Friday 14/03/08 South by Southwest @ Various Venues, Austin, Texas

Gigwise starts out our second day of SXSW at a small bar in the less crowded area of downtown Austin.  We’ve come to see The Acorn. When they play, instantly it’s easy for us to assume that the day can only go downhill from here.  It can’t get better; they are that good.  There’s one word that comes to mind to describe this five-piece Canadian folk rock band: precious.  The gorgeous melodies that echo through the room when the lead and back-up vocalists sing together are ethereal, and the subtle odd percussion (they have two drummers, one who sits at a drum kit and one who stands and bangs around on things) adds that little extra something. They are absolutely stunning, beautiful and wonderful.

We frolic off into the Texas heat to see an outdoor performance by The Pigeon Detectives at the Cedar courtyard around 3:45pm.  It’s odd to be surrounded by a crowd who has no idea who this band even are, nor do they really care.  Nevertheless, the guys come out and totally rock it, playing songs off their album ‘Wait For Me’ to an audience that mostly had never heard the tracks. By the end, however, the American crowd are loving it.  Before beginning ‘I Found Out’, vocalist Matt Bowman even gets us all to start singing, “Going out with!  Yes you’re going out with!” then dives into the song.

Next is Yeasayer at Emo’s.  There’s a lot of hype surrounding this band, and for once it is completely justified.  They are a perfect example of psychedelic goodness that isn’t completely hippie-targeted.  It’s easily digested by people who like any genre.

Across the street at the Emo’s Annex, Californians Why? play a set that is chock full of songs old and new.  “We’re playing a lot of shows here at South by Southwest,” says ex- cLOUDDEAD member, vocalist Yoni Wolf.  “So we don’t want to have any repeats.  This is a repeat-free show, you guys!”

One of the shows we’ve most been looking forward to is Crystal Castles who play at 8pm at Emo’s.  Considering this year they have cancelled almost every South by Southwest date until this one, due to singer Alice Glass’ injury (she was in a car crash two weeks ago and cracked two ribs), anyone who’s anyone is here to see them play.  The Klaxons’ buddies do not disappoint, cracked ribs and all.  They run through almost every track on their new album, getting the greatest audience reception during ‘Alice Practice.’