Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

by Gary Miller

• Live Shots

  SXSW showcase reviews

• 2012/2013 Austin Music Awards

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Natalie Maines

  BY ABBY JOHNSTON

• Rough Francis

  BY GREG BEETS

• Kendrick Lamar

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Iggy & the Stooges

  BY TIM STEGALL

• The ALLAH-Las

  BY LUKE WINKIE

• People of Letters

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

  BY DAN OKO

• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Mike Scott & Steve Wickham, Billy Bragg

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

"I remember being here a couple years ago standing in a bigass line with no wristband trying to get in," Seattle rapper Macklemore recalled before his at-capacity headlining set for the Warner Sound showcase Tuesday. A lot has changed in a couple years. After a fairly anonymous SXSW debut in 2011, Macklemore and his DJ Ryan Lewis find themselves at the top of the Billboard charts and surrounded by the most incessant buzz of this year's Festival. Rocking a fresh close-crop from Birds Barbershop, the "cold ass honky" waxed biographical on "Ten Thousand Hours" before delivering the discount goods on "Thrift Shop." Hands dotted the sky for queer-equality anthem "Same Love," before Talib Kweli crashed the stage to drop a verse from "The Actual." "SXSW reminds you of the hunger it takes to be an artist," Macklemore declared. "We do all these sold-out shows, but at SXSW, we're not shit all over again, and I love that." Before Macklemore pulled off The Heist, Brooklyn top chef Action Bronson rapped an entire track with a fan on his back and wandered from the stage to the top of the VIP balcony during a set of choice culinary-inspired cuts.