In the nearly-85-degree heat of the day, we decided it was only fair to dance to some astro-pop beach rock music under some trees in a backyard at the Brooklyn Vegan showcase. Enter, Django Django, a Jestons-meets-Beach-Boys threesome that is perfect for summer jamming. Afterwards we caught Tennis, a band whose frontwoman gives female rockers a good name. Her simultaneously strong and soothing vocals are the perfect compliment to the danceable rock group at her back.
Another tip for first-time SXSW attendees—pay attention to your twitter feed. After relentless searching, we caught wind of a Santigold performance at Stubb’s and booked it over there in time to catch the final few songs (after some equally relentless and pushy pleading with the doorman). On one of the larger stages of the festival, Santigold maintained her epic, cool mystique along with two backup dancers that seemed to be half human, half robot. It was rumored we missed the appearance of a horse onstage.
After this performance we parted ways to catch a couple of show we were both hoping to see. Jaime ventured across town for Ava Luna—who made an appearance in Madison just two weeks ago—but despite their powerhouse vocals and soul-filled harmonies they looked a little burnt out. A week of non-stop, multiple-performances-a-day will do that to a band though, we suppose. She also caught the very last song of Astro’s set. They had a rock-pop sound and departed the stage in a flurry of Spanish. They may have said they were from Chile? Either way, it left her intrigued.
Since these performances were so short Jaime also headed to The Wild Honey Pie and Paper Garden Records showcase at an intimate wine bar venue. She had never heard of them before but a band called Lucius, sporting matching outfits, put on a captivating show, with their five members utilizing everything from a mandolin to cowbells to make a full, rich blend of vocals, guitar and percussion and rounded out the night with a beautifully remastered tribute to Whitney Houston.
Riley went in the opposite direction and caught the first few songs of Go Back to the Zoo, an indie rock group from the Netherlands. Despite a relatively sparse audience, the band put their all into the performance, creating energy out of thin air. Their sound was relatively standard rock, but their stage presence was undeniable. Riley finally arrived at Stubb’s for Of Monsters and Men: Despite the fact that their only album out right now is a four-song EP, the field was packed with fans there just for them. With the energy of the crowd at their beck and call, the performance was excellent, and well worth waiting in line.
We reconvened for St. Lucia, one of our favorite performances of the festival. Of all the non-electronic performances this week, this show had the highest energy by far. The entire venue couldn’t help but move and sway to their organic dance beats and those in the front row shouted lyrics along with the grinning band. St. Lucia’s high energy and happy sound has us excited to listen to more.
We split up again—so many shows, so little time—to catch the last acts of our trip.
Jaime made her way to The Madison to get her dance on in a bass frenzy with Sepalcure in their only night set at Southby. Machinedrum, our previously mentioned bass god, makes up one half of this DJ duo and the addition of his partner, Braille did nothing to hold him back. They spun some fantastic mixes that were impossible to stand still for and then stayed after their set to dance with the crowd to the night’s final mix master, Salva. This guy also delivered, tormenting the crowd with waves of drawn out buildups only to have them come cascading down in reverberating bass bliss. The carefully orchestrated mix of tempos and drops make both Sepalcure and Salva must sees for any electro/dub lover.
In the 1 a.m. timeslot, Riley caught Cloud Nothings’ set. They absolutely killed it. Their band was an exercise in juxtaposition—screaming vocals were coming out of someone who looks like your calculus tutor and incredible riffs coming from a lead guitarist that looks like the guy that smoked cigarettes in the high school bathroom; the performance was entertaining to say the least. With a venue half the size of Der Rathskeller completely packed, their tougher-than-usual rock ‘n’ roll sound even incited a mosh pit.
The thousands of up-and-coming artists that flooded the streets (and bars, patios, backyards, porches, rooftops and bridges) of Austin this week simply blew us away. SXSW has been a reminder of the raw talent that is constantly waiting to be discovered. Although we weren’t able to stay in Austin for Saturday’s lineup (which was incredible… sigh), the past week will go down in the Beggin-Brackeen history books as one of the most blissful, musically and culturally enlightening weeks we have experienced in our two decades of existence.
