Yellow Fever - +3 - Red House Pizzeria
Instead of heading into town for the big day parties, I decided to try taking the bus out to Red House Pizzeria for their patio party. Austin's Yellow Fever started the day fine.

Slow Club - +5
The band I really wanted to see was Slow Club (who have opened for another of my faves - Tilly and the Wall, and have a similar disposition). I have been a fan since last year (and really had wanted them to play last year's SXSW!) I had seen the Because We Are Dead music video and was expecting a "We're From Barcelona" sized crowd to perform, but they were just a two-person group. After seeing them, I have to say, they are probably my favorite two person group (sorry Mates of State, Matt & Kim, Dresden Dolls, etc.) They also get an award for one of the cutest groups I saw! I felt bad for Charles, though, who was apparently "salsa drunk."

School of Seven Bells - +5 - Mohawk
I took the bus into town, and it let me off near Mohawk, so I decided to check in and see if I could get into the RSVP Rhapsody party and see Glasvegas, as all their other performances were conflicts for me. I got it, and was thrilled to see that I'd have a chance to see another band that I hadn't heard of, but were apparently playing every party this week. I was so happy I did, too, as they were one of my absolute favorite groups of the day.

Glasvegas - +4.5 - Mohawk
Glasvegas played a set pretty true to the sound of their album. It was enjoyable! I love a good accent

Trail of dead - +3 - Mohawk
I was already around for it, so I thought I might as well stick around and check out a couple of songs from ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead. It was okay, but the continue to just not do much for me.

Passion Pit - +4 - Radio Room
I had been told to check out Passion Pit, so I made my way to day to of the Paste party. After waiting in line I made my way to a very crowded performance. After standing for a couple of songs, I decided to sit down against the wall. Passion Pit gets the honor of this year's "good performance that I drifted off to" - an honor bestowed last year on British Sea Power. Regardless, they were good and unique.

Airborne Toxic Event - +4.5 - Bat Bar
Every year I find a couple of bands to see in the air conditioned, professionally light sound stages used to tape performances for Direct TV. The first year I saw a great performance of Peter, Bjorn and John there. I would say that Airborne Toxic Event reminds me a bit of this years Peter, Bjorn and John (or Vampire Weekend)....but I didn't like them nearly as much as those two groups. They were fun though, and if you see the Direct TV recordings, you'll see me in the front row bobbing my head like a total moron. Interesting fact - they played SXSW 2008 too. Guess that worked out pretty well for them :)

Guggenheim Grotto - +4.5 - The Rio
I stopped in to see a few songs from The Guggenheim Grotto at the Irish showcase - I do love them. Despite the fact that it was a chatty crowd, and the fact that the played some songs that I was so so about, the fact they played Philosophia made up for it!

Phosphorescent - +4.5 - Mohawk
I love Phosphorescent, and even though the crowd here was extremely obnoxious and blah blah blahed the whole time, and despite the fact that I only heard four songs, I still love love love them.

Ohbijou - +5 - The Ranch
There were so many great bands playing at this time, and I didn't know what I was going to do until the last minute. I really didn't think I was going to head down to this show, as it was crazy far away from the main strip, but I decided to hoof it out there, for some reason. It was a good choice. I really dug this seven piece Canadian group, plus the crowds were thinner in this part of town and everyone was much more respectful

My Latest Novel - +5 - The Ranch

As much as I liked Glasvegas, this Scottish band edged them out. Despite some technical problems, I enjoyed the sound of the new music they have on the horizon (although sad they didn't play my favorites from Wolves)

At this point I left before The Low Anthem played in order to try and catch a few other bands - this was probably a sad mistake

+/- - Prague - Only saw half a song, can't rate it, but it sounded good.

The Wrens - +4 - Prague
The layout of Prague left a lot to be desired, and standing in the basement behind a mass of people after a long day wasn't my idea of a good time. I left after a couple of good sounding songs (neither of which were the two Wrens songs I know really well).

I made my way to Radio Room to check out Handsome Furs and upon getting there was told "sorry dude, we're done" by the person at the door. So, Handsome Furs, the headliner, either started early or only played a half hour set. Very very sad.

Datarock - +4.5 - Emo's Annex
I started heading to Emo's to see Peter Bjorn and John were still playing, and as I passed Emo's Annex I heard the familiar strains for Fa-Fa-Fa, the Datarock single. There was no line, so I went in and enjoy the song (which is really catchy) and a couple of other songs before heading home. It was a pretty great end to the night, outside with a little bit of air blowing through and some fun music! Thanks Datarock!

Compare to Thursday 2008 below the break

Sorry 2009 - it is 2008 by a mile! 2008 had one of the BEST day shows ever, plus my discovery of Phosphorescent, and two awesome Islands shows. Sorry, 2009, there really wasn't a way for you to even come close.

The Lost Brothers +5
Wednesday morning I was walking and a couple of guys I passed by asked if it looked like they had just woken up - I told them it didn't. They asked where I was playing (?!?) and I said I was just a spectator. I asked if they were a band and where they were playing. They said they were The Lost Brothers and were playing B.D. Reiley's Thursday morning. Since that is an Irish bar, I asked if they were from Ireland and when I found out they were we had a discussion utilizing my limited Irish Gaelic.

Luckily, B.D. Reily's has windows that open from the stage onto the sidewalk, so I got to see and hear a good number of their songs while camped out in line waiting to get into the Parish's NPR show. And they sounded great! Beautiful and mellow. Probably the first band of the week to really tap into that vibe for me. What a great way to start the day.

Shout Out Louds +5 - The Parish

Because of the humongous line, I didn't get inside the Parish to see Sweden's The Shout Out Louds until they only had a couple of songs left - luckily one of them was my super jam "Tonight I Have to Leave it All Behind." They sounded AMAZING, crisp and tight. A sweet, lighter, modern Robert Smith sound.

Jens Lekman +5 - The Parish
The number one artist of last year of a good number of my friends, Sweden's Jens Lekman took a while to grow on me - he's kind of got that Rufus orchestral vibe to him. Very quirky sound and often times lyrics, but with an undercurrent of heart it is hard not to get swept away by. A very good set by Jens Lekman.

AA Bondy +5 - The Parish
The only artist of the morning I hadn't heard of, and was least excited about. Despite this, and his sometimes random banter, he still rates +5 - that shows how great this NPR did putting this lineup together. AA Bondy is bound to be the next Ray LaMontagne/Amos Lee (or Joe Purdy/Alexi Murdoch, if only they had been the next Amos/Ray's themselves) , with his beautiful, raspy/folksy voice.

Yeasayer +5 - The Parish
For some reason I always think of Yeasayer in the same thought as MGMT and Destroyer. I've not really listened to any of them and am sure they are really different and all pretty great. All three were at SXSW, but sadly I only got to see Yeasayer, so I can't compare the 3. Luckily for me I can't imagine the other two being anywhere as good as Yeasayer (I look forward to being proven wrong though.) They came at a perfect time in the set as well - just different enough to keep things interesting.

Bon Iver +5 - The Parish
Bon Iver - probably my favorite set of this string of +5 bands. There music is, frankly, what I imagine you hear as you ascend to heaven. Angels open their mouths and this music radiates forth. Sure, I wreck my "too much falsetto for me" argument from above, but the abundance of falsetto from Bon Iver is heart breaking, cold and warm at the same time, and dripping with solitude.

Vampire Weekend +5 - The Parish
Vampire Weekend was probably the most hyped buzzed band of SXSW - this year's Peter, Bjorn and John. I have to say, they were very impressive - believe the hype. They were a well oiled machine, churning out catchy song after catchy song laced with New England charm. Not too challenging music as to shut out the mainstream listeners, but still really interesting - there upcoming run of sold out shows indicated that people agree.

Sia +5 - Bat Bar
Last year I spent a lot (too much) time at the free DirectTV sound stages to see bands filming for DirectTV performances. The stage is cool, it is fun seeing the filming and the sound system is top notch, but it just is a little too polished - I prefer being crammed into a lot of interesting venues. This year, Australia's Sia was the only artist who I took the opportunity to see at the Bar. Her Six Feet Under ending "Breathe Me" may be one of my favorite songs ever, but for some reason I always thought I would be into the rest of her music. In fact, she was great with a host of beautiful songs and a fun and quirky stage presence.

Islands +5 - Cedar Street Courtyard
Islands became the only band that I saw 3 times at SXSW. At this show they only played one song from their first album, which was sad. But not that sad. Because the songs from their upcoming album are unbelievably good. They stepped it up and the maturity and scope of their new work is breathtaking. They have now been bumped up to my "most anticipated release of the year" spot - which has some stiff competition, to be sure.

Phosphorescent +5 - Mohawk Patio

Phosphorescent is another band I stumbled upon. I hadn't heard of them, but caught the end of their set while waiting for Bodies of Water. Within one song I was scrambling to find out who they were and why I hadn't already fallen in love with them.

Bodies of Water +3.5 - Mohawk Patio
I was really excited to see Bodies of Water, as I enjoyed their track "Doves circle the sky" - which they didn't play. The set just fell kind of flat for me. Sad day.

Mona De Bo +2 - B.D. Reilys
Yeah, I really didn't like this band. I had stopped in to get an early spot for Black Before Red (after not being able to find where Anathallo was playing after tons of searching - as far as I could figure, they weren't where they were supposed to be). I listened to a couple of songs and then left because I just couldn't stand it - I went and got something to drink and then came back and disliked the last part of their set too. I talked to a photographer from a Latvian publication, who informed me they were from Latvia and were popular there. So, more power to them for coming from Latvia. Hopefully their US fans appreciated it.

Black Before Red +3.5 - B.D. Reily's

I was so excited to find out that Black Before Red had been added to the schedule at the last minute, but in the end was a bit disappointed. I just don't think the venue was well suited, and the fact that the schedule wasn't even advertised - they just didn't have a great crowd. It was mostly people who wandered in off the street out of curiosity and a small table of the band's college friends. The band itself didn't match what I figured it was going to be - it was a little older... I had assumed it was going to be a young hip energetic band. Regardless, it just didn't thrill me... I'll stick with their recorded songs, like Matagorda.

Islands +5 - Emo's
So, I was going to go check out commercial hit makers Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson at the Hotel Cafe showcase at The Parish (of which I attended in full last year) but I just couldn't stay away from Islands - I had to see them again. I'm glad I did... it produced one of the most Rock and Roll moments of the week. They apparently were given a late start due to a band before them. When they reached the end of their alloted time, they said that they were going to keep playing, because they deserved the full 40 minutes they were promised. They proceed to play their epicly long song, Swans, and just kept playing and playing and playing it, until finally a worker from the venue cut into the audio and said "that's it" but still they kept playing. Then someone came out on stage and made the signal to cut the speakers, which the venue did, but they kept playing anyway, to the cheers of their fans, until finally the power to their amps were cut and workers started pulling their equipment from the stage. Somehow the singer got them to turn his mic back on for a second where he proclaimed "fuck Emo's and fuck SXSW - we hope to never play this festival again" which got a huge applause. Of course, they played more day parties the next day :) It was a great time.

Boyz Noize - Beauty Bar and Black Mountain - Mohawk Patio +3.5

At this point in the evening, there wasn't really anything on my plate, so I just wandered around with Spencer, a buddy I met in line for the NPR show, and hit up a couple of venues. Nothing was good enough or interesting enough (to me) for me to really absorb it, or to break through the exhaustion that was creeping in.