Cate Le Bon

Despite my confusion about whether I woke up in Columbus or Austin on Saturday morning, I triumphantly braved the cold and put in a good eleven hours of music listening/show-navigating on my last day of SXSW. My day began with a charming interview with the lovely Cate Le Bon (check back for full interview soon) and then took me to the MOG party where I camped out at for a number of hours. While there I caught performances by Dum Dum Girls, Demolished Thought (again sans Andrew WK), Freelance Whales, Broken Bells, The Antlers and The Black Keys.

Completely ignore the fact that I’m an Ohioan for one moment as I crown The Black Keys with the best performance of the party, hands down. Broken Bells was entertaining, but didn’t stray too far from what I might expect from a Shins follow-up of Australia.

The Black Keys

More bands and photos after the jump.

Grammatics

After spending a bit too much time enjoying a warm restaurant and food, I caught a sliver of Leeds-based Grammatics at The Phoenix (the most beautiful club I’ve entered in Austin). Cate Le Bon was next on my list as she played the Moshi Moshi party at Latitude 30. Her performance clinched my already substantially positive opinion of her music.

Crayon Fields

I quickly split after her set to catch the tail end of The Middle East, where they managed to pulverize their final song (“Blood”) in an epic Arcade Fire-style. My SXSW experience ended with another Aussie act, Crayon Fields, whose genuinely delightful sound gave me something to hum all the way back to Columbus.

Broken Bells

Freelance Whales

THURSDAY, MARCH 18
HILL STAGE: Califone (1PM), The Antlers (2PM), Real Estate (3PM), YellowFever (4PM), Dum Dum Girls (5PM), The xx (6PM)
VALLEY STAGE: Dylan LeBlanc (1:30PM), Zola Jesus (2:30PM), Sharon Van Etten (3:30PM), Julianna Barwick (4:30PM), Holly Miranda (5:30PM)
IN THE GRASS: Black Prairie (6:30PM)

FRIDAY, MARCH 19
HILL STAGE: Memory Tapes (1PM), Dengue Fever (2PM), Mayer Hawthorne & the County (3PM), Dam-Funk (4PM), Pierced Arrows (5PM), Thurston Moore (6PM)
VALLEY STAGE: First Aid Kit (1:30PM), Anni Rossi (2:30PM), Toro Y Moi (3:30PM), Woods (4:30PM), Talk Normal (5:30PM)

We’re teaming up with the great Mexican Summer this year to bring you a day & night, official/unofficial blowout in Austin on Friday, March 19. Starring Washed Out, Memory Tapes, Real Estate, Dum Dum Girls, Best Coast, jj, and many more. Details coming soon…

MP3s and more over on Gorilla.