DAY FOUR, MARCH 18: RUNNING ON FUMES, BUT RUNNING JUST THE SAME
11:10 a.m.: The circus prepares to leave town, but not without an intense day and night first. People are exhausted, hung over, and getting burned out, but they soldier on.
1:54 p.m.: During an acoustic set at the Austin Convention Center, Rogue Wave plays "Salesman At The Day Of The Parade," a quiet song from their recent Descended Like Vultures.
2:13 p.m.: Flatstock 8, a gathering of rock-show poster designers, is doing brisk business. It'd be easy to drop a month's pay at this joint, with amazing limited-edition work by The Bird Machine, Burlesque, Aesthetic Apparatus, and tons of others. If you want some funny Dr. Dre stickers or a kick-ass Arcade Fire poster, this is the place to be.
2:16 p.m.: There aren't a ton of people on hand to see Amusement Parks On Fire, but the English band plays a great set of anthemic rock that bursts, buzzes, and pays tribute to some of the best alt-rock from the '90s (Smashing Pumpkins, Hum, Dinosaur Jr., etc.).
3:01 p.m.: Near the Emo's Annex stage across the street, a young girl asks a security guard what time Lifetime will play. When she hears that the band played yesterday, it's like she just watched a puppy get run over. Twice.
3:50 p.m.: Far from the din of downtown, there's more din: The neighborhood surrounding the University Of Texas (a couple of miles north) keeps busy, with shows in vintage shops, pizza places, and even Urban Outfitters, which scores great bands every year. The Rakes play again, after some serious technical difficulties. They are even awesomer than on Wednesday.
4:01 p.m.: The microphone keeps cutting out on Beth Ditto of The Gossip. Instead of getting pissy about it, Ditto says, "Fuck it, I don't care. You can hear me." Considering the intensity of her gospel-like punk wail, she's probably right.
5:32 p.m.: Goblin Cock is a sludgy metal band fronted by Pinback's Rob Crow, and just in case anyone thought that any of the black-cloaked dudes onstage were taking themselves seriously, they toss in a cover of Tears For Fears' "Head Over Heels." Hopefully Roland Orzabal will get a chance to hear it someday.
5:36 p.m.: Screamo band Thursday takes the stage with "Understanding In A Car Crash" and the crowd erupts. There's a lot of singing along and pointing fingers at singer Geoff Rickley, who flails like an epileptic.
8:34 p.m.: The singer of New Mexican Disaster Squad prefaces a song during the group's set at the Jade Tree showcase at Emo's by referring to it as "the fuck song." A fiftysomething woman sitting in the corner keeps her fingers in her ears. The group's hardcore was apparently too loud, and there's no doubt she's too old.
9:02 p.m.: Hardcore band Paint It Black takes a minute between songs to make sarcastic comments about SXSW. "That's what SXSW is all about—moving units, making connections… and eyeliner." The bassist adds, "If I see anyone on a Blackberry during our set, I'm going to throw down my bass and shove it up your ass."
9:15 p.m.: Eternal, which looks like a dance club, is the wrong place for tender acoustic troubadour Jose Gonzalez. He's still impressive, even more so live than he is on record. He plays his cover of The Knife's "Heartbeats" (the one from the Sony Bravia commercial with all the balls bouncing down Russian Hill in San Francisco) and pretty much transfixes the entire audience (except for one asshole who thinks he's being hilarious by secretly attaching stuff to his friend's back).
10:11 p.m.: Over at the Merge showcase, there may not be a less surprising band in the world than The Essex Green, whose throwback pop seems generated via some sort of throwback-pop computing machine. Is this the same label that spawned The Arcade Fire, Polvo, and…
10:57 p.m.: …Superchunk, who hadn't played together in months before this show and who seem perpetually on the edge of packing it in? You couldn't tell here, as they stormed and joked through a set of classics and even a newbie or two. Singer/label co-owner Mac McCaughn started the set with this gem: "I didn't tell the rest of the band, but I think we're gonna get signed tonight!" then blazed through everything from "Cool" to a fiery "Precision Auto." After the set, who appears on stage to half-drunkenly sing Superchunk's praises? David Cross, that's who. Nice.
2:16 a.m.: And then it was done, and a whirlwind of rock had blown through town for the 20th time. There are shows we're sorry we missed (Editors, Gang Of Four, Levy, Julie Doiron, Billy Bragg, The Flaming Lips, Metallagher, the Barsuk/Saddle Creek showcase, and lots more), but there's always next year. We'll be back.
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