Live music review: Midweek SXSW 2025 jaunt to Radio East and Stoner Jam at Far Out
A hectic downtown Austin isn’t exclusive to the annual South By Southwest Festival. Whether a college student is people-watching on 6th Street, drinking overpriced cocktails on Rainey, or just seeing a comedy show at one of the recent openings in town, the pickings are much wider when you stretch out of the skyscraper-filled party zone. For our eighth or so day at SXSW, we ventured to South Austin to seek some chill but still just as dedicated good vibes at Pooneh Presents x Radio East and Stoner Jam at Far Out Lounge and Stage on Thursday, March 13.
First up was day one of two music showcases at Southeast Austin’s Radio East by famed local music photographer Pooneh Ghana, bringing a stacked bill of national indie rock acts with a pinch of homegrown greatness. Taking the stage first was Indianapolis’ Wishy. This one was filled with blissful harmonies from co-guitarists and vocalists Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites, both voices boding well to provide an overture for the stacked afternoon snapshot of the current state of widespread vinyl crate digging diversity.
Queens progressive, post punk group YHWH Nailgun followed, giving a live translation of their technical rhythms, off-kilter vocal delivery, and guitars that followed the patterns of switched on-the-dime tempos. The East Coasters have become a SX favorite, fitting right in with the wonders of weird in Central Texas. We even booked the buzzing NYC band at our Webberville Block Party on Saturday. March 15.
Irish post-punk revivalists, Cardinals took things over next, coming with a budding presence from their home in Cork on the Emerald Isle. Rolling Stone described the act as one of the next great guitar rock bands, and they brought an accordion with them to add to the underground oddities. By around 3:30 p.m., the unseasonably warm Texas sun began to beat down on the audience without apology, causing attendees to retreat under whatever available shade they could find to access the fan misters that were scattered throughout the venue for the daytime shindig.
Hometown superstars Being Dead took the third slot of the afternoon, delivering the good times with their tonally diverse catalog that drifts between infectious silliness and unhinged animated badassery. The release of their 2024 sophomore full-length Eels retains their lovable personalities but builds on the surf-ish, sugary sweet indie goodness with criticism of the post-pandemic society at hand. Songwriting partners Schmoofy and Falcon Bitch are forever a dynamic duo. The diehards were there to sing along shamelessly and quietly hope for many more records to come.
Seconds after the local trio left the stage, New York City’s Native Sun blasted through a 15-minute DIY roller coaster on a questionably sturdy piece of carpet behind the venue stage, and the flocking crowd incited a punk rock dust cloud to shake off their expensive drink price woes. The Brooklyn players were spotted loading their gear into the venue earlier that afternoon, but somehow managed to play a show downtown at The 13th Floor before making the trek back down South to grace two different audiences back-to-back, now that’s dedication.
Cory Hanson is a legend. With his long-tenured songwriting channel Wand several albums deep at this point, along with some solo albums under his nominal moniker, to call Hanson’s output exclusively psychedelic would be selling him short. So much has changed since the no-frills garage cacophony of the early studio release Golem, as the SoCal musician is dabbling in different sounds every time he enters the studio. While the guitar pedal-happy instrumentals still remain intact with his roots, the melodiously delivered lyricism and payoff patience have become a defining factor. With collaborators in Ty Segall, Mikal Cronin, and members of Meatbodies and Together Pangea, the psilocybin-laced desert reverberation is still facilitating imaginative discoveries to this day.
Heading over to South Congress, the annual Stoner Jam at the Far Out Lounge & Stage made for a gargantuan gauntlet of crushing riffs and a crowd that basked in the glory of what were 24 acts in short bursts who made for the best use of their heat-sinking time. Austin locals Castle Club and Bridge Farmers made for a spirituous pairing, both possessing multi-stacked amplifiers that made their sonic dispatches intelligibly clear.
Recent Castle Club tour mates Slumbering Sun also gave a crash course in classic heavy metal, taking the eye-level stand on the nearby tent stage, reminiscent of those taco shops you used to (and probably still do) see punk rock bands play at while you munched down on good eats that didn’t break the bank before this city tried to convince you $27 for some tacos and a soda was a bargain deal.
An out-of-town outlier came in the form of DoomBoyz. All the way from Los Angeles, the sinister riffers admitted to the mostly local crowd that it was their very first show in Texas. Since forming in 2022, the California-bred outfit doesn’t dabble in down-tuned-Sweet Leaf worship monotony. Instead, peculiarities in the vein of Kyuss and the mannerisms of Chris Cornell shine through, all emulated with their tasteful take on heavy rock throughout the decades. Austin British heavy metal kingpins Amplified Heat covered the all-day bill with high-proof spirit and set it on fire, bringing our day excursion South of the river to a close.
All photos by Troy Gonzales
You must be logged in to post a comment.