SXSW live review: The Black Angels performed at Marshall Fun House party and it ruled

One day, a million years ago, a buddy of mine called to invite me to a show in Austin and said, “Dude, April, you gotta check out The Black Angels. They sound like The Doors and Echo and the Bunnymen had a baby!” In my mind this magical show happened spring of 2005, but the interwebz says it was January 2006 at The Parish, either way the important thing to note was that I was there and it altered my life for the better.

Fast forward to SXSW 2024 and asking Greg why in all these years he’s never asked me to write for TCC and him finding out that I’ve seen The Black Angels (give or take) 40 times since that fateful night back in 2006. And here we are – you’re here to get a recap of Friday’s SXSW show at The Parish for the Marshall Fun House and I’m giving my brief history with the band as it pertains to writing about them.

One of my complaints about this blog is that it’s always positive! Not one writer has anything critical to share about the bands they cover and in a perfect world, it’s cool that you only cover bands you dig and somehow all of their shows are good. It’s a music blog, music is subjective as fuck, where am I going with this? Well, in 40 shows over the last 18 years, I’ve seen some sloppy-ass shows that made me wince outwardly, but Friday, March 18 wasn’t one of those! The band came out reverberating with an amazing stand-in bass player, Misti Hamrick from DAIISTAR and drove right into “Empires Falling”! Woohoo! Am I just feeling this stoked because it’s Friday at 5 p.m. or were they off to a helluva start? Fair to say, BOTH!

As we fly through the hour long ride, I start to notice more of a theme than usual, and wonder if it’s my imagination or was this a middle finger at the powers-that-be of SXSW who took sponsorship money from the US Army and Raytheon (among others) at a Tech/Film/Music conference and thought it was a good idea. [Subsequently this move caused artists to drop out of the conference left and right.]

The first few notes of “Young Men Dead” dropping along with the swirly lights, trippy projections and the gummy I ate sent me into a dancing frenzy, to which the new-to-TBA fans were amused and could still be heard quietly discussing how all the songs sounded the same to them. Don’t get caught up in all the reverb baby girl, ya might need to ‘run for the hills’ while I throw down for the next 5 minutes or so.

Y’all, that set was so much fun, I wasn’t even bummed that I didn’t hear my favorite songs. The band covered a good amount of their discography while still sharing plenty from their latest album, Wilderness of Mirrors giving new audiences and old fans alike a stellar show on a Friday afternoon in a small capacity club. 

Over the years I’ve watched Christian’s pedal collection grow, I’ve heard Alex get comfortable with his voice, and I’ve stood in awe watching Stephanie bang on her drums. [Seriously, have you ever actually watched her play?! Holy shit!] I’ve seen the line-ups change, all while the core members have honed their craft and helped spread the good word of the reverb to people far and wide. The Black Angels are more than a band, they’re helping to preserve Texas music history. While The Grateful Dead was happening on the west coast, the MC5 making a scene in Michigan, and the Velvet Underground hosting All Tomorrow’s Parties in NYC, Texas had Roky Erickson and The 13th Floor Elevators creating their own psychedelic situation right here in Austin. The creation of The Reverberation Appreciation Society has helped foster a renaissance of psychedelic rock and honestly, I’m here for it. Are you?

All photos by Ismael Quintanilla III courtesy of Marshall Amplifiers 

 Setlist: 

• Empires Falling
• Grab as Much (as You Can)
• Without a Trace
• Firefly
• Young Men Dead
• The Prodigal Sun
• Make It Known
• Currency
• El Jardin
• Haunting at 1300 McKinley
• The Sniper
• Mission District 

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