Woody’s Top 10 Moments of SXSW 2007

I had planned on writing a blow-by-blow recap of SXSW but returned home with a nasty head cold and was greeted with a sick family and a mountain of work. Thus I limited it to my top 10 moments of the fest.

10. Laura King of the Moaner’s drumming. I like her on the disc, but live I was blown away. Without her, Melissa Pringle is drifing in the wind.

9. Catching The Morning Pages set outside at The Creekside Lounge. While the sounds was not the best, the setting was just what I imagined when I first heard them.

8. Rock Plaza Central at Buffalo Billiards. This is something Mofongo and I don’t see eye to eye on. Truth be told, I am right and he’s wrong. Love these guys and their set was one of the best I saw. I met a few members of the band afterward. Nice guys. Here’s hoping for the best in the future for them.

7. Catching DATAROCK at the NY2LON party. Absolute nonsense and I loved every minute of it.

6. The hip-hop set at Emo’s on Friday night. Wasn’t that familiar with El-P before, but am now a fan as he was great. The set by Galactic with Blackalicious’ Gift of Gab, and Lyrics Born was great. I have been a casual fan of Blackalicious for awhile but Gabby’s flow that night was truly special.

5. Banging down Car Bombs and Don Julio shots at The Chuggin’ Monkey on Saturday. What made us think that these two go together, I’ll never know, but it did make for an interesting evening.

4. The Cold War Kids set at La Zona Rosa. I fought my urge to enjoy these guys for awhile but they have won me over. This set confirmed that. Nathan Willett stood out during a tremendous set.

3. Opening my fest up with a set by Okkervil River at Bourbon Rocks. It was nice to see of my favorite acts working out some new songs. Songs sound great and I am greatly looking forward to the new release.

2. Stumbling across an acoustic set by Pete Townshend. I grew up with the Quadrophenia poster on my wall so it was quite a thrill to see him in such a quaint setting.

1. The Trainwreck Riders set at the NY2LON party on Saturday. Absolutely my favorite set of the weekend. Andrew Kerwin plays at a frenetic pace.