SXSW Lessons Learned: Hang onto your belongings

SXSW is a crazy, hectic time, so much so that one might accidently drop something valueable (hint: wallet), only to watch it vanish under a stampede of drunk, be-badged hipsters. Sigh. As such, the Santigold set at Red Bull Moon Tower was skipped to cancel credit cards and freak out.

Prior to the mess, though, was one helluva set from recent Domino signee Chief. Taking the stage at Dirty Dog on Wednesday night, the band can best be summed up as “what Fleet Foxes would sound like if they, well, rocked.” Chief delivers the same sun-soaked, effortless harmony approach of its bearded bretheren from Seattle, but with added down-home rock ala Neil Young. Definitely an act to check out now, to say you saw them when at a dingy club in Austin before bloggers gobble them up alive. Check them next Friday, 1:30 p.m., at Beauty Bar and Saturday, 3:50 p.m., at the Domino Publishing Party at the French Legation Museum. We’ll be there. And stay tuned for our chat with the band later this week.