2023 SXSW Recap: Walking in the Rain (Part Three)

Thursday:

By Thursday, I took an extra hour to even roll out of “bed”. Today was gonna be the hardest day of my SXSW adventure, but I didn’t know that the climate was going to make it as truly hellish as it became. 

I started my afternoon off with one of my favorite publications Stereogum with their Range Life showcase. With free ponchos, I was ready to face the weather for the afternoon.

Algiers

They rip live. I am a little disappointed I only got to see a 30-minute set from them, but seeing them bounce between new cuts off of Shook like Irreversible Damage and songs from their self-titled debut and The Underside of Power like Cleveland made me satisfied as a long-time fan of the group. Their fusion of Post-Punk with industrial sounds, gospel, blues, soul, and even hip-hop is what makes them so engaging. They are as close as we are getting to a modern-day RATM, and I am here for it. I almost talked to Franklin James Fisher after the show, but I got shy and from that moment forward I made it my mission to try and talk to as many artists as possible.

Knifeplay

One of the members of Knifeplay asked me to catch one of their shows during SXSW and I said I would. I am not a liar. I discovered the group after Pitchfork reviewed Animal Drowning and I checked it out, so it was cool to see the guys play live. I also realized that the indoor venue at Cheer Up Charlie’s was going to be very tight. It was cramped there, but they were awesome live.

Hotline TNT

Though I am not a huge Hotline TNT fan, I did appreciate seeing them live. They had a cool vibe and they performed a song written by AI, so that’s cool.

Truth Club

Truth Club is a fusion of Slacker Rock and Emo with a mix of Slowcore which happens to be God’s favorite genre. God would have loved Truth Club.

Frost Children

In complete contrast to the bands since Algiers, Frost Children brought the hyperpop sound and teenage angst to Stereogum and it split the crowd. As a fan of hyperpop, but extremely tired, I enjoyed it from the back of the crowd, but the people at the front were having the time of their lives. FLATLINE went crazy.

Indigo De Souza

Right next to Cheer Up Charlies was The Mohawk which hosted FLOODFEST, another open-to-the-public show. At this point, the humidity of the rain from earlier was really picking up, and it just felt gross outside. I was really excited to see Indigo De Souza though. I was in the back of the packed crowd, and she was a sweetheart. I absolutely love her sound.

Blondshell

I then caught Blondshell on the indoor stage where too many people tried to make their way through and I was getting crushed, but she was pretty cool to see live. Veronica Mars is still a crazy banger.

Ex-Music Director Dyan Gruber got to interview Blondshell as a part of her SXSW coverage last fall and you can read that interview here

Ekkstacy

• 

• 

Something I find cool about Ekkstacy’s style is how he combines Post-Punk Revival with elements of Bedroom Pop to create a dreamy but angsty sound. He had a cool live band surrounding him as he sang his heart out into the microphone. After every song, he thanked the crowd and complained about how hot it was. I felt like I was boiling outside as well. I appreciate the fans someone handed out. 

Bartees Strange

• 

• 

• 

One of my favorite albums of last year was Bartees Strange Farm to Table. Landry put me onto Heavy Heart on one of our first shows, and I just continued my love for his music since. Bartees Strange had gone through some hardships during SXSW already with his gear getting stolen, but his nearly acoustic short five-song set still rocked. He played Boomer, Mustang, Hennessy, Heavy Heart, and Kelly Rowland. I waited to talk to him after the show where I got to tell him how much his song Escape this Circus meant to me and he told me it was one of his favorites on the album and he wished more people enjoyed it. It was awesome just getting to talk to an artist you look up to like a normal person. Out of all the artists I met during SXSW, he was genuinely one of the most humble and down-to-earth guys I talked with. Music is one hell of an art form.

After his performance, I had to skip out on seeing Coco & Clair Clair or the Danny Brown Doc Martin’s show because my phone was on 5% and I forgot my MacBook I was using to charge it with that morning. During this moment, I also learned that the Killer Mike show at Stubb’s and the Lil Yachty show at the Moody Amphitheater got moved up because of inclement weather. I was planning on going to the NME event up until Jockstrap then rushing over to the Amphitheater to meet the Daniels twins for Lil Yachty, and hopefully having enough energy to make it to Killer Mike’s show after all that. That dream was dead.

I decided to full send the NME and Bose C23 event. As I arrived, the venue was completely decked out, and influencers galore from the Austin area were in attendance. NME’s budget for the event was higher than anything else I had seen that weekend. The only issue is that the venue didn’t know what to do with casual SXSW attendees, RSVPers, people on the guest list, and the people with the SXXpress Pass for the event. After hell unleashed in line, I made it inside where I was granted one free alcoholic drink and a free goodie bag with NME merch and a cassette of the C23 tape. The venue also had a little museum that discussed NME and Bose’s histories and how the music industry has grown. It was sick. Between acts, Blu DeTiger was DJing from behind. It was pretty sweet.

JVKE

• 

• 

• 

• 

After I settled in. TikTok sensation and popstar JVKE entered the stage right as the sun began to set for a “golden hour” show. The stage was set up to look like “JVKE’s Bedroom” as he danced around the stage in socks and pajamas. Similar to another rising TikTok star, Armani White, JVKE has already locked in the ability to perform. His performance told a story about heartbreak and love. He seemed engaged with the crowd while also sticking to the narrative of the story which was cool. JVKE announced he was dropping a new song that night, but couldn’t perform it because of label restrictions, but premiered another new song he was working on to make up for it. I still feel conflicted about JVKE as a musician. Musically, he is extremely talented, but I find a lot of his lyrics to be corny at times. I think that comes with time and with maturity as an artist, but his musicianship is there, and I hope we can get something big from him in the future.

Before Genesis Owusu went on I ran back into Madeline and Sophia who were excited for him and Jockstrap.

Genesis Owusu

• 

• 

• 

Genesis Owusu to me was the loudest I sang the entire week. Smiling With No Teeth got me through my freshman year of college and singing Don’t Need You, Good Times, Waitin’ on Ya, and Get Inspired out loud with a crowd of people made me so happy. I FaceTimed my friend Gracie during the show just so I could subtly flex on her. During Drown, Genesis Owusu made it into the crowd and performed with all of us. He touched my hand to get down, and I thought it was the end, but while performing A Song About Fishing, my favorite song of his, he reached out and grabbed my hand during the chorus because I was the only one screaming that chorus with him. I got the co-sign. Dreams do come true.

I was on cloud 9, but had to take a trip back to reality as right as Jockstrap walked on stage, the PA came on telling everyone to evacuate the building immediately due to lightning and the weather. Being about a mile away from anything, I was kinda screwed. I had no shelter, and in panic, I decided to try and make it back to the Austin Convention Center. I have had bad ideas, but genuinely, that was my worst. After getting soaked, I made it inside where I got to charge my phone again temporarily, but I was trapped.

During the Genesis Owusu performance, my correspondent Geoffrey Daniels was waiting at the Moody Amphitheater for Lil Yachty. He got to see Lola Brooke and Armani White followed by 03 Greedo doing his first show since getting out of prison, a historic moment for the west coast scene. However, as Lil Yachty’s band entered the stage, The Moody Amphitheater had to be evacuated as well.

I asked my correspondent Geoffrey Daniels for his thoughts on the show to which he wrote:

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN REALLY COOL IF YACHTY HAD PERFORMED INSTEAD OF 03 GREEDO.

-Geoffrey Daniels, Host of KTXT radio show Rants and Raves

As Geoffrey Daniels, Texas Tech Delta Gamma’s President Peyton Daniels, and Justin Chen evacuated the Amphitheater to head home, they decided to be my savior and picked me up just to take me to my car. I am forever grateful to these guys. During the car ride, I tried to explain to Geoff how important the 03 Greedo performance was to the culture of hip-hop, but he did not care.

Once I bid them farewell, I sat in my car for a moment to see what my next move was. The DJ Pee .Wee (Anderson .Paak) set was…packed, but my Thursday night had yet to feel complete. It was then I realized the NME show was about to continue, so I made my way back to the venue and got back into the hellish line to get back inside to catch Jockstrap. Nothing was going to get in my way.

Jockstrap

• 

• 

• 

Even though the line was practically in a stalemate, Jockstrap began their performance as I remained in line. I was able to get in right as they performed Greatest Hits, and as I stood there, all the struggles from that night went away as I stood in joy seeing one of the greatest bands in the UK perform right in front of me. Their last album, I Love You Jennifer B ranked #5 on my top 100 albums of 2022, and I was so excited to get to see this duo perform. Georgia’s voice was absolutely incredible and Taylor was going off on the keys and the other instruments. Together, they brought their Art Pop sound to life. As Concrete Over Water began, the duo let the song’s build-up run through before Georgia danced across the stage during the drop. The crowd was on fire and were screaming with love. Jockstrap seemed to be fueled by this energy because they continued to get hyped with the crowd. It was an awesome performance.

Tomberlin

After Jockstrap, I made my way back to the Mohawk to catch the last of the Sub Pop/Saddle Creek/Hardly Art/BAMM BAMM showcase with contemporary folk musician Tomberlin playing the outdoor stage. I love her singer-songwriter sound and the vibe of her music. I was excited to hear happy accidents live. She is a great artist to finally catch live. Her slow and mellow set would have been a great way to finish the night, but I had a better idea.

Though I have lived in Texas for 21 years now, I never knew of the 2 AM ordinance the state has, so when music is planned to go til 2 AM originally, but there is a two-hour weather delay, things get messy. The showcase had to move artists into the indoor Mohawk stage. That stage barely worked for Blondshell, but they had artists to get through, so it had to be done. I ran back into my friend Madeline and Sophia as we braced ourselves for the indoor stage.

Model/Actriz

I think the Model/Actriz was better indoors than it would’ve been outdoors. Though we were packed like sardines, the intimate space absolutely worked for the band’s Dance-Punk-influenced sound. Dogsbody had just released weeks prior and I had a feeling they were gonna one of the best sets to catch at SXSW. Towards the back end of the set, the lead singer Cole Haden decided to push his way inside the packed pit to perform in the middle of the entire crowd to perform Amaranth. As the crowd moshed in a circle around him. He stood there unmoved. It was one of the coolest moments of the week. After the show, we talked to Cole and I told him how much I love their new album (I am a suck-up).

Indigo De Souza (Reprise)

• 

• 

• 

• 

As the night ended, Indigo De Souza was closing off the label showcase with another performance on the same stage she performed hours earlier. This time, the night air was cool and I stood exhausted. The show was moodier and softer than the show earlier in the day, but Indigo and her band were just as good. The show felt more intimate than earlier and it worked better for her sound.

I went to my car, and I went straight to bed.