Stereogum’s SXSW 2012 Photo Diary

Linda Flores

Stereogum’s SXSW 2012 Photo Diary

Linda Flores

Generally, Wednesday is when the music things get going in Austin, and Tuesday is the changeover between the SXSW festival's Interactive portion, and the full-force band fare. And yet there were bands a plenty last night. "Tuesday is the new Wednesday," is something we heard someone say. Tragically, that person was taken out to an alley shortly thereafter and beaten ...
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Pooneh Ghana
ASAP Rocky @ 1100 Warehouse (Vice Killed Texas) 3/17/12: Things were pretty nuts at the late-night Vice party before ASAP Rocky and his crew even took the stage; during Trash Talk's opening set, crowd members threw everything from full beer cans to 60-gallon trash barrels in the moshpit. The endless and near-inexplicable shower of beer cans didn't end when ASAP and his crew took the stage, and Rocky himself had to restrain members of his crew from running into the crowd and beating down one particular remorselessly assholish member of the crowd. (The guy was standing near me, and I can confirm that other members of the crowd were happy to throw him down to the floor and grab him in various MMA chokeholds repeadtedly instead.) But it eventually got to be too much, I guess, and an already-chaotic performance ended when members of ASAP's crew lunged through the crowd and, from what I understand, beat the shit out of somebody. The set ended in bedlam and confusion. Nobody seemed quite sure what exactly happened, but everyone agreed that it sucked.
Trent Maxwell
Ceremony @ 1100 (Mess With Texas) 3/17/12: With their excellent new album Zoo, the popular critical line on California's Ceremony is that they've given up on being a hardcore band, turning into a straight-up rock crew instead. But live, they remain very much a hardcore crew, with erratic, tatted-up frontman Ross Farrar charging into the pit, passing the mic around, and climbing speaker stacks when necessary. He's a blast to watch, but even without his antics, the scrappy band would still come off punk as fuck; their turbocharged vroom is the sort of thing that evokes VFW Hall matinee memories in anyone predisposed to that sort of thing. I loved them, obviously. -Tom
Linda Flores
Darkside @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/17/12
Pooneh Ghana
Diplo @ Emo's East (Check Yo Ponytail) 3/17/12
Pooneh Ghana
Rusty Lazer @ Emo's East (Check Yo Ponytail) 3/17/12
Pooneh Ghana
Bleached @ Emo's East (Check Yo Ponytail) 3/17/12
Pooneh Ghana
Icky Blossums @ Emo's East (Check Yo Ponytail) 3/17/12
Pooneh Ghana
Mikal Cronin @ Emo's East (Check Yo Ponytail) 3/17/12
Pooneh Ghana
Wavves @ Emo's East (Check Yo Ponytail) 3/17/12
Pooneh Ghana
Wavves @ Emo's East (Check Yo Ponytail) 3/17/12
Pooneh Ghana
Trash Talk @ Emo's East (Check Yo Ponytail) 3/17/12
Trent Maxwell
2:54 @ 1100 Warehouse (Mess With Texas) 3/17/12
Trent Maxwell
Airbird @ Cheer Up Charlie's (True Panther) 3/17/12
ASAP Rocky @ 1100 Warehouse (Mess With Texas) 3/17/12
Trent Maxwell
Deerhoof @ 1100 Warehouse (Mess With Texas) 3/17/12
Trent Maxwell
Doomtree @ 1100 Warehouse (Mess With Texas) 3/17/12
Trent Maxwell
Electric Guest @ Cheer Up Charlie's (True Panther) 3/17/12
Trent Maxwell
Javelin @ Cheer Up Charlie's (True Panther) 3/17/12
Nick Waterhouse
Nick Waterhouse @ 1100 Warehouse (Mess With Texas)
Trent Maxwell
Nite Jewel @ Cheer Up Charlie's (True Panther) 3/17/12
Trent Maxwell
Pure X @ Cheer Up Charlie's (True Panther) 3/17/12
Trent Maxwell
Silent Diane @ Cheer Up Charlie's (True Panther) 3/17/12
Trent Maxwell
Tanlines @ Cheer Up Charlie's (True Panther) 3/17/12
Trent Maxwell
Teengirl Fantasy @ Cheer Up Charlie's (True Panther) 3/17/12
Linda Flores
Stalley @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/17/12
Linda Flores
Ritz @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/17/12
Linda Flores
Pure X @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/17/12
Linda Flores
Kindness @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/17/12
Linda Flores
Dive @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/17/12
Scott Lapatine
Norah Jones @ La Zona Rosa (EMI) 3/17/12
Linda Flores
Best Coast @ Stubb's (SPIN) 3/16/12
Linda Flores
Skrillex @ 1100 Warehouse (Biz 3) 3/16/12: In certain music-nerd circles, Skrillex arrived as a fully-formed punchline, and I simply cannot figure out why. His name and haircut might be a bit silly, but silly names and haircuts have a grand tradition in pop music, and so does all-out zero-subtlety lose-your-shit dance music, which is what Skrillex does. In this massive, packed warehouse, kids were losing their mind every time he's build up to another alarm-call bass-drop, but the set wasn't repetitive; it was actually probably the most musically dynamic set I heard all night. He'd mix in bits of dancehall or Detroit ghetto-tech or Fatman Scoop party breaks. Bits of the set would sound like early-'90s rave or late-'90s breakbeat techno or a Terminator stomping repeatedly on your skull. And when those massive bass-cannons would fire, the sound was so huge and all-consuming that you could practically breathe it in. And I have to say: There's nothing he did onstage that wasn't awesome. I'll take Skrillex's vision of dubstep over James Blake's any day.
Tom Breihan
Free Energy @ ND (Windish Agency) 3/16/12: Free Energy singer Paul Sprangers has cut his short hair, which looks a bit weird. Otherwise, everything about these Philly power-pop revivalists' set was familiar in a great way. Two years ago, I watched this band trot out a set of ridiculously catchy new songs for a fired-up crowd, with Titus Andronicus frontman Patrick Stickles dancing in the front row. This year: Exact same situation, right down to the presence of a very amped Stickles. The songs from Free Energy's forthcoming album feel immediately familiar and endlessly infectious, and the band has such boundless good-natured giddiness onstage that I didn't even mind the complete absence of "Bang Pop" that much. Their sophomore record seems like it won't be much of a departure, and that's good. It should soundtrack a whole lot of summers. -Tom
Linda Flores
El-P @ 1100 Warehouse (Biz 3)begged, literally begged me to give her $25 so she could get in). So, yeah, though I can't exactly tell what happened, the show ended as abruptly as it began, and it appeared they just cut El-P off. Even though El-P himself acknowledged why we he was in Texas in the first place -- "That's why were here," he said. "To sell ourselves to the highest bidder" -- SXSW's growing scale and scope can be merciless. -Corban
Pooneh Ghana
The-Dream @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/16/2012: Since The-Dream has been a Fader cover boy in recent history, a Fader Fort stop was inevitable, and though he careened through hits like "Rockin' That Shit" and "Walkin' On The Moon," it was a pretty nonchalant (as expected) performance that seemed like a mere formality, a necessary stop done as service to an early starmaking shout-out. Though Nash's singing is getting stronger alongside his on-stage persona -- I've previously seen him sing along to his CD in a hotel basement and conduct a portion of a Highline Ballroom set while seated -- there's still a lot of room to improve, despite his obvious gift for stuffing hooks into every corner of his dense, lush pop that's best described as R&B porn. -Corban
Tom Breihan
Narrows @ Scoot Inn (Brooklyn Vegan/Power Of The Riff/Thrasher) 3/16/12: Dave Verellen, lead bellower for the thundering Seattle hardcore band Narrows, used to lead Botch, who, along with Dillinger Escape Plan, once exploded the fractured mathematical possibilities of go-for-broke metalcore. But Verellen's newer band is a relatively straightforward affair, a massively satisfying engine of judder. At the beginning of the show, Verellen, now band and built like a truck, talked about how bands at Narrows' level have to work to recreate the feeling of playing in a basement. Then, on the first song, he barreled straight through the crowd, proving he wasn't kidding. Narrows don't bring the all-out chaos of SXSW MVPs Trash Talk, but their roar is a potent one.
Scott Lapatine
Nite Jewel @ Barbarella Patio (Wax Poetics) 3/16/12
Tom Breihan
All Pigs Must Die @ Scoot Inn (Brooklyn Vegan/Power Of The Riff/Thrasher) 3/16/12: All Pigs Must Die, the blistering Massachusetts crustcore band led by former Hope Conspiracy frontman Kevin Baker, sounds exactly the way you'd hope a band called All Pigs Must Die would sound. Their sound is a seeting triple-time barrage, but it gains even more power when they slow it down into actual crunch-riffs. And even though Baker blasted the guys doing "gym-class jumping-jacks bullshit" in the pit, I have to give a special shoutout to the guy who was doing spinkicks and cartwheels and actual by-god figure-skating moves while careening into his fellow audience members. That takes a certain kind of talent.
Tom Breihan
Dope Body @ Whiskey Room (Strange Victory/Luaka Bop) 3/16/12: A couple of songs into this Baltimore mutant-sludge band's set, I realized that I'd need to figure out a way to cram two earplugs into each ear if I was going to make it through the end. This band takes classic-rock riffs and pigfucks them up beyond all recognition, giving a punishingly loud but deceptively tricky assault. The guitarist kept a vast array of effects-pedals onstage, as well as an Apple laptop -- which, given the amount of onstage thrashing around this band does, seemed pretty dangerous. It's only appropriate that Dope Body is now on Drag City; there's more than a little U.S. Maple in what they do.
Linda Flores
Escort @ Stubb's (SPIN) 3/16/12
Tom Breihan
Lower Dens @ Hype Hotel (I Guess I'm Floating) 3/16/12: On their forthcoming album Nootropics, this Baltimore band's twinkling guitar-driven dream-rock makes a big step toward synthetic Stereolab-informed motorik, a sound that works amazingly well on record. In a setting like this one, where the band had to compete with the conversational din you'll naturally hear in a place were free vodka cocktails and Taco Bell tacos are being handed out, it was a little tougher. Thankfully, the band had the right solution: Just play those gorgeous new songs really, really loud. And for the 20 minutes or so that they were onstage, it worked. Still, your house is a better place to hear those songs than that particular room was.
Scott Lapatine
Poor Moon @ Red 7 (Sub Pop) 3/16/12
Linda Flores
Chairlift @ Stubb's (SPIN) 3/16/12
Linda Flores
The Big Pink @ Stubb's (SPIN) 3/16/12
Linda Flores
Main Attrakionz @ Stubb's (SPIN) 3/16/12
Linda Flores
G-Side @ Stubb's (SPIN) 3/16/12
Linda Flores
Big K.R.I.T. @ Stubb's (SPIN) 3/16/12
Trent Maxwell
Spank Rock @ 1100 Warehouse (Biz 3) 3/16/12
Linda Flores
Hollywood Holt @ 1100 Warehouse (Biz 3) 3/16/12
Trent Maxwell
Titus Andronicus @ 1100 Warehouse (Mess With Texas) 3/16/12
Trent Maxwell
New Build @ 1100 Warehouse (Mess With Texas) 3/16/12
Trent Maxwell
Purity Ring @ 1100 Warehouse (Mess With Texas) 3/16/12
Trent Maxwell
Built To Spill @ 1100 Warehouse (Mess With Texas) 3/16/12
Pooneh Ghana
Peaking Lights @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/16/12
Pooneh Ghana
2:54 @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/16/12
Pooneh Ghana
Girls @ 1100 Warehouse (Mess With Texas) 3/15/12: On some but not all of the dates behind Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Stereogum's favorite album of 2011, Girls brought along the three female backup singers who added exultant gospel harmonies that really drove the LP's grandeur home. I hadn't seen them with these singers, though, until they all crammed into the suffocating-hot 1100 Warehouse for the first day of the Mess With Texas festival, drawing a massive crowd in the process. And with those singers behind them, Girls found a whole new dimension for their already-devastating song, while those singers also brought a sense of giddy joy that Christopher Owens doesn't exactly radiate at the best of moments. During the howling climax of "Vomit," I may or may not have teared up a little bit. Just magnificent. -Tom
Linda Flores
SBTRKT @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/15/2012: SBTRKT is the type of artist that fares exceptionally well in the modern incarnation of SXSW's official festival; he plies in that very accessible, fun-loving, dubstep-y electro pop that holds up well at a day party where people are slamming back drinks and loosening up. And yeah, when he played "Wildfire," he made sure the Drake verse from the remix was tacked on. I'm still not sure about the whole masks thing, but outside of that, SBTRKT knows exactly what he's doing. Also, he can sing a little! Who knew? -Corban
Linda Flores
Mystikal @ Austin Music Hall (DEWeezy) 3/15/2012: Mystikal's been cutting up SXSW, and so it was sort of a given that he'd show up at Weezy's live action Mountain Dew commercial #DEWeezy to reprise his the hits of his OG Cash Money run as well as play a few new ones (that the crowd didn't really go for). Though stuff like "Shake Ya Ass" was received warmly, the crowd went absolutely ballistic for "Move Bitch," in which Mystikal's hyperactive, verge-of-madness flow did not disappoint. -Corban
Linda Flores
Lil Wayne @ Austin Music Hall (DEWeezy): This much can be said about Lil Wayne's SXSW bonanza last night; it was definitely the best live-action soda commercial I've ever been to. As a performance, well, it was pretty meh, leaning way too hard on the Rebirth-y live band arrangements of songs like "John" and "A Milli" (thus killing any chance of improv, though it's not like he ever plays "Get 'Em" live or something) and bringing out Cash Money second-fiddles like Bow Wow for songs (Wayne would then skate off stage). I respect the spirit but it was clumsy in execution and smattered with product placement -- Wayne literally held up a Mountain Dew bottle and yelled "Dew you! Dew you!" By the time Birdman showed up, people had kind of stopped paying attention. Here's to hoping that sentiment doesn't manifest in a bigger problem for Wayne. -Corban
Linda Flores
El P @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/15/2012
Trent Maxwell
Zola Jesus @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/15/12: Nika Roza Danilova is something of an unlikely disco queen, but she sure does inhabit that role with panache. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but the Zola Jesus live show now brings the barely-there dance-music shades in her elemental wail to the forefront. And Danilova is getting better and better at using that furious voice to make music that's grand in a weirdly comforting way. At the Fader Fort, Danilova was resplendent in what looked like a bright-white bed sheet, while her backing band (keyboards, violin, a percussionist that mostly made ominous floor-tom rumbles) toiled away in black behind her. Her presence is huge, and her already-gorgeous songs, in these subtle rearrangements, sound even more so.
Black Hippy @ Clive Bar (#TDE x Filter) 3/15/2012: Black Hippy @ Clive Bar 3/15/2012: The four members of this L.A. rap collective have plenty of reason to feel happy; they've got a fresh new Interscope contract that's reportedly worth a whole lot of money. And there was certainly a celebratory air when Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, and Ab-Soul ended the show by crowding onstage together, jumping around so much that they threatened to knock over their speaker stacks. But really, all four of them, Kendrick in particular, were stars long before Interscope came calling. And the crowd -- young, mostly badgeless -- gave them a rapturous reception, rapping every word right back at them. When rappers as sharp and adventurous as these guys build that sort of groundswell support, it's a truly heartwarming thing to witness. -Tom
Trent Maxwell
Nite Jewel @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/15/12
Trent Maxwell
Alice Smith @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/15/12
Trent Maxwell
Big K.R.I.T. @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/15/12
Trent Maxwell
Eight And A Half @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/15/12
Trent Maxwell
Fidlar @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/15/12
Trent Maxwell
Gary Clark Jr. @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/15/12
Trent Maxwell
Light Asylum @ Red 7 (Mexican Summer) 3/15/12
Trent Maxwell
Oneohtrix Point Never @ Red 7 (Mexican Summer) 3/15/12
Trent Maxwell
Peaking Lights @ Red 7 (Mexican Summer) 3/15/12
Trent Maxwell
Tribes @ Fader Fort (Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/15/12
Pooneh Ghana
The War On Drugs @ Mohawk (Secretly Canadien) 3/15/12
Pooneh Ghana
Theophilus London @ Emo's East (Check Yo Ponytail)
Pooneh Ghana
Mikal Cronin @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/15/12
Pooneh Ghana
Dum Dum Girls @ Emo's East (Check Yo Ponytail) 3/15/12
Pooneh Ghana
Bass Drum Of Death @ Emo's East (Check Yo Ponytail) 3/15/12
Trent Maxwell
Danny Brown @ Fader Fort (The Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/14/12
Trent Maxwell
2 Chainz @ Fader Fort (The Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/14/12: 2 Chainz is in the middle of one of the most remarkable resurgances in recent rap history, emerging as one of Southern rap's most charismatic characters. During his biggest post-Tity Boi hit, "Spend It," everything was working for him, as the crowd swelled to meet his enthusiasm. Later on, he showed up on stage with Kanye at the Belmont. So, you know, things can change.
Trent Maxwell
Young L @ Fader Fort (The Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/14/12
Trent Maxwell
Django Django @ Fader Fort (The Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/14/12
Trent Maxwell
Friends @ Fader Fort (The Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/14/12
Trent Maxwell
Oberhofer @ Fader Fort (The Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/14/12: Sometime after seeing Oberhofer, I was telling one of our photographers that I saw Oberhofer. She said, "Oberhofer! I want to put him on a cracker!" So yeah, the kid is kind of a hearthrob, and that side shines through his rambunctious indie rock in songs like "Away Frm U" and other songs featuring the phrase "ooo-ooo-ooo." -Corban
Trent Maxwell
Troy Noka @ Fader Fort (The Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/14/12
Trent Maxwell
White Arrows @ Fader Fort (The Fader Fort Presented By Converse) 3/14/12
Bek Anderson
Trash Talk @ Lustre Pearl (Life Or Death PR) 3/14/12: "Fuck! Up! Their! Shit!" implored Trash Talk frontman Lee Spielman during the culmination of their set, referring to the gawkers toward the back of the room who'd first fled at first mention of "circle pit." "This is our first show this year," Spielman said. "What month is this?" The pit itself, despite the, you know, violence, was a fraternal affair, where participants (included our own Tom Breihan) chatted happily after the gig like two old friends catching up. For bringing out some of the worst in people (again, the violence), Trash Talk's raucous punk brings out the best, too. -Corban
Linda Flores
Titus Andronicus @ Beauty Bar (Consequence Of Sound) 3/14/12: Other than a fired-up run through The Monitor's "No Future Part Three," Titus stuck entirely with new song during this live wire set. And those new songs sound great -- chunky and ferocious and catchy as always, but with more of a straight-ahead bar-rock stomp than we've heard from them before. Energetic fireball Amy Klein, who left the band last year, was missed, but Patrick Stickles remains one of rock's great intense-but-self-aware frontmen. Though the band sounded a bit more locked-in than they did when they played Richmond last week, they still play their new songs tough and scrappy, with no room for showing off. Like The Monitor, the new album they're working on could be something special. -Tom
Linda Flores
Screaming Females @ Beauty Bar Backyard (Consequence Of Sound) 3/14/12
Linda Flores
Cloud Nothings @ Beauty Bar Backyard 3/14/12:: This band's own form of '90s-style scrape-rock is less chaotic and forbidding than the one the Men offered, more straight-up tuneful. Somehow, the very catchy songs from new album Attack On Memory were even catchier live, even as the band stretched them up with crouched-on-the-ground feedback-freakout solos. The band goes out of their way to avoid theatrics, even mostly eschewing stage banter, but their enormously satisfying crunch-rock is fireworks enough. -Tom
Trent Maxwell
Amen Dunes @ Elysium (Sacred Bones)
Scott Lapatine
The-Dream @ ACL Theater (Billboard) 3/14/12
Scott Lapatine
Lionel Richie @ ACL Theater (Billboard) 3/14/12
Mr. Dream @ Beauty Bar Backyard (Consequence Of Sound)
Bek Andersen
Korallreven @ Barbarella (Dummy XO) 3/14/12: Suffering from the same sound issues as billmate Sleep ∞ Over, the group wasn't as happy-go-lucky with regards to the technical tweaking; the Swedes looked straight up morose ("Look, he's crying!" someone yelled at no one band member in particular. It did not appear he was crying). But, when the show got going, it felt a little flat but the heart was there, Korallreven's warm pulse radiating from the stage, diminished but tangible. -Corban
Bek Andersen
Mobb Deep @ Lustre Pearl (Life Or Death PR) 3/14/12: Mobb Deep's step-out at Lustre Pearl was relatively brief, but it was forceful. Billed as "Prodigy/Mobb Deep," audience members voiced concern about the possibility of Havoc being absent; but dude popped out about three songs in as the crew (Big Noyd also rolled through) racheted through their classics. "Shook Ones (Pt. II)" ended it, obviously, and for at least an evening, we were all not halfway crooks, but full ones. -Corban
Bek Andersen
Sleep ∞ Over @ Barbarella (Dummy XO) 3/14/12: Sleep ∞ Over's Stefanie Franciotti struggled with the same thing that most lo-fi, electronics-heavy artists struggle with as she set up for her hometown set at Barbarella -- trying to get everything to sound right in a divey club more tailored for garage bands. But, after an extended soundcheck, her woozy, druggy waft finally came about, and Franciotti's enthusiasm warmed up a cold, sometimes disaffected synth drone. -Corban
Bek Andersen
Fiona Apple @ Stubb's (NPR Music) 3/14/12
Pooneh Ghana
Blood Orange @ Mohawk (Windish)
Pooneh Ghana
Chairlift @ Mohawk (Windish) 3/14/12
Kasabian @ 1100 Warehouse (101X) 3/14/12
Pooneh Ghana
Turbo Fruits @ Beauty Bar (Panache) 3/14/12
Tom Breihan
Wavves @ Lustre Pearl 3/14/12 (HipHopDX): It's been a few years since I've seen Nathan Williams and his ever-shifting cast of buddies, and I'm happy to say that they've changed from a sloppy shitshow into a fun, efficient pop-punk unit that uses Williams's innate suburban-stoner cockiness to its advantage. Their brief snot-rocket of a set was a lot of fun, and not just because it gave us the wondrous vision of Star Slinger moshing. -Tom
Tom Breihan
Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire @ Lustre Pearl (HipHopDX) 3/14/12: This fired-up Brooklyn MC kept talking about how he'd made the marathon drive from NYC to Austin, but a whole lot of his friends must've made the same drive. His stage was jammed with excitable hometown buddies, including Action Bronson and maybe, possibly ASAP Rocky. (Thought I saw him, didn't get a good look.) This was pure chaos -- tons of dudes with mic, the music so low in the mix that they practically drowned it out. But chaos works for eXquire. His signature track "Huzzah!" sounded massive, and he kept the wave going when he and all his buddies lept into the crowd to start a moshpit during "Fire Marshall Bill." -Tom
Tom Breihan
Action Bronson @ Lustre Pearl (HipHopDX) 3/14/12: Queens rapper Bronson just released the year's best mixtape, the twisty but rock-hard Blue Chips, and his knotty head-knock New York classicism translated surprisingly well to the stage. Bronson's just a massively huge dude, something that becomes even more obvious when you see him in person, and he's got that laconic self-assured fat-guy charisma. (It helped that he had an equally massive dude onstage next to him.) He made his technically fluid rapping look like the easiest thing ever, and he made me very happy when he brought out swag-rap lunatic Riff Raff for their excellent random collab "Bird On A Wire." -Tom
Tom Breihan
Black Tusk @ Barbarella Back Yard (Metal Sux): "We got another one for you. You might know it and you might not. But I promise you: It is all! About! SATAN!" That was James May, the drummer for Savannah swamp-monster power trio Black Tusk and the only member of the band wearing a shirt. (It was a Metallica shirt.) Black Tusk's sound is a glorious take-no-prisoners rumble, and they look exactly the way they sound, with hair and beards and tattoos flying everywhere. All three trade off lead vocals, with each one doing a different variation on the same grunt-roar, and they execute some seriously slick synchronized headbangs and axe-lifts. And if you can't have fun watching this band, then you might have some serious problem. Their live show is a brutal joy. -Tom
Ryan Muir
Santigold @ La Zona Rosa (The Warner Sound) 3/13/12
Amrit Singh
Pond @ Club De Ville (Pianos) 3/13/12: POND have something like eight confirmed SXSW shows. After last night's kick-off, I will suggest to anyone who asks that the remaining seven become a priority. Last night at Club De Ville, POND smacked around the venue's patio with a set of infinitely deep, bong-hit '70s rock riff vamps that sounded a lot like Tame Impala (in part because the bands share two members), just without any of the Tame part. Lead singer Nick Allbrook, who is generally barefooted and motionless as Tame Impala bassist, is entirely recast here as a pint-sized firebrand of a lead singer, contorting and wailing and joining the crowd like he's either in ecstasy, or entirely possessed, or entirely possessed of a lot of Ecstasy. This is music that references a bygone era of classic rock with such genuine love and ability, with such a dynamic frontman, that I stopped thinking about derivation, or imitation, or affiliation, but rather about how I was going to tell you guys to go see them. So, go see them. -Amrit
Tom Breihan
Danny Brown @ 1100 Warehouse (XXL) 3/13/12: Danny Brown is a brave and weird man. Not too many would step onstage at a rap showcase wearing a winged hoodie and skintight Adidas capri pants, and even fewer would spend quite so much time flicking their tongue in the gap where their missing front teeth should be. Brown's weirdness matters because of the vast reserves of talent behind it, and he drove that point home by rapping verse after verse a cappella, letting the crowd hear every writerly syllable in that bazooka squawk of a voice. Brown's the rare rapper who doesn't need hypemen; his inimitable voice alone is enough to cut air, and he'd make any other human look like a snore in comparison. This whole performance was a great moment in rap peacocking. -Tom
Tom Breihan
Light Asylum @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/13/12: "There's not enough room up here," said Shannon Funchess, the more visible half of this Brooklyn duo. "I can't be myself. I can't go crazy." And it's true; she needs a stage bigger than the cramped and tiny indoor Mohawk one, something closer to the stages she routinely steals when she tours with !!!. Light Asylum's brand of synthpop is hard-edged and percussive, almost punishing. Especially onstage, it's less about atmosphere and more about driving those bleeps home. And even in those tight confines, Funchess was a ferocious and intimidating figure, capable of selling her excellent songs and then some. -Tom
Tom Breihan
Don Trip @ 1100 Warehouse (XXL) 3/13/12: The showcase for XXL's Freshman 10 was just as chaotic as you'd expect a SXSW rap show to be. Auto-Tune world-creator Future apparently no-showed entirely, and cluelessly ghoulish goofball Hopspin went on for entirely too long. Memphis snarler Don Trip wasn't even on the bill, and he probably should've stayed away, since a trying-to-get-amped warehouse is not the right place for his emotive striver-rap. But Trip's heavy-eyed perma-scowl has serious presence, and his songs, especially "Letter To My Son," remained potent even in the rough setting. -Tom
Trent Maxwell
Schoolboy Q @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/13/12: Say what you will about Schoolboy Q's patchy, yet ebullient, performance last night, but please acknowledge this: dude is doing wonders for the bucket hat.-Corban
Pooneh Ghana
Star Slinger @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Jeffrey Lewis @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan Presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12: At this celebration for local icon Daniel Johnston's first full-length comic book Space Ducks, a great smattering of the artists the man has influenced turned up to pay tribute, primarily via song. (This included Will Sheff, R. Stevie Moore, Built To Spill, Caveman.) Perhaps no artist was more of an on-the-money choice than the prolific NYC troubadour Jeffrey Lewis, whose work also resides in the intersect between chords, words, and comics. Lewis not only nailed the vibe of the night with his "short film" on the French revolution -- still frame illustrations projected on a screen while he sang with great historical accuracy and entirely a cappella -- he also nailed the vibe of the week with his set-closing "Don't Let The Record Label Take You Out To Lunch." The man is all about facts. -Amrit
Linda Flores
Caveman @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12: Caveman was, probably by far, the least left-field act to appear on Daniel Johnston's bill, and the audience easily accomodated the group's easy harmony as they played cuts from CoCo Beware.
Phooneh Ghana
Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/13/12
Trent Maxwell
Bear In Heaven @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/13/12
Trent Maxwell
Matthew Dear @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/13/12: Matthew Dear's incredibly tight live band almost stole the show from the frontman, had he not simply sounded sharper and more assured than ever. -Corban
Ryan Muir
Doctor P @ La Zona Rosa (The Warner Sound) 3/13/12
Ryan Muir
Flux Pavilion @ La Zona Rosa (The Warner Sound) 3/13/12
Ryan Muir
Theophilus London @ La Zona Rosa (The Warner Sound) 3/13/12
Ryan Muir
Outasight @ La Zona Rosa (The Warner Sound) 3/13/12
Ryan Muir
Neon Hitch @ La Zona Rosa (The Warner Sound) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Will Sheff @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Will Sheff @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Will Sheff @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
The Bundles @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
The Bundles @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
R. Stevie Moore @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
R. Stevie Moore @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Matthew Vasquez @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Kimya Dawson @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Jeffrey Lewis @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Foy Vance @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Dinosaur Feathers @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Dinosaur Feathers @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Dinosaur Feathers @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Daniel Johnston @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Daniel Johnston @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Caveman @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12: Caveman was, probably by far, the least left-field act to appear on Daniel Johnston's bill, and the audience easily accomodated the group's easy harmony as they played cuts from CoCo Beware.
Linda Flores
Caveman @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12: Caveman was, probably by far, the least left-field act to appear on Daniel Johnston's bill, and the audience easily accomodated the group's easy harmony as they played cuts from CoCo Beware.
Linda Flores
Built To Spill @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Built To Spill @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Built To Spill @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/14
Linda Flores
Built To Spill @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Linda Flores
Alex Maas @ Belmont (Brooklyn Vegan presents Daniel Johnston's Space Ducks) 3/13/12
Pooneh Ghana
Teengirl Fantasy @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/13/12
Pooneh Ghana
Teengirl Fantasy @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/13/12
Pooneh Ghana
Teengirl Fantasy @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/13/12
Pooneh Ghana
Teengirl Fantasy @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/13/12
Pooneh Ghana
Teengirl Fantasy @ Mohawk (Pitchfork) 3/13/12

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