The music festival where unsigned bands from around the world mingle with underground heroes, cult faves, and superstars. Since this Bostonist still hasn't made the pilgrimage to South By Southwest, a trip through the Internet tubes gave us an idea how our local bands fared.

It's a mind-blowing proposition for the rabid music fan who wants to maximize quality or quantity, even before it swelled to its current size. What started as a laid-back showcase of the Austin music scene has turned into a Texas-sized monster with more than 1,700 bands (and hundreds more playing "unofficial" gigs) in a five-day cluster bomb of shows. There's so much video content on the web, someone could watch almost all of it before next year's fest.

By The Numbers (Fuzzy Math Edition)

Bostonist counted 20 'registered' local bands. If you lump in South Shore and Western Mass, including guys who happen to currently live here (Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Steve Smith of Dirty Vegas), there's 10 more. Add Providence (5) and the rest of New England (4), and we're about to hit 40 artists. (Bostonist also saw 22 more bands that recently moved away, have ties to MA, or played unofficial shows.)

Besides the 223 Austin bands, Boston beat out Chicago (34), Seattle (30), and Philly (24) -- but were outnumbered by San Francisco (45), London (47), LA (113), and Brooklyn/NYC (209). The data doesn't suggest much more than we have about the same number of good and ambitious musicians as most cities, since the "big break" potential at SXSW is slightly overstated. And, of course, that New York and Los Angeles attract a bunch of loser bands that don't realistically have a chance of making it...

Boston Bloggy Buzz

The highest profile mention probably goes to White Hinterland (who shared the stage with Bon Iver, Jens Lekman, and ex-Pedro-the-Lion David Bazan) in the NY Times:

Casey Dienel is the 23-year-old songwriter, pianist and wispy-voiced singer of White Hinterland; her gentle melodies carry tales of visionary transformations. She said she was at the festival just hoping that ''if you put yourself out there authentically, you're going to attract people who think like you.''

Our roots-music enjoyed a warm reception. Eli "Paperboy" Reed and The True Loves must have wowed the crowds by the reviews; his contemporary take on classic soul/R&B found a perfect audience in Austin. The Austin Chronicle suggested Paperboy could be the man to hit retro-soul gold like Amy Winehouse and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, and a MOJO magazine editor's blog said, "...the band are nothing if not on fire." Elsewhere in the blogosphere, Sarah Borges was a big hit at the Twangfest Day Party. One guy claimed to see quite a few industry types there, and claims, "If the crowd had its way, [Borges and band] would have played til sunset."

Thanks to Austinist (who covered the hell out of everything there) for hosting The Bleedin Bleedins at their party; and they pleased the crowd. Deer Tick from Providence are an awesome mix Americana and indie-rock and get some attention from music blogs, so some anticipated their appearance and were rewarded. Lovewhip and Audible Mainframe gave the goods at Ron Jeremy's DVD screening party, and the San Antonio Express-News dug Lovewhip Erin Harpe's deep-down Delta blues solo-guitar thang. A British press guy got the quirky power-pop of The Motion Sick, which is a favorite of this Bostonist. Neptune's homemade/junkyard instruments caught the eye of those who're into experimental noise-rock. The Miami New Times thought Brooklyn's (via Hingham & Western MA) Tigercity ranked as one of the best bands of SXSW besides Jens Lenkman and Motorhead...

The surprise coverage for a Boston band went to Ezra Furman & the Harpoons. These Tufts undergrads have been together since '06 and have been making punchy, witty, folky rock without making much of a local splash. At a high high-profile Lou Reed-tribute showcase Ezra wore an ironic t-shirt and introduced his set with a tirade about corporate-sponsored music, and the performance impressed quite a few.

Not all of our homies scored at SXSW. The Dallas Observer was high on Drug Rug, but felt Wild Light tried too hard. TAB the Band underwhelmed a reporter from Ireland, but the sons of Joe Perry should find a label if they really want it... The garage-rock of Muck and the Mires might not appeal to bloggers who think they're "geezer rock".

Local Coverage

Along with providing several videos of local bands The Globe's blog bookended SXSW by interviewing some musicians before and after their trip to Texas. Bassist Erik Wormwood of Tulsa may have had the best post-SXSW quote in The Metro,

SXSW kinda feels like going to Hampton Beach or Old Orchard Beach as a kid: kinda overwhelming, lotsa folks drinking and smoking and laughing and pretty exhausting.

Kudos to Chris Faraone who wrote a tight, informative article in The Herald about local bands with an emphasis on hip-hop, yet he transmitted daily blog entries at the Weekly Dig that were drunkenly gonzo.

Photo of Ezra Furman by Brian Birzer. Used by permission.

Rob looks for cheap fun around Boston and gives you the heads-up at his Cheap Thrills - Boston blog.