Saturday, March 23, 2013

Best of SXSW 2013

Well SXSW 2013 is a wrap!  Five thrilling, but long days (12-18 hours each) of running all over downtown Austin to catch bands at many of the 100 official venues.  Each night I crashed into bed, instantly asleep.

By the numbers:  I saw 75 bands at SXSW this year; Laurie saw somewhat fewer but she also saw some great shows I missed, most notably Natalie Maines (Dixie Chicks) & John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival).  Most bands we stayed for full 50 minute sets, some 30 minute sets, and a few we just saw a song or two or three.  I saw 3 bands twice (Frank Turner, Lissie, & Bernhoft), and only 3 bands had I'd ever seen before this week (Frank Turner, Hey Marseilles, & Dawes).

The full list of bands I saw is below; the best standouts are in bold, with a song and a picture.


Tuesday

  • Night Beds - Alt-Country (Nashville, TN - originally Colorado Springs) Night Beds – Ramona
  • Torres - Singer-Songwriter/Rock (Nashville, TN)
  • Sean Rowe - Singer-Songwriter/Folk (Troy, NY)
  • The Milk Carton Kids - Folk duo - great harmonies, very funny, somewhat reminiscent of Gillian Welch/David Rawlings (Los Angeles, CA)
    The Milk Carton Kids – Michigan
  • Gaby Moreno - Latin Rock (Guatemala City, Guatemala)
    Gaby Moreno – No Estoy tan Mal
  • The Last Bison - Folk - 7 people: violin, celo, guitars, mandolins (Chesapeake, VA)
  • Elle King - Rock (Brooklyn, NY)
  • Bastille - Pop, good songs, great showmanship (London, England)
    Bastille – Pompeii


Wednesday

  • McAlister Drive - Pop-Rock (Boston, MA)
  • Anne McCue - Americana (Sydney, Austrailia / Los Angeles / Nashville)
  • The Sea The Sea - Folk duo (New Haven, CT)
  • Frank Turner - Great songs, Great shows, Always fun! (Winchester/London, England)
    More videos from his recent Wembley Stadium show & one from his upcoming CD:
    I Still Believe, Reasons Not To Be An Idiot, & Recovery
  • Beaver Nelson - Singer-Songwriter (Austin, TX)

  • Shugo Tokumaru - Pop (Tokyo, JAPAN)
    Shugo Tokumaru – Katachi
  • Hurray for the Riff Raff - Americana (New Orleans, LA)
  • Rah Rah - Rock (Regina, Canada)
    Rah Rah – Prairie Girl
  • Daniel Romano - Country, pure country (Toronto, Canada)
  • Lucy Rose - Pop (London, England)
  • Hannah Georgas - Singer-Songwriter/Folk, up and coming (Vancouver, Canada)
    Hannah Georgas – Waiting Game
  • Charlotte Church - Singer-Songwriter/Pop, formerly classical/opera (Llandaff, England)
  • Kitten - Rock (Los Angeles, CA)
  • Wild Belle - Pop (Chicago, IL)
  • Tom Odell - Rock, young guy excellent songwriter (London, England)
    Tom Odell - Hold Me
  • Les RAV - Folk/Pop w/ Piano, Violins, Harp, Guitars (Austin, TX)
    Les RAV - Darkest
  • Barcelona - Pop-Rock (Seattle, WA)
  • AJ Croce - Singer-Songwriter, Jazz-Blues Piano, Jim Croce's son (San Diego, TX)
  • Chris Stamey w/ the Tosca String Quartet - Singer-Songwriter storyteller (Chapel Hill, NC)
  • Hayden - Folk/Rock, Excellent dark songs (Toronto, Canada)
    Hayden – Rainy Saturday



Thursday
  • Black Violin - Hip-Hop w/ classically trained violinists - excellent (Miami, FL)
    Black Violin - A Flat
  • Keynote Talk: Dave Grohl - Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Sound City Players
    SXSW Keynote talk
  • Emma Louise - Singer-Songwriter/Pop-Rock (Toowong, Australia)
  • Wake Owl - Singer-Songwriter/Folk (Vancouver, Canada)
  • Bernhoft - Pop, looper extraordinaire -- best I've seen! (Nittedal, Norway)
    Bernhoft - C'mon Talk

  • Cayucas - Pop (San Luis Obisbo, CA)
  • Emicida - Hip-Hop/Rap (São Paulo, Brazil)
  • Family of the Year - Folk (Los Angeles, CA
    Family of the Year - Hero
  • Delorentos - Rock (Dublin, Ireland)
  • Lissie - Rock, a favorite who's putting out a new album soon! (Ojai, CA) Lissie - When I'm Alone
Friday
Saturday
  • Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino - World, Huge band (Lecce, Italy)
  • Nakia - R&B (Austin, TX)
  • Titi Robin Trio - World, Excellent French/Gypsy trio (Angers, France)
    Titi Robin Trio - Suite for Oud
  • Panel talk: The Road Well Traveled
    Chuck Reagan, Matt Pryor, Chris Shiflett, Frank Turner, Josh Lucas
  • Delicate Steve - Rock (Fredon, NJ)
  • Yellow Red Sparks - Folk (Los Angeles, CA)
    Yellow Red Sparks - My Machine Gun
  • Shakey Graves - Folk/Americana (Austin, TX)
  • Jillette Johnson - Singer-Songwriter/Pop (New York, NY)
  • Ski Lodge - Pop/Indie (New York, NY)
  • Foxes - Pop, flashy show (London, England)
  • Caveman - Rock (Brooklyn, NY)
  • Vacationer - Rock (Philadelphia, PA)
  • MØ - Pop (Copenhagen, Denmark)
  • The Weeks - Rock (Jackson, TN)
  • Hey Marseillies - Rock, Great complex band w/ violins, bass clarinet, trumpet (Seatle, WA)
    Hey - Marseilles - Bright Stars Burning
Sunday (not sxsw - Arena Show @ University of Texas)


Well that's it.  SXSW is great for music lovers!  Registration / Hotels go live in August for 2014!

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