JAM at SXSW '09

Arjun checks out the world's biggest indie music festival! South By Southwest sees over 1,800 bands descend on Austin, Texas to perform to crowds who gather from all over the world. Here's Arjun's report from SXSW '09.
Day 1
Lesson #1: Your schedule is worthless
Lesson #2: Wear comfortable footwear
Lesson #3: Your schedule is worthless
You learn a lot at SXSW. You learn that a badge can only get you so far in a long line. You learn that there’s tonnes of great music here, and tonnes of crap. You learn that stealing a set list and getting pictures with your favourite bands doesn’t require much effort. And you learn that there are just way too many stories to tell in a single article. Therefore, here are a bunch of pictures from Day 1 of SXSW '09.

Trail of Dead: A Red Red Meat: A- Dananananaykroyd: A- Cold War Kids: B+ Aqualung: B+ Basically, SXSW is an exercise in gig pwnage. There are far too many gigs happening at all times for one to get any sort of schedule to work, and the best way to experience the whole thing is to just have a broad outline of what you want to do and then let your (very, very tired) feet take you wherever they can. The Trail of Dead set was absolutely mega yesterday at Mohawk. The band played for about half an hour mixing new material and classics (’Would You Smile Again For Me’). The Red Red Meat reunion at Radio Room wasnt as crowded as one would expect, but still magical. Cold War Kids at the Auditorium Shores gave a large spring crowd a generous dose of songs from Robbers & Cowards, while Aqualung’s solo piano set (with a cover of Queen’s ‘Somebody to Love’) at Elysium was short and also featured a greater proportion of material from his first album. Lesson #4: Know downtown's geography Lesson #5: Churches are great venues for gigs because of the atmosphere. And you can sit Lesson #6: Your schedule is worthless JAM has to be the most efficient gig watcher at SXSW. Since Wednesday, we’ve caught 47 shows with only Gallows being watched twice. Friday evening was packed in downtown Austin so careful planning (and a little luck) saw us catch some beautiful music at the Central Presbyterian Church and St David’s Episcopal courtesy Fanfarlo, Dutch acoustic-country act Awkward I, Lisa Hannigan and Laura Marling. We also caught Third Eye Blind and Ben Harper but that was awesome for whole different reasons.