by Sophie Block
The highlight of my SXSW was Saturday afternoon at Lustre Pearl, where I saw Tapes ‘n Tapes and Okkervil River--totally free--shaded from the sun beneath a large tent while still reveling in the Texas heat. Lustre Pearl was transformed from it’s cute, elegant-meets-destructed house vibe to full-on concert venue this week. Dickies hosted the day party that brought together a big crowd of SXSWers.
Huge shout out to Tapes ‘n Tapes from my native Minneapolis! I felt right at home at their rockin' set mid-afternoon. They were wrapping up a two-month tour with their final SXSW gig at the Pearl. They said they were psyched to finally get some R&R after the stint, but definitely weren’t done working yet! Josh Grier’s singing was fun and engaging, and he interacted a lot with the other band members. Bassist Erik Appelwick sang backup vocals and some refrains with Grier, showing off his missing tooth as he smirked and sang along throughout the show. The band shone on the chill anthem “On and On” off their new album and “Freak Out.” When Grier’s guitar strap fell off during the show, Jeremy Hanson rocked out an impromptu minute-long drum solo that the crowd went wild for. As big as this band gets, watching them live I saw that they’re still just some Minnesota boys having fun playing music. Really, really good music.
Indi rockers Okkervil River went on next, and they tore it up! The local band wrapped up their SXSW with the show at Lustre Pearl as well. They are so enchanting to watch play live. The band has cycled through several members since its formation in the late 90s, but the current line-up was authentic and cohesive. They opened the show with “Lost Coastlines,” a song in which the bassist shares vocal duty with songwriter Will Sheff. The song builds from slow and sweet to full-on cheer fest. They played two songs off their new album I am Very Far due out in May. I will definitely be on top of that one once it comes out after hearing “Rider” and “Wake and be fine.” Okkervil River is one of the bands to point to when bragging about why music in this city is the best.
Huge shout out to Tapes ‘n Tapes from my native Minneapolis! I felt right at home at their rockin' set mid-afternoon. They were wrapping up a two-month tour with their final SXSW gig at the Pearl. They said they were psyched to finally get some R&R after the stint, but definitely weren’t done working yet! Josh Grier’s singing was fun and engaging, and he interacted a lot with the other band members. Bassist Erik Appelwick sang backup vocals and some refrains with Grier, showing off his missing tooth as he smirked and sang along throughout the show. The band shone on the chill anthem “On and On” off their new album and “Freak Out.” When Grier’s guitar strap fell off during the show, Jeremy Hanson rocked out an impromptu minute-long drum solo that the crowd went wild for. As big as this band gets, watching them live I saw that they’re still just some Minnesota boys having fun playing music. Really, really good music.
Indi rockers Okkervil River went on next, and they tore it up! The local band wrapped up their SXSW with the show at Lustre Pearl as well. They are so enchanting to watch play live. The band has cycled through several members since its formation in the late 90s, but the current line-up was authentic and cohesive. They opened the show with “Lost Coastlines,” a song in which the bassist shares vocal duty with songwriter Will Sheff. The song builds from slow and sweet to full-on cheer fest. They played two songs off their new album I am Very Far due out in May. I will definitely be on top of that one once it comes out after hearing “Rider” and “Wake and be fine.” Okkervil River is one of the bands to point to when bragging about why music in this city is the best.
No comments:
Post a Comment