Concert Review: SXSW Music Festival 2024

South by Southwest’s music festival returned to Austin on March 11 for six days of showcases featuring hundreds of artists worldwide.

Written by Janie Bickerton and C.S. Harper

SXSW 2024 was controversial thanks to the festival’s U.S. Army sponsorship amid the genocide in Gaza, as well as its historical underpayment of performing acts. In protest of the aforementioned sponsorship, more than 100 artists dropped out of the festival. The remaining acts had to make the difficult choice between traveling to Austin or staying home, with many ultimately deciding to perform while donating their profits for Palestinian relief. Despite the grim realities accompanying this year’s SXSW, the festival’s performing artists brought light to fans’ lives and delivered unforgettable sets. Here are some highlights from 2024’s installment of the SXSW music festival.

The South Hill Experiment (Mohawk Indoor): March 13

Bicoastal brother duo The South Hill Experiment permeated the intimate indoor stage with a grungy, psychedelic symphony. The audience bided their time watching vintage tapes of stop-motion dinosaurs as Baird and Gabe Acheson tuned their guitar and keyboard. The brothers, accompanied by collaborators Jeff Parker (Tortoise), Kaushlesh “Garry” Purohit, and CARM, began their delayed set wearing lizard masks and hand-decorated lab coats. To match the reptilian aesthetic, S/H/E started their set with “Chameleons,” a dissonant track from their 2023 album, MOONSHOTS. After shedding his lizard skin, Baird instructed the crowd to exclaim, “DREAMS!” at the raise of his hand, lending one round to practice before beginning the bouncy track that shares a name with the audience’s shout. Goldwalsh, aka Gabe Asheson, brought the entranced crowd back to reality with an impassioned call-out of SXSW’s military ties. Matching his brother’s anger, Baird announced that in support of Palestine, all merch sales from the night would benefit the United Nations Relief and Works Agency before transitioning back to the easygoing psych-rock sounds of “Alright, OK.” The South Hill Experiment curated an electric, inclusive atmosphere at Mohawk, with listeners old and new begging for one last song as the stage manager cut off their set at 10:40 p.m. — Janie Bickerton

Flyana Boss (ACL Live at Moody Theater): March 14

Bobbi and Folayan of Flyana Boss might’ve run into virality, but they accelerated into rising stardom on their own accord. Kicking off a night of rap, Afrobeats, and R&B in the fourth installment of the Rolling Stone “Future of Music” concert series, the rap duo set the stage ablaze with their inimitable energy and vivacious choreography. After opening with the proudly unserious and effortlessly fun “UFHO” at 7:50 p.m., the pair blended audience participation with seamless song transitions. They asked the crowd what kind of cars and houses they like to start “Big One,” and they sweetly gauged the room’s favorite fruits before “Mango Bananas.” Both in baggy clothes, the starlets maintained their infectious momentum for the entirety of their 30-minute smile-inducing set, which wouldn’t have been complete without the anticipated performance of their witty TikTok hit “You Wish.” Flyana Boss then ushered the crowd into an unexpected “Bohemian Rhapsody” a capella before jumping into the delightful choreography for their unreleased Queen-sampling track “Mammamia.” To end their exhilarating set, the besties assured the room that everyone was a star, cementing their place as rap’s next source of sunlight. — Janie Bickerton

THUS LOVE (13th Floor): March 15

For their last official SXSW set, queer Vermont quartet THUS LOVE graced the 13th Floor stage at 10:45 p.m. Formerly a trio, the Brattleboro darlings recently replaced their bassist with Ally Juleen and added guitarist/synth player Shane Blank to their roster late last year. The band’s expansion paid off, allowing for a performance that reveled in raucous noise while staying true to the heartfelt nature of THUS LOVE’s 2022 debut album, Memorial. Starting off with the unreleased track “On the Floor,” the four-piece offered a special treat to die-hard fans who’ve listened to Memorial front to back as well as newcomers who stumbled upon the venue. Riveting guitar riffs and a steady beat courtesy of drummer Louie Racine accompanied vocalist Echo Mars as she used her signature sprechgesangy, unbothered delivery throughout the song. Mars’s lively stage presence filled the set with many memorable moments as she playfully headbutted Juleen and jumped on Racine’s drum set at different points during the set. The Vermont natives cooled things off with the next-to-last track on the setlist and latest single, “Centerfield,” featuring midtempo riffs and tender lyrics like “Dark days / Centerfield / I’m trying not to take the wheel.” To close their set, the band followed up with “Put on Dog,” a doggedly upbeat punk anthem that got everyone in the crowd busting out their wildest moves. Delivering a mix of unreleased gems and beloved songs, THUS LOVE closed out their time in Austin this year with a bang. — C.S. Harper

1300 (Empire Garage): March 15

Photo courtesy of Raghov Rampal and Elijah Flores

As part of an all-Asian showcase hosted by Jaded, alternative hip-hop quintet 1300 took the Empire Garage stage by storm at 11:10 p.m. Sydney’s premier Korean rap group performed to a packed and lively crowd, creating an invigorating atmosphere. The self-described “boys from outer space” delivered an otherworldly performance, never missing a beat or losing momentum. In between songs, the collective’s members engaged in playful banter to tease the audience and transition to the next track on the setlist. Introducing the group’s latest single, “Ape Shit,” rapper goyo joked about watching “Planet of the Apes” on the plane to Austin before the hard-hitting beat dropped. Every collective member went into the song with relentless energy, jumping along to the infectious hook and encouraging the rowdy audience to do the same. In another standout moment, the rap crew prepped the growing crowd to sing along to the closing track “WOAH DAMN” from their 2022 mixtape, Foreign Language. The band members flexed their linguistic muscles by seamlessly switching between Korean and English before the excited crowd rapped the rapid-fire chorus: “Woah damn woah damn.” 1300 successfully hyped up the audience for headliners Audrey Nuna and Se So Neon, proving their place as “Rockstas.” — C.S. Harper

The Black Keys (Stubb’s): March 16

No SXSW 2024 recap would be complete without The Black Keys, the 21st-century rock staple who graced the festival with a documentary premiere, a keynote, and two performances. The Ohio-hailing duo owned Stubb’s in more ways than one: with the captivating mastery of their decades-long craft and their decision to start and end their Friday night set early. Warming up the at-capacity crowd with “I Got Mine” off of their 2008 album Attack and Release, guitarist and vocalist Dan Auerbach spoke little except of sincere gratitude for his fellow musicians, instead focusing on delivering an electric, career-spanning performance. They performed 13 songs from their 11 studio albums, adding live debuts of “This Is Nowhere” and “On the Game” from their upcoming album Ohio Players and a rambunctious cover of Gladys Knight & the Pips’ “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” The alternative-rock authors kept the crowd spry with gritty baselines and drummer Patrick Carney’s entrancing command of his instrument, especially palpable in his triumphant ending to “She’s Long Gone.” The group then transported the crowd to 2012 with their Grammy-winning hit, “Lonely Boy,” with all Stubbs-goers coming together to admit, “I’ve got a love that keeps me waiting.” Finishing the night with the slower, lovesick “Little Black Submarines” that ends with an explosion of alt-rock ecstasy, Auerbach and Carney thanked the crowd, who was confused that the set did not last until 2:00 a.m. but content with the band’s expert performance. — Janie Bickerton

Dead Tooth (Valhalla): March 16

“We’re Dead Tooth, like the dental disease!”

At 11:50 p.m., sharp, Brooklyn post-punkers Dead Tooth started their set 10 minutes early. The quintet brought a dark sense of humor and no-wave instrumentals to an animated Valhalla crowd. Led by enigmatic frontman Zach Ellis, the five-piece delivered an increasingly riotous performance with three band members getting shirtless by the end of the set. John Stanesco, who played the saxophone (“Allegedly a wind instrument,” Ellis quipped), made the performance one of the best of the night with his eccentric, Jeff Lebowski looks and humorous monologue about the band’s homesickness. “I miss my bandmate’s girlfriends,” Stanesco lamented as the crowd roared with laughter. But the set wasn’t just a platform for the band members to flaunt their standup chops — their musical prowess came through in tracks like “Sporty Boy.” Stanesco’s saxophone soared in a dance-inducing solo as bassist James Duncan, drummer Gui Fuentes, and guitarist Taylor Mitchell created an ear-splitting wall of sound around him. Meanwhile, the audience danced as fervently as the high-tempo beat, making the atmosphere feverish. With their sardonic banter and brash sound, New York's post-punk mainstays proved that rock isn't dead — it's Dead Tooth. — C.S. Harper

Concert Reviews, Concert CoverageAfterglow ATXMarch 19, 2024sxsw 2024, the south hill experiment, flyana boss, THUS LOVE, 1300, the black keys, dead tooth, C.S. Harper, janie bickerton