SXSW Day 2 is in the books. And I thought the Napoleon Dynamite references were way over. Apparently not. After missing my afternoon meetings due to a delayed flight, I was hijacked by a friend on the street who said you're coming with me to Stubbs, where the Beastie Boys were playing a secret show and one of his radio pals could sneak us in through the back door. A huge fan back in the day, the last time I saw the Beasties perform live was with Run-DMC when I was just a Pedrito. They played all the hits, which was a treat and so far, a highlight of the conference. The show was followed by a dinner at Flemings Steak House with a few friends and running into music biz veteran Andy Gould, Linkin Park manager Rob McDermott and attorney Nick Ferrara, who were dining a couple tables away, but moved swiftly for the exit when they caught a glimpse of us. The rest of the evening involved more shows and more drinks on 6th Street, ending up at the BMI showcase at Opal Divine's, where a bevy of A&R folks were waiting to see Nico Vega's set. In the house were Sire Prexy Michael Goldstone, Capitol's Ron Laffitte and Louie Bandak, Columbia's Jon Picus, Jive's Jeff Fenster, IDJ's Paul Pontius and Will Westfall, Virgin's David Wolter, Hollywood's Allison Hamamura, Chrysalis' Jamie Cerreta, Warner/Chappell's Greg Sowders, Worlds End managers Sandy Roberton and Andrew Brightman, attorneys Jeremy Mohr and Rachel Rosoff, Velvet Hammer's Mollie Moore, A&R execs David Andreone and Tom Moris, and Killers mgr./attorney Robert Reynolds, who also reps the showcasing act. Afterwards, a few friends and I hopped to the Red Bull House to catch a rumored secret perf by Mos Def. But we left early, so I closed the night with one of those tasty pizza slices off of 6th St.—Rodel “Don’ Call Me Pedro” Delfin
Neil Young's keynote address was really an interview we had to watch from a room with a TV monitor since we didn't get there before 9 a.m. Rosanne Cash put on an excellent performance at the Capitol lunchtime party and then it was off to the New West Records shebang/taco fest hosted by NW 's Cameron Strang and partner Jay Woods. Once you got through the line that went around the block, it was worth the wait as Joe Ely, Stephen Bruton and Kris Kristofferson treated us all to a sublime performance. After Kris sang an acoustic version of “Me & Bobby McGee,” the festival was over for me. In the crowd was Talking Head Jerry Harrison and Bruton’s manager, biz vet Ken Kushnick. Sneaking away to shop for some new lizard boots, I stumbled into the Yard Dog Gallery to find Nickel Creek playing in their packed backyard. A little nap and it was back out on the streets, where we headed to the Dirty Dog to hear the Tony Dimiatrades-managed Jont, a poet/singer/songwriter/ rocker from London that people having been buzzing about. In this case, he certainly lived up to the pre-hype, putting on a really fine show, with a great band that included Adam Wakeman, who looks and sounds just like a young version of his dad Rick, as VH1 honcho Bill Flanagan nodded along. Keep your eyes open for this guy! An earlier night than usual…need to rest up as the big guns are all about to embark on Austin for the festival’s final two days.—Golda
![]() Record-breaking heat wave in the forecast. (9/6a)
![]() This oughta be interesting. (9/6a)
![]() We're putting our asses in seats. (9/4a)
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THE GRAMMY SHORT LIST
Who's already a lock?
COUNTRY'S NEWEST DISRUPTOR
Three chords and some truth you may not be ready for.
AI IS ALREADY EATING YOUR LUNCH
The kids can tell the difference... for now.
ALL THE WAY LIVE
The players, the tours, the enormous beers.
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