C2SV Music Festival + Technology Conference straddles Silicon Valley’s technical right brain and artsy left brain, bringing both together for four days packed with conversations about technology and more than 50 bands, ranging from local acts to internationally recognized headliners.

The festival and conference, arriving Sept. 26-29 in Downtown San Jose, was conceived with six simple words on the boozy streets of Austin after a few epic days of music last year at SXSW: “We need something like this here.”

And it’s true. Silicon Valley needs an event that showcases technology and music in Silicon Valley—just down the road from big shots like Facebook and Google, but more importantly, where hundreds of entrepreneurs are still putting ideas into action looking for digital gold.

For years, we’ve traveled to Austin or Seattle or Vegas to check out the next big thing in technology when many of the startups that will change the world tomorrow are literally right here, around the corner. Meanwhile, the music scene often takes a backseat to grand technological concepts, but look around Silicon Valley and pockets of brilliance emerge from barroom stages, art galleries and nightclubs. Bring in a few national headliners like Iggy and The Stooges, the Lemonheads and the Coup and there’s a real opportunity to see something new, build new relationships and get inspired right here on our home turf.

How It Works
Similar to a musical bar crawl, the C2SV music festival takes over 12 Downtown venues with more than 50 bands and an afternoon concert at St. James Park with Iggy and The Stooges, Thee Oh Sees, Bosnian Rainbows and local retro favorites The Bang.

With a four-day wristband (the best deal for those who want to see multiple bands), attendees can walk from venue to venue to customize their own lineup. Single-day and single-show tickets are also available for those who just want to see one or two bands.

An accompanying technology conference at McEnery Convention Center features more than 70 speakers discussing a variety of topics, ranging from wearable technology and augmented reality to the first public interview with controversial technologist John McAfee.

Thursday Kickoff
C2SV starts early on Thursday with registration for the tech conference opening at 8am. Web personality and social media enthusiast Robert Scoble will deliver the first keynote of the conference, followed by panels on the latest developments with Bitcoin, social media business strategy and factors that will shape the web over the next 20 years—and that’s all before lunch.

After a lunch break, panelists discuss technology’s role in disruptive political change, Hollywood’s emerging footprint in Silicon Valley and the next generation of artificial intelligence apps, among other topics.

After the conference, the focus shifts to music with a kick-off party at Cafe Stritch featuring the Phenomenauts, E V Kain and Dinners.

Friday
The tech conference returns Friday, starting with a keynote from Jeff Stibel, author of Breakpoint: Why the Web Will Implode, Search Will Be Obsolete, and Everything Else You Need To Know about Technology Is in Your Brain. Other topics include ecommerce, the transportation sharing revolution, the next wave of digital photography, wearable technology and more.

The music lineup gains momentum with more than 20 acts performing throughout the night, including Silicon Valley’s electro-rock breakouts the Limousines and headlining sets from alt-rock pioneers the Lemonheads and L.A. hardcore band Off!

Saturday
The peak day at the technology conference and music festival arrives Saturday, starting with a keynote from James Williamson and a fireside chat from John McAfee.

Williamson helped shape garage rock and early punk rock with Iggy and The Stooges before hanging up his guitar to pursue a 30-year career in Silicon Valley.

The most controversial appearance on the C2SV lineup, McAfee fled Belize in December 2012 after authorities accused him of murdering his neighbor—a charge he denies that U.S. authorities have refused to pursue. He re-emerged in Portland this year with a viral video parodying media-fueled rumors of drug use, violence and various sexual escapades. His fireside chat is his first public interview since returning to the U.S.

The music lineup starts early with a day show at Café Stritch headlined by San Francisco indie rockers Social Studies before the action moves to St. James Park with The Bang, Bosnian Rainbows (featuring Omar Rodríguez-López and Deantoni Parks from Mars Volta), San Francisco garage rock favorites and Coachella 2013 alumnus Thee Oh Sees, and Iggy and The Stooges.

That night, the party moves back Downtown with a variety of music, ranging from political hip-hop from the Coup and a DJ set from Dam-Funk to psychedelic rock from Sleepy Sun and dance parties with Party Ben, Sonido Clash and Shea Butter of BVMO.

Sunday
With the technology conference over on Sunday, the festival shifts completely to music with folk-rockers Rin Tin Tiger, local favorites the Trims and Anya and the Get Down, and Detroit emcee and producer Black Milk closing with the final performance of the festival.

Find more info on tickets and the complete schedule at the official C2SV Website.

Complete Music Lineup:

FRIDAY
Lemonheads
OFF!
Limousines
Dirty Ghosts
The Flames
Soulful Obsession
BVMO Crew
Tom, Dick and Harry
Trails and Ways
Deafheaven
Claw Hammer
Torches
The Revival featuring Julius Papp & The Selecter DJ Kirk
DLRN
The JurassiC
The Burning of Rome
The Icarus Line
DJ K-Von
Talky Tina
Containher
Amonie

SATURDAY
Iggy and The Stooges
Bosnian Rainbows
Thee Oh Sees
Fatso Jetson
The Coup
Mondo Generator
Sleepy Sun
G.F.P.
Tera Melos
Dam-Funk (DJ Set)
Vinroc of Triple Threat
The She’s
Mary and the Manchild
Soft White Sixties
Haptic Synapses
Onward, Etc.
Curious Quail
Social Studies
The Bang
Brother Grand
DJ Carlos C
Occult Wisdom
Holy Child
Workout DJs
DJ Oro 11 and Deejay Theory
The New Trust
DJ Rogcon
Shea Butter of BVMO
Dirty Pillows
Finish Ticket
Party Ben
B. Lewis
Teeko of 4oneFunk
Bibles & Hand Grenades
Shinobu
Picture Atlantic
Eliquate
Sonido Clash

SUNDAY
Black Milk
Anya and the Getdown
The Trims
Cartoon Bar Fight
Raw Geronimo
The Albert Square
Rin Tin Tiger
Stumblebunny

The lineup for San Jose’s C2SV Festival continues to grow with the addition of Thee Oh Sees, Bosnian Rainbows, G.F.P. (with Greg Hetson and Tony Alva), Sleepy Sun, Party Ben and The Phenomenauts accompanying headliners Iggy And The Stooges, local favorites The Limousines and more.

Fronted by guitarist and vocalist John Dwyer, Thee Oh Sees are arguably San Francisco’s most popular band of the moment. The band began as OCS, (which is an acronym for Orinoka Crash Suite, Orange County Sound, or whatever Dwyer decided it was on any given day) a vehicle for the experimental instrumentals he was producing in his home studio. Eventually, the project morphed into a real band and, after several more name permutations—the Oh Sees, the Ohsees—finally settled on Thee Oh Sees. The band performed at Coachella this year and also drew big crowds in Austin for SXSW.

After Mars Volta’s hiatus and eventual dissolution, frontman Omar Rodriguez-Lopez moved on to his new project, first named the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group and now Bosnian Rainbows. Promising a similar sound to Mars Volta but with less prog rock, the new band released it’s first album June 25.

For more info on the festival lineup, visit c2sv.com/music.

The latest edition of SXSW closed Sunday in Austin, leaving behind massive mounds of Lone Star empties, sleepless nights for thousands of music fans, chance encounters with greatness and missed opportunities.

It’s a festival that’s a blessing and curse. There’s no other place in the world where you can find as many people involved with music in one place—from icons to no-name bands camping out in their van just for a chance to perform—but it’s also impossible for one person to see every act on their wish list. There is just too much going on and too many people trying to get into venues much to small for the talent inside.

PHOTOS: View the complete Metro photo gallery from SXSW.

A short list of the numerous icons to touch down in Austin over the weekend: Prince played for about 300 people to close the festival, Depeche Mode debuted new songs and Iggy Pop nearly had to be pulled from the stage after his set with the Stooges. Rap superstars Snoop Dogg, T.I., 50 Cent, P. Diddy and Kendrick Lamar also performed. A rumored Daft Punk show never materialized, but DeadMau5, Flying Lotus, Baauer and Skream were among the many electronic artists.

Below are highlights from the big-ticket acts we caught and bands we’re looking out for in 2013 and beyond:

Sound City Players
After delivering an 11 a.m. keynote speech (early morning in SXSW hours) Dave Grohl kept the party going late into the night at Stubb’s with his own little music festival featuring a cast of characters mostly from his new Sound City documentary. It was essentially a soundtrack that you might hear at a dive bar on any given night, but only played live in front of a few thousand fans. Stevie Nicks started the all-star lineup, followed by Lee Ving of Fear and Rick Springfield with Grohl and the Foo Fighters backing.

Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen made an appearance with Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor belting out “Surrender.” The set ended with Bay Area icon John Fogerty running through Creedence Clearwater Revival, including “Born on the Bayou” and “Proud Mary,” before closing with Grohl swapping versus on “Fortunate Son.”

T.I. at Fader Fort during SXSW. Photo by Matt Crawford.

T.I., Usher and the Afghan Whigs
With stylists giving out free mohawks and an open bar with Whiskey-laced lemonade and beer, Fader Fort drew huge crowds and a 100-yard line of hopefuls looking for access to the party. The pop-up venue lived up to its reputation for surprises on Friday starting with an unannounced performance by Houston rapper Trae The Truth. The venue was packed early with mostly Texas locals rapping with him word-for-word before the place went nuts with a surprise appearance by T.I., who plowed through a few of his hits with Pharrell and B.o.B among the performers crowding the stage.

After more than two hours of hip hop (Future performed after Trae), the scene flipped to the opposite side of the musical spectrum with indie rock vets the Afghan Whigs. The band played tracks of their own before working into a verse of Usher’s Diplo-produced track “Climax.” The crowd erupted again as the R&B vocalist stepped out from backstage to finish the song and the rest of the set with the band. Brooklyn artist Sinkane also made a cameo and traded vocals with Usher on his afrobeat-influenced track “Runnin’.”

Scarface of the Geto Boys at SXSW. Photo by Matt Crawford.

Geto Boys
Legendary Houston rap crew the Geto Boys brought a night of twisted hip hop nostalgia to a few hundred people lucky enough to get into an exclusive show hosted by Red Bull. The gangsta rap OGs came out of semi-retirement and brought classics to the stage like “Mind Playing Tricks Me” and “Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta” along with deeper tracks from their catalog. Potential good news for Bay Area fans: At the end of the show Willie D announced the group will go on tour later this year.

George Clinton at the Finding the Funk Panel at SXSW. Photo by Matt Crawford.

Finding the Funk Panel
With live shows going from noon into the early-morning hours every day during SXSW, it’s easy to overlook some of the panel discussions and performances planned at Austin’s convention center. We caught what is probably the funkiest panel in SXSW history with George Clinton, Bootsy Collins and Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell discussing the origins of funk and their music, along with VH1 producer Nelson George, Soul Rebels drummer Lumar LeBlanc and Sly Stone’s daughter Novena Carmel.

The exchange between Clinton and Collins during a Q&A session that ended the panel was full of laughs as the two cracked jokes with each other and shared war stories about taking acid, groupie love and buying the Mothership (it’s now parked at the Smithsonian) for the Mothership Connection tour in the 1970s.

Never short on one-liners, Collins offered this nugget when asked about what he thinks about modern funk musicians: “Every generation will have their own angle on the dangle.” Will Clinton, Collins and Worrell share the stage again for a show? “I’m horny for that,” Clinton replied.

Bands to Watch this year:

John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees at SXSW. Photo by Matt Crawford.

Thee Oh Sees
It’s already been a big year for Thee Oh Sees, the San Francisco band with the most momentum going into SXSW. They’ve mastered the art of throwing a blazing rock ’n’ roll party, and the crowd that arrived in Austin to see them clogged the bar patio and stage area where they played a late afternoon set on Saturday. Fans closest to the action onstage were covered in sweat, beer and crowd surfers while the band worked through its set with few pauses. Thee Oh Sees are off to Coachella next before heading to Europe.

Thurston Moore with Chelsea Light Moving at SXSW. Photo by Jennifer Anderson.

Chelsea Light Moving
With Sonic Youth on indefinite hiatus after his marital split with bandmate Kim Gordon in 2011, Thurston Moore introduced his new band, Chelsea Light Moving, at SXSW to a few hundred people at Thrasher’s Texas Style Death Match party. Sonic Youth probably won’t get back together anytime soon, but this is the closest of the group’s various solo projects to the Sonic Youth sound—heavy riffs from Moore that channel the early punk energy of the band with references to mellower more recent releases.

Eric Victorino of the Limousines at SXSW. Photo by Jennifer Anderson.

The Limousines
The Limousines always draw big crowds in San Jose, but it was also great to see a large following show up for their final show in Austin this year. After a break from SXSW last year, they were back with three shows and finished with a short Saturday night set that forced a line outside to stretch down the street from the full venue. It should also be a big year for the South Bay favorites, who left their label and are working independently on a new album due out this summer after raising $75,000 on Kickstarter. Expect darker undertones on the new release and enhanced production visuals at the band’s next Bay Area shows.

Metro Executive Editor Dan Pulcrano contributed to this report.