South By Southwest Day Three: Hot Hot Heat

The temperature hit the mid-nineties on Friday, as legions of sweaty festivalgoers finally began to droop. Signs of exhaustion were everywhere, but J.I. soldiered on, waking up early to catch the Billboard/BMI brunch on the lawn of the Four Seasons. Pretty, soft acoustic tracks from acts like Brooke Waggoner, Eldar and Kaki King provided a nice backdrop for lounging in a hammock and sipping a mimosa.

Later on, J.I. headed to the Mercury Records showcase and caught a set by Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jongs. Tall, skinny, and charismatic, Joe Lean captured the overheated and sleepy early afternoon crowd with his cocky Brit-pop stylings.

We wish we could say the same for Duffy, who is being billed as the “next Amy Winehouse” and is breaking in to the U.S. with her cover of “Mercy.” Alas, the show was summed up nicely by a friend, who said, “she’s a pretty girl with a pretty voice, but that’s about it.” It wasn’t bad, per se, just boring, and J.I. left disappointed.

The Billboard showcase at the ridiculously fancy club Pangaea, on the other hand, was a rousing success. J.I. has come around on LA buzz band Airborne Toxic Event – while the songs on their Myspace page didn’t impress us, their live show was energetic and sassy. Chris Denny and the Old Soles soothed everyone with their soulful Americana, and J.I. caught most of a mellow set by Switchfoot front man Jon Foreman before heading to the Sub Pop showcase.

uth After a blistering set by Helio Sequence, J.I. was starting to drag. Even a killer set by weird-folkies Fleet Foxes, one of our favorite bands, couldn’t quite perk us up. It wasn’t until No Age’s set, when we ran in to an old roommate and long lost friend, that we had a second wind and the night really started to get going.

J.I. headed back to catch a few minutes of Robyn at Pangaea and ran in to another friend, grabbed him and hit the bar of the Four Seasons. After getting the last call boot there, we headed out only to run in to another group of Billboard cohorts and one mister Ice Cube. After we asked Ice about architecture (long story), we all piled in a cab and headed to East Austin to try to get in to two late night parties. Alas, neither effort proved fruitful, but we did have a nice conversation with a cabbie on the way back before calling it a night around 4am. –Cortney Harding