[SXSW 2016] The Roots Inaugural SXSW Jam Session
SXSW's 30th edition wrapped up this weekend with a bang. For those privileged with special access badges and wristbands, the legendary Roots Crew put on a Jam Session Saturday night that still has people talking. In collaboration with Bud Light Music, at the Bud Light Factory, the inaugural Roots SXSW Jam Session was brought together. In an event originally advertised as "The Roots with Big Grams and Special Guests", event goers had no idea what was in store.
Even with limited information on the lineup, the entry line stretched around the building, but was well worth the wait. When I finally got in, Phantogram was playing their hit song, "Fall in Love", with the Roots backing them, a sweet set to walk in to. As I made my way towards the front, Big Boi came out playing new tracks from their collaboration, Big Grams. Once Phantogram left the stage, Big Boi continued to perform some of his Outkast favorites with a Roots flare. Then the surprise guests began to roll in one after another, bringing on Talib Kweli, Yo Gotti, Ashanti, and Naughty by Nature. Before I arrived other artists included X Ambassadors, Emily King, Tish Hyman, and Marc E. Bassy. The night ended with more classic Roots tracks, and Black Thought announcing their first of many more jam sessions to come to SXSW. All in all, the event didn't disappoint and with the free beer, I guarantee I'll be at the next one.
In case you missed it, definitely check out some of the photos I managed to capture inside a very hyped crowd.
[SXSW 2016] Culturally Diverse Lineup at the Remezcla Perreo Showcase
It's been a few days since SXSW wrapped up, and while many people are still recuperating or cleaning up the streets of Austin, I still can't get over Remezcla's body moving Perreo Showcase. What started as a monthly party series in NYC, Remezcla brought their scene to Austin this past Friday, kicking off a music filled weekend as an official SXSW Music showcase, bringing together "the next generation of global urban sounds" to the Swan Dive Patio.
The event featured a lineup full of bicultural, up-and-coming artists that each kept the crowd moving from start to finish. I walked in to the bass thumping sounds of Lil Debbie, and it didn't stop from there. At Swan Dive's outdoor patio, John Grvy was wooing the crowd with his electro-R&B groove, bringing warmth to a slightly chilly Texas night. From there, Corpus Christi based DJ/producer, El Dusty, kept the crowd dancing with his mash of Cumbia/Trap/Dub mixes, and introduced fellow Texan, and bilingual rapper MLKMN. Between going back and forth to the venue's indoor and outdoor stages, the slew of artists also included Puerto Rico’s Audri Nix who just dropped her debut EP, El Nuevo Orden Vol. 1. Another dope Boricua MC that hit the stage was Mike Towers, and the list went on to include Miami's Kat Dahlia, Dj Happy Colors, El Freaky, Colombia’s renowned global bass collective. And completing the night was NAAFI, the Mexican underground label/crew continually gaining international fans across the globe.
In case you missed it check out some photos below, and definitely check out the links above to add some new music to your daily shuffle.
[SXSW 2016] Celebrating 30 Years of Music
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In the height of America's booming music festival business, it's time for SXSW to celebrate 30 years of music goodness with tons of exciting lineups in store. According to Twitter Analytics, one in ten Americans attended a music festival in the past year, and social media conversations around music festivals spiked 34%. There's no question Millennial's love a good music fest and this year SXSW isn't looking to disappoint.
SXSW is truly a unique convergence of music, film, and emerging technologies, and continues to grow every year, gaining international recognition. Having originally stemmed from music, Austin’s music festival is rapidly approaching (March 15 through March 20), providing a long list of music lineups, with tons of surprise guest appearances.
Beyond the music, simply walking around to different venues and bars, you're met with excited locals and fest-goers from around the globe, many of which are eager to share their art. This is alongside the occasional pop artist sighting, casually strolling amongst the crowd. Last year, walking from Austin's infamous 6th St. to Rainey St. I literally bumped into Wiz Khalifa, while shooting a random group of dancers from Brooklyn. Later that night, I ended up backstage at the Fader Fort, meeting Chicago's very own Chance the Rapper and Comedian Hannibal Burress, after shooting Timbaland's surprise performance with Tink, after Travis Scott. Austin certainly doesn't stray from it's rock roots, providing endless indie lineups and special appearances as well.
Take a look back at 30 Years of SXSW here. Also check out a few upcoming events that I'm personally excited about below:
Santigold & Crystal Castles at Stubbs
Deftones, CHVRCHES, Vince Staples & More with SPIN
Nas, DJ Khaled, Yo Gotti & Just Blaze
Anderson .Paak & BJ the Chicago Kid at the Spotify House
Guac-N-Roll with Culture Collide
Miike Snow, Baio, The Kills, Bloc Party, Ghostland Observatory, X Ambassadors, Polica & more
[RH Photos] The Culture Clash at SXSW 2015
Photos by AngieStarPhoto
SXSW came and went yet again this year, and as Austin cleans it's streets and goes back to normal, many of us out-of-towners are back home still recollecting the culture combo we were part of. Whether you're from Chicago, Atlanta, California, Texas, New York City, the UK, or anywhere else in the world, SXSW has become a place where anyone can come to mix culture, share art, collaborate, and eat endless delicious food options. In the past week, I've received more CDs, mixtape downloads, Instagram followers, and openly met more strangers and brand ambassadors than I ever have.
SXSW truly is a festival of its own kind. There's much more than music, film showcases and conferences, as it's more of a combination of Texan culture, art, food, and most of all, a diversity in people. Outside of the local "Keep Austin Weird" types, you have endless writers, bloggers, photographers, videographers, musicians, and actors from all over just trying to stick out and be seen or heard, and all in an open, free spirited form. Most intriguingly, it's all random... one minute you could be listening to a rock band on Rainey Street and the next you're bumping into Wiz Khalifa downtown, then backstage with comedian Hannibal Buress and Chance the Rapper at the Fader Fort (true story). And right when you think you've seen or experienced the most random scenario, someone else will share an even more random story with you. It's on open environment that connects all types of people and this is what loved to capture on the festival. I'm not saying it wasn't fun shooting the performances at various venues, but it was the wandering, behind-the-scenes, spontaneous perspective I loved the most - the plethora of food trucks were a definite plus.
Here are some photos I gathered that I feel capture the essence of the people and scenery while walking around at SXSW. From locals, to people of all ages from different parts of the world, to the food scene, culture, ambiance, and most of all, the great American gem that is Austin, Texas. Find more photos here.
[RH Photos] Jeezy at Stubb's (11/20/2014)
Photos by Tami Weis. Review by Diego Montes.
Back when Jeezy was still Young Jeezy, I remember hearing his song with Akon for the first time and thinking, "I'm not feelin' this shit at all. I bet it's gonna be a huge hit." I had no idea how popular he'd get in strip clubs, or that all these years later, the dude would still be around to tell haters like me to fuck off in person. That's exactly what happened Thursday night at Stubbs.
"Ten years. That's a decade my nigga," was more or less the theme of the night, and by the ninth or tenth time he said so, I realized you do have to hand it to him on two points. First, ten years is a decade, he was adamant about that. Second, he has had real staying power, at least enough that it made sense to drop the Young from his name, a move that most Young rappers don't rap long enough to make.
Of course, every rapper claims to be the best, and Jeezy is no different. He's not the best, but he is pretty good at what he does and seems to know what his fans want. Even with threats of rain at an outdoor venue, Jeezy was able to draw a decent-sized crowd with a wide range of people, and those that did show were giving a lot of energy. I only saw one guy make it rain, which was a little disappointing, but since I wasn't about to step up myself I figured I couldn't complain. Jeezy certainly didn't seem disappointed, repeatedly commenting on the crowd's hype and genuinely giving love to all parts of Texas.
There were a lot of people having fun, so it was easy to join in, and that seems to be what Jeezy wanted his shows to be about. He even closed the show with a motivational speech about keeping good people around you or some shit. Honestly, I tend to have an opposite reaction to motivation, so I mostly tuned that out, but I liked that he did that because it's good for some people.
Whatever else you may think of him, don't ever say Jeezy doesn't care.
Listen to Bird Peterson's Fun Fun Fun Fest 2014 Artist Megamix
With Fun Fun Fun Fest 2014 officially starting tonight, remix master Bird Peterson has crafted a huge Fun Fun Fun Fest 2014 artist megamix, meshing together all of this year's bands and artists into a near-hour-long mix. Check it out below and get hyped for the weekend of musical shenanigans, Austinites!
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[RH Photos] Gary Clark, Jr. at the Historic Scoot Inn (10/29/2014)
Photography by Virgil Solis
Perhaps one of the best blues guitarists of our generation, Austin's very own Gary Clark, Jr., played a free show last week at the Historic Scoot Inn. With fellow South Austin homies Zeale and Phranchyze opening up for GCJ, the night was truly an Austin show. If you have yet to see Gary perform, it should be a bucket list for any true Blues fan. Thanks to the good people over at C3, I was at hand to snap some shots of the show. Check them out below.
Fun Fun Fun Fest Full Schedule Released
In just a few short weeks, Fun Fun Fun Fest will be returning to Austin, TX. It wasn't that long ago that we found out the daily band lineups, and now, we have the full hourly schedule for the three-day festival. As we've noted previously, each stage represents a genre of some sort, so if you're a fan of indie rock, for example, you won't have to bounce between stages to catch the bands you'd be more inclined to see, which is a pretty ingenious way of organizing stages. Well done, FFF Fest! Check out the full daily schedule below.
Tickets are still available, so make sure you buy some before it's too late!
FRIDAY, NOV 7
Black Stage
11:40 - Breakout!
12:20 - Radkey
1:10 - Peelander Z
2:00 - Pallbearer
2:55 - Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine
4:00 - Amon Amarth
5:15 - The Blood Brothers
6:35 - Death From Above 1979
8:10 - Judas Priest
Blue Stage
11:45 - Blue, The Misfit.
12:25 - Jacuzzi
1:20 - SOHN
2:15 - SZA
3:15 - Lunice
4:15 - Run The Jewels
5:15 - Ginuwine
6:15 - Yelle
7:35 - Atmosphere
8:55 - 2 Chainz
Orange Stage
12:10 - Spider Bags
1:00 - Dana Falconberry
2:00 - Knapsack
3:10 - Mineral
4:25 - Sun Kil Moon
5:40 - City and Colour
7:00 - Dinosaur Jr.
8:30 - alt-J
Yellow Stage
11:30 - Sure Thing
12:30 - FFF Talks
1:00 - Greetings from Queer Mountain
1:30 - Live Action Battle Rap
2:00 - Bad Example
2:30 - Rachel Bloom
2:50 - Jon Daly
3:20 - Neil Hamburger
4:00 - John Waters
5:15 - Wildcat! Wildcat!
6:15 - Julianna Barwick
7:20 - Majical Cloudz
SATURDAY, NOV 8
Black Stage
11:30 - Communion
12:20 - Twin Peaks
1:10 - Fat White Family
2:00 - Glassjaw
3:00 - METZ
4:05 - Iceage
5:15 - Black Lips
6:30 - Sick of it All
8:05 - King Diamond
Blue Stage
11:30 - Soundfounder
12:10 - Zorch
1:10 - ASTR
2:10 - Mas Ysa
3:15 - Gary Numan
4:25 - Z-Trip
5:45 - The Presets
7:15 - Nas
8:45 - Girl Talk
Orange Stage
11:30 - The Sour Notes
12:30 - Reputante
1:30 - King Tuff
2:30 - San Fermin
3:35 - Courtney Barnett
4:40 - Pains of Being Pure at Heart
5:55 - The New Pornographers
7:10 - First Aid Kit
8:30 - Modest Mouse
Yellow Stage
11:30 - Master Pancake
12:10 - Part 2
12:50 - One Night Stand
1:30 - JT Habersaat + Altercation Punk Comedy Tour
2:10 - Joe Mande
2:30 - W Kamau Bell
3:00 - Jello Biafra (spoken word)
4:00 - Fred Armisen
5:15 - The World is a Beautiful Place . . .
6:15 - Tinariwen
7:20 - Yann Tiersen
SUNDAY, NOV 9
Black Stage
11:55 - Crooked Bangs
12:45 - The Bots
1:45 - Iron Reagan
2:45 - Pissed Jeans
3:50 - Deafheaven
5:00 - Hot Water Music
6:10 - Gorilla Biscuits
7:25 - Rocket From the Crypt
8:45 - Murder City Devils
Blue Stage
11:30 - The Digital Wild
12:10 - Cities Aviv
1:00 - The Internet
2:00 - Thundercat
3:00 - Cashmere Cat
3:50 - Ryan Hemsworth
4:50 - Freddie Gibbs & Madlib
6:00 - Sky Ferreira
7:25 - Flying Lotus
8:45 - Wiz Khalifa
Orange Stage
11:30 - Good Field
12:30 - This Will Destroy You
1:30 - Gardens & Villa
2:30 - Angel Olsen
3:35 - Foxygen
4:40 - Dum Dum Girls
5:55 - Yo La Tengo
7:10 - Failure
8:30 - Neutral Milk Hotel
Yellow Stage
11:30 - The New Movement
12:00 - Pass the Mic
12:30 - Rob Gagnon's Half Hour Comedy Festival
1:00 - Chris Cubas, Jake Florez, Doug Mellard
1:45 - Air Sex Championships
2:35 - Har Mar Superstar
3:15 - Jimmy O Yang
3:35 - Jonah Ray
4:00 - Kumail Nanjiani and Thomas Middleditch of Silicon Valley
5:15 - Scott H. Biram
6:15 - Chelsea Wolf
7:20 - J Mascis