Even though SXSW seems to start earlier every year (like Christmas!) and end later, officially and unofficially, Saturday night really signals the end of the festivities. And instead of going off with a bang, by the fourth night of the festival, many of us are so tired and deaf that slinking off away from the noise holds more and more of an appeal. But we gave it our all on our last night of SXSW, starting early and ending late.

First we hit up the Music By the Slice party at Homeslice pizza, where we caught Port O’Brien. This is a band out of California that we first caught wind of at the Monolith Festival last year, where we sponsored a stage and ran around all weekend catching and interviewing bands. Since it was only noon, we didn’t expect a raucous set from the band, but their Cali rock was actually perfectly energetic and gave the day a real kick in the pants. The band played new material, songs from their 2008 release All We Could Do Was Sing, and closed with the barnstorming “I Woke Up Today,” complete with audience participation.

We headed east to the Moose Lodge after this performance to catch their festivities. Kind of an equivalent to the VFW Halls around the country that occasionally act as live music venues, the Moose Lodge is now making money by hosting bands on almost any given night. The large hall was hosting four bands, and we caught The Numerators out of Lubbock, a bunch of young guys dressed like ironic hobos and whose shtick mostly consisted of jarring noise rock and blippy iPod rap. The enthusiasm was there, but the songs still have a ways to go.

The Moose Lodge was just starting to get warmed up, so we hit up the Mess With Texas Fest to check out the scene there. Like the great Fun Fun Fun Fest held the last three years, Waterloo Park hosts the Mess With Texas event, and with two giant stages, is like the Fun Fun Fun Fest’s younger sibling (the Fun Fest, maybe?). The side stage seemed to host only unimpressive punk from the likes of Japanther, etc., so we caught the tail-end of the Vivian Girls, who sounded not fantastic in such a large setting, and all of The Thermals, the Portland punk trio who made a big splash a few years back.

It was an okay time, but the bands were really obscured by what was going on around us – huge lines for the bathroom, super-expensive drinks, and a fashion parade to rival anything you see on 6th Street over the weekend. Spandex, day-glo, odd headgear, and enough Ray-ban sunglasses to fill Ft. Knox were just a few distractions that caught the eye, and hunger/fatigue eventually persuaded us to leave the parade, eat some grub, and check out the Scoot Inn for our last SXSW show.

It’d be a shame to escape SXSW without any real hip-hop under our belts, so it was a great thing to catch the Strange Famous Records showcase at the Scoot Inn to cap off the festival. Strange Famous is a label begun by artist Sage Francis, and which specializes in somewhat out-of-the-ordinary, underground hip hop.

Our impetus for visiting the showcase was another Monolith find - Scroobius Pip vs. Dan le Sac, a British dj and rap duo who made waves with the critic-baiting “Thou Shalt Always Kill.” Despite being dismissed as a one-off by some, we found the group’s performance at Monolith exciting and loads of fun, and we were left wanting more. Unfortunately, Pip’s right-hand man, Dan le Sac was missing, which left the MC up to his own devices. At first this seemed like a huge letdown, but Scroobius Pip just amped up his performance, giving the audience a chance to sing along with “The Beat That My Heart Skipped” and otherwise making up for the fact that their duo had become an uno.

Next came Buck 65, a Canadian MC who seemed more than comfortable just rapping along to a backing track. It’s a little difficult to put Buck 65 in proper perspective, but here we go – he predates the nerd-core genre by a solid decade, at least, and his quick but stumbling flow best approximates Beck circa Mellow Gold, wrapping about vegetables and Novocain. His saunter and aloof style made it a little difficult to take Buck 65 entirely seriously, especially when he began his set by rapping over takes of “Whip It” by Devo and Fugazi’s “Waiting Room.”

The MC and newly minted Strange Famous roster member Sleep came up for a few tracks, having just lost his voice and forced to do a truncated set. Sleep looks like a fresh-faced teenager, but he’s been in the game for years, and his style (though raspy) was impressive. His quick raps were often difficult to decipher, but like Twista, sometimes just the word flow is what it’s all about.

The funny and furious B. Dolan followed, and, like Buck 65 was DJ-less and all about getting a rise out of us, from the spoken word screed he delivered about Justin Timberlake to the song he dedicated to Sarah Palin, “Joan of Arcadia,” which beings with “Joan of Arc had a dildo named Jesus.” Later, it was more playful, with Dolan stripping to an Evil Knievel to the accompaniment of “Eye of the Tiger” and “The Final Countdown,” and bravely jumping over a stage monitor.

That set the stage for the final act, headliner Sage Francis. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or having watched twelve billion bands already, but Francis’ set, which included a call-and-response of LL Cool J’s “Damage!” shout-out from “Momma Said Knock You Out” over the MOP track “Ante Up” felt lacking.

Either way, it wasn’t the worst way to end SXSW, which would’ve included standing in a long line, in the sun, for hours the way so many of our fellow festival-goers had decided to do all week. For now, we say adieu, and until next year.

Thanks to Molly Wardlaw for her photography!