SXSW 2023 recap: The best things we saw at festival this year

A number of people asked me this week after I attended SXSW: Has SXSW become too gimmicky? If you had asked me this same question last year, the answer would have been a hard “yes”. Without big tech NFT and crypto currencies funding parties with high profile headliners and free booze mixed with the fact there was no grounding social media platform to share secret sets, the playing field had become more advantageous for up and coming bands to procure an audience. Here are the best things we saw at SXSW 2023.

Best Banter

Fake Fruit had sass. Pure, unbridled weirdness. “Guess how many appendices we have between all of us?” Between a band of four people: one person. Spring Break Bonanza at Hotel Vegas had several non Austin bands interwoven into the well oiled machine. Rinse and Repeat, the Venus Twins, however, Fake Fruit captivated. Frontwoman Hannah D’Amato’s eyebrow arched upwards under her concentration. Guitarist started off with a monotone intro for “Milkman”: “Hot sidewalks, no shade, milk spoils with age.” Building it up to yell out the incantation. D’Amato plucked at the whammy bar as she delivered the dry lyrics to the alternative jam. Check out if you like Dry Cleaning or Wet Leg.

Best Local Lineup
While Hotel Vegas featured tried and true Austin local musicians and remained as many people’s beacon, Hole in the Wall’s Hole Lotta Hell on March 12 took a chance on the next wave of Austin musicians. The lineup included Redbud, Favor, Font, EVNTYD, and one of my local favorites: Gus Baldwin and the Sketch. I have an appreciation for these guys; Gus Baldwin hustles. He can be found all over: managing lineups at Vegas, running sound checks at Stubb’s during Levitation, and jam sessions with The Black Angels. Gus Baldwin has developed a symbiotic relationship with the scene and developed an astute awareness for the type of music he wants to create: a punk, grunge sonic frenzy. Check out “Send It”.

Prior to Gus Baldwin, Favor performed prog rock on the back room stage. At Hole in the Wall, the fourth wall between fans and artists becomes blurred as bands are easily found hanging out on the back patio, making their art more approachable, more attainable.

Best Singer-Songwriter
Blondshell played quite a few sets around Austin during SXSW. Last October, Blondshell performed during Austin City Limits. During Rolling Stones’ Future of Music on Thursday, Blondshell opened it up as a pleasant surprise. Some time into the set, the guitarist’s string broke, in which Blondshell performed a solemn cover of “Disappointment”. Her debut album won’t be released until April 9th, but there’s been plenty of anticipation.

In her sound, Sabrina Teitelbaum carries a strong sense of self, taking a vocal range similar to The Cranberries with the vulnerability of Dolores O’Riordan. Unreleased track “Salad” takes 90s grunge guitar and enunciated, driving bass while its lyrics pull an “Et Tu Brute”. Perhaps “Salad” hits hard on the intrusive thoughts that stayed as just that: thoughts. “Gonna get big, gonna get big, I’m so scary, I can’t stop having visions of following him. Gonna make it hurt, gonna make it, but I don’t know how to do that within the framework.” Give a listen if you need a catharsis from your revenge plot.

More Diversity, Less in Your Face
In the previous years, various houses on Rainey street segregated geographically hosted parties: Australia house, Midwest house, for example. Maybe Canada House did the trick or maybe with the help of locals booking agents, venues all over Austin did release lineups of acts that were not restricted to American known genres.

On Wednesday night, Academy Fight Song’s showcase included Divino Niño. Citing Chicago as home base, two of their members grew up in Colombia and infuse their Latino roots into their music . While their set confused me, mixing all genres under the sun; there was lofi, there was drum and bass, some dream pop, some hip hop, some Spanish R&B.

Over at Brooklyn Vegan’s Lost Weekend at Empire Control Room, Y La Bamba opened up Thursday with a no-coffee-necessary jam. They incorporated Mexican folklore with a smidge of pop to keep things fresh. Wander down to Levitation at Hotel Vegas, Tropa Magica performed updated cumbian tunes in a packed tent.

Overall, many of the individual publications that hosted popular unofficial parties made concerted efforts (pun intended) to include diverse lineups, making international acts more accessible, requiring less research.

Best Energy
Otoboke Beaver played their two sets of SXSW on opposite sides of town within a couple hours of each other, in two venues that could not be more opposite. Unfortunately, the energy for Day 27 of SXSW got the better of me and I tapped out for several hours on Thursday, missing their set at Hotel Vegas for Levitation Day Parties. Woe is me.

Rallying on for the one lineup I centered my SXSW spreadsheets around: the Thursday night of Rolling Stone’s Future of Music with Otoboke Beaver and Sudan Archives as my must-see picks. The sole unifying element of this lineup centered around women. That’s all. Blondshell: alternative. Sudan Archives: R&B. Remi Wolf: Indie Dance. Unsuspecting listeners of the other several bands had no idea the all out war Otoboke Beaver waged on their eardrums, nor did they flank the rear as aggressive pushing and shoving came in from behind.

With short, choppy bursts the Japanese punk rock, the quartet commanded the audience’s attention. The guitarist made comedic faces while her instrument was tucked high up, higher up than usual. The drummer made faces. At the end of each song, each member took a power pose. “Don’t Light My Fire” gave brief solace to listeners caught in the mesh before  administering an electric, frenetic defibrillator.

Favorite Act
Model/Actriz slayed the house, boots down. Houston, I’m deceased. With the opening notes of “Donkey Show”, skin crawled and goosebumps emerged. Leave it to a New York based band to do experimental rock well. Aaron Shapiro on bass frequently muted the strings for an extra metallic effect. Cole Haden donned a cap with bunny ears and an AP chemistry jacket; his eyes terribly focused on causing mayhem. “With the body count higher than a mosquito” Haden roamed through the audience, starting with “Mosquito”. Eventually he stood up on the back table at Cheer Up Charlie’s. The entire set was selfishly for him.

FOMO

As we are mere mortals confined to one body, not all bands can be seen during SXSW. Algiers, for example, made my list, however, plans took various turns.

Nearly the entirety of Levitation’s Showcase was a bit of a bummer. Thursday proved difficult to decide on bands to see as well as mustering energy to continue to see performances. The Moody Theater served as more than just a refuge during the torrential downpour for Otoboke Beaver and Sudan Archives. Scrambling around, Hotel Vegas posted on social media sets would proceed shortly after the storm passed. The beacon beckoned. I arrived at the very tail end of THUS LOVE’s set. Feet were kicking above heads during the post punk tune “Pith and Point”.

Glam rock band UNI and the Urchins took the stage in sleek red leather jackets, hair slick back, pining for  Bowie’s resurrection. UNI and the Urchins took a stab at conformity in every way: gender constructs, suburban life, and covid-19. “AMAZING GRACE” was dustier live than streamed, with a slightly more space cowboy vibe than through headphones. Unfortunately, tiredness consumed me and I left shortly into their set.