SXSW was a wonderful land of craziness and constant streams of beautiful music from which I have still not fully recovered. It seems too much of a daunting task to detail every wonderful thing I witnessed, so I’ll attempt to bring you the highlights. My first night in Austin, me and a friend headed out to the Underwater Peoples (lovely DC based label, check em out!) ranch party outside the city. This quaint country abode with it’s barbecue and bugs served as the perfect introduction to the festival. After days of driving, nothing could have served us better than lying in the grass with a 6-pack of tall boys and letting the music wash over us. This was my first introduction to Pill Wonder, a lovely little outfit out of the Northwest. I ended up seeing them three times over the course of our stay, and each time was lovelier than the last. Bringing untold levels of energy and two (!!) drummers, they are a delight to see live. For me, the latest and greatest performance was at the Underwater Peoples and Gorilla vs Bear free show at the Longbranch Inn. All of the band members couldn’t fit on the stage and thus were spilling out into the audience that was huddled around them, three of them sharing one microphone. Everyone was ecstatic, dancing so hard that you were hitting your neighbors but nobody minded, it was bliss. They’re headed back west these days, so be sure to catch them if you can.

Pill Wonder – Restless