Despite protests of SXSW's army ties, the bands played on. Our 20 favorite acts from 2024
South by Southwest Music concluded one of its most divisive festivals in 37 years on Saturday.
Eighty bands pulled out over ties to the U.S. and Israeli militaries. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted disparagingly about the artists who did so and SXSW itself chimed-in to disagree with him via social media. Musicians pushed back not just on who was underwriting the conference or being platformed at it, but the core ethos that’s long-driven the scene: Playing for exposure is worth it.
Saturday night at the Intercontinental Hotel, Austin band Fuvk paused their set to read a statement of protest, calling SXSW’s response to criticism about where its funding comes from “pathetic and gutless.” They said it felt “perverse” to perform and said they likely plan to make this their last SXSW gig.
Toronto’s Sam Tudor joked onstage about how his guitarist had an Uber booked for 8:35 p.m. so she might have to leave mid-performance. She had been filling in for other Canadian acts all week: “Too bad she’s not being paid by the show.” Tudor also deadpanned: “Is anyone in the audience a tech billionaire? We’re not allowed to make money in America, as per our visa.”
Tudor played the Driskill gig last-minute when Norway’s Beharie took to Instagram hours earlier to say that he’d be backing out of this showcase over SXSW’s U.S. Army sponsorship and the conference’s platforming of Raytheon, which supplies weapons to Israel.
"This decision is way overdue, but it feels like the only right thing to do at this point," Beharie wrote.
When asked for a comment on Sunday, event organizers shared the same statement they used to rebut Governor Abbott on Tuesday. The statement defends the artists' rights to free speech and explains that the defense industry is a leader of tech discovery.
"The Army’s sponsorship is part of our commitment to bring forward ideas that shape our world," the statement said. The statement also asserted the festival's continued commitment to "human rights for all."
"The situation in the Middle East is tragic, and it illuminates the heightened importance of standing together against injustice," it said.
Behari did play later at an unofficial gig at the Shiner Saloon. And it was magnificent and moving soul music.
It was an existential SXSW politically. But the musicians who chose to play gave area patrons a reliable overload of astonishing work. These are the 20 best bands I watched.
China Bears
The Somerset, England band, led by twin songwriters Ivan and Fraser Proctor, sounds like a baby Coldplay. They write sad but romantic guitar ballads about melting down internally. Don’t take my word for it: Simon Williams of Fierce Panda, who signed Coldplay and Keane, had the young band open his 30th anniversary show at the British Music Embassy. He technically opened for them, speaking onstage about his legacy beforehand. Here, Williams detailed his history of depression; the moderators talked about the importance of recognizing mental health struggles in the music industry. Introspective songs that followed like “Someone Kill This Party '' were stark reminders that earnest Brit-pop can be extremely meaningful to the general public.
Forest Claudette
A modern R&B star in the making, the Australian-born artist had a small room at pop-up venue Cuatro Gato swaying and snapping phone pics. The non-binary artist posts versatile EPs and singles to their Spotify with confessional, Frank Ocean-grade bedroom balladry. Punched-up with a live drummer, the songs came out of their shells. And they say Zoomers are anti-social.
More:The Black Keys played none of the hits at SXSW set that paid tribute to rock's Black roots
J Noa
The 18-year-old is spell-bindingly talented as a rapper: Elite breath control, double-timed verses that cram 32 bars worth of lyrics into 16, and an onstage fearlessness to press ahead at full pace whether she’s opening for Peso Pluma in a crowded ACL Live or a sleepy Radio Day stage mid-afternoon at the convention center. The Dominican prodigy has what it takes to uncork some classic records.
LAIR
One of LAIR’s instruments cracked on the flight from Jakarta, the band said on the International Day stage. No matter, LAIR (“Lah-eer,” which means “birth”) hand-crafted a new one down here in a pinch.
“We made every instrument from clay so we play our soil everywhere,” they said onstage.
The 6-piece band from Jatiwangi, Indonesia says it’s inspired by Tarling, traditional West Javan music. New record “Ngelar” has crescendoing, multi-harmony vocals and driving guitar licks. It’s lowkey like Arcade Fire.
Good Looks
Two years ago, Austin’s Good Looks drew a 7-point-something in Pitchfork on the strength of lead single “Almost Automatic,” a perfectly regional twangy rock tune. It was lived-in and vulnerable and seemed written by the kind of Texans who don’t like guns, but their grandpas gave them one, and they hang onto it maybe longer than they should. You know those guys, they're usually super chill. Anyway, I’m walking in a rush between shows and hear my favorite Texas song of 2022 blaring from Vaquero Taquero. Had to drop in and see how layered and full it shines live.
Peso Pluma
YouTube’s most-streamed artist of 2023 was Jalisco’s Peso Pluma. This wouldn’t surprise me if he made reggaeton bangers like Karol G, which he’s recently forayed into. But the lanky dude stomps on stage like Wiz Khalifa, with two euphoniums and a trombone hyping him up, playing half notes. That’s because Peso Pluma makes traditional corrido ballads. The paparazzi headlines and bling are just folklore; this is regional outlaw music complete with a standup bass.
More:Peso Pluma ignites crowd in rare SXSW 2024 performance in Austin: 'Que vivan los corridos'
Young Miko
Puerto Rican rapper Young Miko opened for Peso at ACL Live and was onstage for nearly an hour. Her brash lyrics and club-friendly bangers didn’t need to convince anyone: A whole company of 21-year-olds was behind her for seemingly every song.
Sparta
SXSW turned-up El Paso, Texas rock legends. Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala of At the Drive-In and Mars Volta performed as their long-dormant, dubby side project DeFacto. They likewise screened “If This Ever Gets Weird,” a film about how Scientology compromised their friendship. Their former bandmate Jim Ward rebooted his post-hardcore band Sparta at the Marshall Funhouse, and while he doesn’t scream like he used to on songs like “Cut Your Ribbon,” his textured and distinct voice makes him a perfect emo singer.
And that’s when you realize that the Marshall Funhouse, open to the public and carnival-themed, basically exists for old emo parents to distract their 6-year-olds while they noodle with amps before Dad makes the whole clan watch Dinosaur Jr.
Ward had a message for them about Texas politics, too: “Cheers to you guys if you live here and you’re dealing with this,” he said in criticism of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s conservative policies. Ward added he was a fifth-generation Texan and encouraged disappointed liberals to stay: “We can’t leave because we’re the only semblance of intelligence.”
ÄTNA
“Are you ready for an explosion?” a German emcee told fans at the Germany showcase before praising Dresden’s ÄTNA with awkward phrasing: “They are going to blow you off!”
He was right. ÄTNA was the best live performance of SXSW: Fusing hip-hop, dance, techno, indie pop with orderly German efficiency, the boy-girl duo band’s infectious energy sparked the most holistic dance party of the conference.
“We came all the way from Holly Street,” frontwoman Inéz Schaefer deadpanned to the converted Shangri-La crowd.
Ada Oda
Caught this 5-piece power-pop band late-night and was blown away by its perfect timing. Pogo drums, a cool frontwoman singing in Italian, every adorning guitar lick was expertly dialed-in. And they’re from Brussels which explains the charismatic quirk that shone through on every note. Belgians are weird as hell.
La Sécurité
Let’s hear it for Canada House, the best SXSW venue to emerge recently. Ever since Emo’s folded in 2011, this block of Red River has sorely lacked a great indoor-outdoor, two-stage club. (Let’s be honest, the Red Eyed Fly, which became Sidewinder, before also shuttering, was terrible.) That is until vast swaths of SXSW gigs to coordinate gave Swan Dive that same vital Emo’s energy of bopping back and forth between stages. Montreal’s La Sécurité was the tightest, fastest, most hand clap-ready rock band I watched here. Imagine a pretentious B-52s where the mod bassist is complaining about the audience and making Quentin Tarantino references between songs.
Marem Ladson
Got a parking ticket rushing over to Cheer Up Charlie’s to catch this Spanish songwriter’s final SX show early Saturday. Spent most of her performance signing up via Eventbrite link to enter the premises with a dang QR code—caught just one song. Worth it.
Robert Finley
“For the first time ever I feel like I’m in the right place, at the right time,” the 70-year-old blues journeyman told a packed Mohawk crowd waiting to watch the Black Keys. “Life’s too short to keep putting off tomorrow what you want to do today.”
The Louisiana guitarist’s voice, a bellowing soul cry, sticks with you.
Bubble Tea and Cigarettes
“This is our first South by and so far we’ve really enjoyed it. Hopefully you have too,” the soft-spoken dream pop duo from Brooklyn, New York, told the intimately dark Empire Control Room. They asked for all the lights off and with their customlight light fixture accompanying their work, it was like having your own private Beach House concert.
Christian Nodal
At Billboard’s Moody Amphitheater showcase, fans of the 25-year-old Mexican singer camped across the way at Dell Hospital just to watch from the parking garage. Every Nodal song’s opening notes were met with fans screaming. Every ballad broke into a singalong. Imagine living in another country, leaving the love of your life behind, and your favorite singer strolls through town to sing some norteño tearjerkers.
A Giant Dog
For three straight years, Austin’s A Giant Dog has converted everyone watching into a fan during SXSW gigs. At Shangri-La Friday night, they lorded over a celebration of 13 years’ worth of great AGD albums. With only two original members left, songwriters Sabrina Ellis and Andrew Cashen, the band entered its crossroads era with brute strength. And suddenly, lyrics like “can’t even remember being young” are more profound than ever.
Dom B
The R&B Forever showcase celebrated the new and old school alike with affecting, passionate vocalists on display. Shoot even host DJ Mal-Ski had pipes. But when songwriter Dom B. lit hearts on fire with breakup songs and gave us her Insta handle, everyone looked down on their phone at once.
Folk Bitch Trio
The Australian three-piece folk band makes cool Britt Daniel covers and leans away from the pastiche lore that can torpedo many young folk acts not from Appalachia. But this was transcendent stuff; the three-part harmonies were so arresting that even the singers seemed caught up and misty-eyed during their set. Maybe because by Saturday at the Lazarus brewery, the weight of the week caught up to them.
They shouted-out fellow Aussies Bones and Jones and goofed that as high school friends, they began as a Black Keys cover band. And then years later, they all got to watch the Black Keys together at Stubb’s.
Yung D3Mz
African hip-hop shined at the Afrobeats showcase at Flamingo Cantina with nonstop party rocking and DJs who would teach you the moves between sets. Accra, Ghana’s Yung D3Mz had crisp flow, limitless heaters, and he’d let his DJ fade-out instrumentals so he could hammer home the chorus to “Carolina” a capella.
Wishy
“I think it might be parked illegally, but I hope not,” Wishy singer Kevin Krauter said, just as his bandmate realized she forgot the tambourine in the car. His shirt read “Midwest Kush.”
The Indiana band writes perfect Midwest emo: Heartfelt missives for slackers learning to express the different layers of their psyche in a healthy manner.
Fugitive
It took 3 seconds of a Fugitive show, rich with fast guitar solos and the finest guttural screaming since Slipknot, for this reporter to catch a stray fist to the orbital bone and lose his glasses. It was so tight.
Tierra Whack
The Philly rapper performed at an Urban Outfitters event that was technically off-books, but it absolutely happened because of SXSW. And she blew most other performers away. For the uninitiated, she’s an internet age weirdo whose breakout album “Whack World” had a bunch of clever 90-second songs. Now she’s a masterful performance artist with a razor-sharp wit and deceptively perfect similes like: “Cruising with my baby like a car seat.” She takes fans and puts them on risers to pantomime on her behalf. She calls out people for not dancing: “What are y’all afraid of? No one’s gonna judge you.”
And she perfectly summed up Austin weather in March while bantering: “How is it hot and cold up here at the same time? It’s weird as hell here.”
Heffner
The problem with men today is that too many of them have podcasts and not enough get together and express themselves. Athens, Georgia’s Heffner comes from the snarky, bratty school of rock that’s given us bar-crawlin’ standouts like White Reaper in recent years. Three-part guitar breakdowns. Cheeky cowbells. But there’s way more heart in this 6-piece outfit, as evidenced by a left-field, Spanish-language cover of Los Angeles Negros’ 1969 hit “Y Volvere” they turned to late at the Parish. It was almost 2 a.m. and on the last night of SXSW, just as the rain outside started to pour. What a home run.
I asked them about it via Instagram DM and they said it’s “One of our favorites to pull out of the bag.”