2023 SXSW Recap: Saint By Saint Patrick’s Day (Part Four)

Friday:

I woke up Friday with fatigue at a new high. I had another list of must-see artists and a job to do, so after hitting Shake Shack for lunch, I got to work.

Hannah Jadagu

Hannah Jadagu’s full-length album comes out by the end of May, but her few singles and EP have already turned me into a fan. A few of her songs have made the Gettin’ By playlist and Landry and I are extremely excited for her debut album. She was performing for the Coca-Cola Move event where the brand was celebrating the release of the new ROSALÍA-designed flavor with bubbles, mixed drinks, Raising Canes, and live music. Though the majority of the crowd seemed more excited about the soda, I was excited to catch Hannah and her band live. She practically performed her entire released discography for the set, but there was a definite showing of talent.

Obongjayar

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On the International Day Stage, Obongjayar was gearing up for one of his performances at SXSW. Though a lot of music has neo-soul influence, his performance was fully focused on the afrobeat roots and more psychedelic elements. With a Djembe drum, keys, a trumpet, a guitar, and a drum kit. Obongjayar brought his uncompressed energy to the stage. He told every to dance and gave his solo material more life and energy. 10K was one of those songs that made my whole body shake. He performed his verse and chorus of Little Simz’s Point and Kill which completed his already incredible performance. I got to talk to him after the show and told him how great his last project was and how obsessed I was with the track Protein that he did wish Jeshi. He’s a cool dude.

After this, I decided to check out the White Claw event to get my hands on some free Thai food. As I sat and ate in silence, one of the best Afrobeats producers walked on stage to perform to my surprise.

Pheelz

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Afrobeats is easily my favorite genre when the temperature is above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and Laughter, Tears & Goosebumps by Firebody DML was at the top of that playlist all summer of 2022. Pheelz produced a majority of that project. Before this performance, I was unaware of his own solo work but appreciated his as a producer. For him to come on this small stage and perform a set where he was live looping and producing his solo work live was pretty impressive. He is more than a producer and his EP Pheelz Good is going to get a ton of love this summer from me. 

After this show, I tried to catch some of NOISY doing a set for the 101X Radio station showcase, but the show was slightly behind schedule and I knew I had to catch Sudan Archives live, so I missed the guys performing.

Sudan Archives

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Natural Brown Prom Queen ranked #6 in my top 100 albums of 2023, so I knew I wasn’t going to miss Sudan Archives performing at the Coke Move event. After some technical issues, Sudan performed for the crowd and got everyone going. Hearing Home Maker and Selfish Soul live brought me closure, but the song OMG BRITT got the track moving the most as she started performing in the middle of the crowd. I loved how much more it felt like she came out of her shell with Natural Brown Prom Queen, and her wild performance proved it was for good reasons. I told her after the show about how for like 2 months straight, I’d walk to campus every morning with Home Maker blasting in my speakers to give myself energy. SXSW is so cool with how you can just talk to artists you look up to like normal people. I later saw her having fun on 6th Street, so respect Sudan Archives.

Girl Scout

I had never heard of Girl Scout before seeing them at SXSW, but their sound reminded me of Alvvays, and they were pretty cool. Their harmonies and guitar-based songs were soothing and enjoyable. I’m excited to see what they have next.

Far Caspian

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Irish Indie Pop band Far Caspian was one of my favorite band discoveries from Landry from Gettin’ By, so I had to flex on him by seeing the band live during SXSW. Seeing the band’s psychedelic sound come to life on stage was awesome and hearing tracks like Pretend live made me quite happy. Since it was St. Patrick’s Day, the band thanked the fans in the crowd for celebrating with Irish people like them. The showcase was free to the public which seemingly brought more genuine concertgoers than the private and closed-off shows I went to during my time at SXSW. Talking to lead singer Joel Johnston after the show, he said he was grateful for how much the band has grown in the Austin area and how many fans came out to hear them perform. I definitely recommend people check out Ways to Get Out before their next album The Last Remaining Light comes out in July.

Bodywash

When I got approved to cover SXSW, I spent hours browsing the SXSW artist list to see who I knew and who could be a cool new discovery. Bodywash was my first discovery from that list that I was intrigued by. Their debut album Comforter from 2019 sold me with the opening track Reverie. I knew they were gonna be a must-see band with their one SXSW performance. Hotel Vegas was a cool venue to play in. Non-SXSW goers were mixing in with regular St. Patrick’s Day celebrators, so it was a little chaotic, but I made it to the Bodywash set. The band had sound mixing issues and feedback, so they had to play dry with no reverb. Guitarist Chris Steward said, “Now, we’re going to do something that is a shoegaze’s band biggest fear: playing with no reverb.” Though the band was dealing with sound issues and feedback loops, Chris made it light-hearted with banter throughout. They were really enjoyable live and I got to hear some of their upcoming album early. Chris and Rosie are a great duo, and I hope people that are fans of bands like Beach House, Cocteau Twins, or Sweet Trip give them a chance because they deserve some attention their way. I got to talk to Chris after the show and told him the exact story I started this paragraph off with and gave him a nice chuckle. He thanked me for coming out to the show and wished me well in my college radio career.

There were two areas that most SXSW performances were happening in: The 6th Street and downtown Austin area or the Rainey Street area which I had barely touched minus Sudan Archives and Hannah Jadagu. However, my Friday night itinerary had me all over Rainey Street.

Fruit Bats (Solo)

Fruit Bats is one of those early indie bands that every indie-head knows. To see Eric D. Johnson take his acoustic guitar to Austin and perform shows solo under the band’s name is really cool. Though his acoustic guitar wasn’t loud enough to prevent the overwhelming number of speakers that filled Rainey Street with loud 808s, EDJ gave it his all bouncing between When U Love Somebody off of their 2003 album Mouthfuls and Waking Up in Los Angeles from their 2023 album A River Running to Your Heart. It was cool to see EDJ take on his over 20-year discography in an acoustic format.

Bonny Doon

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Bonny Doon came on stage next but with a full band. The band experienced its own troubles with Bill Lennox, the lead singer of the band, breaking 2 sets of strings during the performance. The group had to improvise throughout the set as the strings continued to be fixed. Bill picked up the tambourine though he had no percussionist skills. After the second set of strings broke, the other lead member Bobby Colombo gave Bill his guitar as he performed the vocals to Long Wave saying ” I’m wireless, motherfuckers” as he bounced around the stage. As the song went into its extended guitar outro, the third set of strings had been installed and both Bill and Bobby got to jam together once again. Long Wave has extreme sentimental value to me, so after the show, I told both Bill and Bobby how important it was to see them live during my trip to Austin and they were warmed by my words. Bill chalked it up to the power of good music and told me that’s the goal of every musician.

Just like Ojerime, Chiiild had quietly disappeared off the SXSW lineup and I found that out after arriving at my next venue. Instead, I got to catch Edmonton newcomer 80purppp.

80purppp

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I love R&B from the US, but the UK and Canada just seem to do it better. With artists like The Weeknd, Drake, PartyNextDoor, Mustafa, Daniel Caesar, and many more, 80purppp is working on adding his name to that list. He made waves with his song Hex but is looking for more. This performance proved his music is worth more than a Shiloh Dynasty sample. He bounced between his tracks with ease and his smooth voice elevate all the lowkey tracks he glided over. I wish more people had their eyes on him at this performance, but with time, I think he’ll be another one of those big-name R&B stars.

Indigo De Souza (Third Time)

Across the street, I decided to catch Indigo De Souza for the third time this week. I enjoyed it just as much as the other two performances. This time, she was performing for a showcase put on by Labelcoin which is supposed to be a song stock market where fans can invest in songs and their favorite artists. I have no idea how Labelcoin is “ushering in a new era for the music industry”, but good on them. I use their business card/QR code/record thing as a coaster sometimes. Echoing back on what Sports Team said earlier in the week, SXSW is one of the most corporate music festivals out there. Indigo and her band did seven shows in three days. I talked with them after the show and they told me how exhausted they were and how much blood, sweat, and tears go into being a band for SXSW. Most bands work countless shows to either just receive a music wristband which is about an eighth of the value of my music badge I got for free. It’s an interesting dynamic. SXSW did bring in 1400 different artists to perform at this year’s music festival and said they were taking into account the artist’s complaints about pay, so I am curious to see what’s next for the festival for South Bys to come.