David’s SXSW Wrap-up: Day 2 (Thursday, 3.19.09)

[Ed. Note: The second installment e-mailed-in by SCR SXSW correspondent David A. Cobb; all photos by him…]

Unfortunately day two didn’t get off to a great start. Smacked in the head and guts (and feet) with the fact I am not, in fact, 25 years old anymore, I was in hell for the better part of the morning and early afternoon. I have only myself to blame — well, mostly. I began the day by attending a blogger’s panel at the convention center, which featured (among others) Robert Duffy of DoneWaiting.com. Afterward, I met up with a friend and headed to the Filter magazine party at Cedar Street but sat at an Irish pub for an hour or two while I recovered. At the Filter party, we ran into Blake Smith (The Prairie Cartel), who was hanging with a friend and Samantha Barnes of Filter. We had a great time with them and caught a great set by Los Angeles band Great Northern, who played songs from its upcoming album, Remind Me Where The Light Is.

Arthur Yoria played one of his trademark solo sets at Vintage Lounge, which is always good to see. I bought a couple of copies of his latest album, 281, which I plan to give away on the street today. We followed up Yoria’s set with a few songs by energetic Houston pop-punk band American Fangs at Darwin’s on 6th Street, and capped off the afternoon at the Justice Records party at Lucky Lounge to see …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. My ears are still ringing.

I kept the evening light, and watched impressive sets by Meat Puppets (Stubb’s), former Death From Above 1979 drummer Sebastien Grainger (El Sol y La Luna), and Sleepercar (Club DeVille). By far, Sleepercar’s set was the most impressive, and even front man Jim Ward seemed surprised by the crowd’s response. Much of the packed crowd knew all of the band’s songs and played sing-along throughout the set. It was a perfect ending to a great day of music.