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 Thursday, March 15th, 2007:

The Fratellis @ Dirty Dog Bar
Probably the most talked about band at SXSW this year. Since they’re playing 10 shows, I figured I catch at least one to see what all the hype was about. I enjoyed their album, Costello Music, but I didn’t pee my pants over it. After taking in The Fratellis performance, I can tell you this. They’re definitely a tight band, they have a nice live sound, and as the last few years of SXSW have proven, UK groups are just kicking the crap out of bands over here in the States.

Matt and Kim @ Beauty Bar
Matt and Kim make setting up their own equipment look fun, don’t ask me how, but they do. The whole time Kim was setting up her drum kit, she was flashing that
million dollar indie smile. I almost feel like a dork for saying it, but I have to, “Matt and Kim are just so freakin’ CUTE!”

If I had a fun time watching them set up their equipment, you could only imagine how much fun I had taking in their live show. Drums, keyboards, and two big smiles go a long, long way!

In between songs, Kim’s job was to grin from ear-to-ear, while Matt delivered his quirky, comedic lines to the audience, “This is like our third show today. People would think that we’d get tired. I don’t think we’re getting tired, I just think we’re hitting our stride.” He then turned to Kim and gave her a fist pound.

Besides feeling good all over, I was also excited to learn the origin of the song “Yeah Yeah.” Matt mentioned to the audience, “This song is about a run-in I had with a police officer.” He then explained, “I have some advice from my mom. She said if a police officer ever comes by, and you’re not doing anything, just run! Run from the pigs!”

Sondre Lerche @ Antone’s
Over the years, I’ve attended a bunch of shows at various clubs in Austin, TX. Sometimes the sound is great, sometimes it’s not. What stood out tonight during Sondre Lerche’s performance was the ever present “vocal” in the soundboard mix. The drums, bass, and guitar were all turned down, to place emphasis on Sondre Lerche’s (add adjective of praise here) voice. We all know that Sondre got in touch with his crooner side last year, only to make a return to his rock leanings this year. His SXSW performance showed off both of these talents. His songs rocked (but not too much), and his voice crooned (but nothing that would make Michael Buble sweat). Sondre is Sondre, and he delivered a nice show (don’t know how else to put it). He also included some charming stage banter, “This is my band, my Norwegian peeps!”

Shout Out Out Out Out @ Beauty Bar
In my life I’ve never seen a band made up of two drummers, two bassists, and two keyboardists. It actually worked though! This Canadian six-piece (enough guys to man a hockey team!) played a unique brand of rave-up indie dance music. I say the word “rave,” because the band would frequently venture off into long dance instrumentals, and when they did sing, the vocals were usually processed to sound like a talking computer. The only thing that slowed down the performance a bit was the frontman’s insistence on telling the crowd what each song was about. I thought it got a bit tiresome, but the kids next to me seemed to love it, laughing at every song description.