I ended my first day at SXSW at Emo’s Main Stage, catching the end of the only hard rock band I’d have the chance to see at the festival – New Jersey’s Dillinger Escape Plan (pictured below). Those who know me will know that they’re not my sort of band, but I felt myself sucked into their show regardless. They have unbelievable, unbeatable energy on the stage, and find themselves at the top of their game, the best in their field – a force to be reckoned with. As they are no strangers to Austrailan shores (returning in just a couple of months), I’m sure others back home can attest to this.
But it was the surprising duo found in Nas and Damien “Jr Gong” Marley who I’d come to Emo’s Main Stage to see. Having seen both in Australia in the past, I already knew they were outstanding performers, with an unbeatable supporting catalogue. So to see such artists taking the stage together is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.
The two aren’t performing together on a mere whim, however – they are about to release an album together, Distant Relatives, several tracks off which they performed tonight. The tracks sound exactly as you’d expect them to – the classic reggae of Marley, combined with the modern beats, and old school lyrics of Nas. With the latter as much an evolution of the former as anything else, it does result in a natural fit, and was a blast live.
Nas definitely made the show his own, however, performing several of his own tracks during the set, which got the crowd moving, singing along to every word. It seems they were definitely here to see him, too. It was a pity that Marley had to take a back pedal to all this, however, as his solo stuff is some of the best that the Marley offspring have produced. He did get a good “Welcome to Jamrock” in to the frey, however.
While nothing mindblowing, and certainly nothing I hadn’t seen before – to see two illustrious artists such as Nas and Marley performing together is a rare event that makes SXSW the experience it is – the place artists from around the world come to make something special happen on stage – and the place fans come to see just that. And then, as they parade out onto the New Orleans Bourbon St inspired 6th Street, they come to enjoy some pizza slices, too. Well, that’s certainly what I did, anyway.
