For those of you who haven’t noticed, SXSW has started already. The music kickoff comes Wednesday night, but there have been free shows going on downtown since Saturday (like when I was at Harlem, the Strange Boys, and Blair at the Red Eyed Fly for free) including local garage rockers Woven Bones, the Octopus Project, and second-city R&B duo Flosstradamus at the Mohawk on Sunday night—one that I regret to have missed. So here is the SXSW Music Tuesday unofficial preview.
SXSW for lists official showcases
Showlist Austin for an always comprehensive list of shows
Do512 for an interactive approach to navigating your SXSW2k10.
Day Before the Mess Fest
If you missed Woven Bones, they will be playing on Tuesday night at the 21st Street Co-op along with other raucous, local, indie juggernauts Harlem and Shapes Have Fangs. Catch them amidst a slew of east and west coast bands you probably have heard of. Assuming you could withstand the fratastic rabble that seems to congregate around these “college” parties, you could easily find yourself enjoying a beer and a band in the cozy confines of the aforementioned 21st Street Co-op and their friendly neighbors at the House of Guys.
* Thee Oh Sees (SF, 1am), The Fresh and Onlys (SF, 12:20am), Woven Bones (midnight), Wounded Lion (LA, 11:40pm), The Baths (SF, 11:20pm), Shapes Have Fangs (11pm) at the 21st Street CO-OP (707 W. 21st St.)
* Harlem (11:30pm), The Beets (NY, 11pm), Beach Fossils (NY, 10:30pm), Woven Bones (NY, 10pm), Total Slackers (NY, 9:30pm), Fungi Girls (Denton, 9:30pm), Waldo Wittenmyer (9pm) at House of Guys (1907 Rio Grande)
* The Carrots (8:30pm), Reading Rainbow (PA, 8pm), Eternal Summers (VA, 7:30pm), The Girls at Dawn (NY, 7pm), Predator (GA, 6:30pm) at a house off of 30th and Red River (near Austin vet hospital)
The Art Disaster party at the Beauty Bar is always the kickoff event for SXSW - packed with everyone you know and awesome bands. It’s the perfect way dive in and get oriented (or disoriented) before the official madness begins. This year features a number of prominent and up-and-coming locals, from Sunset to the White White Lights to the Pomegranates, with DJ Orion closing out the night inside.
* Pomegranates (1am), The Shondes (midnight), Sunset (11pm), Bright Light Social Hour (10pm), CAW! CAW! (9pm), Keiron EVOL DJ (between bands) at the Beauty Bar [outside]
* DJ Orion (1:10am), Shunda K (12:30am), The White White Lights (11:30pm), Leopold and His Fiction (10:30pm), Red Wanting Blue (9:30pm), Lachi (8:30pm), DJ Miguel (between bands) at the Beauty Bar [inside]
Catch Matador Records darlings Follow that Bird! who seemed to steal the show on the Casual Victim Pile Comp released by Matador’s Gerard Cosloy. They will be playing a short set amid eighteen other bands at Club 1808, including local weirdos A Faulty Chromosome, Soft Healer, and No Mas Bodas. Handful o’locals playing at the Parish as well—Black and White Years, The Bright Light Social Hour, Melogrand, and Learning Secrets. It’s almost too free.
* Granchildren (1:30am), Quiet Hooves (1am), DD/MM/YYYY (12:30am), Reverse X-Rays (midnight), Magic Jewels (11:30pm), When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (11pm), No Mas Bodas (10:30pm), Follow That Bird! (10pm), A Faulty Chromosome (9:30pm), Geoff Reacher (9pm), Female Demand (8:30pm), Wizzard Sleeve (8pm), Soft Healer (7:30pm), Sleep Good (7pm), Florene (6:30pm), {{{Sunset}}} (6pm), Jennifer Ellen Cook (5:30pm), Spiked Punch (5pm) at Club 1808 [Inside]
* Daniel Francis Doyle (1am), Lord Scrummage (midnight), Bodytronix (11pm), Grandchildren (10pm), Pataphysics (9pm), Spells (8pm), Zorch (7pm), Archibald Adams and The Shimmering War Choir (6pm), Traffique (5pm) at Club 1808 [Inside]
Other recommended shows going on:
Austin Vegan Drinks SXSW Pre-Party, Cherrywood Café, 1400 East 38th ½ St., 78722
We’ll join Lucy the Poodle Productions 3rd annual Circus Party (all human!), a free Pre-SXSW multimedia event with vegan food and sweets, drink, art and music featuring Peter and the Wolf, Agent Ribbons, Daniel Francis Doyle and more! Meet fellow vegans, vegetarians, and veg-curious as we kick off our SXSW fun!
Paste and Purevolume’s Tuesday Night Music in Austin Kickoff, 504 Trinity St.
Paste is partying at Purevolume on Tuesday night to help jump start the festival. The event, brought to you by Taco Bell’s Feed the Beat, Mozes, Sennheiser and VTech, is open to anyone 21 and up and starts at 8 p.m. The night will feature Harper Blynn, Joshua James, Johnny Flynn, Jakob Dylan and Three Legs (featuring Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, Jon Rauhouse and more!), Eisley and an open bar. RSVP is required and can be completed at PureVolume.com/TheHouse.
“R&B duo” Flosstradamus??? what? They’re DJs man.
So what are the free shows from now until Sunday?