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I got back from SXSW in Austin, TX last Sunday night and have had a few days to recover and gather my thoughts. This was my first time going and I thought the entire festival was fantastic and extremely well run. With over 2000 bands and 200 venues this was by far the biggest festival I've ever attended. Of course you are left choosing which shows you really want to see, which ones you can miss, and which ones you can salvage. For the first three days, I travelled all over the city and the last day was mainly reserved for the Hilton and the KC showcase at Canvas because of extremely cold weather and rain (still better than the snow they got in Kansas city). My transportation and show mates Sherman, Matt, and Kaileen kept an agressive schedule with the mindset that we'll sleep when we're dead. And this kept us going and able to see a lot of shows. Much thanks goes to them for the ride down there, the place to stay, and putting up with my shenanigans and sometimes one-off show selections.

Some highlights of the trip include: -Seeing a fantastic show of a reunited original lineup of Man or Astro-Man? This was my all-time favorite concert the first time I saw them in 2000 (and I've seen thousands of shows since). I was nervous it wouldn't hold up, but it totally did. They even brought out the Tesla coil at the end. -Hearing Sharon Jones sing the song about "I'm gonna WHOOP when I get home" -Seeing Thurston Moore play an all acoustic set on a lawn about ten feet from stage -Seeing several Chinese and Japanese bands that were probably playing their first shows in the Americas -Seeing KC native Ernie blowing my mind with the Nervous Turkeys -Hearing lots of new bands I'd never heard before and meeting lots of new people -Seeing YACHT rocking it out with instruments and playing an amazing X cover -Going to a massive record show and seeing Thurston Moore shop for records just feet away from me -Seeing Kansas City totally represent. The Midwasteland Takeover showcase and Anodyne / Record Machine showcase were both fantastic and a result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people. Congrats to everyone for such a good time.

Here's a recap of the shows that I saw...

Wednesday 3/17 Carrie Rodriguez- Hilton Lobby Brazos (Mark)- Hilton Lobby Ha Ha Tonka- The Paradise Maps & Atlases- Peckerheads Carsick Cars- Emo's Annex Royal Bangs (?)- The Mohawk The Rural Alberta Advantage- Red 7 Nervous Turkeys- Cedar Door Hystoic Vein- Cedar Door Best Coast- Cheer Up Charlie's

Thursday 3/18 Dawes- Hilton Lobby Frightened Rabbit- Hilton Lobby The Carolina Chocolate Drops- Hilton Lobby Made/Miracle- Cedar Door Bowerbirds- The Mohawk Generationals- The Mohawk Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings- The Mohawk Luke Doucet- ? Fitz and the Tantrums- Beauty Bar YACHT- Beauty Bar Roman Numerals- Jackalope Bacon Shoe- Jackalope Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears- 604 E 6th Heroes & Villains- Canvas Jim Lauderdale w/ Buddy Miller and Patty Griffith- Antone's Elizabeth Cook- Antone's Hayes Carll- Antone's Court Yard Hounds w/ Jakob Dylan- Antone's nomathmatics- Canvas

Friday 3/19 Elliot Brood- Hilton Lobby John Hiatt- Hilton Lobby Court Yard Hounds- Hilton Lobby Phantagram- Pizza by the Slice A Giant Dog- Pizza by the Slice Ha Ha Tonka- Yard Dog Gallery Rosie Flores- Yard Dog Gallery Exene Cervenka- Yard Dog Gallery Justin Townes Earle- Yard Dog Gallery Pierced Arrows- The French Museum Talk Normal- The French Museum Thurston Moore- The French Museum YACHT- MWTX Showcase Black Angels- MWTX Showcase Man Or Astro-Man?- MWTX Showcase Class Actress- Vice nomathmatics- Vice Via Audio- Canvas Bacon Shoe- Canvas

Saturday 3/20 Danny Barnes- Hilton Lobby Exene Cervenka- Hilton Lobby The Gourds- Hilton Loby Tiny Horse- Canvas Beautiful Bodies- Canvas Mother Culture- Canvas Restless Breed- Canvas Cowboy Indian Bear-Canvas Cherry Tree Parade-Canvas Mr. History- Canvas Open Hand- Canvas nomathmatics- Vice Motorboater- Canvas Max Justus- Canvas The Ramonahs- Canvas

-ick!