Viet Cong drummer Mike Wallace performs with one arm at SXSW 2015. Photo by Joe McCabe, heyreverb.com.
At one point during ‘s packed set at Cedar Street on Thursday night, singer/vocalist Matt Flegel asked the crowd if anyone was wearing a Def Leppard t-shirt.
No one in the crowd — dressed in plaid, v-necks and skinny jeans — could help him out.
So, instead, Flegel invited Metz drummer Hayden Menzies on stage to play percussion alongside Viet Cong’s Mike Wallace.
“Why?” someone might have asked if they hadn’t looked at the stage throughout the set. Things were moving along fine. Viet Cong had performed an intense, martial set without interruption. But, things weren’t fine for the post-punk band. Wallace had played the entire set with his arm in a cast and a blue sling strapped around his shoulder — a one-armed drummer.
Viet Cong’s drumming is thundering and militaristic. The doom and gloom marches, the wound up and tight rolls between hi-hat and snare — they’re just as key to the sound as Flegel’s deep Interpol-like vocals. And on Thursday, the percussion didn’t seem missing at all. The only notable difference was a little more space within the rhythm section.
But the most impressive part of the performance — aside from his complete confidence on stage — was Wallace was having fun: grinning, stiffly lifting his cast in the air, thrashing his head around. Many drummers in this situation — besides not being able to perform at all — would have to put every ounce of their focus into playing a passable set with one arm. Then here’s this guy playing quick tight triplets on the snare while keeping the beat on the hi-hat using one arm and looking like he’s enjoying having a challenge for once. Also, impressive, he only needed help on one song the huge, album closer “Death” which, along with a rolling verse beat on the toms, is highlighted by a ta-do-tatatatata on the snare in the chorus.
Now we get to my point about why this is a better surprise than Miley Cyrus (who if you hadn’t heard made a surprise appearance at SXSW around the time Viet Cong was taking the stage).
As I’ve said before, SXSW separates the amateurs from the professionals. Emerging bands that can’t hack it through an intense week of back-to-back performances, might not be able to handle it in this industry.
Even though Viet Cong was one of the most talked about bands leading into SXSW, people would have understood if they canceled their shows because the drummer has one arm. But, likely because of the life-changing momentum they have, Viet Cong decided to play on.
It could have been a disaster with the entire industry watching — but they pulled it off. The surprise here isn’t that Wallace is a talented musician. The surprise is that this band — and any band for that matter — has cojones like this.
This is also the beautiful thing about SXSW: You’re seeing these bands perform the defining moments of their careers. Bands are being tested, and letting it all out on the stage. It makes for some truly unforgettable sets, and, hopefully, it also makes careers.
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