Abbey Fox writesAbbey Fox Goes to SXSW2015: Day 2

CHIRP Radio’s Abbey Fox visited this year’s South by Southwest Music Festival and documented her experiences. Click here to read about Day 1. Day three will be posted tomorrow!

Day 2

After a huge breakfast at Magnolia Cafe (more breakfast tacos because #yolo), it was time for Day 2. I started the day off solo with a goal of getting back to Red 7 but allowed myself to be distracted by whatever sounded cool.

That first distraction was Slow Down Molasses at the Canadian showcase. Described as “the Broken Social Scene of the prairies,” I immediately dug their indie sound and lady vocalist.

Setting back out to my original destination, I was invited in to The Lolo’s, a Californian band with an Americana indie sound. Up next was The Black and White at a random tent off of Red River Road, playing me an 80’s reminiscent set that would make HAIM proud.

Finally, I made it to Red 7 and I caught the end of Ultimate Painting, the beginning of London based solo artist Emmy The Great, and Handsome Ghost. I booked it over to Flamingo Cantina for SOAK, the Irish 18-year-old Bridie Monds Watson, a singer-songwriter who writes with such maturity and simplicity that I first heard of on NPR’s SXSW preview show.

Before SOAK began her set, I glanced around the room and noticed NPR’s Bob Boilen and we nodded at each other like old friends (note: we are not old friends). I walked over to him to fangirl properly, and he thanked me for my admiration and told me he was excited to listen to SOAK too. I told him how much I appreciate the All Songs Considered brand of music criticism - uplifting new artists to a wide audience with the kind of humor and nerdery only possible in public radio.

He continued to talk to me about his favorite sets and encouraged me to say hello to the rest of the NPR crew there as well. And there it was again. I stopped in my tracks, in awe of the SXSW-ness of that moment: discovering the band through magic of the internet, seeing said band live, and connecting with the recommender in real life. That’s the kind of musical mashup I was seeking.

Flamingo Cantina was getting crowded so I decided to head back to my home base of Red 7 for the rest of their day party. I caught a couple songs from NYC’s pop/soul/dance band, Misterwives, the much anticipated heavy- noise influenced all dude quartet Girl Band, and dancey power-pop Yumi Zouma.

Seattle’s Chastity Belt won me over with their matching “dad” sunglasses and feminist lyrics (check out this video to get a taste), and Frog Eyes, hailing from Canada and centered around lead singer Carey Mercer’s Ted Leo-esque vocals & sound. Mitski’s beautiful tunes (whose music has been described as “an aging racetrack greyhound - graceful but still pretty sad”) prepared the way for a band I have been obsessed with since I first heard their bright and catchy single “Class Historian,” Oklahoma’s Broncho. They did not disappoint. They provided a high energy and overall fun performance to a small group of fans who danced their heads off...thanks, Broncho.

A quick re-fuel of water and (more) tacos and we were on our way to Auditorium Shores for their annual free outdoor show. Shows at Auditorium Shores remind me of Millennial Park in the summer - an expansive outdoor space with a skyline so beautiful that allows you to take in the city and the music simultaneously.

The headliners were Austin’s beloved indie godfathers Spoon which fed into my own early 2000’s nostalgia (I mean, let’s face it - who didn’t love "The Way We Get By?"), but my favorite set was by Charles Bradley. A phenomenal Daptone discovery, I was floored to learn that funk-master and 66-year-old Charles Bradley didn’t officially release music until the late 1990s. He was discovered while moonlighting as a James Brown impersonator, and while that is obviously present in his performance, there’s something unique about his sound that keeps you listening. And perhaps it’s just the kind of thing you want to hear after a long winter while laying in the grass with an old friend.

On the walk home, we passed the neighborhood bar, and I overheard two Dave Matthew’s-esque bro’s covering Sarah McLaughlin’s “Building a Mystery” and quietly thought "There really is something for everybody here at SXSW..."

Check out Abbey's SWSW2015 Spotify playlist!

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