Words: Ryan Getz

Year 2 at SXSW proved to have an overall different flavor than year 1. I suspect each year going forward will be similar.

Day 1 didn’t have a ton in the way of live music, but I caught 3 awesome performances.

Right next to my hotel, the brand new Holiday Inn Express downtown, is Cheer Up Charlie’s. This restaurant and bar had two stages, an indoor and an outdoor, for SXSW. Walking in, I ran into none other than James Amos of TV Movie. The mainstay of the Mansfield, OH music scene had lived in Austin years prior and recently moved to Cincinnati. How appropriate that I would experience the next band with a friend from Worst Kept Secret Fest, an event frequented by bands similar to the group that I started SXSW with – Yonatan Gat.

The Israeli trio played a short yet ferocious set. Setting up in the middle of the floor – or in this case, outdoor patio – the band jammed through some improvisational hybrids of psych rock and garage jams, shunning the sound system and making their set feel more intimate. The gear was far from top notch. In fact, the floor tom was busted and the amp appeared to go out midset, contibuting to a premature ending. For some reason, this added to the band’s appeal.

I spent some time early evening in the Empire Garage with members of some of my favorite PR firms (looking at your, Catalyst PR and Reybee, Inc) watching the brass-jam extravaganza that is Lucky Chops do their thing. While jam and funk bands aren’t something I normally gravitate toward, I could certainly understand the hype behind Lucky Chops, who had a busy SXSW schedule. The four piece brass band, backed by a live drummer, got the crowd going amidst some nifty visuals and drew from a seemingly endless well of good cheer to encourage the crowd’s fervor.

With little luck finding shows that piqued my interest in the early evening, I ended up at Dirty Dog bar. Playing when I walked in was a new (to me) band called Them Guns. A patron I met soon after I got there informed me that the singer fo the band was Navarone Garibaldi, the son of Priscilla Presley (widow of Elvis) whom was present at said show.

Indeed Priscilla was. Her son’s band Them Guns played a ferociously fun set of heavy new wave tunes thick on the synthesizer and stage make up alike. Not cartoonish makeup. But very Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day-ish. I dug the band and would see them again. The band had a throwback yet modern feel that wasn’t contrived. Children of the 80s and teens of today would dig these guys. I could see these guys on stage with Nine Inch Nails, Deftones, or Coheed and Cambria just as easily as I could see them opening for The Cure. And I’ll say it because I’m sure the band needs to hear it. The music alone speaks for itself. They shouldn’t need Navarone’s family background to get noticed or succeed.

The band of the day was obviously P.O.D. Watching them play was like hearing a greatest hits record in a live setting, from the opening drumbeats of “Outkast” to the ending riffs of “Alive.” As the band entered into “Murdered Love” I found myself entering into a state of worship, as I realized that the Christian Holy Week was drawing close. As I type this I am cognizant of the fact that Good Friday is a mere two days away. Sonny Sandoval exudes a reverent and FUN energy onstage that is contagious. The kids, old and young, in the crowd went NUTS! During “Southtown,” Sonny hopped in the pit. Respect for a dude approaching middle age to do so! Another thing that stood out to me was watching a kid rush the stage and grab the mic. Rather than letting security throw the kid out, the band halted the guards and let the kid have a bit of fun. And speaking of kids, a young kid (looking like he was about 10) played the floor tom alongside Wuv for “Youth of the Nation.”

Also, shout out to Marcos for chatting with me before the show. It was funny seeing him starstruck by Priscilla.