SXSW 2012 - Day Four

Day four of SXSW this year was the best so far. It started off with one of my favorite local acts - The Sour Notes - at B.D. Riley's:

They played an amazing set as always and handed out a bunch of free CD's and 7" splits to the crowd before the show, which is probably a really smart move for any small act playing SXSW. From there it was over to The Whiskey Room at 9pm for Bright Moments:

They took a little longer than average setting up due to what appeared to be an uncooperative sound system on stage, but when they finally did play it was worth the wait and I'll be checking out more of their stuff in the future. At 10pm came a moment I had been waiting for all week, And So I Watch You From Afar at Bat Bar:

The last time I really listened to some good, heavy music at a show was during Fun Fun Fun Fest back in November and last night's performance by ASIWYFA was a reminder of just how much I enjoy that kind of stuff. The band played perfectly and seriously rocked the shit out of the place. It's not often these guys come over here from Ireland so I'm going to see them again tonight at Friends bar and planning to get as close to the stage as I can.

I didn't have anything lined up for 11pm last night, but we wanted to get in to see Temper Trap at the Parish at midnight, so we headed over early to check out Crystal Fighters who put on a really excellent show, featuring the kind of pop meets (insert genre here) style that British bands seem to grasp without difficulty. A little after 12 Temper Trap went on with a set composed mostly of new material from their upcoming second album:

We ended up leaving early however as they were running late and we wanted to get over to St. David's Bethel Hall to check out Mother Falcon. After ending up in the Sanctuary instead of Bethel Hall and catching the end of another act, we were lucky enough to run into someone who figured out that all of us were in the wrong place and headed around the corner to Bethel Hall to catch the beginning of Mother Falcon's set:

This year's winner of the Austin Music Award for Best Avant-Garde/Experimental Band did not disappoint in person. The group of 15+ musicians played a beautiful set that acted as the perfect close to a great night at SXSW.

Tonight my SXSW 2012 experience comes to a close with Day Five. In addition to the aforementioned second installment of And So I Watch You From Afar, I'm also hoping to check out Tim Fite's unique live performance, as well as a more traditional SXSW set from Quiet Company.