BFrank

This looks suspicious. The picture shows the long box and track listing as 5 disks, but the "Product Details" say this: Audio CD (15 Nov. 2010) Number of Discs: 1 Format: CD+DVD, Box set

Good refs on those labels!

I've listened to most of it by now and it's an excellent set! I never had the boots, so it's all new to me, and much more interesting and explosive than I was expecting.

Whoa! One of these days I'm STILL gonna go there NOT during SXSW.

Thanks for posting. I saw many of those sets.

The Continental Club is a great place for music! The Broken Spoke is literally a 'dance hall,' so if you're looking for somewhere to sit and watch music, it's not really the best place. Antone's has moved (several times, actually) and is currently near the convention center, but still books good music. Lots of other small clubs around town - check out the Austin Chronicle for listings. For BBQ, there's the legendary Salt Lick outside of town and I like Iron Works near the convention center.

They were very good, just bad sight lines. Also, EP was sitting with his back to the audience.

Yeah, it was nuts! Actually Hidalgo & Ribot weren't as interesting as I hoped. Mostly more traditional stuff and not bad, but compared to the shows I saw later, not as interesting. I missed Ceramic Dog a day or two after, though. I think you would have liked a LOT of the shows AGGGGGGGG. I didn't get to see much of Nest Egg, unfortunately, but if they come this way I'll definitely see them again. Rockers, for SURE!

Will definitely see THAT! The SFJAZZ date is June 13, though. I just saw Chris Speed and Dave King in Craig Taborn's Quartet last week at Big Ears.

Randy - sorry we didn't hook up. My friends and I were constantly on the run. If you go again next year, we should meet up for sure. +++ I had a great time there! Nice town, nice people, good food and easily walk-able and I was on-the-run for 4 days straight. I really enjoyed about 90% of these shows - I'll be back next year for sure. A few highlight artists who I discovered were Peter Evans, Sam Pluta, Mazz Swift and Tyshawn Sorey. As Randy said, the ovations for many of these shows were amazing! Nice to say hi to Chuck Nessa after Roscoe's Trio Five show, too. THURSDAY Meshell Ndegeocello David Hidalgo & Marc Ribot Godspeed You! Black Emperor FRIDAY Roscoe Mitchell Trio Five w/Junius Paul, Vincent Davis Cyro Baptista "Vira Loucos" Ikue Mori (solo laptop) Rocket Science w/Evan Parker, Peter Evans, Craig Taborn, Sam Pluta Milford Graves (solo plus narration) Arto Lindsey Band Jenny Scheinman 'Mischief & Mayhem' w/Nels Cline, Scott Amandola, Todd Sickafoose Medeski, Martin & Wood w/Marc Ribot, Ned Rothenberg Jason Moran presents 'Fats Waller Dance Party' Nest Egg SATURDAY Jon Gibson Music for 2 Radios Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble w/Craig Taborn, Peter Evans, Ned Rothenberg, Sam Pluta, Okkyung Lee, others John Medeski (solo piano) Jason Moran & Milford Graves Roscoe Mitchell Trios Jerry Douglas Band Diamanda Galas Rova Channeling Coltrane: Electric Ascension w/Jenny Scheinman, Nels Cline, Ikue Mori, Mazz Swift, Cyro Baptista, Yuka Honda, Ches Smith, Okkyung Lee, others SUNDAY Tyshawn Sorey Rostam Suuns Kieran Hebdan & Mats Gustafsson Peter Evans Ensemble w/Sam Pluta, Mazz Swift, Tom Blancharte, Levy Lorenzo, others Bang on a Can All Stars: 30 Years Craig Taborn Quartet w/Chris Speed, Chris Lightcap, Dave King WHEW! Exhausting, but well worth it! I thought all the venues were great too, except for the Methodist Church. Evan Parker's Electro/Acoustic Ensemble played there. They were all seated at floor level, so if you took a seat beyond about the 5th row of pews, you couldn't see them at ALL. I ended up standing on the side. Great sound - terrible sight lines

I had a great time there! Nice town, nice people, good food and easily walkable. I really enjoyed about 90% of these shows, too - I'll be back next year for sure. My list: THURSDAY Meshell Ndegeocello David Hidalgo & Marc Ribot Godspeed You! Black Emperor FRIDAY Roscoe Mitchell Trio Five w/Junius Paul, Vincent Davis Cyro Baptista "Vira Loucos" Ikue Mori (solo laptop) Rocket Science w/Evan Parker, Peter Evans, Craig Taborn, Sam Pluta Milford Graves (solo plus narration) Arto Lindsey Band Jenny Scheinman 'Mischief & Mayhem' w/Nels Cline, Scott Amandola, Todd Sickafoose Medeski, Martin & Wood w/Marc Ribot, Ned Rothenberg Jason Moran presents 'Fats Waller Dance Party' Nest Egg SATURDAY Music for 2 Radios Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble w/Craig Taborn, Peter Evans, Ned Rothenberg, Sam Pluta, Okkyung Lee, others John Medeski (solo piano) Jason Moran & Milford Graves Roscoe Mitchell Trios Jerry Douglas Band Diamanda Galas Rova Channeling Coltrane: Electric Ascension w/Jenny Scheinman, Nels Cline, Ikue Mori, Mazz Swift, Cyro Baptista, Yuka Honda, Ches Smith, Okkyung Lee, others SUNDAY Tyshawn Sorey Rostam Suuns Kieran Hebdan & Mats Gustafsson Peter Evans Ensemble w/Sam Pluta, Mazz Swift, Tom Blancharte, Levy Lorenzo, others Bang on a Can All Stars: 30 Years Craig Taborn Quartet w/Chris Speed, Chris Lightcap, Dave King WHEW! I thought ALL the venues were great too, except for the Methodist Church. Evan Parker's Electro/Acoustic Ensemble played there. They were all seated at floor level, so if you took a seat beyond about the 5th row of pews, you couldn't see them at ALL. I ended up standing on the side. Great sound - terrible sight lines.

Rauschenberg retrospective at SFMOMA. Covers a LOT of ground and I had to go a second time to see the whole thing. I'm not the biggest fan, but I have a better understanding of his work. Impressive no matter what you think.

Great news! I've been needing a copy of the Thad/Mel booklet for years. I just emailed Scott.

Saw that. I was wondering when that was going to happen - it's only a week and a half away!

I think she's really interesting, too. I don't have that many of her albums and have only seen her once, but I try to keep up with what she's doing. Will definitely see her at the upcoming Big Ears Festival in Knoxville.

I know he's on FB. Maybe he gave up Org.

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Both Sides of the Sky" arrived in the mail today. I like it, but it's a little rough in places and probably more interesting for 'complete-ists' than casual listeners. There IS one outstanding and unexpected cut that's almost worth the price of the album alone - a 5+ minute version of "Woodstock," and Jimi doesn't sing OR play guitar! Stephen Stills sings and plays B3 (in a sort of Lee Michaels meets Larry Young style), Jimi plays BASS (at times with Jack Bruce ferocity), and Buddy Miles pushes the trio hard on drums. The last 1:45 is a pulsating jam. It's definitely NOT Joni's or CSN's version.

Interesting!

THOSE look interesting, too!

I wish I lived closer. Would definitely check that out.

SXSW focus has always been up and coming artists. So, it takes a lot of investigating to find shows that you think you might like. Sifting through the website in the weeks before help somewhat. There are always shows by more established artists, as well but you can't count on many that you're familiar with. There also happen to be dozens (hundreds?) of daytime shows that are largely free, but there's no central listing so you learn to be aware of the ones that feature bands you like, and are in venues that are interesting (e.g. back yards of bars, restaurants, parking lots ...). If you're going for the music, the only pass you need is the Music Badge which is about $800 this year. When I started, it was closer to $500. Still a lot of money, but they were also giving discounts to "alumni". Anyway, there have been fewer and fewer acts I'm excited to see, which is one reason me and my pals decided to try Big Ears.

Whoa! Excellent!