Yesterday started off with Lightspeed Champion at the Stereogum/Paste party at one of the nicest (and air conditioned!) venues in town. His set contained a lot from Falling Off the Lavender Bridge, his intentions to get a Star Wars tattoo, and a Weezer cover. Filled up on the best nachos ever and made our way down Red River to the Mohawk for The Hot Freaks showcase put on by our friends at Daytrotter, Aquarium Drunkard, You Ain’t No Picasso, Largehearted Boy, Chromewaves, Gorilla vs. Bear, and My Old Kentucky Blog.

Highlights were plentiful throughout the day, with early surprises being The Dodos and Ola Padrida. We finally got around to seeing the Bowerbirds for the first time, which sounded just perfect. One of the best acts I’ve seen over the time here is without a doubt White Demin, who’ve long been favored and recommended, but seeing this band live is definitely the closing factor on these guys. I thought their day set was so good, I just had to see them again as they closed down our evening with a hot and heavy set at Club DeVille. Best description? Try James Brown fronting a garage punk outfit.

Jens Lekman was gorgeous and engaging as ever, revealing the entire story behind “A Postcard to Nina” from his MoB approved Night Falls Over Kortedala. Muzzle of Bees couldn’t be more excited to present Jens in both Madison and Milwaukee at the end of this month. I had great expectations already, but yesterday really cemented what a captivating performer he is.

Mad Decent and IHEARTCOMIX had a party atop a parking garage complete with DJ sessions from Hood Internet and performances by Diplo, Flosstradamus and Spank Rock. I really wanted to catch Amanda Blank, but we had other plans and had to leave the party behind, which was gearing up to be quite a night.

I missed seeing Bobby Bare Jr by about a half an hour, but stuck around long enough to take in the Langhorne Slim and White Rabbits. I’m really excited about the upcoming self-titled Langhorne Slim record, due April 29th, judging by the enthusiastic crowd (including Elijah Wood) and the number of fans that found their way onto the stage for the last number, plenty of others are going to be looking forward to it as well.

Lots of other great times throughout the day with a slew of great people

Myspace: Lightspeed Champion
Myspace: The Dodos
Myspace: Ola Padrida
Myspace: White Denim
Myspace: Bowerbirds
Myspace: White Rabbits

MP3: Lightspeed Champion – “Galaxy Of The Lost”
MP3: The Dodos – “Fools”
MP3: Bowerbirds – “In Our Talons”
MP3: White Denim – “Shake Shake Shake”
MP3: Langhorne Slim – “Restless”