Heavenly States - 3.5
Chairlift - 4
Just missed the free meal :( but excited to hear their iPod song. I tried to do handstands for you!

Angry vs the Bear - 5
I met up with Rachel, and we both were feeling the need to have a day where we meandered and didn't over think. So we decided to head over early to see a band I had heard one song from on the SXSW website. When we got to the venue - the rainbow cattle company - I saw that there was a bear flag flying on the wall (bears are big hairy gay men). So I turned to the older woman checking badges and I asked "is this a bear bar?" and in her thickest texan accent she responded "honey, we got bear, we got wine, we got vodka..." Amazing. After a couple of drinks and losing some money to their crappy video arcade game we were treated with seriously one of the most fun shows of the weekend. Angry vs the Bear. Check them out. SO fun. They get my "least buzz, biggest potential" award. Also, winners of the craziest hair award.

Camera Obscura - 5
One of the only real must sees of the day for me (along with voxtrot). We got there early and saw a bit of Amazing Baby (I believe). Anyway, glad to get to see Camera Obscura. They are great, and the new stuff sounded wonderful - sad to miss them at their metro show, but happy I saw them here.

Ed Harcourt - 4.5
Having missed out on Ed the day before, I decided to stop into his taping for Direct TV - a bit boring and a bit more of the country stuff, as it was being filmed on the country sound stage, but I still got to hear "Until Tomorrow Then."

Janelle Monae - 5
While seeing Ed Harcourt, Rachel and friends snuck into the Chop Shop party, so I decided to try my luck too. "I think I am on the list." *volunteer flips through papers a bit* "go on in." Score. I made it in time to see the end of Janelle Monae. Wow. Wow wow wow. This year's Amy Winehouse/Duffy/etc. iteration? Maybe. But way way way better. If I had to make a "next big thing" guess, this would be it. She's opening for No Doubt - just not in Chicago :(

Little Boots - 5
Way fun.

Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - 5
After debating whether to try and find and get into the Perez party, we opted to head over and see Chicago's SYGC - who we've seen a number of times, but whatever, it was fun! We even stayed afterwards just to hang out with Chicago folks

The Love Me Nots - 3.5
An Horse - 5
One of my fave "stumbled upon" bands of the week. I need to hear more!

Voxtrot - 5
This show was a hot sweaty amazing mess. I loved every second of it. Voxtrot is so good, the singer is hot as heck, and the new stuff sounds unbelievably good. Is this the start of something good?

Various Comedians (Included Janeane Garofalo, Todd Barry, and more) - 5
Rachel suggested that instead of going to another band we check out the comedians. Wow, I had never gone to the comedians before. And it was really really fun. Lots of great bits, a nice seat in a not too crowded venue... who could ask for more. This day shaped up to be really great, just because starting the day I was kind of done with everything, and so I just let go and drifted. Love it!

The Spinto Band - 5
Rachel decided to go home, but I couldn't end my SXSW with comedians - I needed to squeeze in one more bad. I decided to end the festival this year by righting a wrong from last year... I had planned to go see Spinto Band close out SXSW 08 and just didn't have the energy for it... This year, because of my chill pace, I was ready to fix that. What a great way to end things - the Spinto's put on a damn good show, the new stuff is quality, and I still have the last song, The Black Flag, ringing in my ears months later!

2008 vs 2009

Another close one, but I think that surprisingly 2009 wins for sheer enjoyment factor! Which means 2009 was the grand winner with 3 to 1 wins! Congrats 2009!

Jay Clifford +5 - Momo's
The singer of one of my former favorite bands, Jump, Little Children, was in town supporting his new solo album, so I had to make it out to see him at some point. I figured that there could be no better way to start my last day at the festival than by checking him out in small space of Momo's. There were only a handful of people there, which made the show really intimate. He played Know When To Walk Away and Waltzing Past the Grave from his new album, and then Mexico from the last full length Jump studio album. After that, he decided to come sit down at one of the tables and play Cathedrals. It was one of the best and most intimate moments of the weekend.

After that I headed to Beauty Bar to check out Rachael Ray's party and get some free food. However, the line stretched all the way down the street and around the block. No thanks! I decided to stop in Side Bar to check out Summerbirds in the Cellar, but they weren't on yet - so I checked out a band that was playing in the back. They were great - however I must have written down the wrong band name, because I thought it was Kings of Prussia - but it definitely wasn't after listening to their myspace page. Oh well, I decided to leave before Summerbirds came on and meet up with my dad at Maggie Mae's for some free food - I didn't get a chance to really listen to the music that was going on there, but I am pretty sure Chicago's The Nadas and Dick Prall were playing.

Georgie James +5 - Emo's IV

I ran into Georgie James on the street at one point during the festival (it is common to see artists milling around during the festival) and I chatted with them and told them I was a huge fan of Cake Parade and told them I would check them out. They sounded great!

Blitzen Trapper +5
Afterwards I headed basically next door to the Paste/Stereogum stage, which smelled less stanky Saturday. I was IN love with the Blitzen Trapper song Sci-Fi Kid, but judging from what more I had heard of their studio stuff online, I wasn't a huge fan. However, they were great live, and really surprised me.

The Acorn and A Place to Bury Strangers - Mohawk +4

I heard bits and pieces of these two bands while waiting to see David Bazan, and was pretty happy with what I heard.

David Bazan +4.5 - Mohawk

I had never seen Pedro the Lion, so it was nice to see David Bazan, although he didn't play many Pedro songs, opting more for his solo stuff and some new tunes. Of course, he is the voice of Pedro the Lion, so it doesn't sound much different!

Peelander-z +2.5 - Mohawk Patio
I guess Japanese Action Comic Punk is just too weird for me. No thank you.

White Rabbits +5 - Club de Ville

Love them! If you like Vampire Weekend but want to try something that hasn't gotten as much press, you might want to check them out. The Plot is a killer song.

Islands +5 - Mohawk
Fantastic as always.

Yael Naim +5 - Brush Square
I'm sure you know this French-born Israeli singer from her Macbook Air commercial song "New Soul." I checked out her set at the Chop Shop party, and it all sounded just as good.

The Virgins +5 - Brush Square
Sarah, my friend from last year's SXSW hostel say, said I MUST check out the Virgins. I took the opportunity to check them out at the Chop Shop party and I agree - if they don't blow up I'll be shocked. They fit right in there with that Tapes N Tapes, Cold War Kids, Kooks kind of group. NYC boys with a Brit mindset.

Deer Tick +5 - Mohawk Patio
I had been trying to catch this twangy countryish band all week, and took this last chance to see them during the festival - they were a great twilight band, and were a great audio pallet cleaner - a little something different. I highly suggest "Art Isn't Real aka City of Sin."

Jim Noir +4 Maggie Mae's Roof
Jim sounded good, but I'll be honest by this time I was just about at the end of my concert going rope. Not much juice left to run the music car. I was only about 3/4ths there.

Nada Surf +4.5 - Maggie Mae's Roof

Nada Surf is one of my favorite bands and I really wanted to make sure I checked them out sometime during the festival, since they played so much. I took it down to the wire, checking them out at their last show. I was really excited to hear some of their new stuff, but the show itself was a bit of a letdown. They played an acoustic gig, which would have been awesome had their sound not been having technical problems. Add on to that the fact that some band from another roof or venue nearby was hardcore drowning them out (something I didn't think was as big of a problem this year as I found it was last year.) When all is said and done though, they are Nada Surf and they still kicked some tail.

Bound Stems +5 - BD Reily's

I stopped by BD Reily's to say hi to Chicago's Bound Stems. Even though there was no line to get in, I opted to sit outside on the ground and listen in through the windows for a few songs. It was nice to relax and get a nice breeze, watch the people walking by and enjoying the occasional dancing to the band's music that started spontaneously on the sidewalk

Hypernova +4 - The Wave
I ended the week by checking out a band that my dad was interested in seeing - a group of musical pioneers from Iran, and they were pretty decent. There were a lot of bands that I could have gone to see instead, and more that played after this set, but this was the breaking point for me - I was done. Stick a fork in me. It was a great year.