Kevin Bronson on March 20th, 2009

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[A summary of my Thursday at the South by Southwest Music Festival, which, unfortunately, did not include any secret shows, one-offs or autograph sessions by the Stone Roses:]

Highlights: Witnessing Grizzly Bear perform in a church, Iron Works Barbecue, finding out Britt Daniel was as enthused about That Petrol Emotion as I was; stopping to take a deep breath on 6th [photo] before it turned into a churning ocean of humanity, pizza plates and discarded, overdesigned flyers.

Lowlights: Feeling as if I missed 500 sets I should have made; actually missing three sets I should have made; long lines; recycled disco.

By the numbers

1,900+: Approximate number of bands said to be performing this week in and around Austin.
1,827: Number of artists who should have attended Jarvis Cocker’s seminar on the importance of lyrics.
250: Approximate number of A-list luminaries name-dropped during Quincy Jones’ keynote speech.
100: Approximate number of flyers and posters I’ve spotted promoting L.A.’s Casxio – nice job of getting the name out.
19: Number of Los Angles musicians I ran into during the day.
15: Number of shows at SXSW being played by L.A.’s the Mae Shi.
12: Number of business cards exchanged.
2: Non-music related functions I attended Thursday that cut into my show-going.
1: Number of Playmates with whom ascendant L.A. hip-hop dude Kenan Bell appeared on local radio.
0: My grasp on the contractual intricacies of music publishing.
0: Number of times I’ve spotted the Silversun Pickups.