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Saturday
Emos- AP Party:
Last year on Saturday I heard of this party at Emos, sponsored by
Alternative Press. They had Jack's Mannequin, The Spill
Canvas and Cute Is What We Aim For. So naturally I swung
by this year, to see who they had on the lineup. Luckily for me I
saw that this year they had Chiodos playing. Like I said, I'll
never pass up a chance to see them. So I decided to hang out, enjoy
the 90 degree weather (it apparently had been snowing at home in KC)
and check out the bands that preceded Chiodos. One of the bands was
similar to Furthest Drive Home, in that I had seen them plastered
on a magazine cover and had heard their name before, yet never had
the chance to really listen to their music. This time the band was
called Portugal. The Man. This is probably the only band that
I have ever heard of that calls Alaska home. They were not the band
that I would have expected to be paired with The Matches, Scary
Kids Scaring Kids, and Chiodos. A band that categorizes themselves
as: Progressive, Soul and Grime. With those three genres (though I'm
not sure what kind of genre Grime is), you can imagine what kind of
a show it was. A dose of something out of the ordinary, is the only
way I can think of how to describe these guys. Well that and sometimes
a hint of a Mars Volta influence mixed with maybe a little
Chicago (yes, I said Chicago - intrigued?). I bet you can guess
what list this band made it on. I actually wish I had arrived a little
earlier, because I would've been able to catch the set for The
Maine. Now granted, I didn't know that I like The Maine until
after I listened to the CD my editor gave me on the drive back from
SXSW. But at least I would've gotten to see them live and THEN enjoyed
their album. Chiodos' performance was just as amazing as the night
before, however, this time they decided to surprise everyone. To perform
a cover of a Lemonheads song called "Being Around,"
Craig brought out his buddy Anthony Green (Circa
Survive). I had wanted to catch Anthony Green all week, but kept
missing the opportunity. So I was very excited that the opportunity
came to me. To hear those two sing lyrics like "If I was a booger,
would you blow your nose? Would you keep it? Would you eat it? I'm
just trying to give myself a reason, for being around," is just
priceless.
 Red
Eyed Fly- Bloodshot Showcase
In the tradition of seeing bands multiple times, I hit up the Bloodshot
Showcase to check out Ha Ha Tonka (again). But you have to
understand the appeal of HHT, in order to understand the need to get
as much of them in one week as physically possible. It's said that
they pull their influence from the blues which stems from the Ozarks
of Missouri. Well, wherever they pull it from, it works well. This
is the kind of band that always keeps their audiences moving. The
harmonies are perfectly balanced with the pure rockness of the guitars.
And Brian's (lead vocals) choir-esque voice makes you wonder
why anyone would be singing the blues.
Spiro's Amphitheater:
To finish off the week I ended right where I began: Spiro's Amphitheater.
This time the music was a bit lighter than The Feds. The
Hush Sound is about as completely opposite of The Feds as you
can get. The female lead vocals help with that a lot. They were pretty
good. And I only say pretty good because after coming home and really
giving their album a listen, I realize that Spiro's was not the best
venue for them. Their sound is fun and the lyrics are simple enough
that it would be easy for audience participation. However, I see this
band fitting better in a smaller indoor venue. Maybe not even a theater,
but more of a piano club. More intimate and better acoustics than
what they had that night. Despite their performance, I am rather intrigued
by the band. Further investigation is going to be necessary. 
Post-Hush Sound was the band that I had been looking forward to all
week. Phantom Planet had first made it to my playlist when
they picked up one of the biggest gigs that any starting band could
hope for. They had the theme song for The O.C. and instantaneously
gained thousands of young fans (myself included). Therefore, I knew
I liked at least one of their songs. After their set, I now like way
more than one song. I was very impressed, not only were they talented
musicians, but exceptional entertainers as well. Alex (lead
vocals) knew how to the engage the audience and even get them to participate
with one of the songs. Who knew that hundreds of strangers could harmonize
so well with each other? Of course they ended their set with the crowd
favorite "California." But they did it in an interesting
way. They didn't build it up, or lead up to it or even give you a
hint that they were in fact going to play it. Therefore, making it
that much of a surprise for everyone and that much better of an ending
to not only the night, but the week for me.
All in all, this was just as an incredible SXSW as last year was
for me. The experiences, the bands and the city. I wish I could've
stayed in the nice warm weather a few more days, but I was out of
energy by Saturday night. With a nice list of new bands to check out,
I think I'm set until next year.
-Rachel Fredrickson
 Talk
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