Day three of South By Southwest began with a trek through East Austin to the Pitchfork day party. We arrived at 1100 Warehouse sometime around 2 p.m. and immediately got free chips and granola bars. We went outside to sit in the grass for a bit and caught the end of Parquet Courts set. There was an indoor and outdoor stage and we went between the two for the rest of the afternoon.
Mac DeMarco
After sitting outside in the blazing sun for 20 minutes, it was time to move indoors for Mac DeMarco. He has been one of the busiest musicians at SXSW, but you wouldn’t know it. DeMarco’s set was energetic and goofy. He made lots of jokes and briefly crowd surfed. He finished his set with “Still Together.” I’ve made it my mission to see him again before the week ends.
Listen to: The Stars Keep On Calling My Name
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
This was our second time to see Unknown Mortal Orchestra and it was much better than the first time. The group doesn’t have much of a stage presence, but the lead singer has a killer voice and their songs are easy to bop along to. The crowd was more into this set at Pitchfork than the crowd at Mellow Johnny’s, which may have helped.
Listen to: Ffunny Ffriends
Delorean
We wandered back outside to wait for Youth Lagoon. Foxygen was still on stage doing some cool stuff, but we only caught the end of their set. Delorean came on next and I was immediately into them and their very attractive lead singer. They are apparently a Spanish dance band, which makes them all the more interesting than the rest of the indie rock at the show. The group played very danceable music and we could all forget about the disgusting heat for a while and just enjoy the show.
Listen to: Grow
Toro Y Moi
I went back inside solo to escape imminent sunburn, but also to hear Toro y Moi. I wandered over to the right of the stage and somehow got stuck behind a pole so I couldn’t see a thing. Toro y Moi is a pretty big name, but I don’t know much of their music. The songs kind of blurred together for me, but maybe “chillwave” just isn’t my genre. It was nice to sway along to from behind my pole.
Listen to: Harm in Change
Youth Lagoon
The Youth Lagoon set is what brought me to the 1100 Warehouse in the first place, so when Trevor Powers began setting up his wide array of gear on stage, I got pretty excited. However, a 30 minute delay that took place earlier in the day plus an extremely long sound check let Powers with only enough time to play two songs. The crowd of disgruntled hipsters yelled to protest, but the stage managers wouldn’t budge. Powers apologized profusely, and everyone left with a newfound hatred toward Pitchfork.
Song to listen to: 17
Jonny Craig
I showed up early for the Daniel Hart set at the Firehouse Lounge and managed to hear Jonny Craig’s set, which might have been the worst thing I’ve ever heard. The place was somehow packed with his most loyal fans, which I thought might actually shed a tear when he sat down for the acoustic portion of his highly offensive set. His cover of Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me A River actually hurt my feelings. It was horrendous.
Song to listen to if you need a good chuckle: Children of Divorce
Daniel Hart
Per a friend’s recommendation, I skipped the crowd at the Mohawk to see Daniel Hart at Firehouse Lounge. His set was incredibly energetic and entertaining. The performance might be my favorite one thus far, once again proving that the best part of SXSW is seeing people you didn’t plan on seeing.
Song to listen to: O Sangeeta
