To those hardy enough to trek out to Randall’s Island in the torrential downpour on Friday, for Day #1 of this year’s Governors Ball, we salute you.

In contrast with 2012′s Ball, for which temperatures spiked in the 90s and the sun shone almost relentlessly, the conditions out on the island for this year’s three-day-long fest (for which they added an extra day and two stages) were, well, inclement. OK, they were downright horrible. Those (this reporter included) who were foolish enough to wear flip-flops (or any other footwear less substantial than galoshes or knee-high rubber boots) regretted it seconds after stepping off the ferry into mid-calf-high slop on Saturday afternoon.

After a full day and night of rain, with people kicking up the grounds, Randall’s Island was torn up. (In retrospect, they probably should have canceled Friday altogether, to benefit the rest of the weekend.) Where once there was grass, now were acres of mud — so deep and viscous that navigating from stage to stage became a treacherous safari, the only goal of which was to remain upright and not pitch face first in the muck. Muck that, after a full day of foot traffic and sun exposure, began to smell strongly of cow dung — as did all the people standing around in it.

But festival-goers are resilient sorts and, soon enough, shoes were abandoned (they’ll be mining footwear out of the soil on that island for months to come), as were any pretenses of staying clean. Let’s get weird, tweeted Governors Ball on more than one occasion — and so we did.

Those without boots soon went barefoot

Girls with garlands of flowers traipsed by, faces streaked with neon paint from a free face painting booth and swatches of mud like war paint. It was us versus Mother Nature and, with ten straight hours of music the prize to be won, everyone came ready for a throw-down.

Four stages and overlapping sets (in comparison to past years, when no sets overlapped and people had ample time to get from one stage to the other) meant that attendees were required to choose the bands they wanted to catch carefully — and lay out an attack plan for getting to those respective stages.

Conveniently, Governors Ball had an app for which you could do both, that let you know where your shows were at, and when. Not conveniently, the crowds flooding the island meant that cell service was limited if not nonexistent, so most of us ended up fending for ourselves. After a particularly arduous slog from Japandroids at the “Gov Ball NYC Stage” on one end of the island to see Alt-J (glad to have caught them, though, the geeky British indie-rockers are great live) at the “HondaStage” on the other, I decided to stick with shows on the “Gov Ball NYC” and “Skyy Vodka Tent” stages, both positioned on the slightly-less soggy part of the park. That said, the acoustics at “Gov Ball” (where all the headliners played) were far better than the the other stages, particularly “Honda,” at which loud conversations consistently overshadowed the music. My companions and I actually abandoned the Lumineers’ Sunday show at that stage, because the drunken chatter around us drowned out almost all of their set. Bummer.

Japandroids

Japandroids were dynamic and hyped, amping up the crowd through chummy banter and repeatedly noting how excited they were to be on the same stage that Guns N’ Roses would play a few hours later (as Saturday’s headliners opposite Nas, an odd match-up if ever there was one). This, perhaps, as a conciliatory nod to the backlash that followed the initial announcement that G&R were headlining. (Some people went as far as to start an online petition to get Axl and the gang kicked off the bill.)

The Canadian duo blazed through “Celebration Rock,” kicking off with “Fire’s Highway” and holding out on fan favorite “House That Heaven Built” until the near-end of their roughly 45-minute-long set. “We are Guns n’ Roses from Los Angeles,  California,” they shouted before one of their last songs — perhaps a nod to those in attendance who didn’t give a damn about the old heads on the bill — to which the crowd roared their approval.

As the day wore on and the crowd got drunker, navigating the increasingly sloppy terrain got, well, sloppier. I witnessed more than one person, staggering zombie-like through the mud, take a spill, arms pinwheeling helplessly. Luckily, most of those still standing were kind enough to help haul a fallen comrade up out of the ooze.

Kings of Leon’s Friday night headlining set was canceled late Friday — to the dismay and outrage of those who’d braved the weather to make it there — but they showed up for an early evening Saturday set on the “Gov Ball NYC” stage. To the delight of the crowd, and this writer, they played heavily from their back catalog, mixing old fan favorites like “Taper Jean Girl” and “Molly’s Chambers”  in among more recent jams, including a new song from their forthcoming album. KoL, though increasingly rumored to be becoming prima donnas (remember when that bird crapped all over their show?), are fantastic live, and they brought no drama to this festival. Instead, they seemed eager to please, commending the crowd for sticking it out in the mud and rewarding us with exactly what we wanted to hear.

Other highlights from the day included Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros’ mid-afternoon set — from what I hear. I stuck close to home base to catch F*cked Up’s show in the Skyy Vodka Tent, which — true to form — was like a sonic boot to the face. In a totally awesome way. The only “hardcore” band on a hip-hop and indie-centric bill, their raging set contrasted boldly with what I’m told was a jubilantly high energy showing from the Zeros.

Some people pooped out earlier than others…

By 9:30 pm, after hours spent slogging through the mud and putting back the massive 24-ounce oil cans of Fosters that were the weekend’s brew of choice, I was frankly too knackered to make it to either of the competing stages. Instead, I kicked back on a blanket we’d laid out under an overhang of trees across from the Skyy tent. From where I sat in the dark, I could clearly make out the strains of “Welcome to the Jungle” as Guns n’ Roses (whom I had high bets on not showing up) took the stage. And, well shoot, these dudes still have it. They ran through the big hits in quick succession — “Paradise City,” a rather nostalgia-inducing “November Rain” — to the crowd’s evident delight. “They sound exactly the same,” marveled a girl to her companion, from where they sat propped against the foot of a tree. Proud of you, Axl, bro. Also, they brought pyrotechnics. From where I half-sat, half-lay, nursing the last of my giant can of Fosters, I had a prime view of fireworks lighting up the night sky above the stage. A rather spectacular end to a rather unusual day.

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The week-long festival morphs the city of Austin into music-lovers paradise, filling nearly every bar and event space with thousands of bands from across the nation looking for some luck. While Prince, Justin Timberlake and Willie Nelson performed, SXSW still hosts a unique atmosphere of up-and-coming bands, and a great party for the music industry.

Here are some things we saw, loved and hated during the week.

1.) With the promise of hundreds of up-and-coming bands, free booze, and lots of opportunity to make connections, music journalists of all sorts — from Rolling Stone editors to amateur bloggers — are definitely a common sight during the fest. We bumped cameras with writers and photographers of all sorts, including one college girl who convinced us to get her into the photo pit.

2.) Crowds and lines are the norm, not the exception. Sixth Street, the downtown bar and nightlife district, is packed from noon to 3 A.M. every night with showgoers looking for their next destination. On Tuesday night, while waiting in an hour-long line to see Spoon‘s new project, The Divine Fits and punk rockers Japandroids, there was an upside to the wait: we got to chat with other music lovers from across the country.

3.) Once entering a venue, the massive, music-loving crowds become your friends. Here’s a picture of the crowd from Saturday afternoon’s FADER Fort crowd dancing along to a surprise encore set from rappers French Montana, Macklemore, Earl Sweatshirt and Diddy.

4.) During a set from British rock act Leogun at a laid-back Thursday afternoon session hosted by Blackberry House, some brightly colored college kids began dancing in the front of the stage. Set to a backdrop of industry folk hanging with drinks in the late afternoon sun, it was a breath of fresh air to see people appreciating their tunes.

5.) Amidst literally thousands of bands playing shows during the week, it’s difficult to stand out. NJ-based The Ugly Club hit the streets of Austin in between their four SXSW shows with their polished indie rock. Their persistent work ethic during the festival paid off, as they even got a shout out from NPR.

Other highlights included dreamy chamber pop from The Last Bison, hard-hitting R&B vocals from Autre Ne Veut and one of the first US appearances from Scottish electropop act Chvrches. A week later, it’s difficult to comprehend the fact that we caught over 25 acts over four sun-drenched, sleep-deprived days. But, we’re definitely ready to take it on again next year.

The post Sights and sounds from SXSW 2013 appeared first on Metro.us.

No, this is not a crowd shot of the Vatican, but for many, Sixth Street in Austin, Texas is a religious landmark.
(CREDIT: Andy Sheppard/Redferns/Getty Images)

The freaks and the fashionable parade the streets from noon until morning, making people-watching alone worth the price of the plane ticket. I joined the masses on Tuesday looking for something new, and I quickly found it. Making my way to the Paste Magazine/Newport Folk Festival’s showcase, I arrived just in time to see the start of Hurray for the Riff Raff’s set. The female duo from New Orleans played a riveting stripped down set of country-tinged blues combining cover songs by Billie Holiday and Fred Neil as well as a slew of originals. Alternating between acoustic guitar and banjo, backed by a fiddle and the occasional toy piano, their set seemed perfectly at home on the front patio of the rickety old house now known as the Blackheart Bar. Not only will Hooray for Riff Raff make their debut at the Newport Folk Festival this year, but they found out just hours before their set they will be the opening act for the Alabama Shakes upcoming tour.

From there it was on to Viceland to catch the Skaters’ Austin debut. The buzz around them, combined sharing a bill with Waaves and Japandroids created a line of about 2,000 people snaked around the block — a line that would only be trumped later by Deadmau5. This was the first show I missed out on, and I hope it’s my last.

After watching a few songs from the street, I decided to make better use of my time and headed over to the Mohawk to hear the Danish band, Indians. A three-piece consisting of more keyboards than people, the band layers loops, Moog synthesizers and a brain-rattling drum pad to create dreamy, slightly dancey music. The Copenhagen croon of lead singer Soren Juul works well with Enya-like atmospherics.

Looking to for some more traditional rock ‘n’ roll, I drifted off to The North Door to catch Vietnam. After taking the past five years off, Michael Gerner is back with a new six-piece lineup and a recent record, but their sound remains the same. It is dark, lengthy and often druggy narratives, which are delivered without traditional verse/chorus structure and set against a heavy shimmer of blues guitar riffs.

After seeing the line for Jim James a couple blocks from the entrance. I decided to go home and rest up for Wednesday. It’s going to be a long week.

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