SXSW - Night Three

With a packed agenda ahead it's off to see Make Model at Wave. We get down early in order to get a good spot at the front, 'cause if you're at the back of this venue it sure does suck. The wee stage can barely contain the sizeable Scottish outift as they rattle off future hits like a pared down Broken Social Scene. 'The Was', 'LSB' and 'Czech Neck' are all standouts, and we're now dead excited at the prospect of their debut album.

One quick jaunt down the street later and we're squeezing into Emo's to check out Crystal Castles. While the kids may be loving their glitchy computer music, it does start to blend into one big samey song after only three tracks. Shouty shouty noisy noisy bang bang bang. Maybe it would make more sense if I was a little more 'up for it'. We decide that the smart money is on trying to get in to see MGMT early, given how we couldn't gain access to their show the day before. They're playing at a venue called Stubbs and the stage is an outdoor affair which looks like something from Glastonbury and has a real festival vibe.

We're jammy enough to catch the last few tracks of Santogold, which is a real treat. 'Creator' sounds huge. It's dubby, tribal and absolutely jumping - the perfect closer for her set. I'm more than a bit excited about MGMT, given that their album has had almost constant rotation on the AU stereo. There is a massive buzz following this band around like a swarm of bees and they look like they been drowning in LSD for a few weeks. They already have a raft of stone-cold classic tracks under their belts. 'Electric Feel', 'Weekend Wars' and the monstrously anthemic 'Time To Pretend' all slay and there are a lot of musical strands running through their mutant brand of psychedelia. It's interesting and unique but we really want the band to roll out a second album to fill out their set and avoid being another fast-burning flash-in-the-pan.

We slide on to Mohawk to see be your own PET at the Ecstatic Peace showcase. BYOP are a total whirlwind of fast-flying Ramonesy punk rock. Front woman Jemina Pearl is giving it absolutely stacks and resolutely refusing to stay still for more than a millisecond. Until they kill the PA, that is. Yep, for the second time in as many days a SXSW PA bites the dust. It's a short and sweet encounter that packed a whole lot of attitude, much like Jemina herself.

With BYOP coming to a premature end we're left with plenty of time to make our way across town to see Mancunian knackers The Whip. This quartet have the aura of a band who live the dance lifestyle to the full. They take to the stage a little late but within no time they've got Maggie Mae's rooftop jumping to material taken from debut album 'X Marks Destination'. I'm having a hard time deciding just how seriously to take them, but for now it's time to leave the tongue in the cheek and just get with the party.

A swift jaunt down the road and we're at Emo's IV for New York duo Shy Child. They sure make a lot of noise for a two-piece, and there is an impressive degree of mastery held by Pete over his sexy white keytar. You can't go too far wrong with drums, synths and shouty vocals can you? We're about to make an early exit before the set ends but 'Drop The Phone' kicks off and, well, you just have to bust a move then, don't you?

We make a beeline for Stubb's once again, thinking we've probably missed most of N*E*R*D, but as luck would have it they've only just got going when we arrive. Even though we're in the outdoor, festival type venue it feels like an intimate setting to be seeing the giants of hip hop in. They exude effortless cool and are clearly total stars. As you'd expect, the big hits 'Rock Star' and 'Lapdance' totally destroy the place, and the crowd bounce in unison, kind of like a slow motion mosh. It's a climatic end to the night. Can things get any better than this?