Aftermath, let it be known, doesn't mind the cold. People, on the other hand, do. We had a plan Saturday to make a perch at Cedar St. Courtyard to catch the Rhapsody Rocks showcase, a kind of relaxing end to an obviously hectic few days; but when we got there the mood was a bit somber, something like waiting for a sunrise but getting instead a beige colored half-moon.
People didn't seem at all interested in keeping up any measurable level of energy on the last night of the festival, and because we'd rather blame something than the music, let's blame the cold. When we arrived at the little gem of a venue, Frightened Rabbit was wrapping up the day show lineup, and end it they did - with a th-th-th-thump (
Bambi reference, see?).
One of the more interesting bands in this year's SXSW lineup, the Rabbits have perfected the genre of sad songs set to happy chords, and it's almost hard to realize what they're saying until you do, and by that time it's too late - your body is a-shakin'.
The showcase got off to a somewhat rocky start, particularly because Aftermath assumes most of the indie-ish looking crowd wasn't expecting the moodless cock-rock jams of Free Energy or the audience-scaring "I hear house music, but that can't be right" German funk master Tobias Thomas before they got to hear who they were actually there to hear - the fantastically underrated YACHT. (Quick note: We know we didn't mention Memory Tapes, but Memory Tapes don't really matter much.)
By the time Yacht took the stage, the majority of the crowd was either 1) too cold to care; 2) too tired to pretend they cared; or 3) sad because even though they actually did care, the person next to them was either in the first or second group, so it didn't feel right to show any kind of semblance of caring. It was a weird way to end the festival, but all wasn't lost since the beer was cheap. And there were free stickers.