Dustin Wong

The guitarist made quite an impression on the Cheer Up Charlie's crowd on Friday night, leaving many to shout "Who ARE you??!!?" and "Tell us your NAME!!!"

In an era where encores have become the norm, the extra piece Wong performed felt genuinely earned rather than expected.  Considering the venue and the one-band-off -next-band-on immediacy of the night, this was something special. 

 

John McCauley & Friends

Rock, unhampered, unhindered, whiskey & beer swilling, swaggering Rock (capital R). That sums up John McCauley. Some of the "& Friends" include musicians from John's many musical endeavors like bands Deer Tick and Diamond Rugs.

"Say, isn't that Steve Berlin from Los Lobos playing sax?"

G.Green

Local punk band G.Green is back for the second time to SXSW. The group of Andrew "Diamond" Henderson (guitar, vocals), Liz Liles (drums, vocals), Simi Sahota (bass, vocals) and Mike Morales (guitar, vocals) have five shows booked, including an official SXSW showcase on the March 15th. The photos below come from their first scheduled gig at Beerland.

   

The band played as many gigs as they could find on the way to Austin, including shows in Phoenix, AZ (which didn't pan out so well) and Las Cruces, NM (which did!)

DLRN

Sac hip hop duo Sean la Marr and Jon Reyes had a few shows fall through this year but performing is only part of why they came to SXSW.

Marnie Stern

This year the Brooklyn guitarist is playing an extraordinary amount of shows in a short period of time. She had already performed twice yesterday when I caught her performance at The Stage On Sixth. She and her band had two the night before and more to come this week.

   

Antenna Farm Records Showcase

What closed out SXSW last year came back to start 2013 off strong. Oakland, CA label Antenna Farm Records took to Valhalla for a showcase of their artists fitting of the venue's name.

Pictured below are a few of the bands from the night: Body Parts from LA, Dana Falconberry from Austin and Social Studies from San Francisco

   

   

 

Ivory Deville

 

1AM on Tuesday isn't the height of the music crowd for SXSW. Most of the audience, in fact most of the bands don't even show up until Tuesday afternoon. That didn't slow down L.A. swagger-rock band Ivory Deville who played the 311 Bar on E. 6th Street in the early hours of the festival