Kevin Bronson on March 13th, 2014

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[In an effort to cover more ground at the South by Southwest Music Festival, we recruited Trina Green of High Voltage Magazine to guest-blog for us. She jumped into the fray thusly:]

Trina Green (@dharma69) on Tuesday at SXSW:

While officially my second day here at SXSW, Tuesday was the first real official day of the music festival. Music Week. It’s get-your-bearings-day, pick-up-wristbands-day and the day of reckoning that you will never step foot into the Spotify House no matter who’s playing because of the obscenely long line. Yes, the wristband pick-up line and the wristband entry-line are the same line, and the limited capacity (150-200) warrant your sacrificing your entire day to the will of whether to not “one in, one out” will get you in the door to see any band, let alone the one you actually got in line for. Such a circumstance warrants a hearty “No.”

But there’s always something around the corner to make you say “Yes.” Tuesday night that award went to the guitar-shred glory and unbridled energy of (as well as endorsement for the adage that the family that rocks together, stays together) Austin-based trio Ume. Lauren Langner Larson, a frenetic mistress of ’70s-centered guitar rock and quite the credit to XX chromosomes, along with bassist/husband Eric Larson and Rachel Fuhrer (bringing up the rear on drums), were the impetus for what was probably the first slam circle of SXSW 2014. All thanks to their thick sound of metallic guitar riffs and heavy grooves with just a touch of shoegaze all on display as they fired through tracks from their freshly released album, “Monuments.” It was a little beautiful and a heady start to a week that will traverse more musical genres than you can tune a guitar to.

Also notable. . .

Every day at SXSW is an adventure so, unless exhaustion and hunger are your definition of a good time, that adventure desperately needs to be properly nourished and fueled. That’s why this SXSW Day 2 kicked off at the Great British Breakfast courtesy of UK Trade & Investment. Traditional English fare including beans, bacon and eggs along with copious amounts of tea (yes, there was coffee for those of you into the hard stuff) were the morning’s order of business along with a little swag (there should be a competition of how many wonderfully cheesy pairs of plastic sunglasses can you collect per day out here) all set to the delicate sound of deconstructed pop from Northern Ireland’s Deiter Rams aka Rams Pocket Radio. Toned down just a tad into a subtler affair fit for any proper English occasion where Mimosas are freely flowing (keys, violin and voice), Rams sang of pretty things, not so pretty things and no one’s knickers wound up in a twist.

Also notable. . .

A late-evening search for one more band to hold my attention turned up the oddly yet nostalgically named Dinner and a Suit, who had an official showcase slot at a little patio dive called Headhunters. Their name is something about an homage to a family member generously gifting excess clothing to the poor. The four-piece of Jonathan Capeci, Joey Beretta, Anthony Genca and Drew Scheuer is certainly generous with their hooky and buoyant piano-laced pop/rock. From the look on my partner-in SXSW-crime Kristen’s face, I knew that we had closed the night on a good note: It’s the stuff of Anberlin or the Fray, tugging at the heart. There are anthems in there somewhere and Dinner and a Suit know how write them with songs like “Where We Started” and “It’s Not Over.”