Okay I just read over a post and realized, maybe I should be editing these things. So enjoy those first two in their raw and uncut form, because the next two, as well as anything else I’ll be writing about on this blog in the future, will be re-read and edited down at least once to make things, oh I don’t know, easier to read? Let’s go with that.

For now, here’s a bit of foreshadowing: http://www.myspace.com/katiestelmanis

Let’s move on to Thursday. Also known as the day I ate nothing and drank everything. This was probably the one day I spent mostly on my own, which didn’t end up being too bad. I was able to see what I wanted, when I wanted to. And what I wanted to start with was The Walkmen. Kat (I feel weird that you’re reading this..haha) and I went over to the convention center to check out an early showcase by the band. It was kind of a weird experience, as the show took place inside a convention center room, and the audience was mostly industry executives. I’m not used to seeing a band play in a room full of 40something music businessmen. The band played really well though. Not sure if it was cause they had to bring their a-game in front of these people or if that’s just how they play normally, but whatever the case, they sure put on a good show. After their set, I took off on my own and never really looked back.

I headed over to the East side of Austin to check out the Freelance Whales (before realizing that I’m most likely seeing them play tonight at the echo). Pretty impressive to be honest with you. I like their latest album. It’s fun and poppy, but I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from their show, especially at such an early time in a huge field with like 8 people watching them. They didn’t seem to care though, and they put on a solid show. After I was all cheered up and ready for the bright, sunny day, I went and did what any normal person who wants to keep up the high would do, and walked over to see The Antlers.

Good idea right? In the long run it was a pretty great idea, but it definitely destroyed the bouncy, happiness the Freelance Whales had provided me. Oh well. Thankfully I had some comic relief as these two guys in their mid 30s who I had encountered the day before were standing right next to me, and they kept cracking awkward jokes about how much older they were and just general comedy that I guess would be funny if you were born in 1975. Anyway, after an overextended sound check (this seemed to be somewhat of a normal occurrence at SXSW) the band finally started to play. We only got around 3-4 songs due to timing issues and further complications on stage, but that was all I really needed to know that these guys are for real. It’s one thing to record a beautifully haunting concept album that receives critical acclaim, but it takes something else to be able to take that emotion and channel it in such a powerful way on the live stage. Their set ended and I was on my way to Phantogram! Woo! Finally! Or so I thought at least..

I confidently began my walk over to this place called..The Side Bar or The Side Door..something on the side, knowing that Phantogram was not going to escape my grasp this time. Went inside, ordered my first drink of the day, and asked the bartender if she knew who was playing. She had no idea but gave me the list of bands. I recognized Phantogram at the time I was there, but that it was at the outside stage. Ok fine. I could figure out where that was. I start drinking my Lone Star tallboy and walk out to the patio, where there are clearly zero stages. Hmmm..it said outdoor. I’m outdoor. What the hell? After awkwardly standing in the middle of the back patio, looking extremely confused, holding a water in one hand and a beer in the other, I noticed a very thin walkway that was being blocked off by a woman and her baby. I had solved the mystery of the outdoor stage. Nothing was going to stop me from Phantogram now. Nothing, that is, except for timing. Apparently everything at this bar was off by at least one band. Now, for something like SXSW, which is essentially a showcase for tons of bands, this isn’t always a bad thing. So I’m a band or two early and I may miss one or two other things I had planned on seeing. Who cares. What if these two bands I catch turn out to be amazing new acts that I wouldn’t have heard of for one or two more years when they blew up? I could be ahead of the curve because of this timing mishap! Cool! I’m going to discover new bands aannndd see Phantogram! How great! Nope. Not the case again. For starters the next band was taking forever to sound check as well. And just by the sound of that, I clearly knew I wasn’t going to enjoy what was ahead, so I went to see Danielson.

What can I really say about Danielson? The dude is pretty crazy. The whole band was dressed up in uniform, matching shoes and all. Unfortunately Daniel was not wearing the tree getup that he’s been known to wear in the past, but I’ll let it slide. The music is just as good as you hear on his albums, but with added benefits like various “clap-a-long” and “snap-a-long” songs that they call out before playing. All in all I wouldn’t have died had I not seen them on my Austin journey, but I was definitely glad that I did. Now I can watch that documentary on them and see just how crazy they (or most likely specifically he) actually are. It was now time for my unfortunate Titus Andronicus chase.

My plan was to catch Titus and then head over to the hotel for a good rest/phone recharge. It was a perfect plan, that was perfectly timed out, as I was planning on catching my friend Sean’s band, Nico Stai, later in the evening. Well I learned a pretty valuable lesson about making specific plans at SXSW that day, and it was a pretty exhausting lesson as well. I walked a good four to five blocks east of where I already was (which was pretty east of downtown to begin with) to reach the venue where Titus Andronicus was playing. After some careful address searching I did manage to find the venue, but I also found a locked gate and a small, handwritten note. A note that told me the show had moved, not just back to the downtown area, but as far west of downtown as I was east. How perfect. Having nothing to do I decided to give it a shot. Around 25 or so minutes later I made it to the cross street they wanted me at, but was there a noticeable venue anywhere? Yes there were plenty, but was Titus Andronicus playing in any of them? Of course not! It was also getting to be too late to keep trying, so I gave up, tired, knee in pain (something that really picked up on Thursday and still hasn’t really subsided), and overall defeated. After a quick run in with a friend, Scott, who was there doing sound for No Age, I headed back to the hotel before my phone got too angry with me and died. Nico Stai next, right?

While getting the rest I so desperately needed, I received word from Sean that his band was not, in fact playing that evening, due to complications with the venue. Apparently they rolled up to the spot and found it out was a wine bar. And they’re definitely not a wine bar band. Trust me. All this meant for me was an even further breakdown in my plans. What the hell was I gonna do now? Oh..just go to probably the best thing I saw all week long. Sharon Van Etten playing solo in a very small church ‘historic sanctuary’. It wasn’t easy getting there, as her myspace had written it was a synagogue, and I couldn’t see one anywhere. So of course, instead of asking someone, I tried finding it for myself, only to circle the block twice before I gave up and asked. Luckily I asked the right people and I happened to be right in front of it, so everything worked out. God I wish everyone could have been there to experience her performance. Unfortunately there were only a handful of people in the room, but that didn’t bother her in the slightest. So beautiful. So haunting (I know I threw that word out earlier, but the location and mood of the music went so perfectly together). Her music is such a depressing introspective on life and love, and I don’t care how cliche that sounds. Her voice and her guitar reverberated in the room so perfectly. Everyone in that room was frozen. No one making a sound so as not to miss a moment of what was unfolding before us. Half the people with their eyes closed, heads down, just letting the sound soak in. It gives me the chills just thinking about it now. All those failed plans were thrown out the door because I was able to experience something so perfect. Ok now I needed a drink. A couple drinks. No food though. Who needs food?

I met up with Sean (dude from Nico Stai and also of Origami Vinyl fame) and his bandmates at some swanky hotel, The Driskill, for what I thought was drinks. We ended up seeing Neil for a second (also of Origami fame) and just hanging out till we went to the Hype Machine party, where some wonderful white man was rapping on stage. A little more hangout and a few gin and tonics later, I was off to catch Salem.

What can I say about Salem? That I didn’t like them live is probably the only thing. Three kids, one girl, two guys. Just standing there on stage, switching off between vocal duties and the different instruments, looking sad and depressed and not caring about life or the fact that they’re on stage playing music for us. I won’t allow any excuses either. I don’t care if they were high, or if their music is dark or whatever else. If that’s what they’re gonna show me at a live show, than I don’t need to go to their live shows. If I like their music I’ll listen to the recorded form, but if they’re not gonna give me anything live, than I don’t need them. And they, like all other musicians, need live performances to survive, so hopefully they’ll figure themselves out. Just to clarify, however, there was an incredibly long line to get in, and other people I talked to didn’t seem to mind the performance so maybe it’s just me. But I know what I saw, and, obviously, I know I’m right, so they better shape up. The end. I was kinda pissed off at the showing so I left before people I was meeting up with got there and tried my luck with She & Him.

Of course I wasn’t gonna get into She & Him if I’m getting there 20 minutes before they play. What was I thinking? Come on me. I still optimistically waited in like for a good 10-15 minutes as the person behind me said they were running 30 minutes late, but I knew it was just a pipe dream. I eventually ended up leaving, angry I wasn’t able to see beautiful Zooey up close and in real life. Casxio was playing around the corner, so I figured I’d see what their deal was.

Their deal was nothing special, in my humble opinion. They were ok, dancy, kind of disco revival. But from what I recall, their lyrics were a bit immature and for some odd reason, their look just seemed to bug me. Nothing against them though. I enjoyed what I heard and definitely think they have a chance to score a hit or two in the coming years. Good for them. I just wasn’t really feeling that kind of music at the moment and Efterklang was about to play at some billiards hall. Oh Efterklang.

This Danish band is so good. So fun and fresh at their shows. Their harmonizing with one another is great. The create so many different layers of sound with the drummer also playing trumpet, the keyboardist also playing flute, the singer playing guitar, a cymbal on on his mic stand, and a drum machine that he was messing around with throughout the set. The bass player was also dealing with samples and playing with various knobs and levers throughout. And while all this was going on, the whole band had this kind of brightness to them. All were wearing bright colorful outfits, they were all smiling and genuinely enjoyed to be playing music for us. You couldn’t wipe the smile off the head singer’s face, nor could you stop him from high fiving anyone that wanted one. They played some old stuff, mixed in some new stuff, and even threw in a guest appearance by Camera Obscura’s…trumpet player. Overall, just watching them play will lift your mood and make you a more enjoyable person.

I know what whoever is reading this is probably saying. This dude only cares about “energy” and people that look happy and blablabla. Well to a certain extent, yes that’s true. It’s the kind of music I prefer, but definitely don’t limit myself to. As I’ll explain in Friday’s post, The XX, another gothy, ’sad-looking’ band somewhat surprised me in a good way. I like all kinds of things, happy, sad, and just overall weird, and I’m fine when the band in question is giving me something to walk away with that I’ll remember. What I don’t like is when a band is clearly not giving you that extra effort that’s needed these days, with so many musicians out there fighting for your ears and your $$. Just my two cents. Anyway. Moving on to the night’s headliner..Rocky Votolato?

No, no. I’m not back to my Freshman year of school, when I loved Rocky. The dude is good. I have nothing against him. My musical tastes have just changed and his music just isn’t for me anymore. But. If the last two days had proven anything, if I was gonna see Phantogram, I was going to get to the venue early, and stick it trough the end. And that’s exactly what I did. Got to the bar one band early, drank around 3-4 gin and tonics (this was after I had a couple more at Efterklang..still having eaten nothing), till Kat met up with me right in front, right before Phantogram. I had a little run in with some hip, 30somethings who thought they could just get right in front of me and block my view of the stage, but having put that much effort into seeing this band, and having put that much alcohol into my body, I wasn’t about to let that happen. So I made it clear, both physically and verbally (it’s not as bad as it sounds), that it was not cool to do that. And it worked. Go me. I’m glad it worked too, cause Phantogram rocked it. Here’s a perfect example of a two person band that knows they’re already handicapped when it comes to the live show and have figured out how to make it work. With electronic beats, a female/male vocal duo, one on keyboards and the other on guitar, respectively, they dance around, use exciting lighting, and just look and sound like they’re having fun. And that translated so well to the crowd. Everyone was moving. Hell even I was moving, and that doesn’t really happen. I would like more female vocals than male, but it’s something they’ll work on in future recordings, cause I’m positive their strong performance at SXSW is going to guarantee them a plethora of opportunities in the future. Go see them whenever you can. April 30th at the Troubadour with The Antlers, maybe?

So I saw Phantogram. And after hyping myself up for a couple days, they did not disappoint. What a great ending to the night. Well the great ending was really the veggie dog I ate right outside the venue before my walk home. Had some bumps in the road, but a solid day for music. Time for more recharging before another potentially busy day.

P.S. Sorry for so many words and no pictures. I was stupid and didn’t take my camera around with me. I have pictures on my iphone that I’ll try to upload later today and throw up there. And I did take pictures on Saturday, so I’ll include those for that post, but for now, enjoy my long, long, posts. Yes!