The Roots, SXSW: Questlove and Co. Blur Genres, Follow Inspired Bob Mould Set

With no official duties at SXSW, the Roots came to party Saturday at Mohawk, blowing through 90 booty-rattling minutes of hip-hop, soul, funk, rock 'n' roll -- look, they can do it all, OK?

Serving as the musical anchor on 'Late Night With Jimmy Fallon' has turned the Philadelphia hip-hop band into one of the tightest musical units you will ever see, and they proved it over and over in the headline slot at a day party hosted by MOG.

For one thing, it was surely the only performance at SXSW to include a tuba breaking it down, on 'You Got Me.' And did anyone else do a live mashup of 'Sweet Child O' Mine,' 'Bad to the Bone' and 'Who Do You Love?' No, they did not. Also, DJ Jazzy Jeff made an appearance late in the set, helping with a massive call-and-response drum break.

Speaking of drums, a serene-looking Questlove powered the band with metronomic, deep-pocket rhythm as Black Thought delivered dizzying streams of rhymes on 'Here I Come.' (He also delivered shout-outs to St. Patrick's Day, hung-over people and, after taking a long pull from a water bottle, Brita, for "quality H2O.")

Bob Mould had a more singular focus when he performed before the Roots: he played all of 'Copper Blue,' the 1992 debut from his power-pop trio Sugar. Backed once more by drums and bass after recent solo tours, Mould dialed in a huge, muscular sound that swept over the fist-pumping crowd. He yowled over a pounding bassline on 'A Good Idea,' shed bright sparks of guitar on 'Hoover Dam' and looked about as happy as you can look as he thundered through the relentlessly catchy 'If I Can't Change Your Mind.'

Blitzen Trapper squeezed in the 10th of its 11 performances at SXSW, and all that time on stage made the band's performance seem effortless as the musicians shifted from the hazy 'I Love the Way You Walk Away' to the loose, Stonesy feel of 'Your Cryin' Eyes' and the blowsy riffage of 'Street Fighting Sun.'

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