Cue: I only stopped in for a song or two. I know I like these guys, and went to see them several times when I lived in Austin, but just wanted to check out what crowd they could gather. Sadly a bit small, but man, I love the feel of their music, whether on 1 or 2 as ambient, or turned up to 11 (like a freaking anthem). If you like things like Godspeed You Black Emperor, please do check these guys out.
Envelopes: Nothing harsh to say, just nothing to say... Eh.
The Arm: Pretty good. Think PIL + Wire for basic capsule. Only caught the last song or two, so I can't say more.
Kissing Tigers: Eh... Pap? Pop? Eh...
The Reputation: Very nice band, with a lot of energy. I caught bits of Letters to Cleo, Husker Du, and other power pop/rock bits. Easily the high spot so far.
Belong: Fairly dull ambient noodling. And I like ambient. And I like noodling. Just not these guys.
The New Pornographers: Get into Stubbs for this? Impossible. But I did give a listen from outside the amphitheater (backstage of the clamshell), and they sounded very "on". Wish I could have gotten in.
Office: Angular but more obtuse than acute. Didn't stick around long.
Serena Maneesh: A mob of folks on stage at Emo's. Alternated between kinda twee pop and noise. Next!
Lesbians on Ecstasy: This was a joke. Right? Almost running now...
The Sweethearts: Decent chick-fronted punk. Caught as much as I could before I had to leave for...
The Jai-Alai Savant: Wow. I didn't know what to expect, but I began to fear these guys as they came on in white almost uniforms. But when they fired up, wow. Try to hold The Police, Surf/Ventures guitar work, and The Bad Brains in your head at the same time. Not just two. All three. Yeah. Very cool.
The Plimsouls: Not on my A-list even back in the day, frankly, but they put on a pretty good show. I knew I needed to be inside this venue well before 1:00 to see...
The Go! Team: One of the most energetic bands I have ever seen. Very, very fun. If there'd been a fire in the place, we would have all died it was so crowded, but we'd have danced until the end.