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Day 3, Friday, March 14

I'll admit, by Friday, day 3 of SXSW, I was already starting to feel the exhaustion a bit, and I was starting to need some motivational cheerleading. Luckily, I got to start the day off easy with the daytime party thrown by the Miami and Broward-Palm Beach New Times' parent company, Village Voice Media, at the cavernous venue La Zona Rosa. The lineup: Health, the Cribs, the Black Keys, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, and ....And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead.

You can read a review of the Black Key's set, penned by Pete Freedman, music editor of New Times sister paper the Dallas Observer, here.

You can also stream a live track from the party, of a newly debuted Black Keys song, here.

Next up, it was out of the crush of the main SXSW drag around E. 6th Street, past downtown Austin, to catch up with hometown boys Torche, who were playing one of a couple of Vice magazine parties on the same block. I walked into a large, sun-bleached park that looked like Williamsburg, Brooklyn, or whatever the Austin equivalent of it is, had puked all over it and distributed lots of free booze on the way -- of course, tall-boy cans of Miller High Life and Sparks. No free water, though, which is why it's so easy to remain, um, tipsy throughout the span of this whole thing.

Slurping on a high-octane Sparks plus, I was checking out some metally looking merch and a Motörhead-logo-painted Scion (nothing says metal like a Scion) when I realized that, 15 minutes past Torche's set time, nothing much was going on stage. Then I quickly realized, I was at the WRONG Vice-sponsored, metal-heavy show full of cool kids on the block. Torche was at the one across the street, at the Longbranch Inn, a really awesome barbecue joint/dive bar that looks ready to fall apart five minutes ago.

With a car like this parked inside, can you blame me for thinking Torche might have possibly been playing there?

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So I’ve finally gotten a decent night’s sleep after getting back on Sunday from SXSW. And, while here in Miami, we have to start down the countdown to WMC (next Tuesday! Get excited)! I still wanted to wrap-up a summary of the live music I saw out in Texas. The actual event is such a circus that while I tried to blog daily, I gave up after the first day (which was intense from the get-go – you can read my summary of Wednesday, March 12, Day 1, here).

Day 2, Thursday, March 13

Thursday was one of my busiest days, with a crazy array of genres, and both old and new acts represented.

There was a LOT of quality heavy music at SXSW this year, and Thursday got to an unbelievably, well, fucking awesome start: the Vice magazine/Scion metal party at Stubb’s, with doors opening at the very un-metal time of noon. Also, it was extremely sunny and hot – not good weather for black, or for leather. Didn’t matter to the crowd, which stretched two blocks deep by the time I got there, around 1 p.m. (and just after an abortive set by Norway’s black metal legends Enslaved, d’oh! Not sure why they were cut off early).

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Here’s the second installment from our guest blogger, Sir Winston, proprietor of Churchill’s Pub in Miami. Here are his highlights for SXSW day three, Friday

Rachel Goodrich woos new and influential friends

Miami native Rachel Goodrich's three-song set at the swanky BMI/Billboard Luncheon on the lawn was truly a coming-out, debutante style. She was accompanied by Mike Bordolon on double bass, and carried, as well, her trademark kazoo and ukulele onstage (besides her guitar). She was one of the newest and as of then, most unfamiliar names to the crowd of high-profile industry professionals. (This was not true of most of the other artists at the gig, which included Grammy nominee Eldar, international star James Yuill, and well-known composer Kaki King). However, she proved herself as someone who soon would be recognized in her own right. The producer and publicity agents at the front table were generous in their praise, and she garnered much applause from a large audience. Perhaps next year she can play a full showcase at SXSW.

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We asked a guest blogger, Sir Winston, proprietor of the illustrious venue Churchill’s Pub in Miami, to weigh in on his SXSW experiences so far. Here are his recollections of the first day.

Pedal to the metal. Well, not just metal, but in fact all genres from alt-country to zydeco…. (Actually that's a lie; I haven't seen any zydeco bands yet, but I'm sure there are some here.) And I mean pedal down, as in speed, because if you want to catch a few idols as well as up-and-comers at SXSW you have to move pretty fast.

To recap a lightning first day, Wednesday, read on -- but before doing so, drink three energy drinks and four shots of espresso, and make sure you do your warm-up stretches.
I got to the starting line late, and set off at a slow pace by revisiting an old memory in the guise of English Eighties band The Wedding Present at Emo's Annex.

(A quick aside here: Talk about a greedy venue -- we have Emo's Main stage [think falling-down barn], Emo's Jr. [smallish room with a bar], Emo's IX lounge stage [actually a well-appointed room]…. Is that enough? Oh no. For SXSW they need a fourth stage, so across the road they erect a tent for about 250 people with a bar and some porta-potties. End jealous rant).

So TWP played a mix of old hits and new songs from their soon-to-be-released new album. (At least it's soon in England; contact Sweat Records or some other expert for more info on a U.S. release date).

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The Cool Kids hanging with the next president.

Well, it's another HOT day in Texas and the music is as hot as the temperatures. Some parts of the metro area hit 96 degrees and Austin proper was at 93 degrees today.

That's a record for March 14th btw.

Anyway, the music has all been solid and there's tons of crazy collaborations going on. Last night I caught Lou Reed from the Velvet Underground playing a show with Moby backing him up on guitar.

2 Live Crew and Duffy are playing a show tomorrow. So are Talib Kweli and Ice Cube. Go figure.

Anyway...TODAY, I caught a solid DJ set with Chuck from the Cool Kids tearing up the dance floor at the Whisky Bar.

Dude played everything from Chicago house to Detroit booty and Miami bass. Lot's of madness.

Guests strolling through the party included J Davey, C-Rayz Walz', Dead Prezfrom Dead Prez, Now On, and others.

It was a great time but the best part of the show was when Game Rebellion came on stage and gave everyone some good ol' hardcore black punk done right.

They played a bunch of good originals and some hard covers of tracks by Tupac, Jay-Z, and Nirvana.

Quality hip-hop all the way around. It was the type of show where punk and hip-hop could combine. More like New York 1982 in Manhattan where Bambataa and the Bad Brains could play the same shows.

Hopefully that's a good sign for 2008.

--Jonathan Cunningham

Reporting in from SXSW in Austin, where the proliferation of barbecue, noise, and way too much free booze is starting to severely hamper my ability to take notes.

It’s now day three of the music marathon, and over the last couple of days I’ve caught a few legends, maybe a couple soon-to-be-legends, and … I should make a clever pun here, but I’ll just say, bands that were not so great.

Much of Wednesday is already lost to the sands of time, so a few highlights:

Happy Surprise #1: An afterparty for a screening of the new Lou Reed Berlin movie. I missed the screening, but hustled over to Pangaea (yep, same as at the Hard Rock Live, same logo, same strange piratey décor, only here with more skulls and Texasy touches). First cool random discovery was What Laura Says Thinks and Feelsfrom Tempe, Arizona; a bunch of shaggy, long-haired types with a really pleasant, tripped out, fleshed out psych-ey sound. Kind of like Devendra Banhart but not quite as weird, and with a big backing band. Awesome, creepy harmonies. After that, more excellent retro psychedelics from Austin’s own Black Angels.

Second stop, on to La Zona Rosa to see none other than Van Morrison -- definitely one of the best things about SXSW is, besides the new bands, sort of return appearances by classic artists. What to say about Van Morrison? Rumors of his condition seem to be exaggerated; his voice sounded great, but the whole vibe was a little subdued, and he sat the entire time.

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Are the bomb!

For numerous reasons. A) the singers are all talking in funny accents. Love it.
And B) The food. OMG.

British showcase. Hipsters and free bbq+brisket!

Canadian showcase. Yup, Canunks and free brisket! Simple but appreciated.

But the Spanish showcase...papo! Listen. Free San Miguel cerveza. Sangria. Paella. Chorizo (nasty) but whatever. Great music. On my way to see Mala Rodriguez right now at the Spanish party. There's a Brazilian one coming up as well.

Looking forward to the Australian showcase tomorrow. Trying to eat me some Koala.

Holla: )

-Jonathan Cunningham

The world has no clue how he pulled this off.

I'm wide awake. Hungover. Woozy. But I can still see straight and that's all that counts.

Day one of SXSW went by like a blur. Canadian showcases with incredible Texas brisket were a personal favorite. Caught the Black Angels yesterday at Pangaea nightclub. Who knew it was a chain? Same decor as the Pangaea and Gryphon nightclub at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood. And there's a club next door called Gryphon. Definitely a chain.

Anyways...free Kettle One vodka made it worth it. The Black Angels were decent but they looked and sounded like a knockoff version of Vietnam.

Hanging with the FADER kids was alright. Felt like Williamsburg, Brooklyn, though. It was just a courtyard full of hipsters competing in the hipster Olympics. Not as cool as it should have been. But I did connect with a bomb-ass hip-hopper named 77 Clash (pronounced Two Sevens Clash--taken from the 1977 Culture album of the same name--RIP Joseph Hill). ANYWAY. He's definitely worth checking out, as is the Athletic Mic League who rolled through the FADER fort and represented for real hip-hop.

That's about all I can remember from last night. You know, Gato Negro wine, Lone Star Beer, and Dewars scotch shouldn't be consumed at the same time. Memory loss ensues shortly afterward. Don't ever try it.

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The long-haired, natty Lazaro Casanova got his start playing at the now-defunct old Malibu Grand Prix’s infamous Full Moon parties, int he Nineties. But he really became a local marquee name as the musical selector du jour for the main rooms indie-ish dance parties in Miami, most notably at the long-running, now-defunct Revolver. But when pressing play on White Stripes discs got boring, Casanova branched out on his own, at home. Tapping into the burgeoning underground dance scene when it was still in its infancy, Casanova cranked out filthy, searing bedroom remixes of that quickly virally spread across the Internet.

Luckily for him, Miami is also a place where DJs like to party semi-incognito, and eventually he met the guys of MSTRKRFT, who took a shine to him. They recruited him for a national tour, and soon he was playing sizzling, electroey-housey sets, heavily featuring his own chunky, thumping compositions. Since then, he’s become a sort of unofficial third arm of that outfit, rocking crowds of thousands across the world. He still manages to update his blog, Shot Callin’, with the latest white-hot dance music, and his first official EP is in the works. – Arielle Castillo

Saturday, March 15 9:00 p.m.
Vice (302 E 6th St, Austin, TX)

Here's a clip of Laz Casanova playing at Personal Fest last December in Buenos Aires.

This quartet specializes in face-melting volume, pounding riffage, and a churning, breakneck-speed riffage section. But don’t tag ’em with the “m” word – Torche is a band possessing the rare ability to create heavy, heavy sounds that remain versatile and nuanced. With a floating overlay of intelligent, almost shoegazey textures, the band has gained a strangely eclectic, fiercely loyal international legion of fans thanks to opening slots on tours with everyone from Isis to Mogwai. Their self-titled debut LP, released on the indie Robotic Empire, scored raves from the likes of Decibel and Spin. Even Pitchfork raved about their live appearance at the Gramercy Theatre during CMJ last fall with the legendary Jesu. A follow-up full-length is due out later this year on Hydra Head, and, like the debut, was engineered by Kurt Ballou of Converge. You’ve been warned. -- Arielle Castillo

Friday, March 14 1:15 a.m.
Red 7 (611 E 7th St, Austin, TX)

Here's live video of Torche performing "Safe" and "Mentor" last fall at Lee's Palace, Toronto.

Within a span of months, the kiddies of Black Tide have shot from totally unheard-of to total buzz band for lovers of heavy music, appearing in the like of Spin and Revolver. And they are, in fact kiddies – the oldest members of the quartet are 19, and the frontman, Gabriel Garcia, is 15. Which makes the band’s shockingly deft command of old-school, thrashy metal even more impressive.

While other bands their age are crossing their hearts and hoping to die as they paint on more guyliner, instead Black Tide worships at the altar of Judas Priest and Black Label Society. After only a few local all-ages shows around Miami, the band quickly got snapped up by bidders from the majors, finally ending up on Interscope. With the label’s backing, the band began a tour with Ozzfest, but were quickly kicked off, as the second stage’s Jagermeister sponsorship didn’t jive with their underage status. No matter, as soon after, they completed an outing across the UK with Avenged Sevenfold and All That Remains. All of this, without a proper record. That, titled Lights From Above, drops on March 18, featuring production by the Chicago-based Johnny K. – Arielle Castillo

Thursday, March 13, 10:30 p.m.
La Zona Rosa (612 W 4th St, Austin, TX)

Here's the band's video for "Shockwave"

Austin's mega music festival, South By Southwest (SXSW) is almost here and there's a bunch of great bands from around the world that should be headed to Texas for it next week. Last year was a special treat as the Good, the Bad, and the Queen seemed to descend on several select parties and play some of the best sets of music I've ever seen in my life. Of course, that band is probably toast already but it was fun while it lasted.
While I'm not sure which national/international acts I'm most excited to see, I can tell you that I'm stoked to see how folks react to our stable of South Florida bands that will be there.
You can check this site all week for previewing coverage of SXSW and various local bands that are headed to Austin like, Black Tide, Catalonia, Yoni, the Postmarks, and more, but for now, check out the video above of the Jacob Jeffries band. There a solid group of musicians from Broward County (lead singer/pianist Jacob Groten calls Pembroke Pines home) who seem to be coming into their own at the perfect time. The band just got back from playing a show at Sundance Film Festival, and folks might have seen Jacob's grill plastered on the cover of City Link all week long. If anyone is going to be headed to SXSW and wants to check him out, his Austin gigs are listed below.

3/12 at Chuggin' Monkey
Red Gorilla Festival
219 E. 6th Street
4PM SET

3/14 at BMI's Acoustic Lounge
Four Seasons Hotel
98 San Jacinto Blvd
1:30 pm

--Jonathan Cunningham