SXSW Rocked My World!

Kirsten and I show off our SXSW wristbands at Town Lake Park.

Well, I hate to brag, but I just got back from the greatest spring break ever! Wait, what am I talking about? I love to brag! I spent the entire week in indie rock paradise. Seriously, SXSW was incredible. Everything about the trip was perfect (if you don’t count the 12 hours I spent in the Austin airport today). Kirsten was an amazing host. I had an awesome time hanging out with her, Erin (Kirsten’s roommate), and Dave (Kirsten’s other visiting friend).

There’s so much to report. Way too much for tonight. I saw more live music in four days than most people see in a lifetime. I still don’t know how I pulled it off, but I saw 81 bands while I was in Austin. Yep, 81. If you don’t believe me, I have pictures of every single band I saw as proof. Here they are in alphabetical order -- solo artists are listed by first name, and numbers and symbols are listed as if they were spelled out…you get the idea [click on the band names to see the photos]:

Aberfeldy
A Frames
The Album Leaf
Ambulance Ltd.
American Analog Set
Apollo Sunshine
Be Your Own Pet
Big Business
Black Lips
The Blood Arm
Bloodthirsty Lovers
Bonk
By Divine Right
Calla
Castanets
Communiqué
Th’ Corn Gangg
Cranebuilders
Crooked Fingers
Crystal Skulls
Dälek
Daniel Johnston
Death From Above 1979
Dr. Dog
The Earlies
Enon
Erase Errata
The 40 Thieves
The Gossip
Great Lake Swimmers
Har Mar Superstar
Hella
I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness
Isis
Jennifer Gentle
Jesse Sykes
LCD Soundsystem
The Long Winters
Mark Mallman
Matthew Caws (of Nada Surf)
Mono
The Monolith
Murder By Death
M. Ward
Nathan Hamilton & No Deal
The Natural History
Octopus Project
Old Haunts
Old Man River
The Panda Band
Panthers
the pAper chAse
Papercuts
Patricia Vonne
+/-
Radar Bros.
The Raveonettes
Robyn Hitchcock
The Rosebuds
S
Shearwater
Shelley King
Shonen Knife
Silver
The Six Parts Seven
Skeletons
Sleater-Kinney
Stars
Statistics
Supersystem
Tegan & Sara
The Thermals
These Arms Are Snakes
The Things
Timonium
Tony Teardrop
Trashcan Sinatras
Voxtrot
What Made Milwaukee Famous
World/Inferno Friendship Society
The Wrens

Count ‘em! That’s 81. And you know what? There is so much that I missed. It really was an overwhelming experience. I mean, how often are you forced to choose between Sleater-Kinney, Mono, The Bad Plus, Hella, Elvis Costello, The Wrens, Mark Mallman, Parker and Lily, Murder By Death, Billy Idol, and American Music Club??? (And that’s only a fraction of the sets that were happening around 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday night.) I’m telling you; indie rock paradise.