Spotify celebrated its 20th anniversary this year and rang it in early at SXSW.
While the company was founded in April 2006, “SXSW holds special significance for Spotify.” Co-founder Daniel Ek gave a sneak peek to SXSW attendees before the company launched to the public in 2011. The music streaming company sponsored SXSW events throughout the week, including conversations with Nick Jonas and Lainey Wilson.
Hopeful concertgoers packed Red River on Saturday at 10 p.m., with lines for Stubb’s reaching across the street and wrapping around the venue. Spotify 20’s music showcase brought the newest country sensation, Ella Langley, to town, alongside ‘90s icon Alanis Morissette and singer-songwriter St. Vincent, who gave a rare DJ set.
Despite the crowd talking over most of her performance, Langley showed off her vocals and played her hits, including “Dandelion,” “Be Her” and “you look like you love me,” minus the featured Riley Green. She teased her upcoming record, Dandelion, playing unreleased songs that went unappreciated by the audience.
“Something Simple” and her next single, “Lovin’ Life Again,” will feature on the April release. Langley said “Lovin’ Life Again” will be the last single to come out before the album drops.
“This journey I’ve been on has been crazy the whole entire time, but specifically the last few years, it’s been bonkers,” Langley said. “I feel like some days I’m eight steps ahead, and then the next morning I’m eight steps behind, and… last year, I got to the point where it just got so intense, and all my dreams are coming true, but I felt dragged.”
Langley said she wrote this song after she took a break, went back home to her hometown in Alabama and spent long-awaited time with her family.
“I looked at my friend, his name’s Ernest, y’all know who that is,” Langley said. “I said, ‘Well, looks like I’m back to lovin’ life again.’”
Both songs painted a small-town picture with a subdued sound and simple lyrics.
“If you wouldn’t mind helping me out, let’s see how many people we can get singing in here,” Langley said before ending her slot at the showcase with her top hit, “Choosin’ Texas.
After a 20-minute intermission, the stage lights flashed around 11 p.m. as a video montage of magazine images, concerts, late-night and award show clips highlighting Morrissette’s impact played on the screen.
A droning note blared and the lights flashed blue as a moon visual popped up on the screen. The crowd finally came to life as the first notes of “Hand in My Pocket” played and Morrissette took the stage. Energy propelled from the stage through to fans, who held up peace signs during the chorus.
Throughout the show, graphics behind Morrissette showed words relating to various social issues, including “bans off our bodies” and statistics of sexual harassment towards women and the wage gap.
Morrissette performed classics “You Learn,” “Ironic” and “Head Over Feet” alongside deep cuts. She spun out of control for close to a minute during “Smiling.”
At the end of Morrissette’s allotted stage time, she continued to play, going over by 25 minutes. She brought out St. Vincent for her finale, “You Oughta Know,” before Vincent’s scheduled DJ set.
“She’s just such a badass,” as the beginning montage said.
