Dream Wife at the British Music Embassy
Having seen Dream Wife a couple of time already, including my introduction to them during SXSW 2017, I didn’t necessarily need to see them at this year’s SouthBy, but once I saw the band’s name added to the lineup for this year’s edition, I knew that I was absolutely going to see Dream Wife at this year’s SouthBy.
It was a no-brainer, really. With their fierce, high energy performances, the band is practically the definition of a “must see” and I would have seen them multiple times if I had the chance. As it turns out, I only ended up seeing them the one time, but the band was playing several times throughout the week and I believe almost all of Team Panic Manual caught Dream Wife in action at one of their many shows during the week.
The Hotel Vegas set, though, was the one for me. Over the years, the East 6th venue has become one of my favourite spots to catch a show at during SXSW – it seems a bit further removed from all the industry stuff and the place just generally has a good rock ‘n’ roll vibe about it. And with a lineup this afternoon that also included the likes of Dumbo Gets Mad, Death Valley Girls and Otoboke Beaver, it seemed like the place to be.
With the crowd packed into the indoor space, Dream Wife took to the stage and immediately had our attention. Singer Rakel Mjöll is all energy and attitude, while her bandmates Alice Go and Bella Podpadec are, well, also full of energy and attitude.
The band put on an incredible show, running through numbers like “Hey Heartbreaker,” “Somebody” and “F.U.U.” The standout track though was “Hot (Don’t Date A Musician),” introduced by Mjöll with a spiel about how hot it was in Austin along with the requisite warning to heed the song’s advice and not date a musician, perhaps an even more relevant message when one is in Austin during SXSW and every other person might be a musician – even the bartender.
If you haven’t seen Dream Wife yet, go see them when you get a chance. And if you have seen them? Go see them again.