With more than 1700 acts playing official showcases, SXSW is an unknowable beast, with everybody's experience different from everyone else's. Besides the Philadelphia bands, there are loads of Philadelphia music types down here seeing what they can see. Among them: Brandy Hartley, talent booker for Northern Liberties club Johnny Brenda's, who reported that Montreal indie rockers Land of Talk were great. And she was slayed by Oakland heavy metal band High on Fire, who played Emo's Annex on Thursday at 1. She took the above photo of singer-guitarist Matt Pike on her iPhone, and had this to say: "I loooove matt pike and his ripping guitar- great solos without being a wankfest. The drummer and bassist are so awesome too- it's
everything I love and nothing I don't- classic metal!" High On Fire play The Note in West Chester on April 24.
Here are more photos Hartley sent over from Mess With Texas 2, the giant free day party at Waterloo Park on Sunday. One is Atlas Sound, the solo project of Deerhunter leader Bradford James Cox. The other is a schedule from one of the Mess With Texas stages.
And here's Memphian Jay Reatard, rocking it at Emo's.
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