Friday night in Austin, Texas drew the biggest crowds yet at the 2016 South by Southwest music festival. Across town, dozens of bands entertained diverse audiences with a variety of eclectic tastes. SXSW is the epitome of FOMO (fear of missing out), and it was tough to turn down the likes of Jamie xx, Ghostface Killah and Santigold. Due to the long lines and walking distance, I opted to head to the Bud Light Factory (Brazos Hall) and check out two bands who are rapidly ascending in popularity - MisterWives and Bleachers.
First up was MisterWives, who took the stage shortly before 11:30 p.m. The six-piece indie pop group based out of New York City was greeted with a warm reception from the nearly-packed house at the Bud Light Factory. MisterWives’ five instrumentalists kicked things off with the upbeat “Best I Can Do,” before singer Mandy Lee emerged and began to croon the lyrics (“Used to know how to do this without losing my cool”) to the amped crowd.
MisterWives went on to play “Not Your Way,” “Oceans,” and the mega-hit “Reflections,” which currently boasts over 54 million plays on Spotify. These tracks all feature on the band’s debut studio album, Our Own House, which charted at #31 on the Billboard 200. The audience was also treated to the premiere of a new song that will feature on MisterWives’ next project, according to Lee. “We have never, ever, ever played this song before tonight,” the frontwoman said.
After MisterWives concluded their set, it was time for Bleachers - an 80s-influenced indie pop band from the mind of Fun lead guitarist Jack Antonoff. “They sound a lot like Bruce Springsteen,” said a member of the audience standing next to me. Antonoff hails from New Jersey - just like Springsteen - and sure enough the musical similarities were uncanny.
Whereas MisterWives’ set was a tad more relaxed and melodic, Bleachers’ energy hyped the crowd with an enthusiastic performance from Antonoff. There were two boisterous drum sets and several guitar solos. The audience went mad over Bleachers’ most well known song, “I Wanna Get Better.”
The South by Southwest music festival runs through March 20. Stay tuned to iDigitalTimes for continuing coverage of SXSW 2016.
