I was told that after leaving SXSW 2008, my arm would be a veritable rainbow of various VIP bracelets, “over 21″ Budweiser bands and generally ridiculous pieces of flair. In a friendly contest with the editors of Synthesis, we endeavored to find out who could really stack the most wristband fame. I was shooting for something like 20 wristbands. Little did we know that this year, in an effort (I’m guessing) to save Planet Earth, most venues used stamps instead. So our competition (read: Dick Measuring Contest) was pretty meak.

HOWEVER, there did emerge one winner. And if you read the title of this post, you already know the answer, as if you would’ve ever doubted it. BOOYAH! I win!!!

Final tally:

Ryan Prado: 7

James Barone: 4

Maurice Spencer Teilmann: 3

Video Matt (not pictured): 2

Furthermore, the laminate situation here at SXSW is a fucking joke. You’re told you need to have a swanky little laminate invite, which proclaims that you “MAY NOT ENTER WITHOUT,” but when you arrive to these supposedly private engagements (engagements whose organizers felt the need to actually mail you the laminates for), they don’t even look at them. I could’ve had a bomb strapped to my chest and walked into the Spin afterparty last night, blowing Soundtrack of Our Lives to smithereens. Luckily, they were amazing. So I spared them.

Lest I forget, if you were at SXSW Saturday night and didn’t hit up the Dirty Dog for the Saddle Creek Records showcase featuring Neva Dinova, Two Gallants and Tokyo Police Club, you’re a fucking idiot. Two Gallants is one of the best live bands I’ve seen in forever. Plus their drummer plays rides as crashes and ended their set by taking his “crash” ride off its stand and smashing it against his other ride while playing a finale with his hands a la John Bonham. EPIC.

YouTube is a Web site that you may have heard of, but Two Gallants is a band you may not have, and if so, you should remedy that right away. Being featured on the front page of YouTube isn’t a great accomplishment in and of itself, but it’s neat when they pick something with merit. The song is from their latest, self-titled album available from Saddle Creek.

The Great Lawn, Treasure Island, CA
Saturday, Sept. 16th
Photos by Ryan Prado

Check out a full review of the show at Synthesis.net. Photos of Two Gallants, Spoon, Built to Spill and others after the jump. (more…)