Seraphina Lotkhamnga on March 16th, 2014

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[Sometimes you can only listen to one of your favorite bands outside the venue even if you’re *this* close to getting in the VIP door. Sometimes you go to the Hilton lobby to give your feet a rest while you charge your phone and you accidentally fall asleep in a chair for 30 minutes only to wake up with bloodshot eyes (contact lens users, you know what I’m talking about). Things don’t always work out, but that’s the beauty of SXSW. You just have to do what you can and not freak about what you missed. If you have a crippling case of FOMO, then I would suggest another festival for you. Here’s what I *didn’t* miss out on during Saturday’s festivities in downtown Austin…]

@Seraphina_L on Saturday at SXSW:

Cheer Up Charlie’s, the venue formerly known as Club DeVille, hosted the Wild Honey Pie’s day party, which gave some room for the the blog’s decorative bees hung in honeycombs made out of yellow and orange cups. However, the sets here were running about 30 minutes late which left Portland by-way-of New York-based Pure Bathing Culture to play a shorter set than planned. It was disappointing to not hear their single “Pendulum” live, but the quartet led by Sarah Versprille and Daniel Hindman still managed to play their Richard Swift-produced songs in a way that that sparkled with the best of folk- and dream-pop elements. Versprille and Hindman, who also both play in Vetiver, had the crowd swaying with Hindman’s electric guitar work weaving in and out of the drum machine patterns anyhow. It was a lovely set that almost swung with a slight R&B groove at times, and it was a great way to begin a Saturday.

Also notable. . .

Brooklyn trio WET are quite funny when you realize that their URL is kanyewet.biz and that their most popular single (“Dreams”) is chuckle-inducing when combined with their band name. But clever jokes aside, members Kelly Zutrau, Martin Sulkow, and Joe Valle are exceptionally adept at writing slow jams with electro-pop minimalism and R&B melodies. Zutrau was rather demure on stage but her dulcet tones echoed emotions bigger than the room at the Empire Garage. With Sulkow an Valle on drum machine and guitar, the young band played one of the more down-tempo sets at the Neon Gold showcase but was nothing less than captivating.

Tove Lo preceded WET’s set. If all the club lights and smoke weren’t an indicator on some serious pop music going on, then you knew with songs such as “Habit” and “Not On Drugs.” Again showing that Swedes are well-versed in pop, the Stockholm-based singer danced around while she belted out her love anthems in smoky vocals that cut through some fashionable electro-pop. Although Tove and her band were hopping on a plane to New York shortly after her set, her performance was full of unbridled energy. It was an all-nighter for Tove, and her fans were happy to be partying with her.

Haerts followed WET’s set and immediately changed the tempo and ran bigger beats. Transforming the room into one big dance floor, the NYC quartet played a set that would please fans of both Coldplay and Friendly Fires. With soaring melodies sung by Nini Fabi, Haerts is what Vanessa Carlton would sound like if she were in an ’80s dance band making new music at the present time. It’s not a bad thing; it’s hip enough for the hipsters and accessible enough for the radio listeners. Also, we’ll forgive them for the silly spelling.

Like synth-rock? Then you’d probably like Boston’s Magic Man. Rather than being just one magical male, the group is comprised of five members led by frontman Alex Caplow. A little emo, a little pop manic and a little bombastic, Caplow and his crew plowed through a set of insanely sugary dance music fans of Foster the People, Passion Pit and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. would gobble up. It was tight performance in regards to musicianship, but the syrupy feel of it all somehow left a cheesy aftertaste for this blogger.

Postscript. . . 

A good reminder…