Abbey Fox writesAbbey Fox Goes to South by Southwest 2012 (Pt. 1)

CHIRP Radio’s Abbey Fox visited this year’s South by Southwest Music Festival and documented her experiences. Part 1 of her journal is below. Tune in tomorrow for Part 2.

It was our second day in Austin, and we had just waited 30 minutes to get into a great local music venue called The Mohawk. I rushed to the rooftop of the venue where I heard there extra port-a-potties and immediately got sidetracked.

If you stood a little to the right, just behind them, you could sort of see the stage at Club DeVille, another venue next door. The bands were between sets, meaning that you could hear Tennis play their song “Pigeon” perfectly.

I started talking to the guy next to me, who I soon found out was the lead singer of Gauntlet Hair, the band slated to play next at Mohawk. He told me just had to catch a bit of the Tennis set because he too was from Denver and he had to show some hometown love.

It was in that moment that it hit me: I was having the quintessential SXSW experience. The experience that I spent $400 on a plane ticket for, dealt with countless lines for everything, battled dehydration, sore feet and exhaustion for four days. But there it was, in that strange moment behind the port-a-potties; I was talking about music with a stranger who also loved music, in the midst of three shows happening in the same space at once. And for a music fan like me, it doesn’t get much better, or more overwhelming, than that.

And that’s still the only way I can describe a festival as large as SXSW: overwhelming. It’s a word that takes a while to unpack. It’s overwhelming because of the crowds, the Texas heat, the 1200 bands playing in official showcases (and the number of bands playing unofficial showcases), the plethora of taco trucks and the lack of cabs; It’s a thing that requires patience and flexibility.

And I don’t always succeed as queen of patience and flexibility. So while, of course, SXSW is the pinnacle event on my yearly musical calendar, it is also the ultimate lesson in practicing patience and learning to let go of the grip of control. Things are constantly in flux, changing at the last minute, and baby girl, the only way to enjoy the ride is to go with the crazy musical flow.

That beautiful, overwhelming, and crazy musical flow offers so many unique opportunities, too. Like dancing too hard out of joy and love, singing my heart out to The Shins as they played my favorite song from 2004 in a crowd of thousands of people while looking at the Austin skyline, and happening upon shows in tiny, tiny, spaces and becoming a new fan of a band like Gashcat, talking to strangers about what show to see next.

SXSW is the craziest, most surreal place for myself and many others. I feel constantly challenged and enamored by it the entire time I am in Austin.

So who all did I see? I clocked in around 28 bands in 48 hours. Our first show, like the best things often are, was by accident. My boyfriend and I happened upon a local Austin band playing on the corner of 6th and Red River. We talked to their friends and learned they were called Haydon Kamp and the Hoodoo Boys. We saw a couple of songs by the female duo Boyfriend, and then danced quickly to Spanish singer Alex Cuba and his band.

Lila Downs was our first full set on Wednesday and she blew me away. Hailing from Oaxaca, Mexico, Ms. Downs reinvents traditional Mexican music by offering an amazing mixture of blues, jazz, and roots through her dramatic performances and Spanish lyrics. She had amazing energy and is truly a fantastic performer.

The next morning, we headed to the Brooklyn Vegan party at the Hotel Vegas & the Volstead Lounge (and took a scenic hour detour before we realized we were walking in the wrong direction.). We caught a Swedish band, Thus Owls. Composed of five folks and loving minor keys, Thus Owls centers around the transcendent (and Björk-y) vocals of Erika Angell. They are monumental in sound, and it was fun to see them in such a small space.

Up next was one of my favorites of the week, GASHCAT. GASCHAT hails from Austin and plays really nice, energetic, and loud indie pop. Their show was super fun because they played in what felt like a converted basement which blurs the line between audience member and performer.

We hit up the outdoor stage for the minimalist indie pop Brooklyn band Hospitality. They just signed on Merge Records and released their first full album this January. We bobbed our heads and ran to Cymbals Eat Guitars for a harder, heavier set.

The chill Swedish band Korallreven was welcomed next. I was psyched to see them as a fan of Radio Dept. (two members of Korallreven also play with Radio Dept) and because I first heard about them while they were on rotation here at CHIRP. They were hypnotic and sounded almost tropical at times which was appropriate in the 80 degree weather.

I ran back inside to catch The Cold Specks. Based out of the UK by way of Canada, Cold Specks is Al Sphix – an amazing 23 year old vocalist (indie Adele, anyone?) playing soulful, gothic ballads. We saw a few songs by another British band, Fanfarlo. Their ’80s inspired synths and danceable tunes were also perfect for the festival atmosphere of SXSW.