Delta Spirit headlined the Conflict Of Interest showcase with a late night set at The Hype Hotel Tuesday, 13 March. The California five-piece stormed the stage at 1AM and played an energetic 45 minute set, spurring explosive energy amongst badge and wristband holders. Drinks flew and fists pumped as Delta Spirit rocked out old favorites mixed with new cuts off their brand new, self-titled album coincidentally released the same day.

They tore up the stage with the romantic “Bushwick Blues” and raised hell with the anthematic “People C’Mon”. Thanks to an enthusiastic audience, Texas humidity and Delta Spirit’s heart-wrenching poetic finesse, I left The Hype Hotel one blissed out hot and happy mess.

The sound technicians were a bit off their game, and the crowd at Spill had thinned out by the time Cadence Weapon took the stage at 1AM. In other words, it was a typical end of the night scenario for the first day of SXSW. Of course, Rollie Pemberton wasn’t bothered by any of this. Exhibiting the kind of poise and professionalism that only comes with many years of experience, he ably proved with his set of mostly new songs that it doesn’t matter who is in the room or what the circumstances are, you will have fun at a Cadence Weapon show.

Festival season has descended upon the land down under, and leading the pack is Harvest, a day-long event featuring an array of unique and talented acts. Taking place at Werribee Park in Melbourne, the inaugural edition of Harvest Presents “The Gathering” is being described as “one incredible day for discerning music lovers”.

Portishead will headline the Melbourne edition of Harvest (with similar day-long editions occurring the following weekend in Sydney and Brisbane) in what will be their first show in Australia in fourteen years. While Portishead’s performance will be sure to draw attention, festival organizers have outdone themselves with a collection of the music world’s most celebrated and diverse acts, including The National, The Flaming Lips, Bright Eyes, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Holy Fuck, The Family Stone, Mercury Rev, Death In Vegas, The Walkmen, Dappled Cities, PVT, This Town Needs Guns, The Holidays and Phosphorescent to name a few.

About 20 minutes or so into Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.‘s set I was reminded that, in the same way one should not judge a book by its cover, one should never judge a band by their name. Admittedly, before their ACL festival performance, I was pretty sure I would never cross paths with this band for exactly that reason. It really is a ridiculous name. However, fortunately for me, festivals have a way of bringing you face to face with bands you might not otherwise hear. The pair took to the stage wearing matching, color-checkered jackets. They then proceeded to do a half spin to reveal “Jr.” in print on the back of each jacket. While the band definitely has a sense of humor about themselves, not just in their bold fashion choices but in their banter between songs, it does not really prepare you for the gentle, understated pop music they performed.

Much like Loretta Lynn experienced back in 2004, Wanda Jackson was recently given some new musical life, through a collaboration with Jack White. However, to watch her live, at a spritely 73 years of age, it is hard to imagine she ever really needed any help at all. Looking every bit like the Queen of Rockabilly, she seemed perfectly at ease on the stage, dressed in a bright pink, layered fringe jacket and sparkling earrings. Mixing a number of originals with a handful of choice covers, like Hank William’s “I Saw the Light” and Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel”, the Queen may have lost a step since her early days but she hasn’t lost a bit of the swagger or the vocal bite.