The Best Shows at SXSW 2013

By Rocks Off Mon., Mar. 18 2013 at 9:20 AM

Categories: SXSW

Continued from page 2

Photo by Craig Hlavaty

The Specials: It may require a flow chart to describe the membership of ska legends The Specials over the years, but it doesn't show live. The version in Austin, playing fun house songs about the fucked-up world out there, was nothing short of mighty. They were perfect musically and the most generous performers I saw all week. It was goofy stuff occasionally, to be sure -- Terry Hall mashing a harmonica into the mock-surprised mouth of Lynval Golding. But those with truly serious things to say rarely take themselves very seriously. KIERNAN MALETSKY

Trash Talk: A consistent highlight of SXSW every year has been rising hardcore band and festival veterans Trash Talk. Regardless of their rising star, the band shows no signs of cleaning up their act. One of their most exciting assets is the absolute chaos and mayhem that takes place any time they play, and that was true even when they played at the Mohawk at 4 p.m. last Wednesday afternoon.

Front man Lee Spielman was literally bouncing off the walls when I arrived slightly late. While I was busy standing in line and worrying if I would get in, Spielman suddenly appeared on the Mohawk's outdoor wall, notably sporting a cast on one leg, and yelling at the top of his lungs at those of us still outside.

The insanity only continued when I got in and witnessed Spielman's antics completely uninhibited by his injury, including crowd-surfing from the stage to the merch table by the end of the set and enlisting a ten-year-old to write for Pitchfork Media, which was sponsoring the show. COREY DEITERMAN

Haim: If saying, "These guys are going to blow up" makes it so, then Haim would be making us all forget about Justin Bieber by next week. As it stands, the band ("We are Haim. Three fuckin' Jewish sisters from LA," as Este Haim described it from the stage at one point) is candy on record and feral live, and that's more than enough. KIERNAN MALETSKY