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Let’s get this out of the way right now: Miike Snow is a band. There is no individual by that name, at least not anyone from Sweden who makes electro-pop music. This is a fact that seems to allude a lot of people – even those who work in the music industry – and it was apparent last night when the band performed at the SXSW Interactive closing party sponsored by Media Temple.
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Miike Snow, whose sophomore album Happy To You came out yesterday, headlined Stubbs along with Glasgow rock band Twin Atlantic, dance rockers Kasabian and special guest M. Ward. The party was, in theory, for the tech people who had converged on Austin earlier this week to sift through panels on brand convergence and various technical things we don’t understand. This means that everyone in Stubbs wore their badges proudly around their necks (something the music attendees don’t really do) and that every single person in the venue sported an enormous backpack. But, most of all, no one in the crowd seemed aware of the musicians who performed.
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Kasabian is a strange choice for a major show in 2012. The joke last night, as “Queens of the Stone Age” and early “Arcade Fire” poured out of the venue speakers in between bands, is that it was 2005 again, the year the British band rose to acclaim on their self-titled debut. And although Kasabian apparently released a new disc, Velociraptor!, last year it is their 2004 single “Club Foot” (you know it even if you think you don’t) that remains their biggest.
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M. Ward, who has a new album approaching in April, on the other hand, is a perfect choice for a show in 2012, especially a show in Austin, TX. Ward, who performed with a band of clearly talented musicians, roamed through a set of mostly new material, focusing on folk-heavy tracks that feature enough bluesy twang to feel strikingly appropriate for an outdoor Texas venue that also plays host to a BBQ joint. Ward offered up old favorites like “Poison Cup” and “Cosmopolitan Pap,” but the focus was clearly on new tracks – a fact that seems true of all bigger artists performing at SXSW, many of whom likely see this as an opportunity to engage fans before the release of a record.
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Although the tech crowd talked loudly throughout Ward’s set, they were engaged by his rollicking cover of “Roll Over Beethoven,” which closed out his set. And by the time Miike Snow and their giant spaceship console took the stage at 12:30 a.m., the crowd was drunk enough off the open bar to dance along to hits like “Animal” and “Burial.” Tuesday night of SXSW is always the bridge between Interactive and Music, and in recent years, as the tech aspect of the festival has grown, it has also been the time for the tech employees to drop loads of money on big artists and party (last year the Foo Fighters famously performed at the Media Temple SXSWi closing party). It’s a strange aesthetic, ultimately, since the tech people seem (key word: seem) less compelled by the musical acts on the stage than the music attendees.
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But, at the end of the day, we’re just happy to have seen M. Ward perform “Poison Cup” live. And to have relived 2005 with Kasabian.
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Animal

Miike Snow | Myspace Video
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