by Keegan Pierce
For those unfamiliar, SXSW is an annual conference focusing on music, film, and tech that takes over downtown Austin every year– or rather almost every year. SXSW was canceled in 2020 and online in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and 2022 was the year the conference made its grand return.
The excitement of the event’s return was palpable on the streets. Posters for SXSW events (or in search of Nick Cage) were everywhere downtown, and everywhere you looked, brands were promoting themselves and bands were rocking. There was just so much happening, and everyone on the streets ran from one event to the next.
SXSW prides itself on making unexpected connections, which was the case for me. Artists were just an email away from meeting up at coffee shops for interviews, and you never know who you might run into at the shows or even late-night fire alarms at the hotel (shoutout to the owner of the Houston venue White Oak Music Hall that we ran into then).
With hundreds of musical artists and dozens of venues, it’s safe to say that the SXSW music festival was back. The variety of shows happening at SXSW is a marvel. There were massively popular acts like Young Thug and Dolly Parton, hot new acts like Muna and Wet Leg, old cult heroes like Dream Syndicate, and of course, more emerging artists looking for their break than you’ll find anywhere else. I reviewed some of these acts.
First, reviews on a couple of smaller acts: Been Stellar was a great band to see at Austin’s Hole in the Wall. There is a nihilistic edge to the band that made the cbgb-esque bathrooms at the bar feel like New York 1977. New York is where Been Stellar is from, but they are a modern band. Marking the boundless modern world of music, the band blends various sounds and influences. Been Stellar will channel the distorted sweetness of a Strokes hook then the menacing swagger of Iceage in ways that are effortlessly cool especially live. The UT radio station put on this stage, and I hold no slight bias towards shows put on by college radio stations, but it was exhilarating to see such a young band perform at a show put on by other young people.
Despite being an internationally recognized event, SXSW holds room for experimental bands like Circuit des Yeux. Live in a church, Circuit des Yeux was a force greater than sound. Against the stained glass, I was reminded of angels and demons while Haley Fohr delicately and intensely sang, but as the performance continued, neither could describe the full range of sounds created. It was loud. It was tender. It was beautiful. My favorite part was when she played the church’s organ for a powerful conclusion to a set that saw me on the edge of my pew the entire time.
I caught Dolly Parton talking about NFTs with George Patterson, which inspired both apprehensions of late-stage capitalism and utter awe for the living legend of Dolly Parton. Right afterward, I went to see Dream Syndicate. SXSW is famed for putting on new names and celebrating established ones. This show commemorating the album “The Days of Wine and Roses” from 40 years ago is, of course, the latter, and of course, it rocked. The band described their first trip to Austin, sleeping on a friend’s floor and surviving on bologna, and while it’s been 40 years (or perhaps because of that), the band still had the rough edges and coolness that made them an underground sensation when “The Days of Wine and Roses” was released. The band filled the church with hauntingly noisy vibrations. If I had seen this show 40 years ago, I bet my 80’s crew socks would have been blown off by the feedback and heady songwriting, but
seeing the show in 2022, I was amazed by how familiar the sound this band pioneered has become in the years since.
Rapper Fly Anakin’s performance on the song exploder stage was probably my favorite performance at SXSW. The irony of Fly Anakin standing at the front of a church filling the sacred space with profanity, would seem to make for an awkward set. Throw in that most of the people in the room were waiting seated in the pews for Kimbra or Perfume Genius. Such odds would have crucified a lesser performer, but Fly Anakin brought his whole singular self, and by god, it was spiritual. Fly Anakin’s dense rhymes and mesmerizing flows are impressive on record, but they were a miracle live. While most of the crowd was uncomfortable hearing rap music, they did get up to dance for a few songs at the MC’s request. Before Fly Anakin’s last song, the host of the Song Exploder podcast briefly interviewed the artist about what line he’d like to leave with the audience. The irreverent rapper quickly responded, “Death to all Karens,” followed by an even quicker “no offense” before killing the rap with ease.
To wrap up the reviews, a headlining artist: Beck. The Grammy-winning musician was a featured keynote speaker at the event and performed an acoustic set on Saturday night. I loved that it was an acoustic set. My dad likes to talk about when he saw Beck at a college party. In this distant past, Beck was a folk singer committing Hank Williams songs to heart. This aspiring Woody Guthrie is the Beck who descended on the stage that night playing whatever songs he remembered (and attempting a few he had trouble remembering in moments of an endearing fumbling around on stage) going on for hours. There’s some magic quality about Beck that’s let him find success in being a weird dude constantly defying expectations. At this show, I became convinced that is the authenticity of self he gleaned from folk singing greats. His solo performance seemed less prepared than some other sets I saw at SXSW. Still, it was one of the most affecting because if you strip back the layers of Beck’s music, there is an undeniably affecting personality.
SXSW remains the place to be if you are an artist, an industry insider looking to network, or a fan. I was delightfully overwhelmed by the scale of the event, especially as it returned from covid era restrictions.
