When I started my final night adventure, there was only one band on my mind: She & Him – the quirky duo that is Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. They’d been playing all over town throughout SXSW, yet I kept missing their appearances. Well, tonight was my final chance, as they headlined Auditorium Shores – the free-for-all outdoor venue that had seen the likes of Cheap Trick and Ozomatli in previous nights.
When I arrived at the venue, the stage was adorned by the wonderful Deer Tick, whom I listened to from a distance as I tried to find warmth. You see, the average day in Austin had been around 25 degrees. So, when today it had dropped to around 5, I was caught rather unprepared. Eventually, the cold got too much for me, and on a whim I decided to try and get into Perez Hilton’s party instead of hanging around. I’m sorry Zooey – just come down to Australia pls? kthx.
Amazingly enough, and thanks to some awesome people I met in the queue, I managed to get into the warehouse party, and was greeted with what was easily the most exciting lineup of the festival.
Shortly after I arrived, Macy Gray (above) took to the stage. While it’s been quite a while since Macy had a hit single, her now classic tracks still work a charm. “I Try” thankfully made up part of her set here tonight, and got the sing along it deserved. But the surprise highlight of her set was a cover of Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” – I was truly blown away. She and her band also performed a range of covers which included Bob Marley and Rod Stewart!
Danish sensation Alphabeat continued the party, and their catchy-as-fuck track “Fascination” made all of us go “oh THAT’S who this band is!” – and while the rest of the set went over our heads as we enjoyed the flowing booze, the aforementioned track went off like a treat.
Alongside the bucketload of bars, serving a similar description of
alcohol, Perez’s party featured not one, but
two stages – giving the music a chance to continue pretty much
non-stop. And when the music did stop, DJ Sampson (above) was there to entertain the crowd with a killer DJ set until the next artist took to the stage. In this case, the next artist was the beautiful Marina Diamandis – better known as Marina and the Diamond (below), introduced by Perez as “not only an amazing songwriter, but bitch is an amazing performer… you better come and watch this, because you’re in for a treat!” True that.
Marina is an artist I became aquainted with last month, off the back of her recently released LP, The Family Jewels. Her set was breathtaking – her voice, perfection. Tracks like “I am Not a Robot”, “Hollywood” and “Obsessions” were well received by the crowd, many of whom were singing along. Hurray! Talent is recognised! Now quick, go out and listen to her.
Making his first ever trip to SXSW (albiet unofficially, and only for this one show), Snoop Dogg (below) was next, and brought the crowd a delayed and brief set – but he crammed it full of hits. “Gin and Juice” and “P.I.M.P.” most notably. The crowd (and yours truly) was singing and jumping along to every word, which was a pretty cool thing to be doing in a warehouse in Austin, Texas. The sort of thing that should ONLY happen in a warehouse in Austin, Texas mind you.
While Snoop performed, Estelle’s backup dancers waited patiently on the second stage. Estelle (pictured in header), who we all know thanks to “American Boy”, got just 20 minutes on stage, and wouldn’t have gotten through more than 4 songs in the process. Nonetheless she was fantastic; yet another worthy addition to any already stellar lineup. She of course played “American Boy”, which set the place on fire.
But there was little Estelle could do to steal the fire from the headliner of the evening, billed as Courtney Love and Hole. Delivering an hour long set with 2 acoustic encores, Courtney pushed the show well past 3am, and left the crowd exhausted. The set was, in a word: “KICK ASS”. The alcohol continued to flow until Courtney took to the stage. Perez definitely knows how to put on a “partay”! – we were all even given 3D glasses at the front door, as the screens around the venue were in 3D – go figure!
But back onto the Love – she was amazing. Who knows how long she’ll stay straight, but I hope she keeps it up because she’s gone back to doing what she does best – performing like a rock star. And tonight, after a bit of reported fighting between herself and Perez, she agreed to perform some classic Hole tracks, including “Celebrity Skin” and “Malibu”. These aren’t tracks that she’s been performing on the circuit to date – so to have the opportunity to hear them live – and played with rock and roll prowess, mind you – felt a true honour.
She also took a moment out from the rock and roll to deliver a song which she said was guaranteed to make Perez cry. With lyrics like “I never wanted to be a joke”, you can tell she’s wearing her heart on her sleve with her new material, and it works. Indeed, there were plenty of new tracks, and almost all of them were eaten up by the hungry crowd, including “Pacific Coast Highway” (which was “Malibu backwards… you get it, you’re smart… because PCH takes you to Malibu… you get it”).
Hollywood loves a comeback story, and it seems that we’ve found it in Courtney Love. And for me, to have had this experience end my inaugral SXSW experience made the Perez Hilton party the best farewell to the festival I could have ever imagined.
Thank you Perez and thank you Austin. Until next year SXSW, until next year.
