One forgets the toll you put on your feet during SXSW. The grueling hours of standing all day promises some tired legs and heavy sleep. We started yesterday off at the Progress Coffee for some caffeine and Cheyenne, who, along with Wynn Walent, will be playing the Klinic Bar in Madison on Friday, March 29th. From there we hit up Rhapsody party with British Sea Power. I was really excited to see them for the first time as they’ve been pretty religious about skipping over some fine spots in the Midwest on their tours. Their most recent Do You Like Rock Music? has been a great return to form for them, and seeing them live lived up to my expectations.

After loading up on tacos I headed over to Red 7 to check out Milwaukee’s own Freshwater Collins, who were making their first appearance at SXSW. No better time to debut brand new material than to a bunch of newly acquired fans, and I can say with great excitement that Pretty Demons is going to be one hell of a record.

DeVotchKa was up next, which was my first time seeing them. The friends I brought along were unfamiliar with the group and really enjoyed their set. As great as they were in an outdoor setting, I think the band’s sound is best suited for venues, which is great for Wisconsin music fans as the band (along with Basia Bulat) is playing Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee on Thursday, May 8th. They release A Mad and Faithful Telling next week on Anti.

We had every intention of checking out Yeasayer after that but the long line at the Parish wasn’t worth it considering they’re supporting Man Man in Madison next month. Instead, we stumbled upon the Brooklyn Vegan party where we met Justin from Live Music Blog (finally!) and spent the remainder of our day enjoying a wonderful and diverse selection of groups including Lykke Li, Phosphorescent, and Holy Fuck. Phosphorescent was so good. It was definitely the best thing I’d seen up until that point, really really good. He played a cover that was great, but my memory is not allowing me to remember its name or original artists. Anyone? I highly recommend you check him out at the Project Lodge in Madison on Monday, March 31st.

We met up with friends for dinner and made the decision to check out MGMT with Janet from Out The Other. Oracular Spectacular has become one of my favorite records of late and their live show was tight as I’ve ever seen a group. The sound was top-notch and people were packed together like rats in a subway, almost on the verge of creating a Rat King of MGMT fans. They started with “Weekend Wars” and just kept pummeling us for the next hour, another highlight being “Time To Pretend.” My one complaint was that they didn’t perform “Kids,” which I consider to be the zenith track on the album. They threw us for a loop by playing the track on the PA as the band exited the stage, which provided an auto-pilot type of encore I guess, people still danced and had a good time.

That’s our day, now back to icing our feet and gearing up to do it all over again.

Myspace: Cheyenne
Myspace: British Sea Power
Myspace: Freshwater Collins
Myspace: DeVotchKa
Myspace: Men
Myspace: Lykke Li
Myspace: Phosphorescent
Myspace: Holy Fuck
Myspace: MGMT

MP3: British Sea Power - “Waving Flags”
MP3: Freshwater Collins - “Pretty Demons”
MP3: Phosphorescent - “A Picture Of Our Torn Up Praise”

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