Band of Horses Perform Greatest Hits at SXSW

At South By Southwest (SXSW) on Friday night, Band of Horses took a marquee spot at the legendary Stubb's BBQ for a short set that apparently doubled in size or, at least, length. About halfway through their performance, a clean-cut Ben Bridwell and his band -- of horses, if you want to be clever about it -- announced that the show was over. At that point, Band of Horses had only performed four songs, including favorites 'Great Salt Lake,' 'Is There a Ghost,' and a new tune.

But instead of bowing out after 20 minutes, as would be typical SXSW fashion, Band of Horses cantered onwards, with an "instant encore" that encompassed admitted hits such as 'No One's Gonna Love You' and 'The Funeral.' You know - singalongs. And although the band didn't offer much banter -- apart from Bridwell announcing, albeit slightly sarcastically, that they were about to play their "single" or, for that matter, that the night was almost finished -- the band nonetheless chose to let the music speak for itself. Lkewise, they delivered a set worthy of headliner status.

Judging from the one new tune that they did play (whose title they did not reveal) there's more great stuff to come from this band in 2010. All signs at SXSW pointed to that being a good thing. In fact, a very good thing. We've got our eye on them, that's for sure.