By Jodi Root

Saturday marked my final full day at SXSW and I was determined to make the best out of it–and goddamn it, I did. I was finally able to track down the infamous missing Sparks to start the day off at the Beauty Bar where the day was kicked off with Under Driver and Cruiser Weight. I tried to catch Wheat’s early afternoon set with Loney Dear, Hood Internet and Chairlift at the Red Eye Fly’s Coffee? No Pants Party, but the set seemed to be running behind schedule.

Since I’ve heard so much hype around Wavves, I had to bounce to Fader Fort to get my own two cents and check this out. Turns out the buzz is right on–this kid can totally shred some mad garagey guitar action and the combo with his sole drummer made some hella loud noise. Loved it. Def plan on picking up this recent release as soon as I recoop in real world Chicago land–pretty sure Wavves will be making an appearance at the Empty Bottle in early April, as well. Totally recommend it.

Post Fader, I trekked over to Peckerhead’s for the full capacity Rolling Stone showcase where I got to check the lovely, spunky dancey soul beats of Janelle Monae for time number two. The floors and walls of the venue shook so hard that I thought that shit was gonna collapse. My friends and I left awestruck, yet again, and on a complete kick-ass show high–meanwhile, picking the chunks of broken ceiling debris out of our hair. Bananas. Picked up the Metropolis: Chase Suite EP from her merch dudes and have been spinning it since. Good stuff.

Next I wandered over to Radio Room to check Milemarker with my roommate but wound up outside in the courtyard for Cursive’s set instead. Incredible set–especially when this Saddlecreek fave busted out their new single, “From the Hips.” The crowd went nuts for sure.

At this point my group all went their separate ways and I was the only one ballsy (or dorky) enough to man the Fader Fort lines and crowd for the at this point infamous Kanye West rumored set. Caught Jadakiss’s set in the outter line and then made my way into the most crazy packed set of my life. Rumors struck true and Mr. West, along with SEVERAL friends took the Fader stage around the 9 o’clock mark, kicking the 2-hour set with 808 and Heartbreak’s “Amazing.” INCREDIBLE. (But no Young Jeezy, present, sad to say.) Several old favorites were represented, including my personal pick, “Gone,” featuring Consequence. Many older numbers like “Drive Slow Homey,” “Spaceship,” “Crack Music,” a shortened “Diamonds from Sierra Leone,” “Get Em High,” “Heartless” w/the lameoid “Pinnochio” interlude were all accounted for. But when Ye stepped out with Kid Cudi? SHIT. The duo busted out “Welcome to Heartbreak,” which got the crowd’s heads spinnin’ tenfold. This of course, led into Kid Cudi’s set, including an insane dance extended remix of his ridiculously catchy single “Day N Nite” (Crookers’ Remix, even.) Also up were “Paranoid,” with Mr. Hudson (the random white blonde headed dude from England), the all-star sing along of “Good Life” and the show closer “Love Lockdown,” backed by a full band. INSANITY.

But the real crowd pleaser? Shit. That award is split in half–one to Chicago superstar Common, who wowed the crowd as he stepped up to perform his single “Universal Mind Control” and when a stunning Miss Erykah Badu stepped out briefly to join Common on the duet “The Light.” Crowd simply lost it. I can’t even begin to summarize the mad energy that was flowing in this sea mass of sweaty, drunken, dancing bodies. Just craziness.

People can hate on Kanye as much as they want. Sure, dude’s got an ego (he did, after all, “bring hip hop back”), but he used his celebrity last night for a good cause–to bring back SXSW to what it’s really all supposed to be about–showcasing the newer artists. I have a feeling Kid Cudi is going to be HUGE in 2009, (maybe not so much Mr. Hudson, sorry dude), and the artists showcased from Good Music were definitely represented last night as one big musical family. I know I’m leaving out some of the other performers’ names, but I was busy dancing my ass off with everyone else to take super proper notes. Nothing could have possibly topped this set for me–so this def wrapped up Jodi’s coverage of SXSW 2009 and it couldn’t have come in a better way. Good Music prevailed last night. Thank you, Mr. West.