Live Review

SXSW Day Two!! – Austin, Texas

• 14th Mar 2008

British Sea Power are perfect for this town. They are so weird and wistful, their hushed, haunting vocal and soaring guitars drew the sleep deprived right into their pockets and made big impact with the scavenging press. ‘Waving Flags’ is some anthem for the new Sea Power as they steered clear of the old classics. And the set was none the worse for that forward marching attitude. Sons and Daughters followed on at Mohawk, where the real party burned today. The Glasgow quartet could have made a splash but despite the glittery gold outfit, Bedel Bethal and her merry band didnt quite ignite the crowd.

Jens Lekman – photo by BR, Glasswerk – can win over any crowd with his romantic European bullshit stories, but we lap it up. His songs drift into spoken tales while his acoustic guitar ticks over. With a perfect front row view Glasswerk were treated to a short half hour fest of Lekman’s best. From a “boring village near Gothenburg I travelled to meet my penfriend Nina. She invited me to dinner with her parents for some Berlin vegan food and I was like OK, I’ve never had that but it sounds cool…we walked up to the door and Nina turned to me and was like ‘I’ve told my parents i’m engaged to you’, wow what do you do, her father opened the door to me and we just stared at each other. (start of ‘Nina’): Nina I can be your boyfriend, so you can stay with your girlfriend. Your father is a sweet old man, but it is hard for him to understand, that you wanna love a woman.” A special storyteller with a voice to soothe even the hardest, pounding head.

The ‘Body of War’ show in support of the Iraq war documentary was underwhelming as the Americans hollered out everytime host the Nightwatchman shouted out to rid the US of Bush and war. We’re certainly sick of this goverment, their phoney war but also the supposed extreme anti war movement. Billy Bragg , Brett Dennen and the protest singers were popular but it was the softly spoken and coy Kimya Dawson (Moldy Peaches) who made the biggest impact with her off the wall vocals and near tears stories of the destruction war can reap with the mind of her brother.

It seemed almost hollow to follow that with the biggest scenester party of the week. Steve Lamacq introduced MGMT , who have the most interesting new record out and put Vampire Weekend right in the shade. They are glitter covered pixies with the addictive keyboards and lyrics. It was the first huge moshpit we’ve seen and they will be massive. As bands and the famous lined up (or queued as the British would say) around the block Glasswerk got in early and didn’t miss a hook. Come back for exclusive interviews with Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears and Crystal Castles plus the highlights of the day parties and night shows from day three – the best yet.