Paul Tao

Make sure to follow me on twitter (@paultao) for more up-to-the-minute updates throughout the day if you'd like.

Normally the level of exhaustion I've reached when typing this now is reserved for the Sunday morning post, after SXSW is done, but staying up until 4-5 AM three nights in a row has really taken its toll on me. During the daytime, everything was calm and fine, and I even went to the first panel I've ever been to. For those of you who don't know, SXSW offers a ton of panels on topics about the music industry where people can listen to industry leaders debate and give advice and answer questions. In all of my now seven years of attending SXSW, I've never made time to see any of these panels because I'm generally too busy seeing bands or having meetings during the days. This year though, there was a panel about the confluence of music, media and food, moderated by two friends of mine who have a food & music radio show and with special guests Amrit from Stereogum who is another friend of mine and celebrity chef Richard Blais, who I highly admire and unfortunately can't as easily call a friend as the other three people, since I've never met him. Anyway, the panel was informative and entertaining, and makes me wish I had started attending panels since I first started attending SXSW.

After the panel, there were a few press things I had to do with some of the bands I work with, went and saw The Men really quick (pleasantly surprised at how hard they could rock), and then it was off to Club 606 to set up for the official tonight of my label, IAMSOUND Records. It was a little stressful at first, with the SXSW-appointed stage manager quitting an hour before doors without even showing up and then someone having a seizure at the entrance to the venue right when doors opened, but once the bands started playing and we actually stayed AHEAD of schedule, miraculously enough, it was smooth sailing. Grace Woodroofe opened, having just recently released her debut album on Modular Records, and soon after was JMSN, the dark electronic R&B project from the artist formerly known as Christian TV. He brought a four-piece string quartet with him as well and it was definitely a highlight of the night. Nikki Lane followed, with her blend of old-school country and modern indie rock. It felt a little more like Texas once she hit the stage, but then turned back into a club vibe when London's Chad Valley went on stage. I suppose you can label Chad as mildly "chill wave", since when you try and describe his music you have to use words like "beats" and "tropical" but it'd be a shame to pigeonhole him, so let's just say he's good. The last two acts of the night were Australian garage/punk-rock band Bleeding Knees Club, who were as high-energy and fun as always, and then one of LA's best up-and-coming indie rock acts, PAPA, who pretty much should be on the tip of everyone's tongues in the coming months. Their recently released EP is fantastic and for a little more background info, the drummer/singer used to be the drummer for Girls.

As soon as my showcase was over though, I had to jet to the Purevolume house for the AP.net party of course. I got there just in time to catch half of Hellogoodbye, who were as amazing as when I first saw them five or six years ago. After Hellogoodbye, Motion City Soundtrack pretty much brought the house down, as much as I hate using cliched phrases for some of these kind of review things. Pretty much everyone in the room knew every word to every song and even a lot of the people working the event said it was one of the craziest events they ever worked, so maybe that can give you an idea of how MCS were. Maybe a thousand or so drunk people jumping up and down and singing "Everything Is Alright" will probably be stuck in my memory for a while.

After a quick DJ set by me (all late 90s hip-hop, of course), fellow staffers Eda and Adam Pfleider introduced Doomtree, who played to a slightly smaller crowd, since it was 3 AM by then, but by no means less intense crowd, as there were lots of people trying to crawl scaffolding, jumping on stage, crowd surfing, etc. It was the best possible way to finish up our AP party.

Props to all of the forum users, staff members and other internet friends that I met in real life last night, and to the cute girl who asked if I was Paul Tao and said hi at the DJ booth, feel free to send me a DM. I know you must have an AP account.

I'll have a larger write-up later this week. Still getting over this cold.

A few quick things:

- Braid ruled and took part in a marriage proposal
- Say Anything was the most punk performance I saw all week
- Sargent House showcase destroyed
- Thanks to all the bands and people for coming out to our show! Bangarang!!!

I sort of remember last night.

Doomtree was so sick last night.

Driver F in 40 minutes

Originally Posted by thisisadisaster

I sort of remember last night.

yooooooo come back ta auuustin mang

Originally Posted by Adam Pfleider

I'll have a larger write-up later this week. Still getting over this cold.

A few quick things:

- Braid ruled and took part in a marriage proposal
- Say Anything was the most punk performance I saw all week
- Sargent House showcase destroyed
- Thanks to all the bands and people for coming out to our show! Bangarang!!!

1000 people at MCS? Thought the venue had a Max capacity of 450? also when we got in (for the last song of MCS) we walked right up to the front of the stage. Place cleared out pretty heavily for DOOMTREE,but it was still a blast.

Originally Posted by Wake Up

yooooooo come back ta auuustin mang

Haha I would but the ten hours in a car today almost killed me.

MCS was so fucking awesome at that party. I was right up front singing my voice out.

Did anyone else see Doug Benson there being basically a zombie? He could barely keep his eyes open and was falling asleep on the couch he was sitting on. I got a picture with him, and it looks like he tried really really hard to open his eyes in it.

EDIT: Also, thank you guys so much for that. It was one I will never forget, and hope for more to come. The open bar was nice as well! Shout out to ChaseTX for being the only poster I met somehow.

best quote of the night "THE INTERNET IN REAL LIFE!!!!"

Originally Posted by Adam Pfleider

best quote of the night "THE INTERNET IN REAL LIFE!!!!"

hahaha

Originally Posted by Kapa73

1000 people at MCS? Thought the venue had a Max capacity of 450? also when we got in (for the last song of MCS) we walked right up to the front of the stage. Place cleared out pretty heavily for DOOMTREE,but it was still a blast.

i'm bad at guessing crowd sizes

The Men = aoty so far

Originally Posted by PirateSkater182

MCS was so fucking awesome at that party. I was right up front singing my voice out.

Did anyone else see Doug Benson there being basically a zombie? He could barely keep his eyes open and was falling asleep on the couch he was sitting on. I got a picture with him, and it looks like he tried really really hard to open his eyes in it.

EDIT: Also, thank you guys so much for that. It was one I will never forget, and hope for more to come. The open bar was nice as well! Shout out to ChaseTX for being the only poster I met somehow.

I'm assuming Doug was just high out of his mind.

Originally Posted by Paul Tao

i'm bad at guessing crowd sizes

i'd say it was about an 800 cap room. we were def at cap.