Saturday 21/03/09 South By Southwest @ Various Venues, Austin, Texas

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Absolutely wiped out from 3 days of gigs and parties, I use my last bit of energy for Saturday to still make sure to do everything I want to do.  I start the day with the sweet, pop infused tunes from Chairlift at the Filter party catching their 25-minute set for some good early day music.

Taking a long walk to the other side of town, I’m off to The Compound to check out Minneapolis golden boys, Solid Gold, at the mtvU and Study Breaks party.  Even in the Austin heat, the band still deliver a killer set that gave me the day time mellow dance high I needed.

With a killer line-up, I make sure to head over to the Moshi Moshi vs Anorak party at Lambert’s.  Coming in to the fantastic pop sounds of Still Flyin, the most fun band out of San Francisco ever, I had the sudden urge to hop on stage and do a little dance.  I was greeted with smiles as the band took me under their wing and I grooved to a full song.  Maybe they’ll let me be a future member?!

Ready to see what the buzz is all about, Lissy Trullie steps onstage looking like she just came from Andy Warhol’s factory.  Oxford shoes, jean jacket waistcoat and a guitar strapped on her, the band performed their hit ‘Self Taught Learner’ and a wicked cover of Hot Chip’s ‘Ready For The Floor’.  This New York act surely lives up to the buzz.

Tonight was the night I was looking forward to the most; PJ Harvey and John Parish at Stubbs.  Stepping out in a gorgeous long white dress, PJ Harvey put me into a state of ecstasy as her and John Parish performed tracks from their upcoming release, ‘A Woman A Man Walked By’.  The new material just sound mind blowing as the crowd stared in awe through the entire set.

As the last night of the festival was winding down, so was the amount of bands to see.  Catching a midnight show, HEALTH performed their noise infused set to a packed house at the Mohawk. Then it was quickly off to see Titus Andronicus play Club Deville at one in the morning where I was having so much fun I felt compelled to go in the mini mosh pit in the front and have a quick dance!

Last night means the last party of the festival, which is always a hard decision.  Since Ida Maria didn’t show up to her Wednesday night gig I decided that I MUST catch a set of her’s before I left Austin.  The place to do that was the Perez Hilton party where the Norweigan firecracker stepped on stage at about two in the morning to a small but excited crowd.  Playing a quick 30-minute set, it was all I needed to get my fix and walk away having it be one of my favorite performances of the week.