SXSW 2007 Day 2

Day 2- Goal for day 2: get into the Beirut performance at the ACL studios- a 300 capacity venue…

…but that’s not until 7pm so I’ll get back to that.

I arrived at Waterloo at 2:30 for a 3 o’clock Peter Bjorn and John set that didn’t actually start until 3:25. Thank goodness for free beer. Again, Waterloo played the band’s album in the store right before they came on. Not a good idea when they’re delayed and you hear nearly the entire album before the band actually starts. PB&J played some of the more “shoe gaze” songs off of “Writer’s Block.”

I was happy and kinda wanted to stick around but had to leave early head downtown for YACHT- Jona from the Washington band The Blow. Finally found the lucky lounge (I could’ve sworn that the streets change from East Blahblah to West Blahblah at I-35 but it turns out they change at Congress Ave. and always have. I must've walked past it twice. Duh!

Anyway-YACHT was great and super high-energy. Jeni and I headed to catch the last few Elvis Perkins songs at the No Depression magazine party. He was great and continues to look like Suess’ the cat in the hat. His album “Ash Wednesday” is definitely one of my favorite discoveries of the past year.

After that we moseyed on over to the Habana annex for a rest stop of free beer and food before making our way to the KEXP showcase at the ACL studios. We were an hour early which turned out to be great b/c besides getting front row seats we got to eat burgers and witness an on-air interview with “The Good, the Bad, and the Queen,” featuring Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz fame, and the bassist from The Clash. I got my picture with Damon after the show. How cool is that?!

Beirut came out and played nearly an hour of amazing music to a packed house. Zack Condon released his spit valve more than anyone I’ve ever seen play the trumpet. I left as satisfied as I have ever been.

The wristband-free SXSW experiment is a smashing success. Time for rest before the final day!