Bearded Bohemians Descend on SXSW 2009 on mTraks™

By Dey Martin ~ King of Clubs

It was mighty fun at SXSW 2009 this year. And hey, no rain! Rumor was that Metallica was going to play under a secret name at Stubbs. Did they? Please write me back if they did 'cause I love finding out about shows that I missed.

I saw a slew of really good bands in Austin this year. But I must say that I was somewhat distracted by the throngs of bearded bohemian males carrying guitars practically everywhere I looked. What's up with that? Is it that groupies like beards now? If so, then I am seriously considering growing out my beard - if it will work with the ladies. Hehe.

I checked out and shot The Decemberists at Stubbs. Woo-hoo! They were fanciful and moody under the starlit night. My favorite show on friday was Crystal Antlers at La Zona Rosa sponsored by Village Voice . It was a day show with Cursive and Gomez also rocking packed house. Sadly the Crystal Antlers record, Tentacles, which I bought after the show, does not accurately represent. I promise, this is not going to be a review but rather simply a montage of what flew by my sphere of awareness in pictures - with a touch of commentary.

Crystal Antlers

Here's a pic I took of Colin Meloy of the The Decemberists performing live at Stubbs on Wednesday night. Their new album The Hazards of Love is out on March 24. I think you can stream it on imeem here http://www.imeem.com/ewcom.

I also really liked TBD Records recent signing 'Other Lives' from Oklahoma. Their songwriter/singer Jesse Tabish is mesmerizing. They played the KCRW show at Buffalo Billiards upstairs. Nice stage, really nice space, a great bar and nice people. I could have stayed there all night.

I caught Portland favs and now N-die supergroup Starfucker here's a pic of them on cramped stage. You can buy their record here on mTraks http://www.mtraks.com/artist/starfucker/

Cursive was great at La Zona Rosa on Friday afternoon. I had a feeling that most people came to see Gomez and got blown away by how good Cursive was.

I went by the Filter party where I caught a couple of songs by Great Northern. Fun in the sun.

Great Northern

Then it was off to the Alternative Press VIP party upstairs at Speakeasy. A rooftop spot called Terrace 59. But I had to trip out of there before Dirtblonde did their DJ set.