Night 3 at SXSW: Scoping the bands

On our third night in Austin, we didn't have a showcase or anything sponsorship related, so Kurt and I took off to check out some bands we had heard of and catch a few of our buddies play. We wound up at 4 or 5 different venues throughout the night and ran into the same crazy, wonderful people that I've met since I've been here. We had a good time despite the fact very few things went according to plan.

Early in the day, we took a peak at Fair to Midland, a band on Serjical Strike. You want to talk about some pipes and range, I tell ya. And this guy is really strong live. He's got an interesting tone to it as well. They are metal-sih, progressive-ish, rock-ish and just a little screaming mixed all together.

First up for the night though was Off!. Ok. I didn't realize why we were going to see them at first because I had never heard of them. Turns out, it's Keith Morris's new project. Keith Morris...of Black Flag and The Circle Jerks. Can anyone say legend? And! It has members from Rocket To The Crypt, Burning Bridges and Earthless. To top it off, this was also one of their first shows they played together in the new band. In true punk-rock fashion, the set was 15 minutes long and the crowd was full of people who just knew what was up. What a way to start the night.

We rolled out to catch a band that for whatever reason is no more, so there wasn't a set. We took off to see our friends Ninjasonik, but their showcase was running really behind as well! However, we stayed to check out a little bit of a hip hop duo called Hollywood Holt. Full of energy and check it out! Vans represent!

I think the highlight of my night was getting to watch Man Man later at the Billboard Bungalow. I haven't seen these guys since 2006 at MacROCK that went out at my college. I like, don't even know how to describe these guys other than phenomenal. Really- how many other bands do you know that put on war pant before their set? Simply amazing.

A little later we headed off to Red 7 to check out 2 bands: Off With Their Heads and Riverboat Gamblers. Off With Their Heads recently signed to Epitaph in December of last year. Those guys are going to be in good hands over there and after watching them, are going to find their way to your ears- I have no doubt. Such an old school punk feel. As for Riverboat Gamblers, this was my first time really seeing them play. And they are my new favorite band. I am SO glad they are on Warped this summer. It makes me happy that bands like these remind me that punk rock isn't dead.

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