Every year the Artery Foundation, a music management company, hosts two showcases at SXSW: a free day show and an official show. The free show brings out more than 15 bands, attracts hundreds of people and always leaves a good number of fans outside the venue because of capacity limits.

The official show, held at the Cedar Door, is scaled down to six bands and attracts slightly fewer people, but it still leaves many fans out in the cold.

The official show started off with a set from Bury Tomorrow, a post-hardcore band from the United Kingdom. Bury Tomorrow is a typical post-hardcore band with sing-scream trade-offs and synchronized head banging, but the band put on an exciting show that pumped up the whole audience.

The most memorable part of Bury Tomorrow’s set was when the guitarist specifically pointed out his Lady Gaga shirt and dared anyone to laugh.

Following Bury Tomorrow, Asking Alexandria, another British band, took the stage. Mixing post-hardcore with electronic-techno beats to create their truly successful sound, Asking Alexandria was very well received by the audience at the Cedar Door.

The band was lucky to even take the stage, because, before the showcase started, the lead singer lost his SXSW musician pass and was temporarily not allowed access to the venue.

Evergreen Terrace, a hardcore/metal band from Florida, was up next. With the hardest sound of all the bands of the night, Evergreen Terrace’s show was filled with breakdowns, crowd surfing and lots of tattooed fists pumping the air.

The most surprising part of the show was when the lead singer announced that he was stoked to see Muse and planned to rush over to Stubb’s right after the band’s set.

I See Stars, a six-piece electro-hardcore band from Michigan, went on after Evergreen Terrace. Like Bury Tomorrow, I See Stars also followed the sing-scream pattern and surprisingly was the only band at the showcase able to get a full-blown mosh pit going. The band was lead by 17-year-old lead singer Devin Oliver, dressed very Luke Skywalker-esque in all black, and 19-year-old lead screamer Chris Moore, sporting a hefty Afro.

Breathe Carolina took the stage next and completely changed the atmosphere in the Cedar Door. The band’s sound is purely electronic but adds screams and clean vocals to the mix. When the band stepped on the stage, all light vanished except the near constant multi-colored strobe lights behind the singers and keytar player. With a booming bass beat alongside the strobe flashes, the show felt more like a rave than a music concert.

Everyone bounced along to the music, making Breathe Carolina’s performance the best of the night.