After five days of talks, events and parties (…lots of parties), the Interactive portion of SXSW came to an end tonight with a massive party at Austin’s iconic Stubb’s BBQ outdoor amphitheater, presented by Media Temple. The drinks and BBQ flowed as Z-Trip, Ludacris and TV on the Radio performed in front of some two thousand lucky attendees. Relatively intimate for all, no doubt.
DJ Z-Trip kicked things off with a mammoth set that, in the spirit of St Patrick’s Day, launched with Kermit singing about being green, leading into some bagpipes, which aren’t Irish at all so I’m not sure what was happening there. The rest of his set, however, expertly navigated the history of hip hop, bringing in songs new and old, alongside an always surprising mix of tunes – from Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” to some Sabbath, Toto and even Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Rire”. He’s a damn good DJ, and got the party started right. A special shout out must also be made to the heavy metal version of “Turn Down For What”. As you do.
Ludacris kept the good times rolling as he ran through all his hits, some tracks for the fans and material off his yet-to-be-released new record Ludaversal. “Area Codes” was in there, as was his iconic verse in Usher’s “Yeah!”, “Stand Up”, “How Low” and “Move Bitch”. He knew how to work the crowd and made sure everyone had their arms in the air from start to finish – waving them around like they just didn’t care.
And to close the night it was TV on the Radio, who were today announced for the incredible VIVID Festival in Sydney. The five piece were on fire, keeping fans happy with a blistering 50 minute-or-so set that featured now classic tracks like “Wolf LIke Me”, “The Golden Age” and “Staring at the Sun” (which closed the night out), alongside tracks off of their latest record Seeds, such as “Trouble”, with the rare inclusion of the acoustic guitar filling out the impressive and intoxicating sound that is TV on the Radio. Filled with energy and bravado, we can’t wait to see them back in Australia in May/June.
Now that Interactive has come to an end, it’s time for the music portion of the festival to kick into full gear. For the next four days, we’ll be bringing you all the action from SXSW Music in Austin – so stay tuned for more!
