I am Buzzbot

Austin natives ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead are indie rock royalty. Their anthemic brand of art rock can be sampled on the classic Source Tags and Codes, also one of the most highly revered albums of the last decade. We got blown away by the quintet, and many other stellar acts, during another showcase here at SXSW.

After some breakfast, I made it over to the Filter stage around noon. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't get in somewhere. The security guards at SXSW are too easy to fool. Seriously, I can't tell you how many times I've just waltzed up to the front of a line and walked in somewhere. If you get stopped, you're with the band, you're with the sponsor, you're passing out flyers and you have to grab them from her, pointing at someone who you don't know. Give it a try. It rarely fails. The trick is to fly solo. If you have someone else with you, it really puts a damper on things. I digress.

I sailed by the door guy because the stage wasn't open yet. The Filter folks had been there for hours. A big thanks to Alan S., Alan M, Penny, Pat and all of the other fine folks at Filter. They put on another fine party this year and I still think it's one of the best venues for the daytime parties. BBBM even graced the party with his presence after he finished playing his 400th hand of BlackBerry Poker. Here I was thinking he was working a lot, but when I finally looked over his shoulder, he was playing poker.

(See snaps from the Filter party right here.)

We left Filter and went over to the Village Voice party to get some food and watch an exclusive performance from ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, best band name ever. Also, one of the best shows of the week. Pat from Filter was telling me that they were trying to get the band to close the Filter party, but Village Voice Media wouldn't let them play again, which I thought was funny. Pat, on the other hand, did not.

We rolled over to the Paste/Stereogum party in a pedicab. It was brutally hot outside and going from La Zona Rosa to the opposite end of town would have melted us for sure. It was brutally hot inside the party as well. I did get to meet all of the Stereogum people, which was cool. We checked out The Whigs for a while, grabbed some shaved ice across the street, sat on the curb in the shade and went back to our hotels for some rest.

The evening shaped up pretty well. We had dinner with some AOL folks across the river and then headed out for the evening. Here's how the day and evening shaped up:

12:00 Born Ruffians
12:45 Shout Out Louds
1:30 Los Campesinos!
2:15 The Pigeon Detectives
4:00 ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
5:00 The Whigs
9:30 Does It Offend You, Yeah?
10:00 Grand Archives
11:00 Kelley Stoltz
12:00 Foy Vance
1:00 Joseph Arthur

That brings the grand total to 43 bands in 3 days and 4 nights, which beats last year's record, yay me!

I've got a funny story for you. I'm walking back from Joseph Arthur to the hotel. I dash across the intersection before a light changes and literally almost collide with Perez because I was texting someone. I'm sleepy. BBBM will be covering for me tomorrow. He totally owes me for that R.E.M. mess-up anyway. Goodnight Austin.

-Brad Barrish


Don't forget that Buzznet and Filter Magazine are giving away a 10 CD Prize Package until March 25. You can ENTER HERE.

Why go to Austin when you've got Buzznet? Keep checking back here for SXSW pics, videos, reports and more as we get our fill of bands on the brink.