SXSW 2009: Thursday in Review

Thursday, March 19th found the BOT crew of Eggs and Cereal in Austin for their first official day of the 2009 South By Southwest music conference and festival. We went into the day without much of a plan, but as soon as we stepped on to Sixth Street, we knew there would be plenty of options to choose from.

Read about our experiences during Thursday of SXSW 2009 after the jump

Our only half-assed plan for the day was to try and catch the Avett Brothers at the Brooklyn Vegan/Paste Magazine day party that took place at the newly renamed Radio Room on Sixth. Upon arrival, those plans soon changed as there was a two block line coming out the front door, and we aren't fans of queueing. Having only a small, not-so-detailed cheat sheet on the back of a business card did not prove to be the most effective schedule, but did manage to get us through the daytime portion of Thursday at SXSW.

Brooklyn Vegan/Paste Magazine party

We soon stumbled upon Peckerhead's, an upstairs two-room venue that was playing host to My Old Kentucky Blog and Aquarium Drunkard's Vaya Con Tacos party that not only featured an impressive line-up but was also giving away free Red Stripe all day. After getting out of the heat, and grabbing a couple Red Stripes, we started paying attention to the music on display. Our first notes of the day (aside from the orchestra of noises coming from every bar on the way) came from Indianapolis natives Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, who were busy making fans out of the rambunctious audience as we walked into the bar. The backwoods feel of their energetic roots music certainly made for the perfect band to open up our weekend. They only played a few songs while we were in attendance, but made enough of a case to warrant further musical investigation at a later date.

Reverend Peyton

Next up at the Vaya Con Tacos party was Port O'Brien, a Bay Area quartet full of folk-rock sing-alongs. They entertained the three-quarters-full room in between songs with their off-brand humor as much as they did with their instruments. We were quite impressed with the short set, but were still hungry for more music. We were also hungry for a new destination, especially with the serious case of ADD we get when placed in the middle of such a plethora of music. We took off with plans of returning, but wanted to find a nice outdoor patio to enjoy the perfect Austin weather.

Port O'Brien

As we paced 6th Street we stumbled upon The Flamingo Cantina, a small bi-level reggae bar that had a nice schedule lined up for the day, and the perfect outdoor patio. We walked in just in time to catch the last few songs of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. We were pleased to see some of his set, as we had skipped his performance in Houston three days prior. The last time we caught Casioton we were thoroughly impressed with his songs, as well as his choices in quirky covers. Bringing a friend along to bang away on a keyboard, he played through several of his signature lo-fi, borderline-emo originals to an attentive crowd. After the finish of his set, we made our way towards the upstairs patio for a smoke (reggae bar at 4:20 type of smoke), and to wait until the next act took the stage.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

Before embarking on our journey to South By, many names had been popping up in musical news on a regular basis, but one specifically stood out on several occasions. Mirah took the stage, and began to play through a set of slower material that would have fit better in a coffee house instead of a reggae bar. We somewhat dismissed her set while conversing over the top of it as we stuck Team Clermont stickers all over the place, but as I said in my tweet, Mirah is a bit drab for my tastes. She doesn't, in my humble opinion, deserve all the hype she's been getting, but different strokes for different folks, right?

Mirah

I had been hoping that we'd get a chance to catch Swedish singer/songwriter Loney, Dear (known by friends as Emil Svanängen), as Cereal missed her opportunity to see him when they stopped in Houston for a show at Rudyard's a few weeks back. I really enjoyed the Houston set, and Cereal also fell in love with the band after checking out the videos I had taken, so we were both excited to see that he was the next performer on the bill. For this performance, he was backed by members of Wildbirds and Peacedrums, which was a different arrangement than the last time I caught them. While I preferred the first arrangement because of their humorous, Swedish-infused dialogue, the addition of two female singers added so much to the vocal work of Svanängen. Their set was not nearly long enough, but due to bands running over all day, they had to finish after only 7 total songs. Once again, I was impressed by Loney, Dear, and can't wait until he makes another stop around these parts.

Loney, Dear

After getting booted from the Flamingo Cantina so they could set up for the official night portion of their show, we made our way back to Peckerhead's, where Le Switch was just starting their set. During their performance I had the chance to meet Dodge, the guy responsible for one of our favorite sites, as well as the party we were currently attending. He was more than receptive to a friendly conversation, and quite appreciative of our support. We talked about several different music related items, but most importantly he ended up giving us well needed advice about our future endeavors in setting up SXSW parties and showcases. It was good to meet you, Dodge. I hope we cross paths again in the future. Sorry to Le Switch, as I was too engaged to fully enjoy your set, though I do remember you guys being pretty good.

Le Switch

As we all shuffled back to the other room, J. Tillman, better known as drummer extraordinaire for Seattle folksters Fleet Foxes, strapped on a guitar, and started singing pretty songs. I had been drinking free booze for a few hours now, so I was not too much in the mood for the quiet set of music J. Tillman was performing. It was good, and I'd be interested in checking him out again, but I was in the mood to dance.

J. Tillman

And dance is just what we did as soon as Boston-based performer Eli "Paperboy" Reed and his band The True Loves took the stage in front of a packed room. We had missed our opportunity to catch Reed at last years ACL, but some friends did and had nothing but glowing reviews for his show. When we saw that the "male Sharon Jones" would be playing the Vaya Con Tacos party, we made it a point to be in attendance for his early evening set. We were thoroughly impressed by the forty-five minute party that ensued at Peckerheads, but would love to see what Reed and his crew could offer in a bigger time slot.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed

After finding a resting spot for a few hours, we decided to head to The Parish, where the official Hotel Cafe showcase was already under way. We walked upstairs in perfect time for Lisa Hannigan to take the stage. We had missed her Houston performance the previous Sunday, so this was one of our most anticipated sets of the day. Her prior work with Damien Rice was amazing, so we were sure that her new solo material would be pretty good. She opened her set with "Listen," the first single from her solo debut Sea Sew. Her voice and overall personae seems to have taken a step up since her departure from Rice, and she is toting a bag full of solid songs with her on the incline. She seemed to be extremely happy with her music, as well as the players that were making it happen with her on stage. Her constant smile throughout the short 30-minute set translated to the rest of the crowd – when looking around, the audience was happily transfixed on Hannigan. Her set was definitely one of our favorites of the day, but the next act was the one we were really excited about seeing.

Lisa Hannigan

One of our main goals of SXSW 2009 was to see Thao Nguyen with the Get Down Stay Down. Unfortunately, we'd had to miss her set a year ago due to the piss poor Houston weather on a night when she was booked to play outdoors at the Orange Show. What sucked the worst about that situation was that we built up tons of excitement for the show, but were never able to release it by watching them perform live. That excitement has continued to grow over the past year, but fortunately for all parties involved, we were finally able to release it in the Parish on this particular evening. They played several songs from their 2008 release We Brave Bee Stings and All, including "Swimming Pools" and a too-short-but-awesome version of "Bag of Hammers" that had Nguyen beat-boxing through the intro. Both Cereal and I cemented our musical crushes after this performance, but as is the norm at SXSW, their minuscule set was only a taste of what they had to offer.

Thao Nguyen

The rest of the evening was dedicated to the Hotel Cafe performers in the format with which they were all most comfortable. Jim Bianco was first to take the stage, and decided to endorse the whole collaborative nature of the Hotel Cafe. Bianco invited several of the night's performers on stage for a jovial version of his latest album's title track, "Sing," including Cary Brothers, Meiko, Greg Laswell, a host of audience members, and a stealth appearance by the evening's special guest Sara Bareilles. Lenka was up next, and failed to impress either Cereal or myself. Her over-exaggerated stage motions removed any sort of merit that she might have had in her music. I'll possibly give her another chance, but what I witnessed live was definitely not the greatest. Meiko was the last performer of our evening. Greg Laswell, Cary Brothers and 'Special Guest' (Sara B.) were all still scheduled to perform, but after four hours of sleep, a three hour drive from Houston, and the full day of music you just read about, we were spent. We also decided that we would go into the next day with a better idea of which bands we wanted to see, so we headed off to our kind friend's apartment to do some research before bed.

Jim Bianco

Jim Bianco's friends

Lenka

Meiko

Our first day proved to be quite fun, with some amazing acts taking several different stages in front of us. My top three for the day would go to Thao Nguyen with the Get Down Stay Down, Loney, Dear and Lisa Hannigan with an honorable mention going to Eli "Paperboy" Reed for such a romping performance.

We have much more coverage coming over the next several days, including tons of photos and videos.

Anybody have any interesting SXSW stories from Thursday they'd like to share?

-Eggs