Craft Spells play the Brooklyn Vegan party at Hotel Vegas.

Alex Maas of The Black Angels. I love him!

The Black Angels (left), People listening outside of Hotel Vegas (right)

Joe Lifto showing me his rad shirt.

Air Review performs at Doc’s patio. They were a nice surprise since we were shopping next door at Parts and Labour.

Air Review (left), Austin sign on South Congress (right)

Crawfish at Shoal Creek (left), Mike and Leslie dancing to Sam Cooke on East 6th St (right)

Jan van Lier at Kingdom.

It’s not SX without a Bill Murray sighting (left), Art by Tim Doyle on South Congress (right)

The Spring Standards play on the 18th floor of the Hilton, shortly past 2am.

The Spring Standards

Parlovr!!!

Parlovr

The lovely and talented Tara McPherson shows me her bunny ring at her Flatstock booth.

Abe Lincoln. Holding a pizza. With a guitar purse. WIN.

Ben Kweller singing “Wasted & Ready” (one of my faves). We listened from across the street while indulging in beer and Amy’s ice cream.

Balthazar was a must see on my list and they were the perfect last band of SXSW!

Of Monsters and Men :: Incredible live!!

Of Monsters and Men

Glen Hansard :: Such a sweetheart!

Half Moon Run

Thus:Owls

Hospitality :: One of my favorite bands currently!

I met Jacquie who saw way more bands than me. I met her doppelganger, Margot, the day before.

Korallreven :: Members of the amazing band, Radio Dept!!!

Korallreven

Killer set by Fanfarlo

The Drums :: 2nd show

Ume

This Will Destroy You

On our way to Leslie’s 1st Shins show at Auditorium Shores

Auditorium Shores

The Shins

Another SXSW is behind us and the recaps, photos and best-of lists are endless. And I love to read them all! It is impossible to see and do everything that SXSW offers, but it is fun to try. There was never a night where I was asleep before 4am only to wake up early each day and do it all over. Some bits from days one and two…

The Drums at Flamingo Cantina for the Under the Radar party. I haven’t had a crush on a blonde boy since high school. Jonathan Pierce is adorable when he does that arm sway thing.

I met these super nice people at the bus stop and hung with them for a bit. They are touring in a lime green school bus that runs on veggie oil (I love that). They are members of Lost in Atlantis, Thomas King, and Meagan from Blue Sky and Hard Rock.

incredible eggrolls at Yakitori food truck (left), cookies being passed around at The Drums set (right)

friendly guys, Jason and TJ of The Grey Area

Hooray for Earth (left), I didn’t make any hip-hop shows this year, but heard some while walking by (right)

Reggie Watts! I convinced Don and Steve from Vancouver to stay for his set and they loved Reggie! I also met Tamara (a former Seattlite and photographer), Derek, and Margot.

The Love Language (left), Margaret of the Seedy Seeds (right)

He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister… this band is so friendly and fun live!! I have video of a Zach Galifianakis lookalike (TJ from New Hampshire) dancing to one of their songs.

Lauren Brown is adorable! He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister

Bush Baby Beer girls. BB turns beer into water for countries that need it. (left), Jake Shimabukuro, a ukelele master!!! I can’t believe I got to see him live. The whole place was full of badge holders and I was one of a few that got in with cash. He played amazing covers like Bohemian Rhapsody and While My Guiter Gently Weeps. (right)

In The Pink: So much energy and great stage presence!

This is the final chunk of SXSW bands that I sampled. The full list of bands can be found here, but just remember the list can change. It will be impossible to see all of these bands, but at least I’m prepared if someone asks me if I want to see so-and-so band. I’m super psyched!

Peter Bradley Adams (Brooklyn NY) – singer/songwriter
A.Dd+ (Dallas TX) – hip hop
Allah-Las (Los Angeles CA) – surf rock
Anamanaguchi (Brooklyn NY) – electronic rock/8-bit
Andrea Balency Trio (Mexico City MEXICO) – french
Balkan Beat Box (Brooklyn NY/Tel Aviv ISRAEL) – world/electronic
Baloji (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO) – belgian french hip hop
Bez (Lagos NIGERIA) – soul
Brite Futures (Seattle WA) – indie rock
Built to Spill (Boise ID) – indie rock ***
Chicha Libre (Brooklyn NY) – latin/surf pop
Chokeules (Toronto CANADA) – rap/hip hop
Clubfeet (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
Craft Spells (Seattle WA) – dream pop
Cuba Cuba (Cardiff UK-WALES) – indie rock
Cuff the Duke (Toronto CANADA) – folk
Da C.O.D. (Austin TX) – rap/hip hop
The Dandies (Hochdorf SWITZERLAND) – rock
Daughter (London UK-ENGLAND) – singer/songwriter
Delta Spirit (Long Beach CA) – folk rock
Dent May (Oxford MS) – singer/songwriter
DIVE (Brooklyn NY)
Electric Empire (Melbourne AUSTRALIA) – soul
Electric Guest (Los Angeles CA) – indie pop
Elephant Stone (Montreal CANADA) – indie rock
Frank (Just Frank) (Queens NY) – post punk
French Films (Helsinki FINLAND) – dream pop
Gold Fields (Mitchell Park AUSTRALIA) – indietronic
Gold Motel (Chicago IL) – indie pop
The Good Natured (Newbury UK-ENGLAND) – brit pop
Gospel Music (Jacksonville FL) – indie pop
Grimes (Montreal CANADA) – electro pop ***
Half Moon Run (Montreal CANADA) – alt pop
Horse Feathers (Portland OR) – folk **
Hospitality (Brooklyn NY) – indie pop ***
Sarah Jaffe (Denton TX) – singer/songwriter
JENNY O. (Los Angeles CA) – pop/singer/songwriter
Jonti (Sydney AUSTRALIA) – electro/experimental
Michael Kiwanuka (London UK-ENGLAND) – soul/folk
Lights (Toronto CANADA) – synch pop
Lost Lander (Portland OR) – alt rock
Emma Louise (Toowong AUSTRALIA) – pop/singer/songwriter
Metric (Toronto CANADA) – indie rock
Mord Fustang (Tallinn ESTONIA) – electronic
Krista Muir (Montreal CANADA) – singer/songwriter
Natty (London UK-ENGLAND) – reggae
Oh Land (Copenhagen DENMARK) – pop ***
1,2,3 (Pittsburgh PA)
The Seedy Seeds (Cincinnati OH) – indie pop **
Soul Khan (Brooklyn NY) – rap/hip hop
Squarehead (Dublin IRELAND) – surf/pop/rock
Tall Ships (Falmouth UK-ENGLAND) – indie rock ***
This Will Destroy You (San Marcos TX)
Tilly and the Wall (Omaha NE) – pop **

**so fun/amazing that I want to see again

***been wanting to see this band live for a while