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.

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As SXSW comes to a close, the crowded streets of Austin will return to a more relaxed status quo. But the musical party that began here last Tuesday will keep on rippling outward to the world for the next few months as thousands of press outlets report on which acts wowed them.

Metro’s published a list of “must see” acts last week was spot-on, if I do say so myself. Nick Cave put on an epic performance in an out-of-character venue. Thurston Moore’s Chelsea Light Moving played their most intriguing gig with skateboarders riding a half-pipe in the background. King Tuff proved he’s even tougher live than on record, while Jim James took people by surprise with his new direction.

After seeing close to 100 bands, there are a few notable acts that I was especially happy to have caught.

Our award for The Best New Foreign Act goes to the band Indians. Music emanating from the mind of Copenhagen’s Søren Løkke Juul, he admits he only had three songs to his name before he signed to 4AD last year. “I never even thought about making a record,” he said after one show. “I just made songs because I felt like I needed to express something.” Playing eight shows in five days, Juul performed with a band this time, filling in his somber synth songs with shimmering atmospherics and heavy-handed electronic drums.

The Most Energetic Show was delivered by Pangea at a club called the Volstead. Talk about surprises — Pangea wasn’t even on the schedule. Somehow word must have gotten out because the small room was packed and pleased. Playing a set somewhere in between punk and metal, they varied speeds, but always remained heavy. The drummer hit so hard it didn’t seem like the skins could sustain the beating. The crowd followed along with the passionate performance by moshing and crowdsurfing. At one point, the speakers almost fell over. I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen anymore. But it did. And it was special — but is not for the faint of heart.

The Best Overall New Band is Wildcat! Wildcat!. I had a feeling about them based on the name alone. And wandering into one of their many shows, I was totally taken. A four-piece, each with a mic, two keyboardists, bass and drums, the band lies somewhere between rock and electro. Their four-part vocal falsetto harmonies make them stand out and add warmth to their summery sound. While the band has known each other since they were kids and each have played music together before, I was intrigued to learn the band only began last year and have only released two songs. One of the hardest working bands at the festival, they played 10 shows in five days and seemed to be having more fun than any other band I saw. Oh, and they covered the Tears for Fears song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” Everybody does, but these guys just might get to.

#Informationoverload @SXSW
Long gone are the days of walking the streets of Austin with a printed schedule and a highlighter. In an atmosphere that is already all about sensory overload, technology ruled SXSW this year. Parties were announced via Twitter, there was an app for schedules and oftentimes when you got to the shows most of the audience members had their heads down to text or tweet. Also, if you didn’t have a platinum badge, the only way to get into the Prince show, was to have a Samsung Galaxy phone and complete a scavenger hunt.

Prince was not the only mega star to get Austin buzzing. Green Day, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Nicks and Dave Grohl also took part in the action, playing exclusive shows held in venues way smaller than they are used to playing.

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It was Day Three at SXSW, and everything on my itinerary was louder, harder and heavier than the days before. For anyone seeking solace in cerebral modern day psychedelia, this was surely the place to be.

Posting up at the Thrasher/Converse Party at the Scoot Inn early in the day, I was happy to find I was one of the only members of the press at the party. Yes, the show was somewhat of a secret, but with such an eclectic mix of some of the festival’s most sought after acts, I figured word would have gotten out.

With skateboarders grinding on a half-pipe next to a relatively small open-air venue, this daytime party provided some of the best acts under the hot Austin sun. Bleached took the stage around 2pm and rocked the crowd with a hard and tough bubblegum take on pop-punk girl group music.

King Tuff followed an hour later, and with a full band in tow, he superceded the sensitive sounds of his recent record with a more aggressive, more intense and heavier psychedelic set that put his recent release in a new perspective.

Chelsea Light Moving was up next. The new band fronted by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth with Sunburned Hand of the Man’s John Maloney on drums, their recent debut album came out last week on Matador and is most reminiscent of Moore’s 1995 record, Psychic Hearts. Thurston arrived fashionably early in a laidback style, entering the venue on a bicycle and riding it through the audience just before taking the stage for soundcheck. Combining his alternate tunings and surrounded by Marshall stacks, Moore and company combined Sonic Youth’s pastoral and intricate riffs with heavy drowned out pedal stomps and intensive guitar solos. Proving he’s one of the greatest guitarists of all-time, Moore’s combination of sensitivity juxtaposed with harsh, high-decibel 6-string serenades provided the perfect dynamic to coincide with his poetic meanderings.

After giving into the elements, I returned back to town around 9pm. Snoop Dogg (aka Snoop Lion), Stevie Nicks and Dave Grohl were all scheduled to perform tonight—not together of course. With the long lines and my general lack of interest, I skipped the “hot ticket” shows and headed to East Austin for some psychedelia. Once considered the wrong side of the tracks and a home to artists looking for cheap studios, I was surprised to find East Austin as a hotbed of cool. It’s a tale as old as time, but I never expected it could happen so quickly in Austin.

Just a few blocks beyond this newfound center for up-and-coming greatness and unfortunate gentrification, I found my way to Hotel Vegas. With a retro neon sign lighting the landscape, I headed inside to catch some of music’s greatest and heaviest sonic surprises. With two stages, I bounced back and forth catching a sampling of sounds. The Go, a longtime Detroit-based garage band, has only gotten better and heavier since former and future famous member Jack White left the band.  MMOSS, a New Hampshire bred/Boston-based band combined acoustic guitars and ethereal drones, often summon the sounds of early Floyd on record. But more notably their live show has brought the flute back to the forefront of the rock n roll frontier.

Though I had just missed Philadelphia’s Bleeding Rainbow, I was able to catch them a few hours later at their second showcase of the night. Combining an awesome name with spaced out male and female vocals against a bed of deep driving guitars, and chugging rhythms, they evoked a speedier and grittier My Bloody Valentine.

Seeing just how many shows I could catch within the hour, I continued on to Maggie Mae’s where the Seattle band Kinski was still spacing out. I’ve been bearing witness to Kinski’s heavy and heady rumblings for almost a decade now, and they always deliver. Combining searing and soaring guitars with spacey solos, the band played songs from their recent release on Kill Rock Stars and brought a slight darkness to the overlit and well-stocked cocktail venue.

Austin Psych Fest comes to town in April and with some of these bands returning to play it, it should be epic.

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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.

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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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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

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Every year, thousands of musicians, record labels, fans and publicists from all ends of the earth make their way to Austin, Texas for the five-day sonic soiree and sensory overload known as South by Southwest, which for the rest of the week, you’ll see referred to as SXSW.
For the uninitiated, SXSW is, in theory, where bands go to make it, labels go to show off their talent and the rest of the industry goes to latch onto untouched potential. As for me, I’m there to take it all in, write it all down and tell you all about it. While there’s no possible way to see every act, here are a few I’m looking forward to.

Chelsea Light Moving
The band’s name may seem esoteric, but their leader is one of rock’s greatest guitarists. With Sonic Youth on indefinite hiatus, Thurston Moore’s latest outfit is far from the delicate stylings of his recent solo records. CLM combine Sonic Youth’s atmospheric guitar sounds with artistic abrasions most similar to Moore’s 1995 “Psychic Hearts” record. On CLM’s self-titled debut, released last week, Moore possesses a newfound angst and seems angrier than ever.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Ten years ago, Nick Cave may have seemed a bit out of place at SXSW. But after scoring three westerns, and providing the musc and a screenplay to the Southern bootlegging movie, “Lawless,” he now seems to embody the ideal of the dusty American outlaw (despite being from Australia and the U.K.). While his recent release seems more like a solo record than a Bad Seeds endeavor, his commanding presence in live shows is as powerful as a fire and brimstone preacher. SXSW is the first of his 20 sold out North American dates and one of the hottest tickets in town.

Generationals
An electro pop duo from New Orleans, Generationals combine guitar and electronics to create blissful textures and melodic hooks that overpower the inherent melancholia that lingers in the backdrop. Playing seven shows in four days at SXSW, the band will preview their third and best full-length, “Heza,” due out in April.

King Tuff
While the name may suggest some Studio One dub producer, only the weed smoke links Tuff with Jamaican styles. The pride of Brattleboro, Vermont and one of Sub Pop’s latest acquisitions, KT’s music is more akin to the haunting acoustic psych sound of Girls, but with a grunge-y energy.

Skaters
NYC by way of Boston and England, Skaters will be one of the newest and busiest bands in Austin. Consisting of members of Dead Trees and Dirty Pretty Things, Skaters are one of Warner Brothers’ hopes for a youthful rock ‘n’ roll revival. They’re headed straight from the studio after wrapping up their debut LP, slated for early summer release. There’s already a buzz around them, based on their free EP, and extensive European and U.S. tours are already booked for spring. Expect infectious guitar ballads that make you move, but also make you think.

Prince
Wait, what? Yes! In the past few years SXSW has become about established superstars staging their comeback into the public consciousness as much as it is about undiscovered talents. Now that Justin Timberlake has been co-opting Prince’s big band setup of the “Diamonds and Pearls” era, it’s time for his Royal Purpleness to show JT how it’s really done. Prince will reportedly stage an as yet not totally confirmed club show with a 22-piece band during the festival.

—Follow Nolan Gawron on Twitter this week at @metrousmusic. Check out this website all week for his updates on the best of SXSW. Check out our playlist below…

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Grumpy Cat is stirring things up in Austin, Texas.

The cat became an Internet sensation last fall with photos of her grouchy face going viral. Now, Grumpy Cat is holding court during SXSW at the Mashable House, a lounge run by the tech-news website.

According to CNN, people have been waiting in lines that snake around the block for hours just to get their picture taken with the cat.

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The SXSW music, film and interactive festival has many high-profile attendees, including keynote speaker Tina Roth Eisenberg, but the biggest hit so far has been a furry friend.

Grumpy Cat is stirring things up in Austin, Texas.

The cat became an Internet sensation last fall with photos of her grouchy face going viral. Now, Grumpy Cat is holding court during SXSW at the Mashable House, a lounge run by the tech-news website.

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  PHOTOS: Grumpy Cat meme

According to CNN.com, people have been waiting in lines that snake around the block for hours just to get their picture taken with the cat.

Grumpy Cat, whose real name is Tardar Sauce, is an 11-month-old mixed breed that lives in Morristown, Arizona. While fans waiting to take a picture with her, she mainly slept. When she was awake, she certainly did not smile in pictures.

“People keep asking if we sedate her,” Bryan Bundesen, one of her handlers told CNN. Don’t worry cat lovers, the answer is no.

Grumpy Cat’s fame skyrocketed in September when Bundesen posted some photos of her on the social-news site, Reddit. The Grumpy Cat Facebook pge now boasts almost 500,000 ‘likes.’

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

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