Okayplayer's Guide To SXSW 2015
SXSW 2014--Austin's seminal music conference - hits the ground running this week. If you're touching down on Texas soil as well, you'll have the opportunity to attend showcases upon showcases, featuring the highest tiers of talent in the industry. Also the lowest tiers of talent. And also every tier in between, far as that goes. Thats right, all your favorite blogs, fashion brands and labels will be there--us included!-- putting their best foot forward. We here at Okayplayer understand firsthand how hard it can be to navigate the maze of musical overstimulation that is Southby and separate the sonic wheat from the obsolete. It gets a little harder every year, in fact, given how expansive the festival has grown to be. So we've taken it upon ourselves to provide you with a bit of companion script, roadmap to help you hone in on the dope shit and avoid the nope shit. Without further ado, we present our Guide To SXSW 2014. All the must-see showcases are here, listed in roughly chronological order and starting...now!
Official SXSWi Closing Party- Def Jam 30th Anniversary
Stubb's BBQ- 801 Red River St.
Tuesday March 11th
The music portion of SXSW officially starts tomorrow, but as the tech and interactove portion of the festival winds down, it seems only right that they close it with a bang. Who better to send it off than Pusha T, Red & Mef, Aloe Blacc and 2 Chainz? The line-up celebrates the 30th anniversary of Def Jam's titanic legacy.
Def Jam 30th Anniversary
2 Chainz
Pusha T
Method Man & Redman
Aloe Blacc
>>>Enter to win a pair of tix via Media Temple here.
Spotify House Showcase
901 6th Street
Tuesday March 11th
WET
JUNGLE
SVPER
FUTURE ISLANDS
TOVE LO
MACHINEDRUM (DJ SET)
3BALLMTY
Spotify is leading the charge for innovative companies that exist in the crosshairs of music and technology. So one can assume that they're going to follow form and push some burgeoning young talent for their showcase. With OKP faves like Wet, Jungle and Machinedrum gracing the list, this house party is simply not be missed.
House of Marley and LargeUp present Rice and Peas Party
Wednesday, March 12th, (12 Noon – 5pm)
Empire Control Room and Garage (patio)
604-606 E 7th St. (btwn Red River & I-35)
BUNJI GARLIN
LOS RAKAS
MOUNTAIN DOO
MISS LICKLE BITT
JUBILEE (Mixpak)
DJ THEORY
'Ay gringos and paseros! Make way for the bandolero. Pardon us while we Large Up ourselves but we are pretty amped the dancehall and soca bashment that our Caribbean channel partners are serving up Wednesday at Empire Patio is unofficially setting off the entire music portion of SXSW. If you've attended Rice & Peas party in NYC before--or heard any one of the DJs on this epic bill string up sound--you already know what to expect. But unless you have been in Port of Spain at Carnival time, you ain't ready for what just-added headliner Bunji Garlin is gonna do to this place. We ready!
TDE iTunes Showcase
Wednesday March 12th
TBA
KENDRICK LAMAR
SCHOOLBOY Q
ISAIAH RASHAD
Those fortunate enough to know when and where this spectacle is taking place (other nights on the iTunes Festival Line-Up have tickets available for giveaways if you have your badge scanned on certain days--but not this chumpy!) will have the opportunity witness a titanic bill, featuring the it-crew of the time TDE. With Schoolboy Q having just dropped his G-rap revival piece Oxymoron, Isaiah Rashadhaving just released his exceptional solo debut Cilvia Demo and Kendrick Lamar riding a wave of recent cross-genre collabs with Tame Impala and Imagine Dragons--and a rumored album in the works to boot-- this powerhouse showcase the spot to be Wednesday night.
>>>For more details & live stream follow @itunesfestival on twitter
Red Bull Sound Select
The Belmont- 305 W. 6th St.
Wednesday March 12th
EARL SWEATSHIRT
LIL HERB
DENITIA & SENE
THURZ
Red Bull is another company that straddles the line of specialties, having begun as an energy drink company, expanding into the high octane realm of action sports and finally ending up as a media house and curators of the innovative Red Bull Sound Select series. For their Texas stand off RBSS are bringing the tyranny of the youth with Earl Sweatshirt and Denitia & Sene. Though improbable, if the stars and set times align, that means you could conceivably see that previously mentioned TDE jawn and this ill showcase all in one ridiculously fortunate evening. See also Danny Brown and Lucki Eck$ performing on Saturday--and watch for our interview with EarlxSweat talking about his last SX experience to drop soon!
FADER Fort (presented by Converse)
Wednesday March 12th.
LIL BIBBY
BIPOLAR SUNSHINE
TEMPLES
SAGE THE GEMINI + HBK GANG
THE ORWELLS
SZA
ISAIAH RASHAD
LONDON GRAMMAR
YG
LITTLE DRAGON
The FADER Fort is by now a permanent institution of it's own, like a parallel processor running alongside the official SXSW festival. As such it has it's own packed line up every day of the festival but Wednesday afternoon/evening is clearly your sweetest spot to visit, with OKP artists to watch SZA and Isaiah Rashad playing back to back, followed not long after by Little Dragon.
KCRW Showcase
Wednesday March 12, (2- 5 pm)
Radio Stage At The Austin Convention Center
MOSES SUMNEY
THE PREATURES
TENNIS
Though their night-time line-up is nothing to cough at either (see below) the main reason to check out this showcase from L.A.'s premiere progressive radio outlet KCRW is the daytime line up at the Radio Stage in the Austin Convention Center, which pops off with OKP Top Artist To Watch For 2014Moses Sumney. Don't miss an opportunity to say you saw him when!
Wednesday March 12, 8pm- 2am
Haven - 409 Colorado St
FUTURE ISLANDS
BEAR HANDS
JAMESTOWN REVIVAL
KINS
Warp + LuckyMe Showcase
Wednesday March 12th
Empire Garage & Control Room
Garage
Cashmere Cat
Future Brown
Jacques Green
Jeremiah Jae
Kelela
Lunice & Travi$ $scott
Obey City
Sophie
Control Room
A.G. Cook
Aquarian
DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn
Gobby
Ian Isaiah
James K
Mr. Uno
P Morris
The Blessings
The Range
Okayfuturists! This is your best chance to see Kelela, Cashmere Cat and Lunice on a bill of super serious electronic shit going down. Plus we fvckx with DJ Rashad(DJing in the Control Room space) pretty heavy too. TekLife fi life!
Haggar x FILTER Showcase
Wed. March 12th - Thurs. March 13th
Clive Bar- 609 Davis St.
Wed.
2PM – Baby Bee
3PM – Air Traffic Controller
4PM – Terraplane Sun
5PM – NONONO
6PM – Vintage Trouble
9PM – Emily King
10PM – Lee Fields and the Expressions
11PM – Chet Faker
12PM – Aloe Blacc
Thurs.
4PM – Quantic
5PM – Connor Youngblood
6PM – Allen Stone
9PM – Jetta
10PM – Kurt Vile
11PM – Cody Chesnutt
12PM – Kelis
Both nights at the Haggar x FILTER showcase at Clive Bar on Rainey street are what you call double threats--Lee Fields & The Expressionsand Aloe Blacc on Wednesday (Vintage Trouble, Emily King and Chet Faker are pretty nice icing on the red velvet cake) and then Cody ChesnuTT and Kelis back to back on Thursday! Dust off your best 'early 2000s' retro outfit and get in where you fit.
Thursday March 13th
Okayfuture x House of Marley presents Top Notch
Thursday, March 13th, (7pm – 2am)
Hudson on Fifth
301 W 5th Street
Secret TekLife Artist
Top Notch & Bombón DJs
Yup. The future is Okay and this is going to be the go-hardest dance party at SXSW, if we say so ourselves. Forgive us if we are feeling our (future) selves a little but like a True Detective, our biggest inspiration is Us in The Future. Come true!
FADER Fort (presented by Converse):
Thursday, March 13th
BUSCABULLA
100S
GLASS ANIMALS
CONNAN MOCKASIN
MAS YSA
SAM SMITH
EAGULLS
THEOPHILUS LONDON
JEREMIH & SHLOHMO
CHROMEO
FADER Fort again--there's a couple young cats to check for on this day's showcase (100s, Glass Animals--we a watch yuh!) but again the don't-miss segment is towards the evening, running roughly from Sam Smith to Chromeo.
Mad Decent/Jeffree's Showcase
Thursday March, 13th
Empire Control Room & Garage
GARAGE
1:15-2am: Paper Diamond
12:30-1:15am: Riff Raff
11:45pm-12:30am: Bunji Garlin
11-11:45pm: WhatSoNot
10:30-11pm: LIZ
10-10:30pm: Annie Mac
9:15-10: Gent & Jawns
8:45-9:15pm: Nicky Da B
8-8:45pm: Slick Shoota
CONTROL ROOM
1:15-2am: Cashmere Cat & Trippy Turtle B2B
12:30-1:15am: Mr Carmack & Djemba Djemba B2B
12-12:30am: Dawn Golden
11:30pm-12am: MØ
10:45-11:30pm: Grandtheft
10-10:45pm: TWRK
9:15-10pm: Dave Nada
8:30-9:15pm: Wave Racer
8-8:30pm: Lawrence Rothman
Empire Control Room is clearly shaping up to be the premiere 'off-campus' destination for this SXSW (see also Rice & Peas, Warp, IHeartComix, Fool's Gold, etc.) This line-up from Diplo's website/label includes a grip of names you can find on other bills (including ours, specifically Bunji Garlin and Carmack, repping LargeUp and Okayfuture respectively) but here they're all moshed together--and it's Mad Decent, so you know it'll be a hell of a party.
Spotify House Showcase
Thursday, March 13th
901 6th Street
RADKEY
G-EAZY
BISHOP NEHRU
WARPAINT
MØ
DJ RASHAD
GLASS ANIMALS
Another statistical cluster of must-see young guns is happening on Spotify's Thursday stage, with Radkey (look for our OKP TV piece on these kids to drop soon), Bishop Nehru, Mø, DJ Rashad and Glass Animals all throwing down on one platform. Good shit.
Okayplayer & Soulection Official SXSW Showcase
Friday, March 14th, (8pm – 2am)
Vulcan Gas Company - 418 E 6th Street
SANGO w/SPZRKT & WALDO (Soulection)
EMANON (ALOE BLACC & EXILE) w/DAG SAVAGE
QUANTIC (Tru Thoughts)
MR CARMACK (Soulection)
ESTA (Soulection)
LAKIM(Soulection)
DPAT (Soulection)
CHRISTIAN TIGER SCHOOL (South Africa)
Friday is, as they say, payday. And to deliver the big payback at SXSW we teamed with Soulection--one of our favorite labels out here in the musical landscape of 2014--to stack up what we think is the heaviest bill around. Not only do you get the best of the Soulection roster from Sango to Esta but you get Quantic, you get Aloe Blacc and keypad prodigy Exile in a rare joint performance as Emanon and you get Christian Tiger School repping all the way from South Africa. People, get ready.
Official SXSW Event, Badge & Wristband Required for Entry
(Limited number of tickets for sale at the door–stay tuned to OKP for giveaways!)
Mass Appeal Showcase
Friday March 14th
Austin Music Hall - 208 Nueces St.
NAS
FLYING LOTUS
B.O.B.
A$AP MOB
THUNDERCAT x CAPTAIN MURPHY
BADBADNOTGOOD
BOLDY JAMES
BISHOP NEHRU
CALI SMOOVE
SBOE
TJ MIZELL
Let's be honest--we probably won't be here Friday night. But if we could physically be in two places at once, we would be at the OKP x Soulection showcase AND this Mass Appeal jam with Nas, FlyLo (putting on his Captain Murphy cape for a set with Thundercat, A$AP Mob, BBNG & Bishop Nehru all together. Massively appealing.
APW's Fool's Gold Showcase
Friday March, 14th
Empire Garage- 606 E 7th St
1-2am: Low Pros (A-Trak & Lex Luger) feat. Migos, Travi$ Scott, Que & Guests
12:30-1am: 100s
12-12:30am: Black Atlass
11-12pm: Nick Catchdubs & Guests
10:20-11pm: Treasure Fingers
10-10:20pm: World’s Fair
9:40-10pm: GrandeMarshall
9:20-9:40pm: Davinci & Sweet Valley
8:40-9:20: gLAdiator
8-8:40pm: Smalltown DJs
Like we said, you might want to just reserve a booth (or patio chair) at Empire Control Room & Garage this year--Friday evening it's the Fool's Gold showcase with the homie Nick Catchdubs, 100s and First Look Black Atlass.
Salaam Remi Presents 'Louder Than Life'
Friday March 14th
Remedy - 209B W. 5th st. (corner of 5th and Lavaca)
Mack Wilds-11:30PM
Collie Buddz-10:30PM
Liam Bailey-9:30PM
Sweet Da Kid-8:30PM
Special Celebrity Guest DJ Pete Rock
This showcase from soul svengali Salaam Remi might be your only chance (besides our Saturday showcase! See below) to catch Okayplayer to Watch Liam Bailey. Come true for that but stay for dancehall from Collie Buddz, a DJ set from Pete Rock and all the young girls that's gonna lose their minds for Mack Wilds!
Saint Heron Presents Light On Up
Friday, March 14th
Cheer Up Charlies - 900 Red River Street
Hosted By Solange Knowles
Iman Omari- 9:30-10pm
Petit Noir- 10-10:30pm
BC Kingdom- 10:30-11pm
Moses Sumney-11-11:30pm
Kelela-11:30-12:15pm
Special Guest Tweet- 12:15- 1am
Kindness (DJ Set)- 1-2am
Honestly you had us at 'hosted by Solange...' but this Saint Heron affair is also (another) great chance to catch Petit Noir and besties/Okayplayers To Watch Moses Sumney and Kelela on the same bill. As they showed at the recent Fashion Week event Moses x Kelela = much much more than the sum of its vocal parts.
Rachel Ray's Feedback Showcase
Saturday March 15th, 10am-4pm
Stubb's BBQ- 801 Red River St.
Cee-Lo Greene
Blondie
Foxboro Hot Tubs
Yelawolf
Allen Stone
Har Mar Superstar
The Wild Feathers
The Cringe
Bad Suns
Cody ChesnuTT
Bob Schneider
The Last Internationale
Spanish Gold
Jamestown Revival
It ain't SXSW in TX without some BBQ, and you can bet Rachel Ray's outdoor eat off on Saturday afternoon will feature some smoky treats. It also happens to feature Cee-Lo Greene, Allen Stone, Yelawolf and Cody ChesnuTT on the bill! Festivities kick off promptly at brunch oh hundred, AKA hangover helper AKA 10am and runs into 4pm. Which gives you just enough time to grab a disco nap and get ready for...
Okayplayer Official SXSW Showcase
Saturday, March 15th, (8pm – 2am)
Bungalow, 90 Rainey Street
DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown AKA Erykah Badu featuring Thundercat
Cody ChesnuTT
SZA
Roman GianArthur
Deep Cotton
Daley
Liam Bailey
THEESatisfaction
Petite Noir
Young Fathers
Sam James
DJ A1
Christian Tiger School
Official SXSW Event, Badge & Wristband Required for Entry
(Limited number of tickets for sale at the door–stay tuned to OKP for giveaways!)
Saturday closes out the music portion of SXSW and for our official Okayplayer showcase we aimed to put together a line up that would SHUT IT DOWN as well. If we didn't quite achieve our goal of: all the dope music we cover on OKP together on one bill performing LIVE, we cam pretty damn close. That runs the spectrum from foundational Okayplayer Erykah Badu co-piloting our mothership in her role as DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown all the way down to Artists To Watch for 2014 like SZA, Daley, Roman GianArthur and Liam Bailey to Okayafrica representers like Petite Noir, Young Fathers and Christian Tiger School. If you find more musical madness going down on one stage at SXSW 2014, let us know and we'll add it here. Peace and see you in them Texas Streets.
