Team Reverb is on the scene at the South by Southwest Music Festival this week. Here’s what a few of us saw on Day 2.
Best musical moment: Days at SXSW often feel like entire weeks -– all that time on your feet, all those random encounters, all that music. Yesterday was one of those days. In the best way possible.
And that makes picking out the day’s most definitive musical moment really tough. Was it Telekinesis’ punchy set at the Spin Loft? Or when X singer Exene Cervenka joined Rhett Miller on stage for their duet, “Four Leaf Clover?” Or was it Matthew and the Atlas’ stunningly stark set in a half-empty bar on Sixth Street?
Those were all memorable, but nothing quite compared to the outrageous sensuality and stand-up musicality of Mexico garage rock act Le Butcherettes. Fronted intimidatingly by Teri Gender Bender, who resembles both Zooey Deschanel and Alison Mosshart, the group steamrolled a packed crowd at the Flamingo Cantina on Thursday night.
The three-piece came into the festival with a lot of buzz, but all eyes were on Gender Bender -– born Teresa Suarez –- at Thursday’s show. Her charisma is undeniable, and it helped that she was hardly tethered to the stage. When she wasn’t casually petting people in the audience, she was crawling across the floor. When she was at my feet, I said something awkwardly and nervously. She asked me, “Whatap your name,” as she reached out and touched my shoulder. And instantly I was the most envied person in the room.
Spectacle and sexuality are big of course, but Le Butcherettes have the music to keep things fresh when the schtick grows old. Itap that sloppy organ-infused garage-punk that the cool kids love, and her random shout-outs to the slap-happy crowd -– in Spanish, natch -– were like calls for revolution. –Ricardo Baca
Best non-musical moment: SXSW is always unpredictable. With after parties, side parties, pool parties, skate ramp parties all in the name of music, the possibilities for fun are endless and daunting if you are not in the loop. If you’re brave, buy an Austinite a drink and if you’re lucky he or she will tell you where their favorite breakfast joint is or a particular band to see. If you’re even more lucky, they’ll cook breakfast for you. After talking with an Austin native named Monica at Emo’s on Thursday, I got the impression that people (read young people) here love their town and live a life of hipster leisure. I tried not to ask her too many questions since I already know my favorite breakfast spot (Cisco’s!), so I asked her which Austin band I should check out (Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, she says). Thanks for the heads up Monica, I owe you breakfast. —Loren Speer
What’s keeping Austin weird: Big. Sissy. Bounce. That’s how New Orleans’ Big Freedia, a.k.a. “The Queen Diva,” kept Austin weird on Thursday. While performing hot jams like “Azz Everywhere!” and “Gin in My System,” Freedia and her dancers faced away from the audience and shook, jiggle and spun their voluptuous booties to beats layed down by Rusty Lazer. It was a mesmerizing sight and one hell of a party. —Paul Custer
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Ricardo Baca is the founder and co-editor of and an award-winning critic and journalist at The Denver Post.
Loren Speer is an international activist and longtime Reverb contributor. He sleeps with one eye open and can crush glass with his bare hands. In addition to , Loren writes for and the Huffington Post under the pseudonym The Bartender.
Paul Custer is a Denver-based writer and regular contributor to Reverb.
