SXSW day 1

Going backwards in time here with this recap of SXSW, finally just getting the time and energy to write it. After getting into Austin at 7:30am we crashed for a little while before heading downtown. I went to drop my camera stuff off at the Parish for the Young Man show later, then finally went to pick up my badge. First show we saw Tristen from Nashville, good rock group with a slight country vibe.

Same showcase saw Dale Earndhard Jr Jr who were very entertaining, I had heard the name before (kinda sticks with you) but never their music. Cool setup and a great cover of the Beach Boys God Only Knows had me sold.

After that I wanted to be back at the French Kiss showcase to get a handle on things for filming Young Man at 11. Saw the 123's who were cool although I didn't really focus too much attention on them as everyone was preparing for the show. I was very glad to see the Parish looking full, it's a big venue and could easily feel empty even with 100 people in it. But I'd say there were at least 250 people, maybe even more, and they were in for a treat.

Young Man hooked the crowd in from the beginning. The sound was on point and their energy was palatable. I took some really good video although the sound was rather poor because I was right next to the speakers getting a good angle. Should be able to still cut something up nice though, I'll be posting videos in the future. Particuarly I thought the band did amazing on their tune School,which careens through several movements and ends in a frenetic climax with the band rocking out in unison. Their chemistry really shone through on the tunes that allowed a good buildup, their set climaxing with another highlight Just a Growin'.

After the show we packed up gear and debated about what to do next. Luckily several people were interested in checking out the rapper Curren$y who I am a big fan of and have had the pleasure of filming play a show before. We made the trek to the Mohawk (another great venue, luckily hit all good ones on the first day) just as he was starting. The crowd was really into it and even though his set was short he made the most of it, rolling through lots of tunes and playing abbreviated version (often too much so) of many great tracks. Took one solid video, although the audio sucks for the first half:

After Curren$y was Big K.R.I.T. from Missippi who I had heard a lot about recently but again not his music. My brother and I were only able to stay for a the start because we had to load out our equipment from the Parish but it was good enough that we knew we needed to catch him later during the week.

Back at the Parish we checked out some of the Dodos who were closing the French Kiss showcase. I had only heard a couple of tracks from the Dodos before hand on some compilations but it was more the reccomendations of others that made me want to check them out in the first place. They were probably my favorite act of the Frenchkiss showcase (besides Young Man of course :) and definitley deserved the headlining spot. The crowd was really feeling them as they wove dense melodies with great guitar work and pedal effects. You could tell these guys really spent a lot of time mastering their instraments and playing together. We watched a few tunes and then went backstage to relax during the end of their show. Couldn't hear as well but it was amazing just to sit down and relax after the long first day.

So ended day 1 at SXSW. Gonna try and write these other recaps soon so I don't get too behind. I should have started keeping track of all this a long time ago, it will be great to have a record of all this to look back on someday.