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If you are like most people reading about SxSW on every blog out there, it can be a bit overwhelming. But that is nothing compared to how overwhelming it can be to actually be at a festival where 300 bands are playing at every minute (how many stages does Coachella or EdgeFest have going at any one time? Three? Four? SxSW has HUNDREDS at any moment).

Well, the people over at Digital Music News came up with a way to see who really was creating a buzz at the festival this year. Twitter. They searched Twitter for the most talked-about bands related to the festival.

Who came out at number one? Metallica, who played a "secret" show at Stubbs on Friday night. It was secret in that everyone in the world knew they were there but "were not announced." Number two was our music editor's hometown boys Devo. Kanye West was third. And fourth was one of my personal highlights from the trip, The Hold Steady (I must admit The Hold Steady's show was one of two times I tried to Twitter about a band at SxSW, but AT&T sucked). Rachael Ray even made the top 10.   

Other bands getting top Twitter action included Black Lips, Silversun Pickups, Dinosaur Jr., Quincy Jones, Superdrag, Perez Hilton, M. Ward, Peter Bjorn and John, Glasvegas, PJ Harvey, The Decemberists, New York Dolls, and Tori Amos.

Martin Cizmar

Dear and the Headlights at Tinest Bar in Texas

Of all the Arizona bands at SxSW, no one had a higher profile than Dear and the Headlights. They played five shows over the course of the five-day festival, including headlining the I Heart AZ showcase and the same official showcase at Spiro's that Miniature Tigers played.

I caught up with them for a late Friday afternoon show at the Tiniest Bar in Texas (which was also possibly the most remote bar in Texas, 16 blocks from the heart of Sixth Street) and found a crowd that reminded me of the times I've seen them in Phoenix: full of people smiling and singing along, the way people who've really lived with a record do. At SxSW, that was pretty unusual, especially in the afternoons, when most folks seemed to be wherever they were out of convenience and/or interest in free beer.

It cemented, for me, something I've heard a lot of people say: If Phoenix's scene is going to break out, these guys are going to be a big part of it.

Martin Cizmar

In some ways, Arizona's first "official unofficial" showcase at SxSW wasn't a big deal. Other cities, states, and countries have been doing it for years. Hell, Seattle's party is even promoted by a flier in the high-value real estate of the official party envelope you pick up with your badge. Butfor Phoenix, the "I Heart AZ Party" was pretty huge. Thursday's showcase featured a lot of the best bands in town, acts we write about all the time: Miniature Tigers, Kinch, Back Ted N-Ted, The Stiletto Formal, What Laura Says, Dear and the Headlights, Reubens Accomplice. 

Martin Cizmar

What Laura Says at SxSW

Greetings from the outskirts of Austin, Texas, where we're holed up in a hotel after a long day of music at South by Southwest's opening day. What happened? Well, a few Phoenix bands played their showcases, hopefully making an impression on tastemakers and industry types at this massive festival, which ends up being make or break for a lot of indie acts. I saw sets by Miniature Tigers and What Laura Says tonight (Dear and the Headlights also played in a late slot, but we'll catch up with them later in the week) and both went pretty well. Also, I got a cigar from notorious Texas author (and former gubernatorial candidate) Kinky Friedman. More on that later.

The music portion of SxSW starts today, but the interactive portion finished yesterday. One of the big stories out of interactive this past weekend was how ill-prepared AT&T was for the influx of iPhone-wielding hipsters and geeks descending on Austin.

Tens of thousands of attendees are using their phones far more than usual to stay in touch with everyone else at the conference, meet up with co-workers and do the sort of networking that people who go to this kind of industry event do. 

To add to the list of hip parties we have told you about happening at SxSW next month in Austin is the most random one yet. Rachel Ray will be hosting the party "Rose's Mojito & Rachael Ray's Feedback: The B-Side." The party with have Acts such as The Hold Steady, Ra Ra Riot, The New York Dolls and The Thermals among others.

We knew home girl could cook, but who knew she had great taste in Music?

This is what happens when you let Xzibit pimp your band name

It was announced this week that SXSW will be getting yet another addition to its already fruitful lineup: Tinted Windows. The band consists of Taylor Hanson (Hanson, duh), James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins), Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) and Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne). It's an eclectic group, that's for sure, and if you leave out Taylor Hanson, the group formed by the remaining members kind of makes sense. As well, if you leave out Taylor Hanson, you'll lose about 75 percent of any fans you had a chance of getting. The supergroup isn't a brand new concept, by any means, so why should this one deserve special attention?

So, we don't normally blog about shows outside the area, but our contributor Psyko Steve Chilton is putting a real dandy at SxSW in Austin next month. The "I Heart AZ" showcase features Dear and the Headlights, Miniature Tigers, What Laura Says, The Stiletto Formal, Kinch, Back Ted N-Ted and Reuben's Accomplice. As Steve writes:

"The last few years have seen an explosion of new artists from Arizona breaking on the national stage. Artists as divers as Calexico, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Maine, Job For A Cowboy and even Jordan Sparks have all made their mark on the national music scene... Many people both in Arizona and in the music industry at large believe that Arizona could be home to one of the next great music scenes."

Steve's bill is pretty good, but I'm not showing up unless Golden Boots -- the subject of this week's music feature -- are there.

By the way, Meat Puppets and The Love Me Nots also have official showcases at SxSW. They're joining Kinch, Mini T's, Dear and the Headlights and What Laura Says as Phoenix's official showcasers. Flagstaff's The Silos and Tucson's Howe Gelb, Golden Boots, and ...music video? will also be at SxSW-sanctioned shows.

The first batch of bands for SXSW, the large music industry trade show, conference and festival every year in Austin Texas, have been announced. Unlike my Coachella post earlier this week, the list comes straight form SXSW.com so we know it is right (but subject to change).

This year's line up has a number of Arizona bands who will be officially showcasing. Dear and the Headlights (Tempe, who are also playing Coachella), Golden Boots (Tucson), The Love Me Nots (Phoenix), Miniature Tigers (Phoenix, who continue their sting of huge show announcements), and The Silos (Flagstaff) will all be there.

The Medic Droid are listed however they have since broken up. Hopefully more Arizona acts will take that their place.

Read on to see the full announced list.

By Niki D’Andrea

There’s something for everyone in this week’s edition of Future Shock, whether you’re a classic rock fan, a goth rock fan, or an indie rock head. Read on to see which concerts have been announced this week.

Club Tattoo Anniversary Party
With Rabbit in the Moon, Julien K, Jeremy Dawson of Shiny Toy Guns, and Chester Bennington.
Saturday, May 10, 8 p.m.
Marquee Theatre in Tempe
$25 (www.luckymanonline.com)

Linkin Park singer, Club Tattoo co-founder, and Greenway High School graduate Chester Bennington returns to town for the 13th anniversary of the tattoo shop he started with Sean Dowdell. Club Tattoo’s anniversary parties are known for their posh-but-intimate settings, mixing red carpet with hard rock.

Random band fact: Prior to joining Linkin Park, Bennington was in a Phoenix grunge group called Grey Daze.

Below: Julien K performs “Technical Difficulties” with Chester Bennington:

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Peter Murphy
Monday, June 9, 6:30 p.m.
Marquee Theatre in Tempe
$23-$25 (www.luckymanonline.com)

We’re not quite sure why former Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy is touring solo, as he hasn’t released a solo album since 2004’s Unshattered, but we do know that Bauhaus reunited for a one-off album called Go Away White (2008), so perhaps Murphy’s solo show will incorporate some of the new material, in addition to his solo classics like “Cut You Up” and Bauhaus standards like “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.”

Random band fact: Bauhaus performs pieces of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” in the opening sequence of the 1982 vampire movie The Hunger (starring David Bowie).

Below: The video for Peter Murphy’s “Cuts You Up”: