SXSW 2010 Thursday Summary

South by Southwest (SXSW) 2010 was a blast! I know what you're thinking. Sure dude, drink a lot and jam to music. Actually, the beer consumption was kept to a minimum, keeping me alert and able to walk back and forth between the pubs, bars, and venues. Here is an overview of the schedule. It's difficult to capture how much walking was involved. Not that I am complaining. Walking is good exercise. I need to remember to bring a good pair of shoes next time.

Thursday
We arrived in Austin around 12:30 p.m.. It's too early to check into the Hyatt Regency, so we hoof it the Austin Convention Center to pick up our badges and registration packets.

1:00 p.m. - Started at Convention hall.

2:30 p.m. - Caught the last bit of the Yorkshire Party at Latitude 30. Saw One Night Only finish one awesome song don't know the name. The finished their set with "chemistry". This is an awesome band. At this point, I new I SXSW was going to be fun.

3:00 p.m. - Continued to hang out at Latitude 30 to check out the Wales party. Sweet Baboo opened with his set. Wasn't too impressed so we moved on to see another band at Friends. We didn't catch the name and I started to realize that I needed to take notes so I could remember all of the bands.

4:00 p.m. Went to Convention Center and saw Delhi to Dublin and had the opportunity to sit test fit a fully loaded 2009 Chevy Camaro. The Camaro is a sweet car and I my 6-foot, 4-inch frame fits inside with a little room to spare. Jim peeled me away from the Camaro so we could check out the Registrants Lounge at Brush Park for a free drink.

5:00 p.m. At Brush Park, The Sounds from Spain festival started, promising Spanish rock and the best food in the SXSW festival. We ate authentic gazpacio and paella. . We caught two performances. I think the first band was Tom Cary. The second band was Nudozurdo. Tom Cary was basically drums and bass, Spanish Punk rock. Nudozurdo was good. Lots of melody with a U2 like sound.

6ish p.m. We walked back to the hotel to check in. We dropped the bags off, made sure the room was okay and struck out for dinner; no rest for the weary. Found a cool restaurant, the Taco Shack; good fish tacos, made with baked catfish. Yummy!

7:30 p.m. - Headed up to Central Presbyterian church to catch Dan Mangan. We caught the last few songs of Daniel Martin Moore/Ben Sollee. They were a good group.

8:00 p.m. Dan Mangan's set starts. Jim wanted to catch this show so we sat through the whole set; awesome performance!

9:00 ish As we were walking down hill, South on Brazos we saw a rooftop performance. They sounded upbeat and peppy. Got to check this band out! We could not figure out how to get up to the roof and none of the bars knew how to get there. We teamed up with another guy and we finally found a bouncer who could steer us to the right doorway leading to some obscure hallway with elevators taking us to a private Swedish party on top of Logan's Bar. We only caught the last two songs of Miss Li a Swedish pop band, but the hunt was worth it! One of coolest things about SXSW is the unofficial events.  Much like a role playing computer game, the best stuff is discovered by talking to people and keeping your eyes open.

At this point the weather was cooling off and my cough, I thought I was kicking from a previous cold, was coming back; manifested in a persistently congestive cough. Jim and I went on the hunt forcough medicine. the he hunt was unsuccessful until Jim suggested asking one the scores of pedicab drivers. Sure enough one of the pedicab drivers new two locations within two blocks of each other on 6th street. Pedicab drivers are cool! Popped three Vicks.

10:30 p.m. Cough suppressed, we walked to Stubbs to hear Drive by Truckers and Band of Horses. Stubbs was packed and we couldn't get very close. Still, we enjoyed Drive by Truckers and met Sara Hasslinger.  Sara Hasslinger, a social entrepreneur.  She has an awesome site, www.sara-hasslinger.com.

11:00 pm. Heard one song from Band of Horses. The cold and smoking was agitating my cough. Had to strike out for a warmer venue.

12:00 a.m. Hit the Beauty Bar Backyard to listen to Shout Out Out Out. This electronic, techno band packed the venue. The highlight of the show was the genius spectator who decided to have himself lifted over the crowd. I was annoyed as he passed overhead, spilling his drink on me. Karma returned the favor as the crowd passed him over to a section of the crowd with a high concentration of girls. Try as they might, they couldn't hold him up. Down he fell , almost busting his head.

1:00 a.m. Moved on to see Delta Spirit at Emo’s Main Room. Jim and I are exhausted at this point. We can hardly stand any more because our backs and feet are sore from standing and walking for most of the day. But make no mistake. The entire day was a blast.

We headed back across the Congress Street bridge an on to the hotel to crash.