BEST ACT OVERALL: Austin’s Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, followed by St. Vincent (see previous posts).

WORST ACT OVERALL: Ladyhawke, who actually has a pretty big buzz right now, apparently among people too young to remember that New Wave mostly sucked. This New Zealand singer blatantly lifts from such ’80s acts as Missing Persons and Berlin, and her sexpot act isn’t even all that sexy.

BEST ACT I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT: Cut Off Your Hands, another New Zealand act, this one much more original. The quartet’s members looked to be all of 16 and put their youthful energy to good use. They sang urgent, big-sounding choruses that were like U2-meets-Minor Threat, while the music bounced and boiled over like jubilant Clash. 

BEST ACT I KNEW EVERYTHING ABOUT: Gary Louris & Mark Olson, who performed in a bar in the historic Driskill hotel and offered up harmonies as regal as the surroundings. Granted, these guys used to play the biggest halls in towns with the Jayhawks, but SXSW is no longer focused on the rootsy/Americana acts it rode in on. A great showing nonetheless.

WORST ACT I KNEW EVERYTHING ABOUT: Echo & the Bunnymen. The Liverpool quartet, who I’ve always rated as underranked, were mostly just plain rank. They had to stop one tune mid-song from mucking it up. Frontman Ian McCulloch mumbled a lot and sang with little of his old gusto. They relied too heavily on lackluster recent material (which isn’t to say all their recent stuff is lackluster), but they even sounded half-cocked on the oldie “Back of Love.” Hopefully, they’ll be in better shape Friday afternoon when they headline the big Spin party, although Brits outdoors on a hot Texas day with barbecue in the air isn’t usually a good combination. 

WORST ACTS I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT: I swear I have nothing against the influential Brooklyn Vegan blog, but not only was Psychedelic Horsesh– performing under their banner (also mentioned in a previous post), so was Dear Tick, a hillbilly-ish cow-punk band from… Providence, R.I.?! You get the picture.

BEST NEW SONG BY A MINNESOTA ACT: “Dear Caroline,” by Romantica. Ben Kyle and Co. literally brought this tender but rollicking gem to light outside Threadgill’s at a day party hosted by its management company, September Gurl, and Minneapolis’ own Ripple Ent.

BEST COVER SONG OF THE DAY: Otis Redding’s “Look at that Girl,” turned into a grinding rocker by San Antonio’s Hacienda, an organ-tinged garage band whose CD was produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach (who also played SXSW on Wednesday night).

BEST QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I’ve never performed in front of a death-metal pizza joint before.” So said M. Ward, referring to the Hoek’s Pizza stand outside the window from his stage (locals often pronounce “Hoek’s” as if hacking up a loogie).

SECOND BEST QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I heard the strippers ordering drinks better than I heard my guitar.” Said by former Husker Du co-leader Grant Hart, complaining afterward about his gig at Aces Lounge, a Sixth Street strip club converted to a rock club for one week only with a stage literally above the bar.

Click here for Tony Nelson’s SXSW photo gallery from Day One.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2009 at 12:38 pm and is filed under Main, SXSW. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.