If you went to SXSW, share your experience as well in the comments.

Summary
4 nights
28+ venues
35+ bands

Highlights
Titus Andronicus
Rival Schools
Thurston Moore

Lowlights
Joan of Arc
Javelin
Cold Weather on Saturday

Wish I Saw
Demolished Thoughts
Bang Bang Eche
Zorch
The rest of the bands to accomplish “SXSW 2010 Tiger Quest” – Miniature Tigers, Tigercity, Tigersapien, Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger!

We had big plans for the day though and headed out bundled up as a best we could with the limited—and mostly non-existent—warm clothing available.

Our original plan was to stop by Do512′s The Big One and take advantage of their free drinks to get the day started, but a few swings by revealed an empty lot and later searching Twitter revealed the party was delayed.

The Packway Handle Band

With The Big One delayed, we made our way to our planned next stop New Granada Records and Team Clermont‘s day party. Originally we were just going to check out Capybara, but arriving earlier than planned gave us the chance to check out The Packway Handle Band which was a great treat. The alt-bluegrass band was fun to watch on stage and boy can they play and sing.

Capybara
Listen: Soft

Following The Packway Handle Band, Capybara warmed the room up some more with great music and it became clear how to best judge bands: children dancing. If children are dancing happily, I think you’ve got something.

After a quick stop back at The Big One to try out sweet tea infused vodka and get some Shiner we were off to Friend Island. The Home Tapes event was a definite highlight of our SXSW 2009 experience and with it being closer to the main action this year, was a must. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to catch the great Danish group Slaraffenland, but catching Pattern Is Movement was great.

The 40 Watt Club party was action-packed with three stages and a bunch of bands. We arrived to Camper Van Beethoven performing “Take the Skinheads Bowling” and checked out performances from several other groups (view full list of performers).

Ruby Isle

Our experience at the 40 Watt Club party was capped off by Ruby Isle. The electro-cover group worked on a complete track-by-track reinterpretation of Guns n’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction and we got to hear a few of the songs during this set: “Mr. Brownstone”, “It’s So Easy”, and “My Michelle”. It took some effort to recognize the songs pre-chorus and G n’ R fans with no sense of humor would likely be offended, but it was a lot of fun.

The Watson Twins
Listen

Although we didn’t manage to catch Band of Horses at the Central Presbyterian Church on day 3, we did manage to catch The Watson Twins there on day 4. Church performances are always kind of interesting and benefit from being clean, seated and warm. The Watson Twins were accompanied by a talented band and highlights included their cover of Sade’s “The Sweetest Taboo”.

Rival Schools

We effectively ended our SXSW 2010 experience by catching Rival Schools perform the second of three straight days of performances at Red 7. It was great to be able to see them live and singer/guitarist Walter Schreifels obviously loves performing in front of an audience. The band should be having a new album out this summer.

I hope you enjoyed reading the recaps of our experience. We’ll be doing at least one additional SXSW 2010 post later to summarize things and cover what we missed/wish we saw as well as to share some additional photos.

Eventually the time did come to commit to a show so we decided to continue our “SXSW 2010 Tiger Quest” by checking out Minature Tigers. Unfortunately, they seem to have been removed from the lineup so with a bit of further deliberation we finally got the music started with:

Frightened Rabbit
Listen: Old Old Fashioned | Modern Leper

It was good to get the music started and particularly with an international band that I had never seen before. Opportunities to check groups out from all over the place is one of the great things about SXSW. Frightened Rabbit are actually going to be kicking off a US tour this April with a performance at Coachella so if you didn’t make it to SXSW, but want to check out Frightened Rabbit live, here’s your chance.

Thurston Moore
Listen: Fri/End

After Frightened Rabbit, it was back to the east to see Thurston Moore at the French Legation Museum. This place is one of the best to chill out at with two stages and a nice lawn. Thurston Moore opted to perform at the smaller stage which was great as it is set up at the bottom of a slight hill which provided great viewing/listening. It was a mellow, intimate performance and afterward he stopped for photos with a few people including who I am pretty sure was Eddie Steeples (Darnell aka The Crab Man from My Name Is Earl).

On our way out, we heard music coming from what I thought was the other stage, but it turned out to be a random mariachi band that appeared on the scene. They surrounded a couple folks that were still sitting down and got quite an enthusiastic response.

YACHT
Listen: So Post All ‘Em | See a Penny (Pick It Up)

YACHT drew quite the crowd at their Mess With Texas performance. There were as many people in front of me as there were behind me in the photo above. When they first started playing, I was quite surprised as they were fully decked out in tuxedos and had a full band. This was my first encounter with YACHT that included the Straight Gaze and I must say, they make the full band thing work for them.

Twin Tigers

Following YACHT and a failed attempt to see Band of Horses play at the Central Presbyterian Church, SXSW 2010 Tiger Quest continued with Athens, GA’s Twin Tigers. The group provided further proof that all bands with “Tiger” in their name are awesome.

Dosh

Dosh is one of those artists that I’ve wanted to see live for a long time; something about things being samples and layered live really fascinates me and it is pretty incredible to see it happen. Unfortunately, the sound system at Barbarella was not incredible and although we were able to see a master at his craft, we weren’t really able to listen and enjoy it.

Les Savy Fav
Listen: Patty Lee

No disrespect to Suckers or The Antlers, both of which had great sets prior to Les Savy Fav, but I’m going to jump straight to Les Savy Fav. It was a laid back afternoon and now I’m going to try and make it a laid back “evening” by wrapping this sucker up and getting to bed before 6 am.

After seeing Les Savy Fav perform at Seattle’s Capitol Hill Block Party back in 2008, I told myself that I’d see them perform whenever I had the chance. Singer Tim Harrington’s presence at that performance was awesome and it continued tonight with various antics including unplugging stage lights, pouring glowstick chemicals on himself, jumping into the crowd and, last but not least, singing his head off. The sound wasn’t all that great with the microphones seeming to drop left and right, but the crowd was singing right along the whole time and Harrington does not lack in the volume department. Closing out the set as part of the “encore” – in quotes because the sound man didn’t turn anything back on – he screamed a capella. Les Savy Fav live show = awesome.

One more day and then it is back to reality.

Venice Is Sinking
Listen: Ryan’s Song | Pulaski Heights

Having woken up too late to catch a free brunch we had been planning to hit up, our schedule was free to head directly to the Team Clermont and MBV Music Official SXSW College Party. Kicking the party off was Venice Is Sinking, a band we’ve featured plenty here on The PhiLL(er), but I’ve never had the good fortune to see live.

As part of the festivities there were vinyl/tote giveaways and our previous coverage of Venice Is Sinking’s third album paid off in helping me answer a trivia question to win one. Hooray for winning and the day was off to a great start!

Following Venice Is Sinking, we took a brief break from the music so that I could finally meet Jasper Borgman (@JasperPlanNine) in person. Also met Michael Butler (@rnrgeek) who Jasper does the Good Clean Fun show with. Then, it was off to the east side of the IH-35.

Ume
Listen: The Conductor | Pendulum

Last year, some of the best times we had were east of IH-35 and our first adventure east of the interstate this year was to check out Ume. This short trek was certainly worth it as they absolutely rocked. We ended up with some great photos and video which we’ll be sure to post on The PhiLL(er) Facebook page later. If you want an idea of Ume, think Kim Gordon leading a power trio and going more rock and less art.

While enjoying Ume, we were reminded via Twitter that Liars were performing at the Insound day party. This led to the tough decision of skipping both Dosh and Danielson (which would have furthered our east side adventure) to head over to the party and take advantage of their unlimited drinks for $3.

Small Black

I have to admit that I wasn’t really focused on the set while Small Black were performing due to a number of other things including water pistols and a lack of the “unlimited” drinks. Only after their set did I learn that a guy I went to college with was in the group when I noticed someone that looked quite familiar outside. Small Black still have a few SXSW performances left in them and are touring through early April (see tour dates on their MySpace page) so I plan to take advantage of one of those occasions to focus.

The same basic story above (with the exception of having gone to college with them) applies to Vivian Girls as well. I think at this point it is worth mentioning that staying up all day, watching bands and staying focused is hard work!

Liars
Listen: The Overachievers

By the time Liars took the stage, the lack of unlimited drinks issue had been resolved and we were all set to enjoy the set which closed out the Insound day party. Really got to thank Penner (@someboredkiddo) for the reminder Tweet about this.

So Many Dynamos

So Many Dynamos is another band that we’ve featured in the past on The PhiLL(er), but just now got the chance to check out live. Plus, it took care of the obligatory visit to Emo’s during SXSW. The venue has a special place in my heart since my first SXSW trip ten years ago when it was one of the few all ages places I could find. The band’s performance (their only one at SXSW) was great and the energy had the crowd moving like crazy.

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus put on one hell of a performance an great intensity throughout. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to hear the complete set as their last song ran quite a bit over their allotted time (I think this occurred somewhere past the 10-minute mark) and they pulled the plug on it with 45 seconds left. They’re touring through late April so be sure to check them out if you have the chance.

Man Man

With they’re varied instrumentation which included saxophones, baritones, trumpets, bells and keyboards at different points throughout the set, Man Man can certainly keep a crowd engaged and wondering what is going to happen next.

Joan of Arc
Listen: Explain Yourselves #2

We decided to close our day out with Joan of Arc and if I could do it again, I’d pick another way to close the day out. Despite a very enthusiastic Bobby Burg on bass, the performance (and between song banter) was rather flat and they lost the crowd as the set progressed. The highlight might have been the comments regarding Kinsella’s ex-wife’s ex-boyfriend at the end of the set as he was covering what other times they’d be performing at SXSW.

We had every intention of getting things started right away, but with shuttle delays due to ridiculous traffic on I-35 and the necessary tasks of obtaining our wristbands and getting dinner, it took us a while to get on track (our first few stops just saw us catching the end of sets) and settle in.

Tonight was definitely one of tough choices as I seemed to have at least three bands during each time slot that I equally wanted to see, but below is where we ended up.

The Low Lows
Listen: Sparrows

Heading over to The Beauty Bar, we began our initial string of just barely catching the bands on our itinerary. Although we just caught a few songs, it was easy to remember why The Low Lows were one of the standouts for us from last year’s SXSW. The large group of musicians – which includes a full brass section – were in full control and the dynamics swelled to a dramatic finish fully enveloping us in sound.

Nice Nice
Listen: Chrome | See Waves

It has been a really, really long time since we’ve featured Nice Nice on the site (all the way back to a review of Chrome), but ever since then, I’ve been wanting to catch them live to see how the duo manages to work its magic. Seeing them perform in person, I continue to be impressed by the amount of coordination and skill it takes for the duo to pull it off.

Yukon Blonde
Listen: Wind Blows | Blood Cops

I’m really quite disappointed to not have caught more of Yukon Blonde’s set. We featured their song “Wind Blows” on the New Song Daily a couple months ago and it would have been great to see it performed live (assuming it was included earlier in their set). They do have another performance scheduled for this Saturday, however, so I might just get another chance.

Following Yukon Blonde, we had a choice to make – continue on our current path of trying to cram in as many bands as possible even if it meant just catching a few songs, or committing to getting on track and actually catching some full sets. We opted to go with the latter.

Papier Tigre

Our first full set of the night was to hear France’s Papier Tigre. A listen through a bunch of bands while putting together our preliminary schedule revealed that pretty much all “tiger” bands were worth checking out and Papier Tigre performed as any good “tiger” band should – I’m almost tempted to say that they roared. With a guitarist occasionally doubling on snare drum duties, the two-guitar and drum trio balanced rhythmic power with more angular guitar work.

Javelin

Having read Doug Cowie’s review of Javelin, I was a bit disappointed thinking that Javelin was going to be another one of the bands we weren’t going to get to see so I was pleasantly surprised to find they were still performing when we arrived at the next venue. Despite the great review, the live performance was a bit lacking for my taste.

Japanther
Listen: Bumpin’ Rap Tapes | Gravy

Prior to Japanther taking the stage, I heard a guy in a funny shirt state, “It’s about to get rowdy” and rowdy it did get. The most active crowd of the shows thus far, folks were jumping and bumping around to Japanther and all in all it was a good time. Not the most remarkable stuff, but fun.

Andrew WK

It took Andrew WK a ridiculous amount of time to have his set actually start. So long that 1. there was no longer a chance of seeing Bang Bang Eche and 2. that we considered leaving so that we actually could see Bang Bang Eche instead. Once the set started, however, all was forgiven for Andrew WK. The set was fun – which is the least you could expect from the guy made famous by “Party Hard” – and included multiple people getting on stage throughout before closing out with a stage full of people dancing, singing along and having an all around good time.

If “Rib Letters” from Stationary Odyssey‘s Sons Of Boy album was a location like a city or small town, I could completely forgive you for getting lost as you ventured through it on the way to your destination. The sounds swirl around you in a disorienting fashion and the only choice is to go along with it and see where it takes you.

This video follows on the heels of Stationary Odyssey’s video for “Johnfriend” (also from Sons Of Boy) which was released a little over a month ago. To check out that video and find out more about Stationary Odyssey, be sure to check out their site at stationaryodyssey.com.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Based out of the Midwest, the duo Man at Arms plays frantic rock that’ll get your heart rate up. “Swamp Things” comes off of their debut full-length A Waste of Time and Space which was released on Joyful Noise Recordings late last year.

If you want to get more of a taste of the band, be sure to check out New Song Daily #255 and if you happen to live in the area, check Man at Arms out at the Metro Times Blowout on March 6th in Hamtramck, Michigan.

Colour
Colour were super energetic – especially the bass player. I was on his side of the stage so most of the photos included his bouncing around and musical antics.

Mimas
Mimas really might have stolen the night. They were ridiculously great and had a lot of pedals!

This Town Needs Guns
The guys in This Town Needs Guns have ridiculous chops. They played and moved around too fast to get a decent photo, especially with the large, sweaty crowd, but if you have the chance, check them out.

Fortunately, China is also the home of Peking duck, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and a feverish unsung nightlife. With only three days of lecture in an average week of class, I was able to sample some of the ancient city’s more recent attractions.

Expect the typical cosmopolitan party schedule: Thursday through Saturday is a time for drinking and sexing. What American’s might not expect: bars stay open all night, many restaurants are open till 2, and the drinking age is a mysterious somewhere between 16-18, with liquor available on every corner 24-hours-a-day. The typical bottle of rice whisky from a grocery store cost the equivalent of one US dollar. A domestic bottled beer was cheaper than Costco bottled water.

But while it may be more commonly acknowledged that the drink is cheap and plentiful in socialist countries, I can also report that the music scene is alive and well in Beijing, if obviously not up to par with Berlin, London, or Issaquah. NME example: the Go-Team visited earlier this summer.

To my amazement and confusion, there are a handful of bars that book legitimate rock bands on a regular basis. With Stratocasters, tight jeans, and alcoholism, these young boys have everything you could want. Apparently during the late 80s rock music crept into the mainstream with democratic politics and economic reform before the former was crushed by the later during the 1989 incident.

Nowadays many bars book kitschy, awful karaoke bands. One particularly grotesque neon strip found me listening to bars drawing in disoriented knots of tourists by way of sloppy R&B covers. Stay out of popular foreigner-bar districts and these incidences can be avoided.

I think the best night I had at a recognizably punk/garage-rock bar was at a place called D-22 in the Haidian district, northwest of the city center. This bar catered to students, foreigners, and native born rockers in an area surrounded by universities. Run, according to the English website, as a non-profit in support of local music, D-22 seems to be the project of western investors and local musicians looking to develop an above-ground indie music scene in China’s capital. Imagine a smoky version of the Vera Project with a bar for the older, richer scene people. Imagine the proceeds.

The success of this clandestine international project depends on the kind of night out one prefers. If you enjoy a packed club full of nubile youngsters eager to socialize, steer clear of this dark, pretensions, often-vacant art-space. But if you enjoy a fairly sober evening with a few friends, a couple beers, and a local band that covers David Bowie’s “Five Years” during the encore, make a stop at D-22 Beijing.

For dancing, no area in Beijing is better than the strip of nightclubs and bars across from the Worker’s Stadium. I sampled two big clubs in the area, but there are dozens more. I want to mention Vicks. There are actually two big clubs facing each other across a large parking lot nearby the Worker’s Stadium: Mix and Vicks. The only thing I know about Mix is that it looked more expensive and newer on the outside (large minimalist neon sign) than Vicks. That night I was looking for a dance and a laugh, not a staring contest with bored Chinese celebrities, so I chose the dingier Vicks sign.

I did pay 50 Yuan (or about 7 US dollars) for entrance to Vicks, which while expensive for a Beijing bar, is a bargain. Vicks held all the mystique and fantasy of a typically seedy hold over from the mid 90s retro-disco dance scene. All the furnishings on the disco house level would have been very chic and expensive in a NYC of the 1970s.

In the basement, a few nerdy hip-hop DJs played top recent classics from the USA to a bouncing dance floor of ex-pats, students, and locals looking to be seen. I loved the drunk transnational frat boys on vacation and the barely pubescent body-builder who tried to impress one of my friends with all the exotic appeal of pelvic thrusts of a young American steroid-user in a Chinese hip-hop club.

On my last night in China I visited Destination, a sleek, trashy dance bar by the Worker’s Stadium. Slick DnB draws a Satuday crowd all light long. Great sound system, great lighting, and sweaty shirtless men, make this spot unacceptable for the casual night out. Everybody’s clothes and hair looked fresh off the set of a Korean cell phone commercial.

Did I mention that Destination is one of the most famous gay nightclubs in the world and one of the only places in China where gay men can be themselves in public? So amazing was the energy in this dance club that my intimidated group of friends left after one drink. We were simply unworthy in our loose-fitting suburban-American clothes and blubbery academic body-tissues.

I think Beijing’s night scene has something to offer anyone who would normally go out in the states, plus many goofy tourist options that for some may seem somewhat authentic. Importantly, the music is as good as any medium sized city in the US. Real rock bands come from Beijing. I saw one called Joyside play at D-22.

You may be the most enchanted by Beijing’s club scene if you are a gay Chinese man or a drunk college student trying to understand why you can’t properly digest food even after a month’s worth of drink tickets written in Mandarin have slipped through your chubby European fingers. Nevertheless, this city knows how to push you back out into those dimly-lit streets; how to make you wave down vaguely paternal cab drivers one more time.

And yes you meagerly informed, unknowing Orientalist, Karaoke and Starbucks are everywhere in Beijing.