Chicago – On a hazy Sunday night, music lovers and beer drinkers found themselves dancing to The Living Statues’ rock ‘n’ roll, thanks to Schubas’ 100% Off Bands, a series of free local shows, which touts $2 beers and a good time. The Living Statues drew quite the crowd, especially considering they’re not exactly local.
Austin – SXSW officially ended Sunday, but that’s a mostly ceremonial date: Saturday night hosts the last of the big showcases. Whether SXSW was structured this way or we accidentally put together a theme, Best New Bands’ Saturday schedule was made up of loud, energetic, party-all-night sets from Joey Bada$$, Sweater Beats, and Earl
New York – The Boom Boom Room at the Standard Hotel is barely a music venue. It’s mostly a swanky bar on the top floor of a trendy Meatpacking District hotel where tourists and new-money Manhattan-ites gather to preen and feel exclusive and eat frites, which is what you eat if you want to seem
Austin – The penultimate day of SXSW saw the bad weather continue—thank God this festival is mostly indoors—but it wasn’t too bad as long as you weren’t a pedicab driver. Tip those people well, by the way. Friday’s offerings included two of Best New Bands’ most anticipated sets, Christine and the Queens and Until the
Austin – Day three marks roughly the halfway point for SXSW, and it featured some of the best day shows yet. Which was fortunate, because the weather really took a dive. Making it to both Viet Cong and Ibeyi, whose sets were just ten minutes apart, was a bit of a personal victory. Viet Cong
Austin – Wednesday was—fingers crossed—the most frustrating day schedule-wise at SXSW. Attendees were forced to make painful choices between Elliphant and Shamir, and those of us that chose Elliphant ran into a line that wouldn’t budge. But the line was moving smoothly for the Ray Ban showcase at Boiler Room, and it wound up being
Los Angeles – After several opening bands took turns pummeling audience members at Jewel’s Catch One last weekend, headliners Naomi Punk put on a dynamic and loud performance. These three gentlemen from Olympia, Washington have been churning out noisy, chaotic noise rock since 2008, producing two full-length albums, 2012’s The Feeling and 2014’s Television Man.
Austin – A lot of people say SXSW Music doesn’t really start until Wednesday, but those chumps missed out on day one. It was a little slower than usual as people waited in line to collect wristbands, but careful planners could have filled up their schedules. Or, just stayed at Spotify House. They had some
Chicago – Music journalists often find their inboxes overflowing with press releases, invitations, and a plethora of new music. Sifting through those emails can be tedious and time consuming, but every so often that afternoon dig finds a diamond in the rough. This happened to me recently when I stumbled upon a little gem titled
Nashville – The Richmond, VA-based band Avers stopped by the Stone Fox this past Friday night, and it just so happened to be a very damp, dreary Friday the 13th. However, despite the rain and the mud and the lingering superstition, fans of the psychedelic pop group flocked to the show in order to catch