LIVE REVIEW: The Polish Ambassador & Wildlight

FESTIVAL REVIEW: SXSW 2012 Criticisms and Music Picks

via Performer Magazine A colossal vending machine stocked with bags of Doritos towers over the Austin cityscape; a stage the size of a small high-rise. The streets are flooded with the traffic of cars, crowds, street musicians, and press. Amidst new discoveries, missed performances, and surprising headliners like Tenacious D, the biggest lesson learned from […]

FESTIVAL REVIEW: The Big Up Wrap-Up

via Performer Magazine It’s as simple as this: The Big Up downright killed it. Shireworks Productions is on to something ferocious. A savvy combination of Sunnyview Farm’s incredible legacy and locational capabilities, a solid on-site production crew, an inspiringly innovative arts directing and creative team, and a carefully thought out, meticulously perfect lineup left fans […]

LIVE REVIEW: RAQ at The Big Up 2011

via Performer Magazine RAQ’s high-energy, psychedelic, prog-rock and roll is genius. Made up, much in the same way (and with many of the same members) as Kung Fu, RAQ is a supergroup of talent. The band’s jam rock is inherently classic. They manage to bring back an old-school style that has the relentless propensity to redefine […]

LIVE REVIEW: Kung Fu at The Big Up 2011

via Performer Magazine Kung Fu is an eclectic outfit of seasoned, well-played, innovative musicians – a super collective hailing ties to The Breakfast, RAQ, Deep Banana Blackout, and Scofield. Putting Kung Fu on in the evening woke the festival up early. Guitarist Rob Compa (Dopapod) joined them on stage in what turned into a heady electric battle […]

LIVE REVIEW: Consider The Source at The Big Up

via Performer Magazine Before their set, Consider The Source wasn’t entirely sure what kind of crowd they would draw at 2pm on the last day of the festival. By the time they took the stage, people had already gathered, lightly filling much of the concert area. With the previous day’s cloudy weather and thunderstorms behind, […]

LIVE REVIEW: The Werks at The Big Up 2011

via Performer Magazine The Werks channel the best part of classic jam rock, they just do it their way. Slightly psychedelic synthesizers and electro-dance beats integrate unnoticeably into their down-to-earth roots. They refresh festival lineups, giving people something old and loved in a new and personal light. After unsuccessfully navigating the lucid mania of the barn stage […]

LIVE REVIEW: Big Gigantic at The Big Up 2011

via Performer Magazine After EOTO’s set on Saturday night, a friend and I were discussing the headliners. He talked about the difficulty he had getting into Big Gigantic. For him, the duo was too often predictable. He was more or less saying that they didn’t change it up enough – chords, melodies, loop patterns, etc. […]

LIVE REVIEW: Timbre Coupe at The Big Up 2011

via Performer Magazine Timbre Coup takes their time getting to the point, but there’s no real rush. They’re more about the journey. Timbre Coup’s path winds from cool and laid back to funky, stomping and aggressive. In all seriousness, they shred hard and appear relatively unassuming. You wouldn’t expect it, I know, I certainly didn’t. […]

LIVE REVIEW: Technicolor Lenses at The Big Up 2011

via Performer Magazine Technicolor Lenses was an unexpected breath of fresh air at The Big Up. Their emcee straddles manifestations of Atmosphere and Mr. Lif and their dubbed out, electro-pop beats make the live experience decidedly delicate and unearthly. They played to a dripping crowd, elegantly leafing through the stratum of their sound, interjecting socially […]