SXSW: Third Day In

Yesterday was the day of big names.

The day kicked off with a little bit of Quincy Jones, the key note speaker of the conference. His anecdotes featured MJ, Sinatra, Oprah and Bono and spanned decades, he’s like the Forrest Gump of music.

Post Quincy I was chilling on the porch trying to get reception for my phone when who should join me but the boys from Devo (for those slow on the uptake think of the song “Whip it, whip it good.”  Everyone is psyched about them being here and they play Saturday night, so I’ll let you know how the old timers go.

Before I knew it, Daniel Johnston was doing an interview in the main studio space at the Convention Centre, The guy looked like he had dribbled down marl grey shirt but he is truly a phenomenon to listen to. He sounds so simple and naive, yet he had the crowd hanging off his every word – a true genius.

With the sun starting to cool down a bit I headed to a huge park on the other side of the river with my new buddies Travis and David and a journalist from the LA Times. It was a free concert but SXSW registrants had an area assigned where we had prime seating and free beer. We watched Cold War Kids do an hour set to an enthusiastic crowd then caught a little bit of M. Ward. Unfortunately his sound didn’t carry that well in the large space but his voice still resonates so beautifully.

I could have stayed at the park all night soaking in the beer and the sunset but we had to go the Playboy party. It is renowned as the hardest party to get into at SXSW and watching people beg and plead at the door, it stood true to its reputation. It was housed in this gigantic warehouse with liquor in great abundance. The bunnies strutted around and for some reason, as cool as it was to be in there, the party lacked the homey Austin feel the downtown bars have that I love so much. Kenan Bell were awesome and Bassnectar, while not really my cup of tea was cool to watch in action. The big headliner of the night was the reformed Janes Addiction and the crowd was abuzz with watching a little bit of history in action. By the time they were done, my feet ached and it was a beeline for the closet taxi which was filled with two gay Mexicans who provided much entertainment.

Today is the NZ music showcase and it looks set to be awesome. The Music Commission guys told me that there have been 2000 RSVPS and no shortage of big wigs so will be fun to show off some of our music to the world. Aside from that I am heading to the Everloving party and may try and squeeze in the Pitchfork party which has already started but a girl’s got to take a break some time.

Till tomorrow.