Catherine Perez
University student, coffee addict, and freelance music journalist hailing from Austin, Texas. In my spare time you can find me perusing record stores for CDs.
SXSW day two showcased a little bit of Texan pride with several acts from the lone star state giving impressive performances and leaving big impressions
Our SXSW Day 2 started off earlier than yesterday with a stop by an unofficial SXSW event put on by local Austin business, Antoun & Family Drum Company (A&F Drum Co). At their drum showroom a bit a ways from the downtown hubbub, our photographer Steven played on and tested out a few drum kits as his passion for covering the music scene extends to playing as well. We then headed to the heart of the festival to do some work and conduct an interview before heading off for lunch. A few carne asada tacos and drinks later, we finally set off to see some of what SXSW had to offer on this overcast day.
Having no direction in mind, we traipsed down 6th street to see what we’d stumble upon and somehow we ended up at Valhalla. Once in the door, we were able to catch the last of The Peevie Wonder‘s vivacious set. The Newcastle group lit up the bar with their dance-y punk sound, dad jokes, and ‘Big Eczema Energy.’ Unfortunately, we only caught a few songs, so we weren’t able to experience all they had to offer, but what we saw was definitely enjoyable. After their set finished, we decided to go on over to the official SXSW music opening party, just down the street.
At the party, there were two stages set up to have bands play simultaneously, but we decided to check out the act by setting up inside. To our delight, we ended up being introduced to the music of Pedal Steel Noah, a 16-year old pedal steel guitar player from right here in the live music capital of the world. He was joined on stage by his father on guitar, younger brother on bass, and a friend on drums to perform instrumental covers of 80s hits with a dreamy twangy twist. My favorite rendition he played was ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ by Tears for Fears, performing it in the most Texan way possible– wearing crocs and a cowboy hat. Towards the end of Pedal Steel Noah‘s set, we walked to the outside stage to feed our curious minds as we didn’t know who was going to perform.
Setting up outside was the backing band of Houston based R&B artist, Dende. The 5 piece group – including a keytar – showcased their incredibly talented music skills, providing attendees with a smooth Neo-soul set full of rich storytelling. Every song on his setlist followed a larger cohesive storyline about true events, which was told in sections right at the start of each tune. The crowd seemed very engaged and pleased with Dende‘s performance as most were seen smiling, swaying along to the music, and taking tons of videos. We left Dende‘s set a song or two before he finished in order to make it to the British Music Embassy showcase in time to see our next planned show.
Since we’ve walked all around downtown the past few days, it feels almost as if we’re downtown Austin walking experts now. Anyhow, we got to the BME showcase and bypassed Angelica Garcia on the main stage but made the decision to take a small breather before we went at it again. At 8:16 PM, Holly Macve took the alternate stage at the British Music Embassy showcase and displayed her ethereal vocals to the audience. Her set by ella included established favorites and newer songs like ‘Beauty Queen’ and ‘1985,’ but also featured an unreleased track, ‘To Be Loved.’ After her set, we decompressed for a bit onsite at the BME to do some work, but ended up back outside after hearing attendees buzzing about what was going on. As we stepped outside, we were able to witness the last song of Faux Real‘s set. The Franco-American brothers were performing ‘Kindred Spirit’ and had the crowd huddled in an oval cheering them on while the two were singing and dancing. As the two were riding up the crowd, they would make their way to opposite ends of the oval and run towards each other to do choreographed jump kicks. Unfortunately we didn’t get to experience their whole set, but we have definitely put them on our list to catch sometime later this week. When their set finished, we painstakingly made the decision to make the mile (kilometer and a half) expedition back to the car so we could drive to our last show of the night.
We showed up at the Lowdown Lounge on East 5th street just in time to catch Lord Friday the 13th‘s 11:00 PM set. The rising Austin-based dyad have been on my list for a while now as I’ve written about them in the past but haven’t had the chance to check out a show. At 11:05, siblings Felix and Sloane came on stage dressed in their stage garb, looking ready to put on a phenomenal show–what followed was exactly that. After barreling through a barrage of their song catalog such as ‘Sleeping Cutie,’ ‘Patent Leather,’ and ‘Wallace & Vomit’ Vocalist Felix jumped off stage mid-set, disappearing momentarily and came back wearing nothing but a G-string. Having but a few minutes left to spare, the pair (and their backing band) finished off the show with ‘Take Me Away’ by lashes (and popularized by Disney’s Freaky Friday). The duo’s massive stage presence, high energy, and self-described “dollar store trash-glam punk” sound created an atmosphere of fun, electric chaos which made for the perfect way to end day 2.
