Whether planned, secret or last minute, there are hundreds of daytime shows that go on throughout the week at SXSW providing you with a chance to catch those acts that you might otherwise miss — not to mention that these gigs were often accompanied by free food and drink.

Waking early, I headed straight to Club de Ville, one of my favorite old haunts from SXSWs of years past, as the Austin band Feathers took stage. A five-piece comprised of four women and a male drummer manning an electronic drum kit, Feathers wore tall heels, looked like the Runaways years later and sounded like a gothic Pat Benatar.

Each day, the Convention Center hosts panel discussions as part of SXSW. I ducked into an program intriguingly titled “Drunk Comedy at SXSW.” The internet sensation known as Drunk History that became popular on Funny or Die, is coming to Comedy Central and Kyle Kinane and Derek Waters were there to discuss their plans. Playing the part with tallboys in cozies, they talked about the concept, confessing that it was only sup-posed to be one video short until Jack Black asked if he could be Ben Franklin. The rest is history … drunk history.

From there it was up a few floors to see Devendra Banhart. Pretty and polished he sat and played a handful of songs with his signature falsetto warble and intriguingly absurd banter like wishing everyone a Happy Halloween.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were slated to perform at Stubbs Amphitheater on Wednesday night while the sun was still up in the Austin, Texas, sky — a strange and rare choice for his dark tunes. Cave, as I expected, stalled until the darkness fell, and with the smell of barbecue in the air, opened with a few tracks from his latest album, “Push the Sky Away.” Almost possessed, he brought life to the quiet songs and followed them up by an epic run through some of his best work. “From Her to Eternity” was followed by “Red Right Hand,” “Jack the Ripper and “Deanna.” While much of the band is new, the Bad Seeds complemented Cave’s commanding stage presence with tense reserve, all except violinist Warren Ellis, who has in time become Cave’s maniacal right-hand man.

Next up was the Love Inks, an Austin band whose single, “Blackeye” has been in constant rotation in my headphones for the past year. A modern day girl-group with fuzzy reverb, the band backed up the sound on their record with remarkable poise.

For the remainder of the night I decided to set up camp at one venue, rather than wait in any more lines. I then headed to Hype Hotel for what should have been an excellent lineup, but ended up serving as a stark contrast to the veteran Cave’s class and showmanship. The Orwells kicked things off and after noticing the X’s on their hands I learned that they are teenagers. They don’t look it, and they don’t sound like it. Sure, the lead singer has a bit of Jim Morrison snotty angst, but the band played well … until they were told it was their last song. Thinking their set was being cut short, the guitarist told the sound guy that he had been lied to, provoking the lead singer to swing his microphone around and smash it into the cymbals before sending it into the crowd. After a physical altercation with the soundman, they left the stage for good. It was a rock ‘n’ roll moment that you don’t see very often anymore … for better or worse.

Whether or not it was the Orwells’ fault, the sound only went southward: Cords were busted and sets were delayed. The anticipated Phosphorescent shone despite the ordeal. Seven members deep and with two keyboardists, their sound was fleshed out roots rock with an expressive backwoods voice. Making it through most of the set without complaints, they also threw their mic after their last song. Are rockers now borrowing from rappers?

Things would only get worse as Foxygen, who sound sexy and polished on record and have a big buzz from many major press outlets, ended up sounding like an out of tune and out of work showtune band.

The sound and showmanship only returned as Jim James closed out the night with a short set.

But maybe there’s hope for these young bands. Once upon a time there was young punk named Nick Cave who might have behaved the same way.

The post SXSW Night Two: Class vs. crass in Austin, Texas 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.

The post SXSW forecast: 80 degrees and a chance of rocking appeared first on Metro.us.

With My Morning Jacket taking a brief break, the prolific Jim James is trying something different with his recent solo album. “Regions of Light and Sound of God,” released last month, seems and sounds as though divine intervention has led the songwriter to new sonic soil.

Playing almost all of the instruments on the record, this isn’t your traditional stripped-down solo journey, but instead an epic musical onslaught that sounds as though a dozen people contributed to the final product.

Taking his new tunes on the road, James has built a quartet comprised of fellow Louisvillians to help rebuild the audio architecture of the solo record in a live setting. After catching his first few shows in NYC last month, my skepticism quickly turned to satisfaction as the new band delivered some magical moments that not only gave life to the album, but took the songs to another level.

Focusing primarily on electronics, James’ band fills the instrumental backdrop while he mans the mic, taking on the role of the traditional frontman, and occasionally picking up random and often unlikely instruments.

While My Morning Jacket are no strangers to SXSW, James makes his first appearance at the festival this week as a solo act. MMJ’s first trip to the Austin came early in their career and James is quick to note the benefits of playing the festival back then.

“The year was 1914,” James says in jest. “The first settlers had just come onto the Austin shore. Alongside other explorers like us who had heard about the legend of gold in them rolling hills and mountain ranges of downtown Austin, we rolled into town just before dawn on March 13 of that year and took up shop at the Pecan Street Ale House … or was it Urban Outfitters … or was it Yard Dog? It’s hard to say, the memory starts to slip with time and age and you have to brush those cobwebs away.”

All jokes aside, the venues and day of the month are real, but the year was 2002 and SXSW became one of the band’s first shows outside of Europe and Kentucky.

“It’s all strange and wonderful,” says James. “I mean, we’ve worked our asses to the bone over the years and it feels good when you chase a dream and see some progress on that front. It’s very exciting and we are very grateful to the universe to have been allowed to make some progress on our dreams.”

‘True destiny’ on the line
Since their SXSW debut, My Morning Jacket has only played the festival one other time — in 2008. They went from being unknown hopefuls in 2002, to being one of the SXSW’s main attractions six years later while previewing their album, “Evil Urges.”

So what is Jim looking forward to seeing this year?

“My true destiny,” he says.

— Jim James plays three shows at SXSW and participates in a panel discussion and a non-SXSW-affiliated benefit show at Willie Nelson’s Ranch

The post Jim James hangs up his Morning Jacket for a solo outfit at SXSW appeared first on Metro.us.