Flavor Flav performs at SXSW on Friday
Photo: John Shearer/ Wire Image

AUSTIN, Texas — Every March, the music industry throws on a pair of shorts, slathers on the SPF 45 and heads on down to Austin for South by Southwest, a weeklong celebration of bands, BBQ and (sometimes free!) beer. It's a brutal bacchanal and music marathon powered by thousands of acts playing in hundreds of venues — at all hours — plus an unreal number of open bar tabs and fancy private parties.

Sleep is not exactly a top priority, so MTV News has dispatched three of its most tireless reporters into the fray. They'll be filing reports a few times each day (scroll down for the evening report), which will chiefly serve as a way of keeping you up to speed about what's going on deep in the heart of Texas, but also double as a convenient way — for us, anyway — of making sure everyone's still alive.

The Day

James Montgomery, MTV News writer: Another afternoon, another 36 Kool-Aid-colored wristbands to weigh down my wrists. At every day party I attend, my wrist gets slapped with a brightly colored piece of plastic (or, as is the case at the Levi's/Fader fort, two pieces), which — in theory — are supposed to keep the unwashed masses from gate-crashing and allow me preferred access to VIP areas and/or free booze. But the only thing they're really good for is snagging on clothing and making me look like this guy.

I know, I know ... cry me a river. But after only three days at SXSW, I'm totally starting to feel the inner Andy Rooney in me come to life (and he loves Robyn Hitchcock). Maybe it's the fact that every dude here is wearing a tank top, or the fact that every girl looks she's Karen O's stunt double. Who knows? ...

OK ... deep breath. Spent the afternoon at the SPIN party, where there was free popcorn, free ice cream, free cigarettes and, of course, more free wristbands! There was also a middling set from New Orleans funk act Galactic featuring cameos by a who's who of rappers that no one cares about (Lyrics Born, the Coup's Boots Reilly), a Kirsten Dunst sighting and a truly awesome early evening performance from the Kings of Leon, who rock nearly as hard as their pants are tight (and that's very).

Off now to get some dinner ... then hopefully catch a sweaty, late-night set from Girl Talk. Oh, also, my buddy in Beirut just invited me on a four-hour "BBQ excursion" set for Saturday afternoon. Wristbands or no, things are lookin' up, indeed!

John Norris, MTV News correspondent: By and large, the consensus in the local media and among people I have talked to seems to be that while the significance of SXSW has changed — I mean, we all know where music is "broken" in 2007, and it ain't at one gig at one festival — the festival still plays a vital role. As a one-stop shop for those who don't have bands rolling through their town every week, and for artists to get their music seen and heard by those in and out of the mainstream biz.

Among the bands, at varying levels of notoriety, that have introduced themselves to me on the streets of Austin and gotten their music into my hands in the past couple of days: Aloke, the GoStation, Locksley, New Year's Day, the Animators, the Stock Market Crash and some pretty cool garage girls from Atlanta who go by the lovely name the Coathangers (who count in their arsenal a fairly demure jam called "Nestle in My Boobies").

Finally, I have been avoiding going on a vegan rant for the last few days and just sucked it up and dealt with foraging around town to find non-animal-product dining. When in Rome ... yeah, yeah. Well, I'm sure as hell not gonna start eating flesh slathered in barbecue sauce, that's for sure. I'm often in situations like this — it means repeated trips to Asian places, which at least know what tofu is — so I've been twice to P.F. Chang's and once to Veggie Heaven. But then you slip and eat cheese sometimes. At last year's SXSW, even Chrissie Hynde — as much an icon of animal rights as a goddess of rock — told me she occasionally will eat cheese and she's been vegan for more than 30 years. Really, I love longhorns. To look at. Or pet. Not to eat, sit on or wear. End of screed.

Gil Kaufman, MTV News writer: I'm going to announce a moratorium on the bad-name thing, though Chicago's Flosstradamus get an honorable mention. Let me just say this now: If Australia's Youth Group don't become the next U2, something is seriously amiss. These guys have the kind of swaying, epic songs — like "Shadowland" — that fill up a dingy daytime bar show and make it feel like a stadium.

The pressure to melt down in public for new hot messes like Amy Winehouse must be intense, but it doesn't seem to be slowing down the hottest mess on everyone's tongue this week, Atlanta's notorious Black Lips. More than six years into their career, the band still knows how to shock, or revolt, as when guitarist Cole Alexander lost his lunch mid-solo just two songs into the band's set. Pro that he is, he never missed a lick, though the crowd did take a step back.

Note to the dude walking down the street with earplugs in: Bro, yeah, it's loud in the venues sometimes, but you can take them out on the way to lunch.

One of the reasons rock stars love South By (that's what the cool kids call it, for real) is they can just blend in, because every hipster doofus worth his salt has rats-nest hair, too-tight jeans and an expensive-looking ripped shirt. So, if you walk down the street and see Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore hanging on the corner, or Joan Jett waiting for a cab outside your hotel, yeah, it's them.

Speaking of which, I was on the phone in the elevator and I see a guy walk in with a huge clock around his neck and a bunch of dookie chains and my first thought is, "What kind of a bozo thinks he can cop that look from Flavor Flav in 2007?" Oh, my bad, it was Flavor Flav! We chatted, I wished him luck on his show Friday night (March 16) and when the doors opened, he gave me a knuckle pound and zoomed out into the lobby on his wheelies.

Here's what I missed today but heard about from people who were better line-jumpers than me: Pete Townshend jamming on "The Seeker" with the Fratellis, and Vietnam — or "those dudes with the giant beards," as one patron described them.

The Evening

James Montgomery: If you like slightly tubby guys with super scraggly beards, rare, out-of-print Boredoms 7-inches and uttering the phrase "They're still playing the same song?!" then the Ecstatic Peace Records and Tapes showcase was the place to be Friday night. Owned and operated by Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore, Ecstatic Peace releases records (actual records; like, on vinyl and everything) by a whole lot of erudite, experimental bands that you've never heard of, many of which — including the ethereal Gown, the drone-y Black Helicopter and the unpronounceable Charalambides — were on display tonight.

Of course, doe-eyed dreamboat Michael Pitt's little grunge outfit, Pagoda was there too, but I spotted John digging them pretty hard, so I'll leave it to him to document their set. Needless to say, it didn't take me long to get my fill of avant instrumentalism, and I was quickly out the door. But not before snagging a copy of the free Ecstatic Peace 'zine for my reading leisure. Thanks, Thurston!

Then it was off to Stubb's, where a little of the old "I'm with MTV News ... my camera crew is inside, and I need to get to them now!" routine (note: professional!) got me to the front of the line and into the much-hyped gig by Damon Albarn's new project, the Good, the Bad and the Queen. I'd been hearing a lot about how the whole thing was some sort of semi-conceptual play, a sort of time-skipping portrayal of life in London throughout the 20th Century, and I was anxious to check it out myself.

Sadly, all I got out of the performance a whole lot of former Clash bassist Paul Simonon's booming, bubbly low-end (I mean, seriously, dude was loud) and a few pictures of Albarn in a top hat. Playing on a stage littered with streamers and Union Jacks, in front of an impressionistic portrait of London, the atmosphere was right, but the music — all percolating, dubby basslines and three-quarter-speed guitars — wasn't. Truth be told, the whole thing was a complete snoozer. And if it was come sort of concept, I wasn't getting it. Maybe, on this night, I just wasn't smart enough for any of it. Not sleeping and existing solely on ribs and cigarettes tends to do that to a person.

John Norris: While I didn't stick around at Stubb's long enough to check out the Good, the Bad and the Queen, there was still plenty of the Snide, the grungy and the unexpected to go around.

Began my travels at Buffalo Billiards, where you rack 'em up downstairs and upstairs you hear music — cool music on this night, in the form of Nashville's Clem Snide, the band fronted and really embodied by one of the dryer, wittier guys in indie music, Eef Barzelay. He led his two backing players through a 40-minute set full of Clem Snide's trademark tunes that build and build ... and suddenly end. Eef's sarcasm was in abundance as well, in songs like "Girls Don't Care" and in his between-song patter, like when he told the SXSW crowd "You quench me. Your applause is like calamine lotion on my mosquito-bitten skin." Oh and he even busted out a bit of Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable."

Three encounters making my way down a packed 6th Street: former MTV VJ and walking musical encyclopedia Matt Pinfield, shooting a show for DirectTV; my old pals Taylor and Zack Hanson, being interviewed for another video outlet; and Damaris Drummond, a performance artist who is planning to cover herself with vintage Atari joysticks on Saturday and ask people to choose one to play with. Where in Austin will this happen? "Wherever they will let me," says Damaris. I am not kidding.

Nor am I kidding when I say that Michael Pitt rocks. Pitt may be the easy-on-the-eyes actor who starred in "The Dreamers" and "Last Days," but he has apparently put acting on the backburner indefinitely to concentrate on his neo-grunge band Pagoda, who played outdoors at the Mohawk. With Pitt on guitar and wailing vocals (playing a Cobain-like character has clearly had an impact on him), plus bass, drums and cello (!) the band ripped through one impassioned song after another, and you might have thought it was 1993 all over again. Only one beef though: say something, dude. I get it, you want to downplay the "movie star as frontman" thing; who wouldn't? But apart from "Thanks Thurston" and "This is our last song," Pitt was totally mute ... and he tended to overdo the whole back-to-the-crowd thing. Mike — you can play guitar, you can sing and scream, your band is good. Lighten up.

Plenty light and comfortable is Mancunian troubadour Damon Gough, a.k.a. Badly Drawn Boy. Although large open-air Stubb's may not have been the best setting for his sound, Gough lit up the night with his peppy alt pop, including the winning title track from his most recent release, Born in the U.K. Plus, he's a dead ringer for my MTV News buddy Aaron Pinkston, who was watching the show with me. There could be a sitcom in here. Couple of bearded, longhaired, beanie-wearing dudes from opposite sides of the Atlantic. It could work ...

Gil Kaufman: If there's anyone who loves the Ramones more than me, it's Japanese punk bands. Which is why the Japan Night showcase is always at the top of my list. This year was no disappointment, with a killer set from Osaka's The50Kaitenz, a power trio who rocked a blistering set of Ramones-inspired rockabilly while wearing matching black suits with Colonel Sanders-style black string ties. They were followed by the equally off-the-charts Pistol Valve, a 10-woman collective with eight horn players, an electric violinist and DJ, all combining forces (like Voltron!) to create a truly unique brand of Afro-Cuban-funk-jazz-hip-hop-a--go-go, all while wearing fedoras and varying stages of lingerie.

After flashing my badge, dropping some names, pretending to call my nonexistent cameraman and using every slimy excuse I could think of to jump in front of the two-block long line, I finally got in to see hot not-mess Brazilian funk carioca trio Bonde do Role. The group — really just two MC's and a DJ — mash up party-ready Bailefunk rhythms with hip-hop and samples that range from classic rock to Brazilian dance and snatches of the "Grease" soundtrack, and they had the packed house bouncing off the walls. They got even the most jaded hipsters to throw down.

Can James snag himself a nap? Are there more Beyoncé covers in John's future? Will Gil's line-cutting come back to haunt him? Check back all weekend for our SXSW coverage!

Earlier this week:

· "Tom Morello's SXSW Gig Turns Into Raucous All-Star Jam With Slash, Perry Farrell"

· "Amy Winehouse Raises Eyebrows, Bloc Party Draw A Mob As SXSW Wakes Up"

· "Pete Wentz Clones Descend, Lily Allen Warbles As SXSW Gets Under Way"

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

[This story was originally published on 3.16.2007 at 8:45 p.m.]

• Five Coolest Things At SXSW 2007
• Morello Jams With Slash, Farrell At SXSW

• Kings Of Leon, Mastodon, Flava Flav, More Rock SXSW '07

• Flavor Flav
• Lyrics Born
• Galactic
• Kings Of Leon
• Beirut

Les Claypool (file)
Photo: Getty Images

It only took a few message-board blabbermouths to bum out the third annual Jam Cruise's otherwise joyful embarkation on Thursday.

As 1,800 fans boarded the Bahamas-bound ship at its port in Jacksonville, Florida, they were met by police and drug-sniffing dogs. A dozen people were arrested for attempting to pass through U.S. Customs with illegal substances.

The Jam Cruise is an annual four-day excursion that features performances, autograph sessions and related events with several major acts from the jam-band genre. This year's cruise featured Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Galactic, Umphrey's McGee, Les Claypool's Frog Brigade and 20 other bands and DJs.

Kenneth Jefferson of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department said that it is not standard procedure to search individuals with drug-sniffing dogs prior to their departure for a cruise. However, he said that police read posts on the Jam Cruise Web site's message board suggesting that drugs would be smuggled onto the boat.

Searches conducted by United States Customs officials, with the assistance of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department, yielded an assortment of illegal substances, including ecstasy, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hashish and brownies laced with marijuana.

Organizers of the Jam Cruise said they are not responsible for the arrests. "It is unfortunate that a few passengers used poor judgment," the organization's publicist, Carrie Lombardi, said in an official statement. "The boat sailed as planned, and it was a truly amazing musical adventure for artists and fans alike." The Jam Cruise Web site and information documents clearly advise patrons not to bring narcotics onto the ship.

Jefferson said that when the ship returned to Jacksonville on Monday (January 10), one passenger was rushed to a hospital, apparently suffering from a drug overdose that took place during the cruise.

• Les Claypool's Frog Brigade
• Galactic
• Umphrey's McGee

Lucinda Williams
Photo: Matthew Weber

Having surpassed all previous attendance counts with this year's opening weekend of Jazz Fest (April 27-29), Louisiana Heritage Fair personnel expect to break those records again during the longer second weekend (May 3-7), weather permitting. The chances look good that they will, as there's been no real threat of rain while the harsh southern sunshine has been offset by brief reprieves of overcast coolness.

Scanning the lineup for the 2001 Fair, the second weekend of Jazz Fest could have been renamed Jam Fest. Widespread Panic, the Dave Matthews Band, moe., Galactic and other jammers are among the acts booked this year that could be expected to attract big crowds with their dedicated audiences.

Outside one of the Jazz Fest entrances opening weekend, a young girl in raggedy jeans and an apron shirt sold Jello shots while a young guy lounged on a nearby lawn next to a case full of glass paraphernalia for sale. An offer of "nugs for extras" to a sold-out non-Jazz Fest String Cheese Incident gig didn't even seem so out of place considering some of the bands on the bill. Yet beyond the gates was quite a different world.

The fairgrounds were riddled with flags — a rainbow Phish logo on white, a Grateful Dead "Steal Your Face" on black, a rubber chicken with a doll's head and a touching banner that read "Gabba Gabba Hey Joey" attached to a fishing pole. It was in front of the main stage and amidst all these flags that the local jazz fans, there to see the Dirty Dozen Brass Band's set, most noticeably overlapped with the jam fans who were there to claim space early for two sets of Widespread Panic.

Introduced as the band that "created the modern brass band" and "changed the New Orleans sound forever," the Dirty Dozen hit hard with their unique brand of funky jazz. When Widespread Panic singer/guitarist John "J.B." came out to sing during a scorching rendition of "It's All Over Now" (a favor the DDBB would return for several tunes during Panic's set), 'Spread heads went wild. Meanwhile, the House of Blues/Old School 102.9 stage held Chris Thomas King, who was busting a more mellow blues vibe with father Tabby Thomas. The Banks Family occupied the Gospel stage under the tent o' the Lord, whipping a crowd full of house shakin', foot stompin', hand clappin' believers into a soul sparkin' frenzy. On the BET/WWOZ stage, Irvin Mayfield was laying down the straight jazz for a rapt seated audience that was ready at all times to jump up for a standing ovation after a hot solo. Czech swingers J.J. Jazzmen's set was in perfect keeping with the Louis Armstrong 100th anniversary series of exhibits and panel discussions that were taking place during the festival. The five-piece outfit gave Satchmo's style a whirl in the Cox Communications Economy Hall tent. There, old folks with parasols floated past the front row and a wooden dance floor in the corner gave several couples, a few young children and a lone tap dancer a place to find their own thrills. On the Sprint PCS/LG stage, across the fairgrounds from thousands of happy heads, roots rocker Lucinda Williams accumulated an equally impenetrable mass of twang-inclined fans for her first ever Jazz Fest appearance. With acts like Williams and upcoming performances by Paul Simon, Mystikal, Keb' Mo', Wilson Pickett and Ellis Marsalis, the neo-hippie invasion predictions had thus far been — and most likely will continue to be — proven false for the fest proper; the grounds were far from overcome with tie-dye wearing, patchouli doused, dreadlocked stereotypes.

The annual During Jazzfest nighttime music series by Superfly Presents (unaffiliated with the official festival), however, has added to the jam focus by pitting bands like local favorite groove funkers Galactic against southern rockers Gov't Mule, the String Cheese Incident against Ben Harper and Jaques-Imo's or moe. against Deep Banana Blackout and Ozomatli by booking them at the same times in different venues. While some fans were wandering around with a finger in the air looking for extra tickets to sold-out shows and some "lot venders" were spotted selling burritos and goo balls on the street, the series was more about the music than the scene surrounding it.

Superfly sponsors at least one SuperJam series a year. Last year's historic meeting of Les Claypool (Primus), Stewart Copeland (The Police) and Trey Anastasio (Phish) was followed this year by two SuperJam groups. This year, the festival unofficially began Wednesday night at the Maple Leaf with the first of two performances by the Jaques-Imo's Café AllStars, featuring Jon Fishman (drums, Phish), Jamie Masefield (banjo/ mandolin, Jazz Mandolin Project), Gregory Davis (trumpet, Dirty Dozen Brass Band), Kirk Joseph (tuba, former DDBB), Lucien Barbarin (trombone) and Tim Laughlin (clarinet). The group played Wednesday and Thursday to packed crowds, blasting local flavors like "Mardis Gras New Orleans" and a requisite jam of "Iko Iko." String Cheese Incident and Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals went toe to toe across the street from one another at the Saenger Theater and the State Palace Theater respectively. A percussion and horn-driven Ozomatli (a Santana for the hip-hop generation), opened for Harper, who appeased his audience with his soulful lap guitar funk, then floored the lot of them with a four-song encore, three of which featured the Blind Boys of Alabama. Overcome with emotion, he buried his head in his lap, collected himself and then exited the stage. He and the band returned for a second encore that included "Sexual Healing" and a thunderous "Faded"-into-"Whole Lotta Love"-back-into-"Faded" medley. Over at the Saenger, String Cheese gave their rambunctious glitter-happy, glow-stick-wielding audience two sets, separated by a 20-minute set break. Opening act Femi Anikulapo-Kuti joined the Colorado jamgrassers for a rendition of "Outside and Inside" (from String Cheese Incident's upcoming CD), and closed the first of a two-night run with the Allman Brothers Band classic "Jessica." Medeski Martin & Wood, Joshua Redman, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, DJ Logic, Gov't Mule, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe and moe. are all scheduled at New Orleans clubs and theaters throughout the city for the festival's second weekend, as is a different SuperJam, featuring Carter Beauford (drums, Dave Matthews Band), Meshell Ndegèocello (bass), John Medeski (keyboards), Joshua Redman (sax) and Marc Ribot (guitar).

• Widespread Panic
• Lucinda Williams
• The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
• Paul Simon
• Mystikal

Les Claypool<BR>plays at<BR>the Palace in Los Angeles.
Photo: Josephine Close

Aimed at entertaining an ever more diverse group of bored music fans in a winter season slow on live music, the SnoCore festival split into two entities this year — the funk 'n' jam-based SnoCore Icicle Ball and the heavy metal SnoCore Rock tour.

On Sunday, the Rock component of the double-fisted festival brought its barking rage and aggressive metal to San Francisco's Maritime Hall, with a full complement of five shout-and-grind quartets — including crowd favorites Kittie and Fear Factory — who plugged new records while mixing punk and metal with raw angst, not to mention occasional doses of rap and techno.

Five bands, all cooking with the same basic recipe of bass, guitar, drums and vocals, paced and pounded the stage with ferocious, speed-core staccato and speaker-cone-warping monster vocals, sometimes inciting mosh pits, often begging the youthful crowd to "make some noise." Los Angeles' Boy Hits Car opened the show with droning basslines reminiscent of Jane's Addiction. During "As I Watch the Sun F--- the Ocean," from the band's debut album, due Tuesday, vocalist Cregg (who goes by only that name) shook his curly locks between high-pitched verses belted out in a whine that sounded like a cross between Geddy Lee and Jello Biafra.

A mosh pit opened midfloor as Slaves on Dope took the stage, with bald singer Jason Rockman and bassist Frank Salvaggio trading off growling vocal lines from their debut album, Inches From the Mainline (2000). While skinny-dreadlocked guitarist Kevin Jardine and drummer Rob Urbani set up a hypnotic, irregular groove, Rockman and Salvaggio worked on the crowd. During one shout-along, the kids on the floor pumped devil-fingered fists, chanting, "Don't tell me how to live my life!" at Rockman's insistence.

Union Underground aimed two banks of bright flashbulbs at the crowd, while singer Bryan Scott stood on a plexiglass riser that lit him up from beneath. He hunched over the audience, singing tunes such as "South Texas Deathride" and "Turn Me on 'Mr. Deadman,' " quoting Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" on the latter.

Looped noise built to a crescendo as the smoky room darkened for Canadian teenagers Kittie, who tested out a few new songs slated for the follow-up to their 1999 debut, Spit, expected in the fall. The group thrashed enough to make fellow chick-rockers the Donnas look like the Bangles. Bassist Telena Atfield and drummer Mercedes Lander chopped out machine-gun rhythms while singer/guitarist Morgan Lander roared and croaked out her lyrics as if she had accidentally swallowed Godzilla.

On the song "Brackish," guitarist Fallon Bowman set the crowd to vibrating as she squealed out a rust-tinged intro, then rapped in the background as Morgan Lander — in capri pants and a short black T-shirt — alternated lines of melodic singing with the group's trademark roar.

"We are here for one reason, and one reason alone," Fear Factory frontman Burton C. Bell shouted at the crowd as his band took the stage. "We are gonna f--- your sh-- up!" As synthesizer player John Bechdel — the sole exception to the night's power-quartet theme — spun an electronic intro, Bell, guitarist Dino Cazares and bassist Christian Olde Wolbers dropped almost to the floor in split to hammer out a low-slung caveman crunch. Bell mounted a monitor wedge while Cazares and Shives swapped places, running to the edge of the stage to play for the kids up front.

Drummer Raymond Herrera and the synth player set up a driving, electronic dance groove while the guitarists crunched on "DigiMortal," the title track from the group's upcoming album, due April 24, which furthers the band's thematic exploration of the junction of man and machine. Fear Factory also played "Linchpin," "Acres of Skin" and "Invisible Wounds" from the new album.

The SnoCore Icicle Ball, which stopped Thursday in Los Angeles at the Palace, featured co-headlining sets by Les Claypool's Frog Brigade side project and New Orleans jazz-funk ensemble Galactic.

"For those who haven't experienced Frog Brigade before, I can't and will not explain it to you," Claypool told the sold-out, dancing crowd. Clad in a mask with a Pinocchio-like nose, a blue marching-band jacket and cropped khaki trousers, the singer/bassist danced around spastically, displaying his usual goofball charm.

Frog Brigade incorporated work from throughout Claypool's career, including tunes played with Primus, Sausage and Les Claypool & the Holy Mackerel, as well as a mix of covers ranging from the Doors' "Riders on the Storm" to the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends." Claypool briefly joined Galactic during their 90-minute show-capping performance, playing bass on an adaptation of Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf." Galactic's set mixed jazz-funk instrumentals featuring complex band interplay with numbers led by vocalist Theryl deClouet, who contributed a suave, old-soul feel to the sound.

Baltimore's Lake Trout open the Icicle Ball through February 4. Experimental trio Drums and Tuba step in February 6 in Cleveland until the tour wraps February 23 in Atlanta. SnoCore Rock ends February 17 in Asbury Park, New Jersey

• Kittie
• Fear Factory
• Galactic
• Les Claypool