After a quick lunch it was over to Cheers Shot Bar on 6th Street, where Jambase was presenting Kayceman’s Treehouse Day Party. This was a small stage, but out on a rooftop deck on a sunny day, very nice setting. Red Cortez out of Los Angeles rocked a two-guitar vintage sound, with vocalist Harley Prechtel-Cortez providing a gritty delivery that grabbed attention. One song sounded a bit like the Airborne Toxic Event, who Red Cortez are friends and former tour mates with. But Red Cortez has a darker and edgier overall sound.

Photo by Sonia Onate

This panel featured former Weather Underground leader Bill Ayers, Wayne Kramer of the MC5, Country Joe McDonald and Kent State 1970 shooting survivor Alan Canfora in a wide-ranging discussion of how music intersected with revolutionary politics and activism in the late ’60s and early ’70s. It was only a shame there weren’t more young musicians in the audience.

“There seemed to be an agreement among everyone that something was wrong [with society],” said Kramer. “Music fit in… because we tell the stories of it… We had a zeitgeist going.”

McDonald said that it was natural for him to put political lyrics in his music because of his radical upbringing, as opposed to most of his contemporaries who were rebelling against straight parents. He said it was this upbringing that enabled him to write his famous “Fixing to Die Rag.”

“Music empowers people… My song didn’t end the war, but it validated your feelings… ‘Four Dead in Ohio,’ wow, it releases your feelings and empowers you… It [music] is addicting, it’s like a drug.”

Ayers said the stomach-turning stories of G.I.s that came home from the Vietnam War were what had energized him and his peers to become active in the anti-war movement and that music was a constant in that movement

“Whenever we came together, we sang,” said Ayers. “It brought us the courage.”

Canfora said he and his classmates never imagined they might actually get shot at in the peaceful May 4, 1970 anti-war protests that saw four students killed and himself among nine wounded.

“We always had the idea that if we kept our distance, we’d be okay,” said Canfora, labeling the May 4 shootings a “barbaric crime which still remains a grievous injustice to this day.”

Ayers called it a “horrible wake-up call to the sewer we lived in,” and went on to describe the lessons of the era. “A mass movement starts with one person, two, three in your own neighborhood… This is the lesson… You fight and lose, you fight and lose, fight and lose, and then you win one.”

Canfora said music was a key part of the activism at Kent State that he felt helped eventually end the Vietnam War.

“Our goal was a strategy to bring the war home… We helped stop a criminal, imperialist war. We rose to that task and we won and that revolution continues today, and it was inspired by music,” said Canfora, who cited Country Joe & the Fish, the MC5 and Jefferson Airplane as key influences.

A line in Jefferson Airplane’s 1969 classic “We Can Be Together” was cited by both Canfora and Ayers as one of the most inspiring and on-point lyrics of of the times – “We are forces of chaos and anarchy…and we are very proud of ourselves.” Canfora cited modern punk bands the Casualties, the Unseen and Anti-Flag as current acts following in the revolutionary tradition, saying the lyrics now are much more powerful than what his generation had.

“It’s still going on today… The fact that SXSW is thriving is a good example of how we have won this revolution,” said Canfora in reference to the way that rock ‘n’ roll has become a huge part of American culture instead of just the counterculture.”

I’d passed on Spoon’s headlining set at Stubbs to see Nas & Damian Marley, but the Austin-based indie rockers were still playing when the Emos’ show let out, so I went back in to catch the end of the set. I’ve been lukewarm on the band, although they have certain tunes I dig. I guess I just don’t understand their formula of playing two or three songs that are kinda blah, then throwing down a hard-hitting rocker, then two more blah, then another rocker. So the set was kind of up and down to this reporter’s view, as opposed to last year’s Wednesday night headliner set at Stubbs when the Decemberists captivated the crowd with a full performance of their Hazards of Love album.

Back over to Emo’s main outdoor stage for a highly-anticipated midnight set from Nas & Damian Marley, who have a new collaborative album out. The place was packed and rightfully so, for this was a truly electrifying set mixing the ace hip-hop skills of Nas with the classic reggae vibe of the Marley clan. Nas opened it up with one of his classic raps and then introduced Marley, who sang/rapped over a “One Love” groove. The duo kept mixing reggae and hip-hop throughout the set, such as on “As We Enter,” which featured a line from Nas about the duo being “real revolution rhymers.” “Only the Strong” was another strong moment from Nas, while Marley later rocked a “Road to Zion” jam with Nas proclaiming “revolutionary warfare from Damien Marley.” The crowd loved every minute of the superb 45-minute set. This pair definitely won the best new duo of SXSW award and are surely an act to watch in 2010.

I caught up with Broken Bells here at Stubbs since they followed Jones with an 11:00 PM set. The new band from the Shins’ James Mercer and Danger Mouse was definitely one of the most buzzed about. This probably comes from the fact that the Shins have quite simply become one of the most influential bands of the 21st century’s first decade. The Broken Bells sound a lot like the Shins, frankly, due to the distinctive voice and talent of James Mercer. But there’s less guitar and more keys and samples, triggered by Mr. Mouse on drums. The band has a groovy if laid back sound that seemed to hold the crowd’s attention fairly well. “Vaporize” and “Mongrel Heart” both have that classic Shins-y vocal from Mercer over a Shins-y type of groove, which seemed to resonate. The last two songs also featured more guitar, which helped build the energy some more, with Danger Mouse also playing guitar at the end over a sampled beat. It wasn’t the dazzling set that SXSWers have come to expect from evening showcases at Stubbs, but this is a new band, so it’s only logical that they might need some time to develop. There’s definitely some potential here, though.