This being my first time at SXSW I truly had no idea what I was getting myself into. I have been to festivals, but I have never seen a town taken over in such mass and fervor as Austin, Texas is during these weeks of mayhem. On my way to Paste’s unofficial day party at Galaxy. I was asked for a hug instead of change from a homeless couple and met THE lizard man (check out full body tattoo, eyebrow implants and tongue augmentation below). I made my way in to the show just as Philly’s own Free Energy were taking the stage to get the week long party started. Their incessant energy, power stances, soaring guitar riffs and fantastic heads of hair immediately captured the crowd’s attention. They charged through their time-capsule rock n’ roll while front man Paul Sprangers sang of good women, good times and joyrides that fully captures the essence of this festival. They played much of their new album including early single “Dream City” and anthemic track ‘Free Energy’ before closing with the explosive (no pun intended) “Bang!” As their set ended and both the crowd and the band took a chance to catch their breath and wipe sweat off their brows, Sprangers left the stage saying, “Let us know if you find a secret hot tub and we’ll be there, actually if you find a secret hot tub we’ll probably already be there.” After such an unapologetic and electric set from these rising locals (who were recently named Best New Powerpop by Rolling Stone and #1 Artists to Watch in 2010 by Spin), I could not agree more. Don’t worry if you missed these guys yesterday though, before heading over the pond they will be playing seven, count ‘em, seven more shows over the next three days. (Photo by Joey F.) – Adam G.
