DAY 1 - NIGHT FALLS ON AUSTIN...

The line-up of showcases for Wednesday night was maybe the strongest of the festival, so I knew there was going to have to be sacrifices (The Broken West, Annuals, Lily Allen, Loney, Dear) but I’m hoping to make amends Wednesday.

9:00pm
The night began at the Beggars/4AD showcase with former Delgados frontwoman Emma Pollock. I kind of had trouble getting into this new slower, mid-tempo solo material. I felt pretty indifferent towards her performance. Following Pollock on the same stage was New Mexican phenom Beirut. The barely 21-year-old multi-instrumentalist was backed by a 7-piece band that included an accordion, violin, trumpet, French horn and some other kind of horn. Beirut plays an almost gypsy style of pop, sounding like they came from the old world – but with all the sensibilities of modern pop\. Surely, you’ve heard their hit Postcard From Italy (its currently making the rounds in a Dove commercial), which they rocked on the accordion, rather than ukulele, b/c there wasn’t enough time to set up all the ukes. They still killed it. The whole set was amazing. An early contender for highlight of the fest.

11:00pm
After balking at the wicked long line to get into Lily Allen, who was about to take the stage, I instead chose to catch this Brooklyn post-rock trio The Big Sleep. I was only slightly familiar with these guys’ music, but it took no time become ridiculously hooked. With a rotating mix of bass, keys, knob-twiddling and freaked-out loud guitars, The Big Sleep shredded though a 1/2 dozen amazing songs that would have had Wolfmother shaking in their booties.

12:30amish
right after big sleep, I darted back to the massive Emo’s complex where I was earlier for Emma Pollock + Beirut to catch the headlining show by Voxtrot – perhaps the band I was most keen to see in Austin. My relationship with these local hombres dates back to a sweaty night a Sneaky Dee’s in Toronto last spring. I spent the rest of last year and this year so far playing their first three EPs to death and I couldn’t be more amped for their first full-length to drop in May. Voxtrot are totally the most poised indie band of the moment and will unquestionably become indie heroes once their record drops. The show was pretty much everything I’d hoped for. A great mix of EP tracks and new songs – all of which sounded fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for anything more… the perfect end to a great day.

Posted by Geoff M at March 15, 2007 02:23 PM

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