Two bands. Two different approaches to the end of SXSW.
Near the beginning of their Friday night set at Empire Garage, Chastity Belt’s Julia Shapiro admitted that a full week of nonstop gigging can wear you out. “This is our last show at SouthBy. It feels good to be done honestly – it’s exhausting.” Meanwhile Beach Slang frontman James Alex, though quite possibly just as exhausted, decided to go hard. “This is our last show at SouthBy. We’re gonna fuckin’ destroy this room.” Alex, clad in a tuxedo and bow tie (bow ties are cool) stated that he and his band were “here to punch you in the heart.”
At one point, the guitarist played the riff from Santana’s “Smooth.” “Two things that have never been mentioned in a review of Beach Slang: the word ‘professional’ and the influence of Santana’s ‘Smooth’ featuring Rob Thomas.” joked Alex afterwards. Weirdly, that was the second reference to that song by a SouthBy performer in as many days. Evidence of some sort of Santana based conspiracy? The Santanalluminati? Quite possibly. In addition to “Smooth,” the band also slipped a little snippet of “Don’t Fear The Reaper” into their set as well as a full cover of The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” The band’s been compared to The Replacements in the past and the cover songs, rough and raucous performance and even the tux brought to mind The ‘Mats for sure.
Despite feeling the effects of however many shows they’d already played that week, Chastity Belt still put on a great show, though they may not have been exactly what a crowd full of Mastodon fans were looking for. Regardless, the band still impressed with new songs off of their upcoming release I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone as well as older numbers like “Time To Go Home.”
Of the new stuff, first single “Different Now” was a definite highlight. Check out the Temple Of The Dog referencing video for that song below: