​Oh lordy. It isn't time to think about SXSW already, is it? It seem like all that long ago that Minneapolis bands were swarming the streets of Austin, Texas in search of free beer and food trucks, and when Gimme Noise threw our first-ever Minnesota music showcase with First Avenue.More >>

​For the newest edition of City of Music, producer Dan Huiting and videographers Chris Hadland and Andre Durand caught up with Fargo quintet Secret Cities down in Austin, Texas during the SXSW music festival for a take-away performance... in a tree. More >>

Photo by Erik Hess

​We have one final piece of SXSW coverage to offer up this week, and then we're done -- for real this time. In this video, our team of Dan Huiting, Andre Durand, and Chris Hadland recap a few of the final shows they saw at SXSW this year, including all seven bands at our Gimme Noise and First Ave day party and a performance by Okkervil River.More >>

Photo by Ben Clark

Phantom Tails at SXSW

​It's a strange thing, going from the constant cacophony of thousands of bands playing at once down to nothing at all. But it's a process that is as much a part of attending SXSW as all of the incidentals of the festival: BBQ, suntan lotion, beer, beer, beer. Sure, I feel a bit hungover on life right now, but I'm also feeling an overwhelming sense of pride for my hometown and a stronger sense of unity pulsating through the scene than I've ever seen or felt before -- and for that reason alone, I hope you'll give me just a few more minutes of your time to reflect on the experience that was attending SXSW in 2011.

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Photo by Stacy Schwartz

​Perusing the internets in a flash of free time during the SXSW festival, I noticed something that computed awkwardly. Who is that on Alison Mosshart's t-shirt?More >>

Photo by Craig Hlavaty/Houston Press

​What started as a once-in-a-supermoon chance to see a one-off reunion show by cult favorites Death From Above 1979 ended in a dramatic scene Saturday night, as a crowd watching the show from outside the fenced-in backyard of the Beauty Bar decide to take to the flimsy chain-link barrier and pull it down.More >>

Photos by Erik Hess

​You know it's time for SXSW to be over when even a Yoko Ono show is full of pushy, angry people and there's a riot happening just outside. The iconic professor of peace did her best to reach out to the tired audience, peering out over a pair of dark oval sunglasses to peer into the eyes of the people standing in the front rows while grinning a sweet smile. Dressed in all black with a white scarf tied around her neck and a black wide-brimmed hat, and galloping around the stage like a spry little cowgirl, Ono looked pretty pleased to be playing a show in Texas.More >>

Photos by Ben Clark

​When P. Diddy came out at the beginning of Lil B's headlining set at the Fader Fort, most people in the audience assumed he only stopped in to give a shout-out and leave (he was scheduled to perform at the Perez Hilton party later in the evening). Little did we know we were in for much more.More >>

Photos by Ben Clark

​"Hi, this is our college band," Justin Vernon said after DeYarmond Edison finished their first song. "We haven't played a show in seven years until right now."More >>

Photo by Ben Clark

​Teri Gender Bender of Le Butcherettes is my new favorite frontwoman. With a violent, piercing stare, she seemed to flip a switch about halfway through her set at Peckerhead's this afternoon, going from an innocent looking frontwoman with a pretty singing voice to a shrieking madwoman fronting a blistering punk band.More >>