Here’s a roundup of what some of our fave industry pals had to say about their three favorite acts at the festival. I’m listening to Marigold as I put this together. Anyone remember them?

LOUIE BANDAK OF CAPITOL RECORDS
Louie B, the nicest A&R guy who ever lived, had a great time playing Jerry Springer at the Perez Hilton party. In addition to those good times, he also had these at the fest.

“Although I lost my voice on the first night of the festival, it didn’t stop me from enjoying some fine rock n’ roll. The bands I originally chose for my Pick Three all played great shows (two hours of MMJ!), but here are some others that made my SXSW experience unforgettable:

Best band to watch in the 85-degree hot sun while drinking free Pabst Blue Ribbon: Airbourne.
Best band to watch through a fence because it was too crowded to get in, yet still rocked my socks off: Tight Phantomz
Best band to watch at 3:30 am while getting hit on by two married sisters: N.E.R.D.

Looking forward to next year… let’s hope HALLS becomes a sponsor.”

CONOR MCANALLY OF BLAZE TV
Conor is the producer of SXSW Live, our DirecTV sponsored three day broadcast from the ACC. It’s really cool and I encourage you to check it out next year if you missed it somehow this.

“OK – so it was a festival impression only because we were 8 hours a day for three days on three hours sleep a night. Full of sunglass mornings, glimpses of tanked tanktops in midafternoon being dragged from one gig to another by friends, rumours of a dance on the fourth floor of a garage, strange tales of a free party in room 386, and the sheer unadulterated cacophony of music up and down 6th street.

Blown away by the ease and facility with which Carbon/Silicon rocked our Lone Star Lounge. True music pros for whom nothing was a problem. Nicole Atkins won me over with a live performance which breathed feeling into every word that had sailed over my head on the album. And Sia….I just can’t get the songs out of my head.”

TONY DOBSON OF METROPOLIS MUSIC
Mr. Dobson, one of the finest concert promoters in the UK, had this to say…

“The three acts I saw and really enjoyed at SXSW were My Morning Jacket, especially Jim at the Church … it’s something magical when a guy can hold an audience the way he did. The Kerrang showcase at Latitude, where People in Planes played… I saw the band a few years ago at the Barfly in London, but wow, what a transformation. Those guys blew me away, and their new album will surely see them have great success.
Finally I saw the Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, I forgot the venue. It was refreshing to see a band really enthusiastic and giving it their all… trying to get the crowd going.”

Thanks for reading this edition of Pick Three. I have a few more to run, which I’ll do in short order so you’re not reading wrap-ups for 2008 in April of 2009. We’ll be here every day, though, through the summer and into the fall when things get going for next year, bringing you the latest and greatest in semi-entertaining music news, reviews and aggravation.

Email submarines to musicblog@sxsw.com. Subscribe to the feed that burnshere.

I have Martha Stewart’s dressing room sign, lp

Original post by LP

Posted: April 8th, 2008 under Linda Park, Pick 3, Music Festival, Latest News.
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