SXSW: The Sonics at Emo's

Last night we stood in line for nearly an hour to catch Seattle garage legends the Sonics at Emo’s. The five-piece group were
pioneers, ultimately influencing everyone from the Replacements to the
Austin’s own Big Boys. Their current hold on modern garage rock was
evident by seeing members of the Black Lips and King Khan and The
Shrines in attendance guzzling beers in the pit during the show.

The
Sonics opened with “He’s Waiting” with its big bad sax lines and Little
Richard-style yelps that defined their two landmark albums. Than ran
through an hour set of all their garage standards like “Shot Down” and
“Strychnine” as the crowd stood in. They are still still a very muscley
and hard cracking band, over forty years on. Raunchy ass rock and roll
lives on.