SXSW DAY FOUR: The Bataan Death March of Rock
The final day of SXSW is a test of will, especially when it coincides with St. Patrick's Day. The drinking holiday is a little redundant during SXSW time, because at the festival, every day is St. Patrick's Day: The boozing starts early and goes late. The convergence of St. Pat's and SXSW simply means Sixth Street is even more crowded, supplemented by people in various green outfits–two lamest shirts: "Fuck Me I'm Irish!" (homemade) and "Erin go braghless!"–arguing couples, and dudes looking to fight someone.
An Aside: Inane Sixth Street Bar Names:
Mooseknuckle Pub (apparently The Camel Toe was taken)
Chuggin' Monkey
The Dizzy Rooster
Darwin's (with "Survival Of The Fittest" on the sign–no creationists allowed?)
Cheers and Friends, two different bars whose logos use typefaces similar to the popular TV shows of the same name.
Anyway, by day four, when the crowds are starting to get to you, St. Patrick's Day is another twist of the knife. But it's still SXSW, and there's always something going on that's worth checking out. As the hours pass, your chances to see the bands you underlined in your program are running out. Better get cracking.
2pm: I head to the Alternative Press party at, appropriately, Emo's. The first band I see is Anaheim's New Years Day, a melodic punk band with female vocals. They're pretty typical SoCal punk, though with a dark style that's not quite goth, but differentiates them a bit from the herd. This type of punk is meant for half-hour sets, as anything longer tends to get repetitive.
2:57pm: The Forecast rips into "Fade In, Fade Out" from 2005's Late Night Conversations for their first song. The Illinois group's energy doesn't relent during its whole set, making theirs probably the most memorable set I've seen thus far. The Forecast's Midwestern post-punk–similar to groups like Hey Mercedes and Rainer Maria–isn't the sexiest sound for grabbing headlines, but I think the band's fantastic. I've championed them since they debuted on Victory Records, where they were promptly lost in the shuffle in favor of thoroughly boring bands like Hawthorne Heights. Maybe once they switch labels they'll get the attention they deserve.