emusic sxsw birthday bash

For lots of my SXSW photos, go here.

Forget bias, I’m gonna say it outright: the eMusic showcase last night at Maggie Mae’s was ridiculously amazing. Seriously. The highlights: Delorean (one of the best sets I have ever seen), Day for Night and Frightened Rabbit. I have never been so proud to be an eMu’r.

Day for Night opened the set, and I can say with confidence literally having seen every single one of their shows (Kali, the singer, is my girlfriend), it was their best show yet. Cold-starting the showcase shortly after 8pm, Day for Night had the crowd won over in seconds, Maggie Mae’s thick with people immediately. They were wonderful, their new songs — which they will debut acoustically for an NPR session happening here on Friday — all shone through, veering between dub, punk and noise while maintaining that same dreamy tone showcased on their EP. So great.

The Hysterics, a mostly high-school aged band from NYC, followed, playing faithful classic rock and psychedelia. The biggest question raised is how the hell can high school kids grow full beards??? I’m 29 and I can still barely do it. But they played far beyond their years and put on a strong show.

And then Delorean. Delorean are a dance-rock band from Barcelona whose Transatlantic record is a strong collection of soaring keyboard pop, but none of us had any idea just how amazing they would be live. Despite myriad technical problems, they just straight killed it. Patrick, Molly and I were right up front against the stage, and whenever I turned around I saw a completely packed space full of hands reaching high in the air. The entire space was electric, and Delorean just never stopped bringing it. Just absolutely amazing. Buy their record. Support this band!

Peel, an Austin psych-pop band, had the not-so-fun task of following Delorean, and while their songs were excellently catchy, they couldn’t quite keep the energy up. But their rough-and-bright melodies were winning.

Longtime eMusic favorites Frightened Rabbit had the next slot, and debuted a bunch of songs from their upcoming album due April 1, as well as a new member. They are fantastic performers, and just owned the stage with “The Modern Leper” from the new one, and “Square 9” and “Be Less Rude” from Sing the Greys. Folks, they are about to become very, very popular.

And finally the headliner Bon Iver. The space was insanely crowded for their set, and people were rapt for each breath. I was a bit disappointed, as the vocals just weren’t as strong as the record or the other live YouTube clips I have seen. I’m thinking it was just an off night, but other people really seemed to love it. And that was it! I’m off again!