SXSW 2022 was extremely special. For one: two years ago, the City of Austin and Travis County canceled the event because of the unknown COVID-19 pandemic. This devastated not only music artists and fans, but also the local economy.
So, this year, it was somewhat of a renaissance. An emergence of new sound and fashion. A revival.
I got to see Jackie Venson play at Central Machine Works in East Austin. It was freaking cold to the point, during the performance, the soul singer said, "I can't feel my fingers." She then accepted the challenge and continued to play an amazing show.
Jackie Venson (@jackievenson)
The cool think about SXSW week is that artists will play a condensed show featuring their hottest songs. This gives audience a snapshot of their work in 45 minute sets.
Hotel Vegas and Volstead Lounge in East Austin provides perhaps the best venue to watch three sets at the same time. In other words, if you get tired of a sound, you can move and listen to a different band at another stage.
There were a couple of bands where I stayed listening through the whole set. One of those bands was Annabelle Chairlegs. Singer Lindsey Mackin's strong voice and guitar riffs along with the rest of the band made the show enjoyable.
Annabelle Chairlegs (@annabellechairlegs)
Another great venue to listen to live music during SXSW week is at the South By San Jose, which is held at the San Jose Hotel parking lot in South Austin.
Mini Trees, a band out of California, caught my attention. Described on their Facebook page as "living room pop," the voice of Lexi Vega filled with the sound from the band is nostalgic. I quickly added Mini Trees to my audio playlist.
Mini Trees (@minitreesband)
Perhaps one of the most entertaining show I experienced during SXSW week was held at Central Machine Works in East Austin with drag queens, LGBTQ+ artists. Austin pop artist Kady Rain was one I absolutely loved watch perform from the very start of her set. Her song "Crooked," which is about an ex-boyfriend's crooked penis, had me laughing and then singing along.
Kady Rain (@kadyrain)
There were so many other bands I enjoyed during SXSW week from the indie soul sound of Kendra Sells and BluMoon, folk pop sound from singer-songwriter Marta Casanova and MAVICA, indie rocker Matthew Logan Vasquez, queer southern rock band Thelma & The Sleaze lead by badass Lauren "LG" Gilbert, soul and rock sound of S.G. Goodman, and the punk industrial sound of Jonathan Horstmann and Urban Heat to the fun sound of Benjamin Violet and Pelvis Wrestley.
BluMoon (@blumoontx)
MAVICA (@iammavica)
Matthew Logan Vasquez (@matthewloganvasquez)
Thelma & The Sleaze (@thelmaandthesleaze)
S.G. Goodman (@s.g.goodman)
Urban Heat (@urbanheatmusic)
Pelvis Wresley (@pelvis_wrestley)
Others:
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