Is South by Southwest really upon us? Every year it seems SXSW creeps up unawares, but this year in particular they really did schedule this shindig a week earlier than usual (I should know: I usually have the full mid-month paycheck to spend on hookers and blow… and bands, grudgingly).
Let's get this out of the way up front: if you hated the metal representation at last year's festival, you're not going to find a lot to love about this one. That's not an accident, really; the three primary metal labels that really work the hell out of SXSW – Relapse, Profound Lore and Southern Lord – are only signing so many brand new bands in any given year, so it's kind of a given that there's going to be serious overlap from one year to the next. I've seen Black Tusk and Kylesa so many times the last few years that they might as well be Austin-based bands playing homefield shows in their downtime.
That said, there are always going to be acts both brand new to SXSW as well as those that I just didn't get around to seeing last year for some reason. For me those bands include Indian, Pilgrim, Windhand and Obliteration. For you it may be something different.
Either way, I think people need to stop looking at SXSW as being analogous to the festivals they're used to: Bonnaroo, Coachella, even Austin City Limits or Fun Fun Fun Fest. In spite of advertisers bringing in big names in recent years to sell Doritos and shit, SXSW was never supposed to be about all that. There are those who claim that the corporate mentality has completely taken over, but I think you can still find plenty of that old school ethos if you step off the beaten path and don't allow yourself to be swept up in the brand name hoopla. In the immortal words of The Dude: "Nothing is fucked here. Nothing is fucked".
Enough of my ranting. On to the showcases… and hey, don't forget about the inaugural Metal Injection SXSW Party on Thursday, 3/13. Set times noted below when available.
The Metal Panels at SXSW
- The Death of Music Podcasting Has Been Exaggerated – Thursday, March 13th, 12:30pm-1:30pm, Room 10A
- Has Metal Lost Its Edge? – Thursday, March 13th, 3:30pm-4:30pm, Room 15
- Heavy Metal Entrepreneurship – A Ph.D. Study – Thursday, March 13th, 5pm-6pm, Room 13AB
- From Riffs to Bits: James Williamson and Buzz Osborne – Friday, March 14th, 12:30pm-1:30pm, Room 12AB
- Touring on a Budget – Friday, March 14th, 3:30pm-4:30pm, Ballroom E
Pregaming: Tuesday 3/11
The outdoor stage alone at this one has a pretty impressive cross-section of my "can't miss" bands for the week, and technically the music part of the festival hasn't even started yet!
Outside:
Indian (1:00)
Kylesa (12:00)
Power Trip (11:00)
Christian Mistress (10:00)
Windhand (9:00)
Iron Reagan (8:00)
Inside:
Youth Code (1:00)
Gnaw (12:00)
Primitive Man (11:00)
Psalm Zero (10:00)
Sannhet (9:00)
Yautja (8:00)
Wednesday 3/12
This year finds a lot of metal bands being mixed in with some decidedly non-metal showcases… which some purists will decry, but really it's not so unusual to find indie rock on the same bill with EDM and hip hop, so these showcases will likely appeal mostly to metalheads with broader tastes.
Orchid 1am
Kadavar 12:05am
Scorpion Child 11:10pm
BP Fallon & The Bandits 10:15pm
Mothership 9:20pm
Sweat Lodge 8:25pm
The Well 7:30pm
11:00 AM // Ned and the Dirt // Saturated Stage
11:25 AM // Gnarwhal // Aggressive Stage
11:50 PM // The Rocketboys // Saturated Stage
12:15 PM // Reveal Renew // Aggressive Stage
12:40 PM // Iron Whip // Saturated Stage
01:05 PM // Sein zum Tode // Aggressive Stage
01:30 PM // Carnaval // Saturated Stage
01:55 PM // Primitive Man // Aggressive Stage
02:20 PM // Death on Two Wheels // Saturated Stage
02:45 PM // Abacus // Aggressive Stage
03:10 PM // Zonaea // Saturated Stage
03:35 PM // Dethrone // Aggressive Stage
04:00 PM // Shallow Palace // Saturated Stage
04:25 PM // Yautja // Aggressive Stage
04:50 PM // Captain & Maybelle // Outside Sideshow Performance!
Pyrrhon 8:00- 8:40
PRIMITIVE MAN 9:00- 9:40
Obliteration [Official] 10:00- 10:40
Nothing 11:00- 11:40
Christian Mistress 12:00- 12:40
Windhand 1:00- 1:50
SPIRIT CARAVAN TBA
BLOOD OF THE SUN 12:15 am
THE BLOOD ROYALE 11:30 pm
LAZER/WULF TBA
BURNT SKULL 10 pm
THE SHRINE 9:15 pm
SABBATH CROW 8:30 pm
VOID-STRIDER 7:45 pm
ZIG ZAGS TBA
KYLESA TBA
BROTHERS COLLATERAL 5:15 pm
DITCH WITCH 4:30 pm
DIRTY STREETS 3:45 pm
TRUCK FIGHTERS 3 pm
SONS OF HUNS 2:15 pm
DESTROYER OF LIGHT 1:30 pm
ONE GOOD LUNG 12:45 pm
HEAD CRUSHER 12 pm
Thursday 3/13
This is our big day, y'all: Metal Injection's very first SXSW showcase. We even set it up on a day with some of the fewest competing showcases, so get your ass out there and show us some love, heathens!
Scale the Summit (1:10am)
The Ocean (12:10am)
Rivers of Nihil (11:20pm)
Felix Martin (10:30pm)
Vattnet Viskar (9:40pm)
The Atlas Moth (8:50pm)
Silver Snakes (8pm)
8:00 – Venomous Maximus
9:00 – Wild Throne
10:00 – Yautja
11:00 – Kayo Dot
12:00 – Mutoid Man
1:00 – Black Tusk
Friday 3/14
After recovering from the MI showcase on Thursday night be sure and check our buds at Metalsucks… by that point in the week you already know that the Dirty Dog is the place to be for metal during SXSW.
Animals as Leaders (12:55am)
After the Burial (11:55pm)
Ringworm (10:55pm)
Iron Reagan (10pm)
Mutoid Man (9:10pm)
Whores (8:20pm)
East of the Wall (7:30pm)
THE ARTERY FOUNDATION SXSW SHOWDOWN 14
6:30pm All Ages FREE SHOW
GPEN ANNEX
ATTILA
Alesana
Like Moths to Flames
Being As An Ocean
A Lot Like Birds
Get Scared
This Wild Life
Fit For A King
Myka,Relocate
Hearts and Hands
Megosh
Saturday 3/15
You made it! Almost. No time to puss out now, eat a salad, rehydrate and just know that today features probably the greatest quantity of left field metal the entire festival. This first one doesn't seem to have any real online presence aside from an elaboration-free mention on Tone Deaf's tour page, so I'll just break it down here:
Tone Deaf Touring SXSW Showcase @ Red Eyed Fly
Spirit Caravan (1)
Iron Reagan (12:10)
King Parrot (11:20)
Vattnet Viskar (10:30)
Lazer/Wulf (9:40)
Pilgrim (8:50)
Vaporizer (8)
12:00- Giant of the Mountain
1:00- Canyon of the Skull
2:00- Widower
3:00- Vulgaari
4:00- Lions of Tsavo
5:00- Krigsgrav
That's pretty much the size of it. So you fuckers at Fun Fun Fun Fest in eight months!
