SXSW 2009: Friday in Review

Our second full day of the South by Southwest music conference and festival featured a nice array of shows all throughout Austin, including a stop by the 'secret' Metallica performance at Stubb's.

Read all about Friday, March 20th at SXSW after the jump

As usual, our day started a little later than we wanted, but we still made it downtown decently early. We missed the first band on our schedule, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, but made it over to Urban Outfitters in time to do some light shopping before Human Highway took the stage. The duo, made up of Islands frontman Nick Thorburn and Canadian folkster Jim Guthrie, played through most of the material from their 2008 debut, Moody Motorcycle, including "Sleep Talking" and "The Sound." Guthrie's early 90's grunge style and Thorburn's ulitmate hipster look completely clashed, but the odd chemistry seemed to make their songs even more enjoyable in a live format. After smashing a few free PBRs we headed down to Sixth street to see what kind of shenanigans we could get into.

Human Highway

Unlike Thursday, we went into the daytime portion of the events with a schedule, as well as a few back-up plans, just in case. As soon as we found a good parking spot, we headed to Emo's to see if we could get into the Pitchfork/Windish Agency bash. We walked up to a surprisingly short line and soon headed into the three-quarters-full venue just in time to catch buzzmakers Woods. While their focus is on alternative folk rock, it's lead singer Jeremy Earl's unique voice that carries the group. I never truly got into them that day, but they definitely stuck with me enough to warrant another listen. They were a good band to kick back to, which is exactly what we did once we found a nice spot on the top row of the bleachers, out of the sun and traffic – and a good perch for hipster-watching.

Woods

There were several bands playing the Pitchfork party, but due to limited space inside Emo's smaller venue, we only caught the ones playing outdoors. Unfortunately, because of that we ended up missing Dirty Projectors, Diplo & A-Trak and School of Seven Bells. I have a good feeling we'll catch them sometime down the road, though, so whatever. We were more interested in the next couple bands to hit the main stage anyway, and had a perfect seat to see them, so we chilled out and waited for garage-rock duo Wavves to start their set. I was intrigued by these guys after reading through tons of hype in the days leading up to SXSW, so it was good to see they were on the day's bill. They were very raw, but had an interesting sound. The guitar/drums duo aspect of the group reminded me a ton of The Black Keys, but they were much grittier, and drifted more toward an indie rock sound rather than the blues-driven Keys. Towards the end of their set, I found myself more involved in hipster-watching, but what I heard was enjoyable and unlike any other band I saw all weekend.

Wavves

Next up on the main stage was King Khan and the Shrines, who have been gaining steam as of late, especially in the festival circuit. Their over-the-top set featured everything from capes to pom poms, hairy chests to a brightly costumed back-up dancer. They had the crowd going wild from the moment they stepped on stage, and never let up their psychedelic soul party throughout. They made instant fans of all parties involved, including Cereal, hippienaustin and myself. While they were great at the day party, I knew I had to catch them in an outdoor festival setting to really appreciate their live show. Fortunately, we had that opportunity the next day during the Mess With Texas party. More to come on that.

King Khan & the Shrines

I had hopes of catching every group playing the Pitchfork party, but the band I was really there to see was the event's headliner, Department of Eagles. DoE's In Ear Park was one of the best albums to come out of 2008, and this was one of the rare opportunities to catch them live. I left Cereal and Hippie at their comfortable bleacher spot to get up nice and close for the start of their set. The group, which is primarily made up of Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen and his former NYU roommate Fred Nicolaus, came on stage in front of an impressively attentive audience. After playing through a few numbers from their 2003 debut, The Cold Nose, and one new tune, DoE launched into a flawless version of "In Ear Park." The highlight of the set came at the end, when – after begging the staff to let them play one more – Beach House's Victoria Legrand stepped onstage for a version of the Grateful Dead's "Fire On The Mountain." While the crowd seemed somewhat confused, they all seemed to get into it towards the end. I might have been one of the few people in the crowd ecstatic at their choice of cover (my favorite Dead song!), but the best part of it was witnessing a smattering of hipsters singing along to the Dead. I wonder if said hipsters felt insulted upon learning who originally performed the song? I hope so.

Daniel Rossen of Department of Eagles

Department of Eagles with Victoria Legrand

We headed back to our temporary residence to catch a bite and freshen up before the evening's events. We knew that our night was going to end with Okkervil River, but everything in between 10pm and 1am was up for grabs. While there were a ton of great bands playing throughout the city, there was only one show I really wanted to try and see. Metallica had been rumored for weeks to be playing at Stubb's on Friday night at 10pm. Knowing that it would be a madhouse, we headed up there anyway to see what was happening. As soon as we hit 8th and Red River, we saw a huge group of fans and photographers eagerly waiting to catch a glimpse of one of the guys. We crossed the street, looked over, and there were Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield walking down the tunnel, into the back entrance of Stubb's. I was stoked, and wanted to catch some of the show, but they weren't letting anyone else in, even if you had paid $700 bucks for a badge. We caught a tip from hippienaustin about a parking garage across the street from which you could catch glimpses of and hear the show. We found the garage, and joined the ranks of badgeless and wristbandless patrons on top, right next to a couple of news vans and a hot dog vendor. As the garage started to fill, so did the air with the opening power chords of Metallica's set. Show highlights included "For Whom The Bell Tolls," "One" and a manic version of "Master of Puppets," but the absolute best part was being surrounded by a ton of true fans on top of that garage, singing along with every verse to every song – a first for my SXSW weekend. Towards the end of "Puppets," the top of the garage was flooded in blue and red lights as a cop car drove up to try and kick everyone out. While I didn't get to see the last few songs, it still turned out to be one of the coolest and most interesting musical experiences of the weekend.

After the police drove us out, we headed back towards 6th Street, in the direction of the Parish. We made it there in the middle of Sara Jaffe's set, and met up with a few friends who were running the upstairs beer tub. We found them involved in a conversation with a guy who quickly reminded us of Jon Stewart's character in Half Baked. You know the guy – the one who thinks everything is better "on weed." We were somehow talked into hanging out with the guy, which led to us to getting somewhat annoyed. He was nice enough to talk to, but was killing the high we received from the Metallica show, and we didn't want anything more to do with him. Luckily, he soon went away with some friends, and we spent the rest of the set break enjoying the nice mix of tunes that DJ Jason Hammel of Mates of State was spinning.

Sara Jaffe

DJ Jason Hammel

We claimed our spot in front of the beer tub at midnight when local Austin funk band Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears took the stage. We had missed the opportunity to see them once before, but after hearing great things about their live performance, we couldn't pass up another chance to see them. They certainly didn't disappoint. Band namesake Joe Lewis showed off his guitar skills as well as his knack for fronting such an impressive group. We danced our asses off throughout the all-too-short set that only left us wanting more. Thankfully they already have an announced gig here in Houston in a few months, at which you will most definitely find the BOT crew in attendance.

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears

Our final act of the day was one both Cereal and I had been looking forward to catching all day. Okkervil River closed out the Constant Artist showcase, performing for close to an hour-and-a-half – longer than any other performance we caught all weekend. Frontman Will Sheff was quite happy to be back at the Parish, which he made known several times throughout the show. Cereal and I found a nice spot, standing on the benches behind our friends' beer tub, and watched the majority of the set from there. The only other time I'd caught Okkervil River previously was for a few songs at ACL last fall. I didn't see them long enough to make a proper judgment, but after digesting a few albums during the period in between, I soon made it a priority to catch them live again. This set hooked me, especially with their tune "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe," the definite highlight of their performance. They were the perfect Friday closer for us, with Cereal even proclaiming their set as the best of the weekend.

Will Sheff of Okkervil River

Okkervil River

We were tired, and knowing that there was still a full day of music ahead of us, we headed back to the apartment for some much needed sleep. We had a few friends coming in the next morning, so getting up early was somewhat of a priority. The day was another good one, full of outstanding musical experiences. The greatest thing about SXSW is that, even after studying who you want to see for weeks, you really have no clue which bands you'll catch.

We have a bunch more photos from Friday coming soon, as well as a full review from Saturday, including performances from Erykah Badu, Explosions in the Sky, Beach House, Ra Ra Riot, Joseph Israel, Vetiver and more. Stay tuned for a bunch more content!

-Eggs