SXSW 2011 wrap up!

The last week has been pretty insane… We left LA with a bang, performing at the Avalon in the heart of Hollywood on the 12th for LA Fashion Week (here’s a review + photos + video). Thank you to everyone that came and made it an amazing night. The number of flashbulbs and level of adoration from the sold out crowd was unlike anything we could have anticipated.  When the runway went dark, we got in our cars and got on the road to Austin for our first SXSW!

We took our time driving across the Southwest, stopping for a night in Las Cruses, New Mexico and finally touching down in Austin late Monday night, where we cash with our our Texas label-mates, The Long Tangles (who also performed 2 fantastic shows at SXSW this year). The band has only been together for a year, but we have a feeling 2011 is going to big for them. They were voted one of Austin’s best new bands during SXSW, by the Austin Chronicle, and already have a 2nd album in the works… so keep an eye on them.

So, in we went, performing at a slew of parties, eating a ton and catching an accidental show whenever we had a spare moment. We probably had some sort of a plan in terms of going to see certain shows or whatnot, but we quickly realized that just getting ourselves to shows was a challenge in itself.  Luckily we played on bills with some amazing bands, so we didn’t have to wonder too far to see something good.

With that said… here are some photos from our trip, some videos and a list of the amazing bands we played with and party organizers we are now in love with.

• The fun got started on Tuesday (March 15th) for us, when we performed at the MUSIC TECH MASHUP PARTY@ RUSTY SPURS (FLYER) with Goldenage, The Wandas, DeDe, Oona, Whiterhino, Odd Modern and more.  We had plenty of BBQ and drinks and hung out with our buddy John Anderson who was DJ’ing all day on behalf of Hunnypot Unlimited! Later that night we happened to perform an intimate acoustic set at a private party downtown, hung out with Buddy Holly’s Widow and performed with some of the most sought after Nashville and Austin songwriters. It was truly a magical night. After, we caught up with a handful of old friends (and met a few new ones) bracing ourselves for the week ahead. Thankfully we took the day off from performing the next day (March 16th). We hopped around 6th St and caught a few shows, including our friends The Long Tangles, So Many Wizards (also from LA), Step Dad, Mother Falcon and too many more to name.

• After a late night on the town, we ran as fast as we could to the ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SxSW SHOWCASE (on the 17th) @LIPSTICK24 (FLYER) with The Boxing Lesson, Mother Mother, Living Days, The Kin, Stepdad,  & more! we played a few tracks and then hit the town all after noon celebrating St. Patty’s day with the crowds. Along the way we somehow got in the cross hairs of a drunk guy (thank you open bar) assaulting the Brooklyn Vegan party hypman, who in turn, beat the shit (allegedly of course) out of the guy we were affectionately referring to  as “Aaron Neville” at the time. In any case, we was a good comedian, despite getting ejected from his own gig – check him out on twitter @AllThingsBrody.
• Later that night we played a surprise show, the SEA NOW / POPANTIPOP.com SHOWCASE @ ANNIE’S WEST (FLYER)  with Bear Hands, Blonde Summer, Datarock, Snowden, Twilight Sleep, Light FM, Brahms, Cloud Control, the Parlotones + More! The party eventually caught up with us and vomit followed.

• Friday (March 18th) was just as busy for us, starting out at THE SESSIONS SxSW SHOWCASE @ THE FACTORY (FLYER)  with Vetiver, White Sea,  Fitz and the Tantrums,  Cloud Control, Uh Huh Her, Barcelona,  The Civil Wars, The Eastern Sea, Barcelona, Jenny O & more! We hung out with the Sessions folks for a few hours, did a photo shoot, played dress up in vintage duds, played an acoustic set and a full electric set (both streamed live online).  You can check out videos from the event here…  ACOUSTIC SET VIDEO / ELECTRIC SET VIDEO. See other bands performing live HERE, and stay tuned to see the amazing photos we took! just down the street was the location of our next performance…

• We headed over to the DEADBIRD RECORDS presents THE BIG ERASER SHOWCASE @ BAR 96 (FLYER)  and performed with This Will Destroy You, The Romany Rye, Olin & The Moon, The Fling, Art Vs. Science, Manatee, & more! We hit up the Dickies / Filter party across the street for a moment and filled our bellies with Indian food before heading out on the town again. Exhausted from the trip we laid low on Saturday, the 19th, we hung out with our buddy Dan Grayson (Yes Means Yes / The Secret Machine) and watched him perform an amazing acoustic set and went back out on the town as usual.

• Finally, we ended our trip performing at the SWEET RELIEF / I PROMOTE GOOD BANDS.com AFFAIR @ CHERRYWOOD (FLYER) with Slang Chickens, The Steelwells, Eliza Rickman and a few more.  Stuart Prioir was performing when we showed up, and was kind enough to let us use his acoustic guitar, so we switched things up and did an impromptu set in the afternoon sun.  Then sat back, had a few beer and watched our new friends from Portland, Monarques (Our own Daniel DeBlanke did some bass repairs on the fly for these guys – and the result was an awesome show) and Brainstorm (please go see these guys asap), blow the crowd away.

There were obviously too many amazing new music discoveries to count or even mention (we’ll probably blog about that another day).

Check out our random photos HERE (sorry, too busy to take any honestly), and we’ve got videos from all of our performances on the way. THANK YOU AUSTIN, FOR MAKING SXSW SUCH A CRAZY BUSY FUN RIDE! We’ll see you next year!