motorcycle sidecar drama: sxsw '11 jolly good times (with pics!)

Sluggish Sunday is what I'll call it-the day SXSW is officially over and everybody is as lazy as a floppy piece of cheese, and the city can finally rest (excluding the clean-up crews, who I have extreme gratitude for). But last Sunday, my fun all started when me and some friends found the Pepsi Max lot on the corner of 3rd & San Jacinto which was giving away free booze and games all day (and for the rest of the week)! It was a nice relaxing way to start the week off before Wednesday, when we'd all start running around town like lunatics, chasing our favorite bands.

Catching Sleigh Bells again at SXSW for the second year in a row, I was even more pumped and anxious to see Alexis & Derek rock out in their jam fest of heavy bass and noisy pop.
Straight after, Flying Lotus put on a downright, full of positive attitudes, dancy DJ set. TV On The Radio closed out this parade of music with a great one-hour set featuring old tunes and some new ones from their forthcoming album, <i>Nine Types Of Light</i> (4/12). Participating in my first mosh pit while jamming to "Wolf Like Me" was a freeing experience.

After a heavily boozed-up three days, I woke up pretty late Wednesday. I was only able to catch a little of Toro Y Moi, just so I would have time to run over to Mohawk to see Foster The People, a band I've been obsessing over since last summer. From that performance on, I was in official stalker mode (as my friend Amanda will tell you). I was able to see them again at Emo's on Friday, and they were even better than the day before. They were definitely my Local Natives of this year's festival. Every song is full of optimism and dancey-pop beats that your feet won't want to quit moving to. Their sound has been compared to lots of other bands but really, it's unique and their own. If you have not checked them out, I demand you buy their self-titled EP, NOW!

Oh yeah, can't forget the Beatport showcase at the Parish that I caught on Thursday night. I was able to get my fist-pumping and glow stick-swinging skills on to Afrojack, Marco Carola, and the amazzzing Calvin Harris (whom I got to shake hands with :) The rest of Friday included performances by Twin Shadow, The Naked and Famous, Deerhunter, The Bright Light Social Hour, and GIVERS. All were great, just as I knew they would be. After a late night of partying (and a sprained foot ;/ , me & the gang rested easy on Saturday and just went to catch Bright Eyes & the "Super Moon" at Auditorium Shores.

Well that was my tell-tale all of SXSW 2011! Hope everyone's was as merry and entertaining as mine.

3/14-3/19 shows

Sleigh Bells

Flying Lotus DJ set

TV On The Radio