First day in the books and my legs already want to fall off (standing room only)

Ok, so our first two days in Austin have been pretty hectic, what with our plane being canceled and having to reschedule, picking up badges, a little bit of sleep, a full first day of concerts, and more little-bit-of-sleeping, so forgive me for not going too in-depth right now, but here's a little re-cap of our first day. Also, amateur photography of the shows to follow at some point....

Here's the master list of bands we saw on Wednesday:

Lemurs
Amanda Palmer
Port O'Brian
Loney Dear
Black Joe Lewis
Marnie Stern
The Thermals
Ladyhawke
Heartless Bastards
The Avett Brothers
The Decemberists

Notables:

Lemurs actually brought us in from the street. As you might know, SXSW turns virtually every building that has space for a drum kit and a couple amps into a venue from about 11:30am to 2am the following morning. While we were walking around trying to find some food, we heard them playing, stopped in for a couple songs, and got some free swag in the process. I'm looking forward to hopefully catching another set of theirs later in the week.

Amanda Palmer represented Boston well with an energetic set with only her and a piano on stage. (yes, I realized I am horrible at reviews, but I stand by my neandrathal-like statements of 'they good/not so good')

Black Joe Lewis is a contender for best set of the day. A full band with keys and a horn section, they were incredibly fun and entertaining to watch.

The Thermals put on a solid, if quick, set.

Wasn't impressed with Ladyhawke. It's hard to get into a band that is obviously using a backing track (main synth melodies on many of their songs played with no keys player on stage, as well as the chorus on their final songs recording overpowering the actual singers voice), when so many other bands are here that are doing all their own stuff. I understand using samples and whatnot, but they weren't even triggering their own pre-recorded media. I found myself paying more attention to picking out what wasn't actually being played by the band than actually listening to the group as a whole.

The Avett Brothers provided a great (but again, too short!) set that was incredibly intense and enjoyable with only the two lead singers/guitarists/banjo-ists/pianists/drummers (they're very versatile musicians) a cellist, and a stand-up bassist.

The Decemberists played a special set last night, consisting of their new album, The Hazards of Love, in its entirety. As a long-time Decemberists fan, it was cool to hear this, but at the same time I just wished it were a normal Decemberists show, where I could hear a mixture of songs from all of their albums. The encore, however, gave me a taste of the Decemberists I love, by ending the show with "I Was Meant for the Stage." [Marybeth]