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 the young knives at sxsw
 to access audio and video on collective you need real player.A band’s eye view of the Texan new music bonanza. On Tuesday 14th March we played Nottingham Social, the last in a 30-show tour of the UK. On Wednesday 15th we rocked up to a 400-capacity venue on Austin’s famous 6th Street. Having had about three hours sleep we had some broken old equipment pushed into our hands and, dazed, we launched into show 31.After driving up and down the M1 in a failing Transit in February we were not sure how much more fun we could have. However, what we hadn't realised was that we had completely forgotten what fun was and that SXSW was about to put proper grins back on our faces, and reignite our passion for new and exciting music.  The Young Knives and hobbit, Zane Lowe's BBQ The festival is mainly based on 6th Street. In every bar, hairdressers, cinema and spare piece of land there’s a stage, and in many places there are two or three - one in the bar, one on the roof and one in the garden. By Day 2 we were fresh and ready. It was 27 degrees and we took a taxi out to a proper spit and sawdust bar. There was a man with cheetah marks tattooed on his whole body, with a slavering Alsatian. First up were Quit Your Day Job: a keyboardist in his pants and an amphetamine-driven guitarist, both grinning like escapees from a mental asylum: awesome. After they finished I could hear what sounded like Eddie Argos coming from the tent across the road. It was. Watching Art Brut smash up a packed tent got us right in the mood and we raced back to our venue. With no PA, no stage and 50 people in front of us we played probably the best show we’ve ever done. It was only topped by the one we did the next day, and then the next. Why this was we can only speculate, but it was probably a combination of heat, competitiveness and pure joy.  The band has a Westlife moment, thumbs up for The Young Knives During the rest of the time we floated along the central streets of Austin seeing bands and musicians we’d never heard of, being inspired to rush home and steal all the good ideas. Our best discovery of the week was Cold War Kids. Experimental but brilliant folky rock from LA. Nice. The week was rounded off nicely with a trip to the top of an eight-storey parking lot for the Gang Of Four party. Highlights being the free tequila and a photo op with Elijah Wood. Oh yeah, and the show was good too.
The Young Knives
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