Concert Review: Rolling Stone: The Future of Music Showcase at SXSW 2025
On March 11, 2025, Rolling Stone returned to SXSW for its third annual Future of Music Showcase at ACL Live at the Moody Theater. The night featured sets by Duplexity, jasmine.4.t, LAILA!, Hannah Bahng, and headliner Benson Boone.
Written by Claire Hookstra
Photos courtesy of Samantha Tellez
The first night of the highly anticipated Rolling Stone Future of Music Showcase did not disappoint. Fans not participating in SXSW lined up as early as 10 a.m., and the venue nearly reached capacity by the time the magazine's latest cover star, Benson Boone, took the stage. Presented by JBL, the ACL Live venue transformed into a musical soundscape with surround sound speakers, giant screens, and themed lighting for each artist.
Once the doors opened and fans filed in, Beverly Hills sibling duo Duplexity took the stage at approximately 7:15 p.m., wearing bejeweled leotards and shiny suit jackets. Savannah and Luke Judy alternated lead vocals, captivating the audience as the venue gradually filled.
At exactly 7:44 p.m., Manchester act jasmine.4.t took the stage to an audience much larger than it had been just 30 minutes before. With pink and blue hair, lead singer Jasmine introduced the band, composed of four trans women, before diving into songs from its first and only album, You Are The Morning. After taking the time to discuss the political climate in Texas and Manchester, urging fans to support charities, donate, and sign petitions to protect trans rights, the group launched into the record’s title track of hope and perseverance, “You Are The Morning.” A song about trans love, “Skin On Skin,” shortly followed, with jasmine.4.t. proudly announcing that the record was produced by indie supergroup boygenius. With violin melodies from Phoenix Rousiamanis, bass lines from Emily Abbott, and percussion from Eden O’Brien, the half-hour set filled the room with heartfelt appreciation and reflection.
Next up on the coveted ACL Live stage was rapper-producer LAILA! at 8:40 p.m. The artist, accessorized with lime green barrettes, quickly announced that her new album, Gap Year!, had just been released. Her smooth, syncopated rhythms immediately caught the audience’s attention, with the mindless chatter from the mezzanine and balcony falling silent during the song, “Like That!” With the screen behind her reading “If you don’t know by now I make all my own beats,” the rapper guided the crowd through her self-produced album. The crowd became the producer’s backup singers during “Not My Problem,” chanting “not my problem!” back to her when prompted. With a hype man constantly asking the crowd how they were doing and encouraging them to clap and wave to the beat of each song, the energy remained high throughout the 45-minute set.
With a now jam-packed house, the lights darkened at 9:37 p.m. as Hannah Bahng ran onto the stage. Certain audience members made it clear they were at the showcase for her, as high-pitched screams and signs that read “Hot Girls Love Hannah Bahng” launched into the air. The loudest set of the night, the venue vibrated with the swelling bass of each song. A quick mood shift from rock to mellow followed as Banhg showcased her range in “tonight’s the night i die to a frank ocean song.” Fans sang along without hesitation to the Sydney-born artist’s dreamy vocals. She treated the audience to the unreleased “Sweet Saturn Boy” and spent the rest of the set working through the tracklist of her EP, The Abysmal EP. Before her final song, the crowd began chanting “Hannah! Hannah!” — making the artist blush and thank the Austin crowd profusely for welcoming her with open arms.
With over three hours of sets behind them, ACL Live was full of nearly 2,700 guests by the end of the set, waiting eagerly for Boone’s 10:55 p.m. set. To pass the wait time, DJ Mel — otherwise known as “Obama’s DJ” since he played at his 2013 presidential inauguration — performed a short set on the left side of the stage. Live spinning tracks such as Charli XCX’s “360” and Beyonce’s “TEXAS HOLD ’EM,” the crowd bopped their heads and sipped their drinks as Boone’s Rolling Stone cover shoot played on a mesmerizing loop across the venue’s three giant screens.
At 11:01 p.m., the lights dimmed and Boone’s voice boomed over the speakers. Distorted clips of the artist’s hit, “Beautiful Things” played in short bursts as whoops and cheers filled the room. His band appeared onstage, jolting into his newest single, “Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else.” Storming the stage in shimmering gold pants, an open vest, and a matching glittery bandana tied across his forehead, the singer grinned at the audience with vigor. Halfway through the track, the crowd was graced with their first frontflip of the night (with several more to come).
Thoroughly working the stage, Boone launched from left to right, commanding the attention of the entire room. During his hit “Drunk In My Mind,” he found a particularly passionate audience member and sang the chorus directly to her. After the song’s climactic conclusion, he commended her for singing back to him, expressing how some fans freeze and blankly stare at him when he tries to engage with them. “Cry” and “Pretty Slowly” followed, during which the audience jumped and danced along with the artist. Boone took advantage of the stage’s design — purposely set up with platforms for climbing — and spent most of the night parkour-ing around the ACL Live stage. The unreleased “The Momma Song” and Twisters original “Death Wish Love” followed, keeping the audience locked in on the sparkly performer. A heartfelt speech preceded “In the Stars,” a ballad honoring his late grandmother. “Let me do my job and perform for you,” the star pleaded, asking the audience to lower their phones so they could truly take in the moment.
Ending the night with none other than “Beautiful Things,” the audience screamed in unison to the catchy chorus, “Don’t / Take / These beautiful things that I’ve got” as they watched Benson Boone cap off the performance with a final, perfect-score-worthy frontflip off the piano.
The Future of Music Showcase gave SXSW attendees over five hours of innovative, new, and ultimately beautiful music. If you missed the three-day exhibition this year, go ahead and add Rolling Stone’s The Future of Music Showcase to your 2026 South by Southwest festival agenda.