I asked Jim Shearer (perhaps best known as the long-time host of Subterranean) to share some of his experiences at this year’s South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. These are the highlights from Wednesday, March 14th, 2007:

The Rapture @ La Zona Rosa
Luke Jenner has definitely grown as a frontman, noticeably having more fun on stage. Tonight, he even pulled out some arena rock guitar antics, most notably motioning his right hand for thecapacity crowd to come hither. Overall, I enjoyed The Rapture’s performance, I just felt that their shot selection was a bit off. When they hit the crowd with the 1-2 punch of “Whoo! Alright-Yeah…Uh Huh” and “House of Jealous Lovers” they got everyone dancing. Then they threw in a couple of slower-tempo tunes, which brought the mood back down. Personally, I thought they were taking too many outside shots, when they could have easily driven to the hole for a can’t miss lay-up (sorry for the basketball lingo, but remember, it is March Madness!). When you have a song like “Heaven” in your back pocket, and don’t use it, it’s a shame.

The Panda Band @ Red 7

I actually enjoyed the effort put forth by Australia’s own The Panda Band. They kind of sounded like The Music (definitely have the psychedelic feel) with a hint of New Radicals, Verve Pipe, and Wolfmother.

Their keyboardist also looked like John C. Reilley with an afro. How can you go wrong with that?

Lily Allen @ Stubb’s Bar-B-Q
If you closed your eyes, Lily Allen (and band) sounded like a poppy ska outfit from the late 90’s. This ain’t a diss, cause I thought some of those bands were
catchy as hell. Most notable from Lily’s performance was her explicit stage banter. Between one song she said, “I didn’t know this was a party for the NME. If I knew that, I wouldn’t have played the fucking thing. I hate the fucking NME.” The catholic schoolboy in me started to blush. Not only that, but in Lily’s brief 30-minute set, she managed to down two beers,
smoke a couple of cigarettes, use God’s name in vein, mock Austin with a fake Texas accent, and swear like a construction worker. Just to put things in perspective, Lily Allen makes pop music. Now could you ever imagine Kelly Clarkson drinking and smoking on stage and cursing up a storm? I think not. That’s what separates Lily from her U.S. counterparts.

Razorlight @ Stubb’s Bar-B-Q
The boys of Razorlight showed some good energy, and fronmtman
Johnny Borrell, in his white high-tops, tight white jeans, and super-low-cut, v-neck undershirt would have made Freddie Mercury proud. I never loved or hated Razorlight, but their performance made me like them just a smidgen more.

Saul Williams @ Exodus’ Afro Punk Night
I love Saul to death, I think he’s one of the only MC’s out there still representing the “real” hip-hop vibe, but his overall performance felt a bit flat. Saul was energetic as ever, but his live instrumentation (or lack thereof) consisted of a guy playing a sampler and another playing keyboard and loops off a laptop. I just think he needs to go back with a live band. His energy almost compensates for the lack of live instruments (which is nearly impossible to do), but he just needs something else. When Saul stuck to the songs that had a more traditional verse-chorus structure, the crowd ate it up (“Black Stacey,” “Shakespeare,” “Grippo”). However, his spoken word intervals, while powerful, slowed down the momentum of the live show (the same complaint I have about his albums). Saul did end the show on a high note, whipping the crowd into a frenzy with his spirited performance of “List of Demands(Reparations).”