The new phone book’s here! The new phone book’s here! Well, not quite here…SXSW 2011 is in full swing, but music has yet to officially kick off. Still some calm left before the storm – though tomorrow some of the good unofficials really get going, with Art Disaster @ Beauty Bar, SXES @ Thunderbird Coffee, and Frog ML @ The Ghost Room.
Soon we’ll be bringing you reports from the fray…but for now, one last rec for an off-Sixth venue: The Lustre Pearl. It’s tucked away in an odd pocket of real estate south of Cesar Chavez and west of 35 – area is home also to the G’Raj Mahal, worth a peek. The Pearl is hardly a secret – the line tends to be long and the names tend to be large, but it’s a venue worth seeing if you can squeeze your way in. This year’s performers include Okkervil River, The Black Lips, Dawes, and The Cold War Kids.