Day three of the South By Southwest Music Festival exploded, tens (hell, hundreds?) of thousands of civilians pouring into the mix of festival registrants and turning 6th Street into a roiling ocean of colorful, unkempt humanity.
Wild Flag guitarist Carrie Brownstein, onstage at the Parish late Friday night (or, I suppose, early Saturday morning), was speaking for many of us when she couldn’t remember if her band had played the club earlier that day or the day before: “I don’t remember. It’s not alcohol. It’s just walking down 6th Street. That’s a mind eraser.”
- JUSTIN FOX BURKS
- Apex Manor’s Memphis-bred Ross Flournoy at the Parish.
Luckily we had photographic evidence and a notebook filled with barely discernible scribbles to help us remember what we saw. Some of our Friday highlights:
Locals: Memphis or Memphis-connected acts were dotting the SXSW landscape. Memphis garage/punk institution Goner Records was holding an unofficial showcase at familiar haunt Beerland, with locals Harlan T. Bobo and The Limes scheduled to play. Playing official showcases at opposite ends of the festival mainland were experimental rockers Cloudland Canyon (at Emo’s Jr.) and the North Mississippi Allstars (following their early Thursday show at Stubb’s with another showcase at Momo’s). Folk-rockers Star & Micey, done with official business, were spotted out busking. And local artists hitting town for shows off the SXSW grid were said to include young indie bands Bake Sale and Modern Convenience and songwriter Bryan Hartley as well as rapper Jason Da Hater and producer Infinito, who showed up at fellow Memphis rapper Skewby’s day show and then, apparently, played later Friday night at the Victory Grill.
We ran into Valerie June at Buffalo Billiards. With a day off between gigs — having played an official showcase at the Hilton Garden Inn the previous night and scheduled to play a Folk Alliance event at Threadgill’s on Saturday — June was enjoying the fest and conducting a little business, having been approached by a significant booking agent after her showcase the night before.
But we carved out “locals” space on our schedule for a couple of showcases located close together in the middle of the action.
First was Apex Manor early on at the Merge Records showcase at the Parish. The California-based Apex Manor is the brainchild of Memphis native Ross Flournoy, who is returning after the break-up of his fine previous band, the Broken West.
