Rock Sound At SXSW Day Three

Guitar Hero parties and more on day three of the SXSW adventure.

Posted Saturday, 21 March 2009 by Amy Freeborn in

Blog

Party Day 1 had arrived, so it was action stations from the off as we got ourselves, and everything else, organised for the party we’d organised for Guitar Hero.

The venue was The Wave, right in the middle of 6th St – the main SXSW strip – and we had the whole up and downstairs, plus a lovely undercover, but outdoors balcony stage. And the sun was shining bright – a perfect party ingredient.

We were on site from around midday, preparing for the 2pm start. We dressed the venue, set up the huge Guitar Hero game consoles downstairs and this blogger set about interviewing some of the party bands.

Check out our chat with Attack! Attack! here

South Wales’ Attack! Attack! were probably one of the most fitting bands for this party, considering they’ve just had their song ‘You and Me’ lined up to feature in the next Guitar Hero game. Well done lads.

Next up it was the wonderful Bronx who answered our same six questions. See what they had to say here

And finally, before proceedings kicked off proper, we had a chat with two of the boys from Rolo Tomassi. Check out their interview here

And it was then Rolo Tomassi who got the party started and took to the stage first. They are quite an unusual outfit. First impressions and appearances would probably put them in the indie category, but once onstage, they belt it out like the metal best of them. One reviewer over here described them as a cross between The Mars Volta and Napalm Death – which is pretty spot on. Electronic squeaks and soundscapes alongside death metal growls. Lovely.

Next up it was out friends from South Wales, Attack! Attack!, whose brand of pop punk kept the party mood high as they jumped and bounced around the stage.

This blogger’s favourite, The Bronx, took to the stage next, and in typical fashion, front man Matt made full use of the stage and the audience space, venturing out into the crowd on numerous occasions. The band further kept the crowd involved by asking punters to decide their set list and choose each song as the previous one finished. Punk til the end, those guys.

Frank Turner was up next, with his brand of punk folk rock, supported by a backing band that, he told us, he’d only met for the first time three hours earlier. But despite such a short rehearsal, practice and get-to-know-you time, they made a great team and more than ably backed him up.

The final band to take to the stage was Enter Shikari, who’d come straight from playing another show. But despite their tiredness, they kicked out the jams, but were scuppered in their attempts to bring the party to a techno-rocking close by a sound system that kept cutting out on them. But they carried on regardless and did manage to get through a few full tracks, including a couple of newbies from their forthcoming album.

So that was that – one amazing party down and many more to come.

Having packed down the venue and wheeled the massive Guitar Hero consoles back to our hotel, we met for a quick drink with Gordon, from our favourite metal label, Relapse Records, before heading to Sullivan’s steak house for a well earned dinner – none of us had eaten since breakfast at 9am. It was by this time about 9pm.

Wined and dined and sated we headed to Stubbs and caught Ben Harper and his new band, Relentless 7, before catching up with Attack! Attack! again for their 1am gig.

Tomorrow brings us the legendary Australian SXSW barbeque and a bunch more interviews with top bands. So stay tuned for our next instalment.

By this time it was well and truly time for bed, so we headed back to the hotel and were asleep within seconds of our heads hitting the pillow.