With the music portion of SXSW officially kicking off today, so did the mountain of day parties to conquer: free food, free booze and a whole heap of amazing music. I first headed to the annual Canadian Blast BBQ in the park opposite the convention centre, fitting in a few interviews which you’ll see soon, with Buck 65 and others.
Imaginary Cities kicked off proceedings, bringing us some unique Canadian rock. The best way I can think of describing them is that is Joanna Newsom was in a rock band, this is the sort of music she would bring on board. While I would hardly describe lead singer Marti Sarbit as quirky as Ms Newsom, there was a similar sensibility to her vocal style: precise, unique and beautiful.
The following artist, More or Les, changed the mood of the event quite substantially. The hip hop MC and his DJ brought us a variety of songs related to food – songs such a “Eat Your Food” were featured, off the album Brunch with a Vengeance. With riffs from artists such as Tenacious D, and lyrics like “the name of this song is not breakfast, it’s brunch”, it was a tongue and cheek take on our food obsession, while simply being an entertaining show, led my a talented MC. How many songs can be written about food, however? Plenty, it seems!
Moving over to the New Zealand Day Party next, Zowie was lighting up the stage, who recently flooded Australian airwaves with “Bite Back”. Led by a consummate and energetic performer, the music Zowie and her band put out is lovely to say the least, and went down well with the Austin crowd. Next up, New Zealand hero Liam Finn had many asking, “As in THE Finns?” Indeed, we would reply, as he proceeded to rock their socks off with a professional, precise, though seemingly spontaneous, energetic set.
Meanwhile, The Naked and Famous were given the duty of closing up the show – and close it they did, with a similarly energetic and often hypnotizing set, showcasing a band at the top of their game. If they didn’t make a few tails wag during the SXSW conference, I doubt the validity of the whole thing! They certainly seemed to tonight in any case.
While Naked and Famous killed it at the New Zealand party, I made my way back to the Canadian BBQ to catch their headlining act: Jenn Grant with Buck 65. Jenn played a few solo tracks first, before inviting Buck onto the stage to perform a few songs together, then leaving Buck to perform solo, and with Marnie Herald.
Jenn was a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll, delivering a powerful set – but it was her performance with Buck 65 that everyone had come to see, and they didn’t disappoint. Buck is a consummate performer, a brilliant musician, and to have the pleasure of finally seeing him perform was one of the many pleasures of my week at SXSW. If you’re not familiar with the hip hop stylings of Mr. 65, make sure you check him out. He definitely works best with a female vocalist by his side, too, as proven today by Marnie and Jenn.
