![Turkey Time Means Focusing on Football, Film, and Food! [Extra Extra]](http://austinist.com/assets_c/2009/11/4118824456_b29afe8992_m-thumb-110x110-461242.jpg)
Turkey Time Means Focusing on Football, Film, and Food! [Extra Extra]
J. Tillman at the Mohawk - Giveaway
Show Preview: Brackett & Co., Real Estate
Austinist unofficially kicked off our SXSW festivities with "Gonna Gonna Get, Get Down!", our day party over at new indie rock club Red 7, just east of Red River at 7th Street. We started a bit late, owing to some unfortunate sound issues (the new PA had been installed less than an hour before our show), but once these were resolved we jumped right into the thick of things. Including, as you can see to the right, peddling a fresh batch of Austinist tees specially made for us by local design house Sparrowhead -- email us if you wanna buy one!
Our personal highlights among the ten-band showcase -- which also included such great acts as The Brokedown, Bravo Silva, and Asobi Seksu -- included acoustic singer-songwriter Dawn Landes (King of France), starting the party off with her largely solo set of beautiful folk melodies and finishing with Giorgio Angelini (1986) accompanying on drums.
New York City's Levy had the audience absolutely captivated with their reverb-heavy set, laden with punchy hooks and astral melodies. Lead singer James Levy looked dashing onstage, sporting a cocked fedora (and during most of the rest of the festival), as did the rest of the quartet. We suspect we'll be hearing plenty of buzz about them this year, especially given the recent success of their debut LP, Rotten Love.
Sweden's The Ark, combining the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) of The Darkness and the Scissor Sisters, clearly stole the show with their glam rock riffs, we-don't-give-a-fuck-because-we're-totally-fabulous swagger, and cock-wagging lyrics -- with ridiculous song titles like "The Most Radical Thing to Do," "It Takes a Fool To Remain Sane," and "Calleth You, Cometh I," how can you not help but love these guys? We did have a slight scare when lead singer Ola Salo grabbed the canopy frame above the stage halfway into "Rock City Wankers," swinging wildly like that crazy classmate in third grade on the monkey bars, who also used to eat glue in art class. Regrettably, the frame held.
Most of the audience wasn't terribly surprised when our first special guests, Rainer Maria, took to the stage, but by then word seemed to have gotten out. They played a terrifically energetic set, seeming to will away the storm clouds hovering above as the evening approached -- but it wasn't to last. The first showers hit before second special guests controller.controller were about to go onstage, prompting bar management to dismantle the backline setup. But Ghostland Observatory decided to go on nonetheless, having packed their own PA, and finished off our day show with the sort of rousing dance party that they're famous for. All in all, we had a fantastic time, and we hope you did, too.
Special thanks to our sponsor, Alarm Magazine, for providing us with plenty of free swag to giveaway to our guests!
* All photos by Breanna Rollings
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Yo, I want one of those t-shirts. But I have to pay you money for it? What do you think this is, not SXSW? You should give me a t-shirt, just like all the other companies that want to advertise as part (or not part) of SXSW. Beechez.
i heart dawn landes
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