Wednesday morning the slightly crowded streets of Tuesday became packed with the overnight influx of bands and fans. Most of the day shows kicked off around noon and BMI’s Austinist Day Party at Mohawk was a must attend. South Carolina natives and frequent Atlanta performers All Get Out was one of the first performers to take Mohawk’s outdoor stage. Surviving initial technical difficulties and lack of sleep, the boys from Charleston played a solid set of old songs and new ones from their soon-to-be-released LP. One of their new standout songs, “Lucky Bastard,” is the perfect mixture of a driving beat and catchy chorus, including the repeated “I wanna go home,” that shows a significant lyrical and musical maturity. All Get Out's new stuff will help them solidify their established fan base as well as gain new ones. Vancouver’s Yukon Blonde followed All Get Out on the outdoor stage and they had enough easy rock licks and folk groove to make these Canadians come off with a pure Americana sound.
Although many Atlanta artists dominated the bills at venues up and down the popular 6th Street, it was great to see local artists out and about supporting their fellow hometown musicians. Members of The Constellations, Young Orchids, and Ponderosa were in attendance to watch Death on Two Wheels’ first SXSW performance of the year on the rooftop of the Blind Pig Pub. Playing a full set, which included mostly songs from their last album Separation of Church and Fate, those that knew the songs sang along and those that didn’t gobbled up copies of the band’s albums at the front of the stage so they would.On the other side of town at The Lustre Pearl, which is part gutted house and part posh bar, The San Diego Hoe-Down showcase got under way. Pearl rocked with performances by Steve Poltz, Transfer, and El Ten Eleven and the promise of free beer and tacos. Although no free tacos were found, the west coasters did deliver on their beer promise.
Since Wednesday was also St. Patrick’s Day, many fans choose booze over bands but luckily there were still plenty of music to be heard. Tigercity brought their hybrid of easy rock and hipster disco beats to the swarming rooftop of Paradise and instantly helped heat up the chilly night temperature with their dance provoking hits. Leaving the stage all together to join the dance party, lead singer Bill Gillim and bassist Joel Ford, invaded the crowd for their final song “Are You a Sensation”.See all of Wednesday's photos here!
Kim Burdges
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