I saw some unforgettable live music during my final day in Austin, but Saturday almost seemed to be more about what didn't happen to me: I decided to stay away from Stubb's and I picked the much safer of two A$AP Rocky performances at 1100 E 5th Street to attend yesterday. What I did witness, though, was a half-rap concert/half-sprinkler party in a 90+ degree warehouse, a live re-creation of one of the finest albums of the '90s and Alexis Krauss screaming into my camera from centimeters away. Also, a whole lot of green clothing and stumbling.
I showed up to 1100 E 5th well in advance of A$AP Rocky, and in time to catch the very end of Deerhoof's and all of Tanlines' sets: great stuff that I've heard a lot about and will have to check out further very soon. It was clear that a great deal if not most of the attendees for those two sets were just showing up early for A$AP, but it only meant they were going to have to wait even longer in that hotbox of a venue that must have flirted with triple digit temperatures in the middle. An hour after he was scheduled to go on, the sound still wasn't even ready yet. At that point, the crowd nearly went through each of the stages of grief, as indicated by their chants: denial ("ASAP! ASAP!"), followed by anger ("FUCK ASAP! FUCK ASAP!"), followed by desperation ("ASAP! ASAP!"). If not for the venue staff urgently bringing out extra boxes of water to distribute and spray into the crowd - and A$AP Rocky opting not to make them wait any longer - that aforementioned brawl he prompted later that night would have surely happened right then and there. Not to mention how the show itself consisted mainly of the whole A$AP mob basically asking for it; After telling the crowd they can do anything and it wouldn't be considered out of line, they got to watch an open water bottle hit the MacBook behind Rocky and nearly end the music on the spot.
After a break to watch the IU game and subsequent decision with five minutes left that my viewing was jinxing them (you're welcome, Bloomington), I headed towards the Moody Theater for two "ACL Live" tapings of Sleigh Bells and Nas. Given that this was for television, yet still occurring in front of fans who weren't all sitting in assigned seats, I was curious as to which Sleigh Bells was going to show up for this. Would it be the duo I saw break out at Pitchfork Festival in 2009 with excessive crowd interaction, or the stilted performers from SNL the other week who look totally uncomfortable with their over-the-top sound levels without crowd energy to feed off of? I got my answer when Alexis Krauss crawled over my head roughly three times and engaged the audience as directly as possible, alternating between stage and crowd surf a handful of rimes in just under an hour. (The photo pit was closed during Sleigh Bells for safety concerns, but not for Nas. Interesting.) Everything turned to eleven, a powerhouse frontwoman and all the right songs played at the right moments - if I was on the fence earlier, I'm now sold on Sleigh Bells as a legitimately elite live act.
About one hour later, legendary MC Nas took the stage to deliver his debut album and magnum opus, 1994's Illmatic, live in full with all but two of the album's guest rappers joining him; DJ Premiere, AZ and Pete Rock all came out. (If only Q-Tip had shown up too...) And what a set it was: one that felt far more like a celebration - complete with one of the most elaborate stage set-ups I've seen in my life that replicated an NYC sidewalk - than a rap exhibition and included many a reminder from Premiere about how old those two are getting ("20 years, Nas!!!!!").
Staying until the very end of Illmatic cost me a Best Coast set that was to go down directly before frontwoman Bethany Cosentino's man's band Wavves at Hype Hotel, but I at least caught that one. The sound in the long and low-ceilinged concrete room was weak, but the extreme aggression and inebriation of frontman Nathan Williams translated just fine and still offered everything that most people go to Wavves shows for anyway. I was in such denial that my final Spring Break was nearing the end, I even stuck around there for another two hours for XV and Chiddy Bang.
Post and photography by Steven Arroyo
