The Best of SXSW Day Two: Allegra Krieger, Bar Italia, Gary Clark Jr., and More
Peso Pluma was the talk of the town, but there were plenty of other great shows all over Austin
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Look, we’re not just tooting our own horn here when we say that Peso Pluma’s headlining set at the second night of Rolling Stone’s Future of Music showcase at the Moody Theater was the buzziest show in town on Wednesday. Fans started queueing up hours before the música mexicana megastar took the stage — one dedicated kid was there at 4 a.m., no typo — and all day, people were talking about the spectacle to come. But this is SXSW, and there’s never just one show worth seeing. The rest of Wednesday was full of incredible performances, many taking place at unofficial venues all around Austin, led by plenty of the new and rising artists that are SXSW’s lifeblood along with a few stars. Here are the best things we saw on March 13.
Allegra Krieger Brings the Boom Boom Shrimp
Allegra Krieger took the stage at Chess Club and praised Good Looks, the Austin band that had just performed before her. “They were smiling so much,” she said. “That’s nice. I’m not gonna …” She then erupted in laughter. “Anyways, I’m Allegra Krieger.” The New York musician kept this witty charm throughout, whether in the songs (mostly from her excellent 2023 record I Keep My Feet on the Fragile Plane) or in between them (giving a shout out to her tourmate Katy Kirby’s mom, who was in the audience). Krieger is a noted Judee Sill fan, and you can hear traces of the cult Seventies songwriter in her music — from her intonation to her introspective lyrics that ponder spirituality with hopefulness and wonder. Krieger has gained a lot of buzz since releasing her album last year, and if we’re lucky, there’s more to come. Until then, we’ll keep singing the best lines from “Nothing in this World Ever Stays Still”: “Three missed calls from my Malibu pimp/I was writing down an order for Boom Boom Shrimp.” —A.M.
This Is Lorelei‘s Avant-Garde Sincerity
As half of the Brooklyn duo Water From Your Eyes, Nate Amos makes loopy noise-pop with an ample layering of postmodern irony. So it was a bit of a surprise to walk into Chess Club and find Amos leading his solo band, This Is Lorelei, through a straight-up alt-country weeper. This Is Lorelei — appearing here as a trio rounded out by touring WFYE members Al Nardo on bass and Bailey Wollowitz on drums — is a more sincere project overall, which can be its own kind of provocation. On another song, they went for upbeat electro with contrasting lyrics about an ill-fated relationship (“I miss that girl, but gosh, I wish I did not”) and substances (“I still love that stuff, but god, I wish I did not/I wish I could stop”). Many of Amos’ songs built toward surging, anthemic alt-pop hooks with unsettlingly direct lyrics like that. He sounded like someone whose creativity can’t be contained. —S.V.L.
Young Miko Owns the Spotlight
Peso Pluma was the headlining act at Rolling Stone‘s Future of Music showcase, but judging by the response from the crowd at the Moody Theater, you might’ve guessed that it was a Young Miko show. Even before the Puerto Rican star set foot on the stage, the crowd was already chanting her name. And by the first few songs, the audience had turned into her own personal backing choir, singing along every word to her songs. “I love your energy!” Miko told the crowd, beaming from the stage. Within a few minutes, she had turned the Moody Theater into an all-out dance party, popping off with heavy-hitting hits like “Lisa,” “Bi,” and “wiggy,” from her upcoming debut album. Years ago, Miko made a name for herself through her savvy collaborations, proving she could stand toe-to-toe with some of the industry’s rising talents and established superstars. Now, it’s clear that she’s the main attraction. —C.C.
Folk-Rock and Cosmic Cumbia in the Garden
Over on the far northwest side of town, Madi Diaz was playing in the backyard of a gorgeous stucco mansion owned by Sheila Youngblood (founder of a hip, arty retreat called Rancho Pillow). The private event was an industry schmooze par excellence, something like if Jay Gatsby decided to throw an unofficial SXSW showcase, and the tunes, like everything else, were top-shelf. Diaz’s casually devastating lyrics shone on songs like “For Months Now,” from her new album, Weird Faith: “I’ve been leaving you for months now, I just haven’t found a way out.” (“So dramatic,” she joked after finishing the song.) On another song, she made an indelible chorus out of the repeated phrase “obsessive thoughts.” Her sparsely arranged folk-pop drew hushed respect from the listeners on the lawn. “You guys are so quiet, it’s freaking me out!” she said. Diaz recalled her first trip to SXSW, in 2004, and talked in awed tones about a Kathleen Edwards set from earlier in the afternoon. “What a cool fuckin’ festival,” she said. “You get to run into your heroes.”
Later came a set by Reyna Tropical, a duo fronted by Fabi Reyna, known in a past life as the founder of the great 2010s rock magazine She Shreds. Now she’s making awesomely cosmic electro-cumbia grooves, steeped in physical sensation and awareness of the earth. Reyna played long, lyrical guitar solos over her bandmate’s pulsing beats and exhorted her audience to remember the indigenous ancestors who tended the land first. “When you step on that concrete floor, when you step into the darkness of a venue, that’s still land,” she reminded us. As the sun began to set and the wind swept in, Reyna Tropical’s music felt transcendent. “We get to see the intersection of night and day,” she marveled. “Can you believe that we get to witness that together?”
Finally, at dusk, Hermanos Gutiérrez — the instrumental duo of Ecuadorian Swiss brothers Alejandro and Estevan Gutiérrez — closed out the garden party. As people sipped free drinks and mingled, the brothers unspooled beautifully placid guitar tones. They exuded a sense of grace and wonder on songs like “Tres Hermanos,” recorded with their friend Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. Their songs stretched out like peaceful oceans, offering a dreamlike conclusion to a lightly surreal afternoon. —S.V.L.
Peso Pluma Rules the Night
The crowd at the Moody Theater roared when Peso Pluma appeared onstage wearing a black ski mask. This is the power of la Doble P: Even masked, he has the power to suck all of the oxygen out of the room, with every single person waiting to hear his signature raspy voice. At full tilt, he ran around the stage, feeding off of the energy in the crowd as he danced, making the comparisons from his manager that he’s “the Mexican Mick Jagger” come into focus. With his band behind him, it felt cinematic, like Peso was the main character in an action film with a live orchestra behind him. “The Doble P is back, motherfuckers!” he told the crowd. Ripping off his mask, he promised the crowd one of the most memorable nights of their lives, and he delivered, tearing through hit after hit. Throughout the high-octane set, he rarely stood still, constantly bouncing across the stage, headbanging, and even getting into the pit and moving through the crowd as they went wild trying to get close to him. —C.C.
Bar Italia Come Out of the Shadows
As Peso Pluma tore off his ski mask with a dramatic flourish at the Moody Theater, another big reveal was underway across town at Empire Garage. A year and a half ago, Bar Italia were a mystery, declining interviews and photo shoots as their online fanbase grew. Now they’re a flesh-and-blood band, and a damned good one, at that. The London-based trio released two excellent albums in 2023, Tracey Denim and The Twits, and they sounded fully locked in on selections from both, including the brooding “Jelsy” and the tight-wound “Nurse!” All three core members of the band share vocal duties, but they have distinct personas: Sam Fenton is stoic, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi is intense and emotional, and Nina Cristante, the only one without a guitar, is in constant motion. Together with a touring rhythm section, they kicked up a mesmerizing post-punk/shoegaze racket with hints of rave energy. By a few songs in, there was an enthusiastic mosh pit going up front. —S.V.L.
Marcus King Keeps It Classic
Opening his “surprise” set at Emo’s — he wasn’t touted in the advertisements, but shared a billing with headliner Gary Clark Jr on the club’s marquee — with a version of “Have You Ever Loved A Woman,” Marcus King made no attempt to disguise his debts to his forefathers. A white-hot guitarist in search of a melody, King excels when he shakes free conventions so he can shred, which is precisely what he did through his set at Emo’s. Too gregarious to upend cliches, King instead embraces the familiar, lending urgency and passion to his blues-rock. —S.T.E.
Gary Clark Jr: An Austin King Holds Court
Operating at a satellite location to SXSW suits Gary Clark Jr: He belongs to a tradition, yet he also exists outside of it, swiping familiar sounds to create something distinctive and personal. Out promoting JPEG Raw, an album scheduled to arrive the week after SXSW, Clark was intent on telegraphing how he departs from the blues-rock legacy that runs from Jimi Hendrix through Stevie Ray Vaughan, a fellow Austinite six-string slinger. What places Clark in that tradition is not his formalism but rather his sonic imagination. Adept at bending strings and extending the beats, Clark also lets his songs ramble and breathe, creating an elastic template that allows him to shred but also to depart from genre cliches. Listening to him barrel through the songs that comprise JPEG Raw, it became clear that he benefits from shaking loose stereotypes. He’s too lean and lively to succumb to the fleeting demands of fashion: He always brings his songs back to the electric jolt of his guitar, a tactic that gives his music energy even at its quietest moments. —S.T.E.
Back to the Post-Punk Revival With Girl and Girl
Every member of Girl and Girl is too young to have experienced the garage rock revivalism of Y2K firsthand, save Aunty Liss, the drummer who supports her nervy nephews in this band of Australian post-punk traditionalists. Fronted by the wiry Kai James — handsome and jittery, never reclusive — the group treated sacred post-punk texts as if they were a common language when they played the 13th Floor, giving their barbed hooks and sideways riffs real kick. They’re carrying a torch without succumbing to nostalgia or formalism, all because they’re intoxicated by the noise they make. —S.T.E.
Louisiana’s Lovely Lostines
New Orleans duo the Lostines are one of the best-kept secrets of SXSW this year — a bliss-heavy concoction of Sixties girl group harmonies, Flying Burrito Brothers country grit, and a whole lot of Cafe Du Monde. (The band drove from Nola at 4:30 a.m. in order to make this show at Lefty’s Brick Bar.) Camille Wind Weatherford and Casey Jane Reece-Kaigler breezed through heartwarming highlights like “Full Moon Night,” “Playing the Fool,” and “Faith in Love,” backed by Sam Doores on percussion and Howe Pea on guitar. The band were forced to end their set at 11 p.m., but Lefty’s turned the mics back on after the crowd demanded an encore (they officially closed with a cover of Penny & the Quarters’ “You and Me”). After being together for nearly a decade, the Lostines will finally release their full-length debut next month on Gar Hole Records. If the encore was any indication, they won’t be a secret for too much longer. —A.M.
Thus Love Kick Out the Jams
A little after midnight at Mohawk, Thus Love were giving it their all. The Brattleboro, Vermont, band is getting a reputation for memorable live shows, and you could see why right away. Lead singer-guitarist Echo Mars strutted with a feral glam-rock energy, while she and her bandmates Ally Juleen, Shane Blank, and Lu Racine attacked their instruments with punk fury. At their last SXSW, Thus Love were a trio who temporarily lost one member to a crowdsurfing injury; this year, they came back bigger, better, and louder as a quartet. Careening around the stage and into each other as a light rain fell, they pummeled their way toward rock & roll nirvana. —S.V.L.
(Full disclosure: In 2021, Rolling Stone’s parent company, P-MRC, acquired a 50 percent stake in the SXSW festival.)