Wow. What a day. 16 bands (I think I can count), including a few fantastic ones.

I started the day at The Bay Bridged’s Bay Area Takeover at the Beauty Bar with French Miami. I’ve talked about these SF locals plenty before. They put on a solid set. They were tight and put a lot of energy into their set.

The Red Verse were up next. They were pretty standard indie rock with a bit of jangle to them.

Two Sheds (myspace) came up next. I love these guys, but I hadn’t actually seen them in a while.

They started off with “Good Intentions”, their excellent track on the latest Bay Bridged comp and they ended with “It’s Hard”, my favorite track by them and a long time song obsession. A great set by this band. I left thinking that I shouldn’t forget that this band is incredible.

I went around the corner to Red 7 to see Tallest Man on Earth. I’ve listened to his Shallow Grave possibly more than any other album this year so far. He put on a short but great set with clear, nuanced vocals and rapid, precise guitar work.

After that I took a break. By “take a break”, I mean stand out in the midday sun in a long line while hearing the sound bleed from a dozen different bands in a dozen venues. Not that I’m complaining.

When I finally got into the Brooklynvegan/ Paste show at the Radio Room, the Wrens (myspace) were about to go on on the outside stage. It was hot and crowded out there, but the guys put on a really great show. The whole band was going for it, but Kevin Whelan, the bass player was all in–he was yelling out in the crowd, climbing up onto amps, and throwing his bass into the air. I couldn’t believe someone was going all in for a 3pm show. When the closing notes of their closing number, “Hopeless”, rang out, the audience cheered like few I’d heard at SxSW so far.

North Carolinians the Avett Brothers (myspace–pronounced “AY vett”, it seems–were up next. I’ve been quite liking their Second Gleam EP and the other things of theirs I’ve heard. I’d also heard they put on a great show. I’d heard correctly. The two brothers, Seth and Scott, seem like they are foils of sorts. Their voices match pretty well, but Scott, who plays drums and banjo and sings, has a hard edge on his vocals and playing, a bit of a punk edge. Seth, who plays guitar and sings has a bit of softer edge. In performance both are high energy and engaging. Also, the upright bass and cello both added nicely into the mix. Great show.

Passion Pit was up next. I don’t want to like “Sleepyhead” but it is catchy; I decided to stay for a bit and check them out. I didn’t find their set very engaging. They played decently and it got some people moving, but the music felt a little lackluster and their banter/ stage presence fell flat.

I headed over to the Aquarium Drunkard/ My Old Kentucky Blog show at Peckerheads next. Le Switch (mypsace) was up. They played pretty standard indie rock. They have the normal guitar, bass, drums, keyboards but they add trumpet/ violin. They had fun on stage, but their music didn’t do it for me.

After the problems hearing J Tillman (myspace) yesterday, I was glad to have the chance to see him again. Despite a somewhat chatty crowd, I could hear him much better and he played a great, gorgeous set filled with some of my favorites like “Jesse’s Not a Sleeper”, “Crooked Roof”, and “Seven States Across”.

Quick anecdote: during the first song, one of the sound guys carried an amp onto the stage and Tillman said, to people’s shock, “get the fuck off my stage”. Then he went into a few minute monologue–in the middle of the song, I remind you–about how that was something his friend John Roderick said to him once and how he’d vowed to say that to someone else.

Eli Paperboy Reed (and the True Loves) was up next. Coming on stage with short-sleeve button-up shirt tucked into his pants and a crisp hair cut, he very much looked the part of, well, not a soul singer. But his voice is something else entirely. While not approaching the greats (Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson), he does have a good set of pipes.

He seems to have studied the old bands, though, and has some of those conventions down: the band starting and then a drawn out introduction of the singer by one of the band members. And he also introduced the band members, each with a solo, during a musical vamp. It was a good set–his band was tight and Reed is a good showman.

I then headed over to Central Presbyterian for the Rural Alberta Advantage (myspace).

But, first, San Francisco’s Girls were up when I got there. They played a set with jangle rock and 70s rock influences all over it. The audience was receptive, but I don’t get it myself.

If you’ve been reading this blog you know that I love Hometowns, the Rural Alberta Advantage’s album–it was my third favorite album of 2008 in fact. Given that they haven’t toured the US, I was pretty excited to finally see them. With Nils on guitar, keyboards and lead vocals, Amy on keys, glockenspiel, percussion and harmony vocals and Paul on drums, the band looked small in the expansive church.

They seemed a bit nervous and the tempo dragged in the first song, but they settled in pretty quickly and played an incredible set. (My notes for this concert say “holy crap that was great.”) They were personable between songs and during them Nils and company played with drive and energy. You could feel the audience being won over by them.

During the second to last song, the band walked out into the audience and finished the song. Then they did a song–their “goodbye song”–completely acoustic in the middle of the main aisle and the whole audience hushed to listen. The end effect was stunning.

Bologna, Italy’s A Classic Education (myspace) played a set at Rusty Spurs after that. A six piece with standard rock instruments plus violin, they played a decent set of indie pop with some twee moments. They started and ended well, but I felt the set waned in the middle.

I’d heard about Sgt. Dunbar and his Hobo Banned and wanted to check them out. They played a set to a sit-down audience at Esther’s Follies. With eight people on smallish stage playing a million instruments–including guitar, trumpet, fluegelhorn, French horn, baritone horn, banjo, banjo-uke, bass, guitar, saxophone, accordion, musical saw, violin and more–they were constantly bumping into each other. Everyone played multiple instruments so it was a bit confusing if you were trying to keep track of who was playing what.

They mixed rowdy songs–making me think of Port O’brien–with more nuanced ones well. They, too, played the last song without amplification, out in front of the stage. It was a good set, but not tremendous.

I rushed across town to the Ranch for the Bella Union showcase. Ohbijou (myspace) was up first. I liked their set in October at the Hemlock and they delivered again. With subdued, gorgeous songs and beautiful harmonies, this band isn’t going to rouse anyone out of bed, but it was pretty enjoyable nevertheless.

Who plays a set at SxSW that’s shorter than their allotted time? No one, right? Everyone’s scraping to play one extra song. Except My Latest Novel (myspace). I enjoyed their album Wolves but hadn’t hard much from them since. I was pretty excited when I saw them on the schedule for this showcase. The mix was a little light on the vocals so it was a bit hard to make out, but they played a good set of Scottish-style indie pop with a little of the build-decay that bands like Arcade Fire are known for.

I think I can go home now–I’ve seen a lot of great stuff. Two more days left, though.

Check out more photos from day 2.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 20th, 2009 at 8:46 am Posted by adrian in SF bay area, live review, photos. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.