Now, here’s where things get really fun. The Auditorium Stage sees some of the festival’s biggest names play free shows to the public. So, you can imagine the shitfight to get into the venue – some 40,000 people making their way to witness the now legendary New Yorkers. In fact, the only reason I got into the venue at all was because a group of fans knocked a fence down to get in. Cue madness, cue police running frantically to restore order: cue “unforgettable festival moment”.
The band were already into their second song when I arrived, and from there on out they jammed through a hit-filled set, with a good dose of their new album, Angles, thrown in for good measure. “Reptilia” and “Juicebox” were among the highlights, though it was “Last Night”, which ended the show, that totally killed it. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Austin’s Colorado River and the city skyline, one could have called it a euphoric moment when this view was enhanced by a mountain of fireworks, that pulled on well beyond the end of their set.
You know exactly what you’re going to get when you go to a Strokes show: a lot of ego, a lot of rock and roll – and a couple of awkward attempts at crowd interaction. But most importantly, you’re bound to get a damn good show. And in this case, it was quite possibly the best coolest free show I’d ever experienced.
The night was far from over, however, as one of the hottest tickets for the festival was tonight’s show at the Central Presbyterian Church. Last year you may remember our coverage of Band of Horses at the same venue – tonight we witnessed buzz artist James Blake play headlining duties.
Playing as I arrived were tUnE-YarDs, the project of New England native Merrill Garbus, who was certainly one of the most unique performers of the festival. In town to preview tracks off her forthcoming LP w h o k i l l (some of which were played for the first time ever tonight), Merrill has moved beyond the solo performance she had become known for, utilising the talents of bass player Nate Brenner on both the new record and on stage. There was even a sax section for several of the tracks!
Employing extremely diverse instrumentation, you truly felt like you were witnessing something you’d never experienced before – sound effects looped in with vocals, pushed through with drum beats and topped off by the ukulele. Think something along the lines of a Final Fantasy / Owen Pallet, but if he was doing something of a more R&B vibe, with a bit of Africana thrown in, and you’d still only be scratching the surface. A truly gifted performer, I highly recommend checking out tUnE-YarDs.
Next up, fresh from supporting The Strokes a few hours earlier, Twin Shadow (the stage name of American musician George Lewis Jr.) hit a stage, a group who remind me slightly of Wild Beasts… if Wild Beasts were lit on fire and thrown around a room with a microphone. An acceptable amount of 80s “Prom Dance Synth” is included, as is vibe akin to The Dears. Playing tracks off their LP Forget, “Castles in the Snow” was the highlight of the night, though it was the closing track which provided me with the night’s second “unforgettable festival moment”. Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear joined Twin Shadow on stage, providing vocals for the final track. The connection? He produced their LP.
Closing out the night was one of the festivals ‘buzz-iest’ artists, London’s James Blake, who is hard to pin down into a precise category – though many are calling him the ‘new Bon Iver’. I saw him as more of an Antony meets T-Pain, but that might just be me…
His most well known track is a cover of Feist’s “Limit to Your Love”, which went down very well, complete with some extremely heavy bass that had the church shaking well after the song ended. This cover, which you can listen to below, is a pretty good example of what James Blake is all about, though he does head into a slightly ambient dub step category at times – which was pretty unexpected and cool. Listening to bits and pieces of his music since seeing him live, I have to say I’m impressed at how well he reproduced this material on stage, armed with little more than a keyboard.
This said, I’m still deciding exactly what I think of Mr. Blake. He’s definitely an acquired taste, but I very much enjoyed the experience of seeing the gifted entertainer take over the church, bringing to an end a wonderful evening of live music. It’s experiences like this that make SXSW such a unique, unmissable experience.
