The great SXSW migration

AUSTIN, TEXAS

It happened three times last week. I'd be walking down Austin's overcrowded and undercleaned streets, minding way too many other people's business, when out of the corner of my ear would come the random, unexpected sound of some band from back home.

These chance encounters were a good indicator of just how many acts made the trek to Austin last week for the 22nd annual South by Southwest Music Conference. By my hazy count, about 30 local acts were there. More impressive, most of them played at least two or three sets over the fest's four days. That's a whole lotta Minnesota in Texas last week.

White Light Riot did five gigs in total, arriving last Monday to play for early arrivals (smart!). I ran into all four members at the laughably trendy Levi's/Fader party, where they told me about another shindig a night earlier that found them playing "Guitar Hero" in front of Moby.

"We asked him if he wanted to play, but he said, 'I'm not very good at that sort of thing,'" WLR drummer Mark Schwandt said (insert joke here about Moby always wanting to be a real musician).

Another celebrity encounter: "Superbad" and "Knocked Up" fat-kid star Jonah Hill snuck to the front of the stage to snap a photo during Kid Dakota's triumphant Saturday-night showcase. Who knows, Darren Jackson might be doing soundtrack work for Hill's next sexist-but-sensitive comedy.

But back to those serendipitous encounters. The first was First Communion Afterparty, playing on the patio of a Mexican restaurant as I made my way to Stubb's for Mason Jennings. Since I only caught FCAP's last song, I asked singer/guitarist Liam Watkins where else I could hear them.

Next, I randomly came across Cloud Cult wafting out over the open-air roof of Emo's on Friday afternoon, where I had seen Tapes 'N Tapes before a packed house a day earlier. Since I also caught Cloud Cult Thursday at the Current's (89.3 FM) live broadcast stage -- they topped out at six gigs total last week -- I didn't go in, nor did I need to: "Pretty Voice" followed me up 6th Street and hung with me the rest of the day (catchy tune).

The third unplanned run-in was with Best Friends Forever, thankfully playing an old venue (Mohawk) with thin windows. I hope the staff there had thick skin. Co-leader Bri Smith recounted onstage how at a library before heading south, she had come across audiobooks on learning accents. She pondered getting the Texas-speak CD, but "I decided it would be too annoying to the others in the van," she said.

The Pines made light of an infamous bit of Texas-speak during Friday night's Red House Records showcase in the posh Driskill Hotel. At the end of his band's equally polished set, David Huckfelt declared, "We, too, are ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas." (Funny how Natalie Maines' old comment doesn't seem the slightest bit controversial anymore.)

Other random sightings of locals at SXSW: MC/VL's name on the door of some random nonmusical bar, performing Friday afternoon; Mary Lucia in the same Mexican seafood dive Friday night, each of us daring to eat a sit-down meal (and Mexican seafood); First Ave booker Nate Kranz at Roky Erickson's gig (come on, Nate, bring Roky to town!), and I nearly ran over ReveilleMag.com writer Kyle Matteson entering a parking garage Saturday night (we were both hurrying to M. Ward's set; Kyle got in, but I didn't).

On closing day, Reveille and Eclectone Records co-hosted one of two Minnesota-only day parties. Held at the Molotov Lounge, an open-air venue where Ouija Radio and the Birthday Suits rocked the previous night, the party drew sizable crowds with both Romantica and (guess who?) Cloud Cult.

The Alarmists played the party, too, after handing out 1,000 sampler CDs on the street -- more proof of their old-school charm. Even more ambitious in the D.I.Y. department was the art-punk duo Knife World, which angrily cut short its nighttime showcase after being told by the frat-boyish venue that it was too loud (huh?!). Knife kids Jon and Josh had better luck busking on a seedy street corner.

"We sold tons of our new records to gullible hipsters and met a lot of awesome crackheads," they reported.

There were so many Minnesota bands at SXSW that I even caught two I'd never seen before. Four Letter Lie, a raging and really quite excellent metal-core band signed to Chicago's Victory Records, benefited from having NOFX on later in the club's adjoining room, and it even sparked a super-rare SXSW mosh pit. Private Dancer, a noisy, blistery quintet -- like a bluesier version of bassist Jesse Kwakenat's other band, the Stnnng -- opened the other big all-MN bash, the so-called Minnesota Migration party hosted by Modern-Radio and Burlesque of North America (whose posters were also all over town) at the refreshingly laid-back Dog & Duck Pub.

Other Migratory rockers included the Stnnng, Chooglin' and Plastic Constellations, who were interviewed by MTV during the fest (look for it online). The party also featured Vampire Hands, whose name I mistakenly spoke four or five times while talking to someone about mega-buzz band Vampire Weekend. At least now I can say the local Vampires are hands-down the better act.

Return engagements Two local SXSW contenders are back home this week to celebrate the new CDs they were touting in Austin: Retribution Gospel Choir and the aforementioned Vampire Hands.

Vampire Hands' second album, "Me and You Cherry Red," shows off how much more nuanced and Brian Eno-ish subversive the two-drummer/two-singer psychedelic-punk quartet has become after much steady gigging over the past year. You can also more clearly tell that one of the frontmen, gritty-falsetto guy Chris Bierden, also plays and probably writes on bass in rhythmically driven songs like "Heat-Fire" and "No Fun." The disc doesn't quite match the impact of VH's fascinating live shows, but close enough. Release party is tonight at the Turf, with Private Dancer (10 p.m., $5).