 9pm at Metal & Lace
• American Authors 9pm at IFC Fairgrounds
• Mighty Oaks 10pm at Lucille (77 Rainey)
• Kid Karate 11:15 at Holy Mountain
• The Silent Comedy 12am at Tap Room at The Market