Miike Snow Make Good at SXSW

Posted on Mar 18th 2010 4:33AM by Benjy Eisen
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Beginning your set more than half an hour late at the speed-of-light sensory overload event that is SXSW can be showcase suicide -- after all, with dozens of worthwhile bands playing within a few hundred feet in any direction, who has time to wait around listening to Mew on a PA system? Yet, that's exactly what a packed and eager crowd did on Wednesday night at the Galaxy Backyard in Austin for the KCRW party, as excited fans and jaded music industry types alike all waited for Miike Snow to kick off their run of SXSW showcases. This story has a happy ending: the wait was worth it.

Although the band had few words to say to the audience, other than to thank them at the end for sticking around, Miike Snow delivered the goods live, taking album cuts such as 'Burial' and 'A Horse Is Not a Home' from their 2009 self-titled debut and turning them into live adventures. They didn't jam so much as improvise. Expand. Elaborate. Embellish. And it all just somehow clicked.

The band, which doubles in size from a trio to a six piece for their live format, was able to scratch all the itches, including sending the audience home on a high note by means of a sing-a-long ('Animal'). Miike Snow will perform a number of even higher profile sets throughout the rest of SXSW and so let this be a calling to those in Austin this weekend -- believe the hype. Oh, and the fact that they look like they just raided an American Apparel store and took all the black shiny jackets is just a side bonus.