Everything hits at once. Days after fans learned they’d be showcasing at South By Southwest, news breaks that local luminaries Spoon headline the first of the free festival concerts at Auditorium Shores.
Britt Daniel, Jim Eno and the boys arrive on the south side of Lady Bird Lake on Thursday night alongside the Screaming Eagle of Soul, Charles Bradley, and Superchunk statesman (and Merge Records co-founder) Mac McCaughan. The evening’s festivities serve as the first SXSW event thrown on the Shores’ great lawn since C3 Presents issued it a $3.5 million facelift.
Spoon returns to the site of its Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 appearance, the locals’ final show before going on a two-year break that concluded with eighth album They Want My Soul, a collection that critics and band members alike consider a survey of the ATX troupe’s many different styles.
The band has spent the past six months in renaissance, becoming one of the most revered rock outfits touring in America. In turn, they’ve also welcomed a fifth member, Alex Fischel, who came into good company playing alongside lead singer Britt Daniel in Divine Fits. A 14-week tour of the U.S. and Europe – including a stopover in Austin for the Austin City Limits Music Festival and a fourth taping of Austin City Limits – opened in August.
Bradley, an NYC native signed to Daptone Records, claims unlikely adulation in the tiny hamlet of Utopia, where his 2012 UtopiaFest performance still echoes. Of course, a sea of indie rock fans are left to wonder what they would’ve done had McCaughan not waltzed into their lives.
SXSW anticipates three nights of music at Auditorium Shores during the Music festival. Saturday’s Latin pachanga was announced last week. Admission’s free, so long as you’ve acquired a SXSW Guest Pass.
This article appears in February 27 • 2015.