Idolator At SXSW, Day Four: Crossing The Finish Line

The last day of SXSW coincided with St. Patrick’s Day, which made for longer lines, drunker people, and lots of green beads being thrown around; along the way, we saw the festival’s hands-down worst performance, an intestine-wobbling set by the Oakland sludgers Totimoshi, and some real tasty “Ice Cream.”

DEPARTURE FROM HOTEL ROOM: Saturday, 11:37 a.m. CT. FINAL RETURN TO HOTEL ROOM: Sunday, 1:03 a.m. CT. WEATHER REPORT: Hot enough during the day to regret wearing a sweater, pleasant enough at night to walk around with bare legs. BANDS SEEN^*: Seven: Mickey Avalon, Ghostface, Rakim, The Rosebuds, Totimoshi, Clockcleaner, The Zincs. Final SXSW total: 32. BLOGGER PARTIES ATTENDED: One. Final SXSW total: Seven. PANELS ATTENDED: Zero. Final SXSW total (music conference only): Zero. BEST AMENITIES, NON-OPEN BAR VARIETY: The Ice Cream Man showed up across the street from the Creekside Lounge, and we couldn’t resist another sundae cone. BEST SWAG: None. We’re guessing that the prospect of St. Patrick’s Day crowds scared off the free-stuff distributors, at least during the day. NERDIEST MOMENT: Being told that Mickey Avalon was “huge on YouTube.” WORST USE OF TECHNOLOGY: See above. BEST COVER: Ghostface’s backing band, the Rhythm Roots All-Stars, dropped a couple of bars of “Hard to Handle” into “Ice Cream,” and it was sublime. BAND WHO WE WOULD HAVE SEEN IF NOT FOR AN ILL-TIMED NAP: Jandek. Seriously, our “disco naps” go into extended-remix mode way too often for us to have a hotel that’s a cab ride from downtown.

Idolator’s complete SXSW coverage

^* Where “seen” = “caught two or more songs by.”