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Austin.com's guide to official SXSW showcases not to miss. With roughly 340 showcases featuring 1900 bands in a mere 5 days, South by Southwest can be a bit overwhelming. Never fear, austin.com is here (with apologies for trite writing). Below, find our expert (says us) picks on showcases you should find your way to as the madness unfolds. If this were a buffet, and you were 550-lbs, this would be heaven to you. Wednesday's recommended showcases are below. For the rest of the week, follow these links:
Thursday's recommended showcases.
Friday's recommended showcases.
Saturday's recommended showcases.
Sunday's recommended showcases. Wednesday, March 18
Buffalo Billiards (201 E 6th St)
KCRW Showcase
Rock, Pop
1am Ida Maria (Stockholm, NY)
Midnight School of Seven Bells (Brooklyn, NY)
11pm Angus & Julie Stone (Sydney, Australia)
10pm Port O’Brien (Cambria, CA)
9pm Other Lives (Stillwater, OK)
8pm The Boat People (Brisbane, Australia)
Agnus & Julie Stone deliver honest and beguiling stories; the siblings’ debut album is an example of their enchantingly dichotomous dynamic. Port O’Brien has been a touring landmark (Modest Mouse, Bright Eyes, Rogue Wave, Cave Singers); their recent album includes string arrangements, raw electric guitar, percussive banjo, pots and pans, and a tight rhythm section giving it a cohesive feel. Other Lives incorporate elements of progressive rock, folk, and classical music with an organic sound, often drawing their inspiration from historical events and the Oklahoma. — Kathryn-Terese Haik
Wednesday, March 18
Club de Ville (900 Red River St)
BrooklynVegan Showcase
Rock, Indie
1am Deer Tick (Providence, RI)
Midnight Phosphorescent (Brooklyn, NY)
11pm Those Darlins (Murfreesboro, TN)
10pm Loch Lomond (Portland, OR)
9pm Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers (Brooklyn, NY)
8pm Bell (Brooklyn, NY)
Be sure to catch the middle portions of this showcase. Sleazy jazz, loungy grinding blues and distorted rock tie together Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers with a pop and punk sensibility causing this band to croon loud with thunderous rhythms and a lot of distortion. In addition, the band reads like a who's who of NYC underground rock artists. All female trio Those Darlins are sassy and fresh; garage rock dances with country twang resulting in stand-up-and-shout live performances. Sextet Loch Lomond defy category, offering a darker side to the recent phase of symphonic chamber pop; lead singer Ritchie Young’s haunting voice penetrates through bone. — Kathryn-Terese Haik
Wednesday, March 18
Continental Club (1315 S Congress Ave)
Blues
1am Gary Clark Jr. (Austin, TX)
Midnight Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves (Boston, MA)
11pm Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
10pm Scott H. Biram (Austin, TX)
9pm Murali Coryell (Boiceville, NY)
8pm Seth Walker (Austin, TX)
7pm Li’l Band O’ Gold (Lafayette, LA)
Well-known Austinite Gary Clark Jr. plays the blues as if he were born into them. But he's able to go beyond that genre and blend reggae, soul and R&B into his sets. Oftentimes he puts on an amazing solo show managing to juggle harmonica, guitar, drum and lyrics all at once. He is a true blues artist that shouldn't be missed. Eli “Paperboy” Reed belies his Ivy League New Englander look to belt it like Sam Cooke. Reverned Peyton’s blues follows the tradition of Charley Patton and Furry Lewis. Scott H. Biram should shake unholy mercy out of the lineup, with a brand of acoustic blues meets heavy metal (it works, really). Seth Walker times it well to release the best record of his career, Leap of Faith, capturing his jump blues meets Ray Charles styles. — Kathryn-Terese Haik
Wednesday, March 18
Flamingo Cantina (515 E 6th St)
Latin, Funk, Rock, Pop
8pm 60 Tigres (San Pedro Garza, Mexico)
9pm Banda de Turistas (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
10pm Hello Seahorse (Mexico City, Mexico)
11pm Juan Son (Guadalajara, Mexico)
12am Bomba Estereo (Bogota, Colombia)
1am Natalia Lafourcade (Mexico City, Mexico)
Put this on your docket and get there early; first band 60 Tigres will top the energy level of most any showcase, with a groovy blend of funk beats, Mexican rock, and electro pop. Argentina’s Banda de Turistas could well be called the South American Beatles redux. Hailed by Rolling Stone Argentina as 2008’s Best New Artist, it doesn’t take long to hear why. This is both bands’ only official SXSW appearance. Also worth your while are Hello Seahorse (out there Mexican pop) and Bomba Estereo, providing a slice of Bogota street pop with Latin rhythms, sexy hip-hop, and slick guitar riffs. — Danté Dominick
Wednesday, March 18
Momo's (618 W 6th St) / 18+
Lubbock New West Music
Singer-Songwriter, Americana
Midnight Joe Ely & Joel Guzman & Friends (Austin, TX)
11pm Colin Gilmore (Austin, TX)
10pm Texas Belairs w/ Ponty Bone & John X Reed (Lubbock / Austin, TX)
9pm Thrift Store Cowboys (Lubbock, TX)
8pm Cary Swinney, Richard Bowden, Micahael O’Conner (O’Donnell, TX)
The Lubbock New West Music showcase celebrates musicians hailing from the high plains of the Texas Panhandle. Two of Texas's favorite complements to a guitar-picking session are the fiddle and the accordion, and this night offers the best of both. The evening starts off with Cary Swinney, Richard Bowden, and Michael O'Conner. Bowden's gently passionate fiddle carries every melody he plays to new heights. The Thrift Store Cowboys, who capture the essence of the high plains by listing their musical influences as "open landscapes and the wind," feature another violin virtuoso, Amanda Shires. The Texas Belairs play with the accordion legend Ponty Bone. Colin Gilmore represents the young generation of Lubbock songwriting. Closing the night out, the Grammy-award winning accordion player Joel Guzman accentuates Joe Ely's crowd-pleasing classics. As storied a career as Ely has had, expect some pretty special “Friends.” (Hint: Ely and fellow Lubbockians Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock are releasing a new album March 31. Just sayin’.) — Tamara Dwyer
Wednesday, March 18
The Tap Room at Six (311 Colorado St)
Rock, Other
8pm This Drama (Canary Islands, Spain)
9pm Descartes A Kant (Guadalajara, Mexico)
Chicken Ranch Showcase
10pm Mr. Lewis & The Funeral 5 (Austin, TX)
11pm We Were the States (Murfreesboro, TN)
12am The Clutters (Nashville, TN)
1am The Woggles (Atlanta, GA)
Austin indie label Chicken Ranch’s portion of the bill starts of with a must-see in the Austin bands category: Mr. Lewis & The Funeral 5 seem to think Eastern European folk music, goth metal, rock ‘n’ roll, and Irish drinking songs have every reason to be united into one morbid band. Call it funeral indie rock maybe? We Were the States and The Clutters opt for more definable garage rock with a focus on intensity; The Clutters adding a psychedelic ‘60s keyboard. The Woggles are one of the few rock bands with enough energy to power you through any fatigue maybe setting in by 1am. If you get there early enough, expect a mind freak from Mexico’s Descartes A Kant, musically and visually very bi-polar. — Danté Dominick
Thursday's recommended showcases.
Friday's recommended showcases.
Saturday's recommended showcases.
Sunday's recommended showcases.
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