I wanted to see Thee Oh Sees at Mohawk, but there was a huge line, aparently due to the much-hyped Surfer Blood. The “B” in Plan B stands for Beerland, and so here I am enjoying a set by San Francisco’s Sonny and the Sunsets. It’s some great retro rock filtered through a bit of punk grit and featuring nice boy-girl tandem vocals. Maybe not quite Thee Oh Sees, but it’s a worthy replacement.

Before that, I really dug the Crystal Antlers’ set at Red 7. The band has added a new keyboard player and an almost entirely new repetiore since I’ve last seen them, with the result being a poppier sound that still retains their core psychedelia. It’s a development that has me excited to hear the group’s next record.

Crayon Fields at Mi Casa. Aussie rainy, chilly, still heartwarming pop. Perfect antithesis to the Thuggish Ruggish. Night is off to a good start.

The Roky Erickson set was absolutely fantastic. Okkervil River proved more than capable as a backing band, and the song selection was fantastic. A+

Proximity to Fader Fort has drawn us in again. If only to see another Dam-Funk concert/mothership connection/autobahn street-funk carnival—all by one man. What followed seems to be following us around. Salem is the worst thing you’ll ever hope to see. Why do I get sucked into this? I managed to escape before things got medieval. Austin, at 40 degrees and under an ominous gray-blue canopy of cloud, in the post-apocalyptic landscape made after two weeks of tourists, is like walking around inside of a Troma movie. Backwoods Latin cannibal hipsters. But Bone Thugs at 9:00? At least my brothers Gwar were there.