Hotel Cafe Tour at Parish for SXSW in Austin Texas

Of all the music events at SXSW this year, The Hotel Cafe Tour is the one I really wanted to get to.  First off I should say that this was a marathon of a show.  It started at 7PM and went on through to 2AM.  I was lucky enough to have one of the very rare seats at Parish.

The show consisted of Buddy, Sara Baraeilles, Ingrid Michaelson, Cary Brothers, Meiko, Joshua Radin, Jim Bianco, Priscilla Ahn, Jessie Baylin, Katie Havnevik, Greg Laswell, and Rocco Deluca.  It was an amazing show.  The Hotel Cafe Tour also often includes Bob Schneider and AM.  I had just seen Bob a couple days before at the Saxon Pub, but unfortunately AM wasn’t playing anywhere at SXSW.  Even without Bob and AM, this was an amazing collection of talent.  If you’re going to spend the 9 hours stuck in a bar, these are the people you want playing.

Buddy
The show started with Buddy, who was surprisingly good.  I hadn’t heard them before the show, so I didn’t know what to expect.  I don’t know how to describe them, they remind me a little Five for Fighting, but I don’t think it’s an accurate description.  Check out their stuff on their MySpace page, or iTunes.  But they are much harder live than the CD.

Kate Havnevik
Next up was Kate Havnevik, someone I had never heard of before the show.  Kate has an amazing voice that really carries nicely for being so delicate.  She has a bit if a euro sound that I wouldn’t normally get into, but her vocals brought out something special in the songs.  She mentioned that this would be her last tour date with the band, so I don’t think you’ll be able to catch her with Hotel Cafe.

Jessie Baylin
Another female vocalist, Jessie Baylin followed up after Kate.  Jessie has a real country sound, but in a great way.  The kind of country I can really get into.  This is the set where people starting to relax a bit more and start enjoying themselves, and I think that was due in large part to the laid back style of of Jessie.

Priscilla Ahn
A couple of the artists in this line up caught a huge break when one of their songs were featured in Grey’s Anatomy.  Priscilla was not one of them, but I’m willing to put money on the fact she will be.  I don’t watch the show, but I’m familiar with the music they chose, and Priscilla Ahn’s Dream is the exact thing they look for to church up the sappy melodrama.  Prescilla has a new CD coming out in June I think.  Until then you should check out here EP on iTunes.   She is another amazing talent with the tour.

Greg Laswell
Just when I started to think I had accidentally attended Lilith Fair, Greg Laswell shows up and adds some (reserved) testosterone to the show.  Greg started off solo on the piano, and then switched over to guitar.  I know quite a attendees came specifically to see Greg, and I can see why.  Until the show I was only familiar with the the remake he did of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, but after hearing his other stuff, I bought both his CDs at the show.

To be continued…
[tags]sxsw, parish, hotel cafe, tour, greg laswell, buddy, prescilla ahm, jessie baylin,   Kate Navnevik[/tags]