SXSW 2025 is underway! The music portion of the long-running Austin, Texas festival got started with a scattering of big and small shows around town as evening fell on March 11. If you knew where to look, you might find a classic rock legend, a chart-topping pop star, or any number of exciting rising acts. Here are the best things we saw on Tuesday.
John Fogerty Has Something to Celebrate
“I just got my songs back, and I’m gonna play every one of ‘em!” John Fogerty exclaimed early in his set at Stubb’s. For those not keeping track of the particulars of Fogerty’s publishing, he helpfully provided a brief video explainer at the start of his show, a film that also primed the audience to hear the classic hits he wrote for Creedence Clearwater Revival. Those songs are at the heart of the Celebration Tour, whose stop at SXSW coincides with Fogerty giving a keynote address alongside Tom Morello at the conference. The Rage Against the Machine guitarist sat in for the two-song encore, but the focus was entirely on one of the great rock & roll catalogs, delivered with an enthusiasm that few musicians nearing 80 years old could muster.
Fogerty’s current stage show did feel perhaps a bit oversized for the backyard BBQ settings of Stubb’s, but the intimacy of the venue helped shine a light on the rocker’s current warmth. A prickly wildman at the peak of CCR’s fame, Fogerty has settled into his role as a corny old hippie grandpa, rambling through stories — he told the tale of how his beloved lost Rickenbacker made its way back home, taking a lengthy digression to detail modifications he made to the guitar — and beaming with delight at Shane and Tyler Fogerty, the two adult sons who now play in his band. Tyler stepped to the mic to sing “Fight Fire,” the garage-y first single from Fogerty’s pre-Creedence band the Golliwogs, one of a handful of songs to deviate from the oldies parade. “Bad Moon Rising,” “Down on the Corner,” “Fortunate Son,” and “Green River” are so familiar, it’s easy to note the differences: Fogerty’s voice has thinned and softened, and the sextet can seem overblown, particularly when Rob Stone joins in on sax. It’s the sound of an old pro, not a scrappy upstart, and it suits the genuine sweetness emanating from Fogerty. He makes the nostalgia feel welcoming, even earned. —S.T.E.
Case Oats Have “Wonderful Things” on the Way
“I feel like we just tumbled out of the car,” Casey Gomez Walker said as she and her band took the stage at Antone’s. The recent Merge Records signees had completed the 16-hour drive from Chicago to Austin not long earlier, but any road weariness only enhanced the worn-in quality that makes Gomez Walker’s lyrics ring true. She was joined onstage by a five-piece crew, anchored on drums by Spencer Tweedy, last seen in Waxahatchee’s Tigers Blood band. If you love that project, there’s a good chance you’ll find out this year that you’re a Case Oats fan, too. Much of their set was made up of winsome, unpretentious alt-country songs about old memories and strong feelings. “It hurts, but that’s how it goes,” went the chorus of one low-key stunner called “Tennessee.” That song will likely appear on Case Oats’ upcoming debut album, as will a sweet, genuine love song called “Wishing Stone.” The set concluded with a newer one called “Wonderful Things,” where they built up to a life-affirming squall of garage-y grunge. —S.V.L.
Benson Boone Touches the Sky
Benson Boone came out to headline the first night of Rolling Stone‘s Future of Music showcase at the Moody Theater in typically dazzling attire: a sparking silver jumpsuit with matching vest and headband. He launched into his deeply catchy new single, “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else,” treating the crowd to his first flip of the evening — off the piano — midway through. Boone is a classic showman: athletic, charismatic, possessed of a remarkable, high-octane voice. On “Drunk in My Mind” — a 2024 song he introduced by asking the crowd, “Have you ever hated somebody before?” — he hopped on the piano again; no flip this time, but he did show off his insanely stratospheric falsetto. In his new RS cover story, Boone talked about his upcoming album, American Heart. “A lot of it,” he says, “is very Bruce Springsteen, Americana, like a little more of a retro vibe.” Boone played a handful of new songs from the album, including the title track (check), and “The Mama Song,” a lovely ballad about missing his mom, who (as noted in his cover story) has been known to give great advice. He’s a rising star in the midst of his ascent.
Gloin Make Incredible Noise
The Toronto quartet Gloin are about to release a new LP called All of your anger is actually shame (and I bet that makes you angry), and they fit squarely in the lineage of noise bands whose album titles are confrontational declarative statements. Performing at Swan Dive’s back patio as part of a killer lineup curated by Project Nowhere, they brought the night’s best deafening headbanger art rage. Guitarist John Watson and bassist Vic Byers traded taut vocals and swaggering, distorted riffs. It was an anarchic, physical performance, as Byers and Watson thrashed around the small stage. Even their occasional technical difficulties resolved into exhilarating feedback storms. “It’s about to get really good,” Byers promised during one pedal-adjusting break. And what do you know, it did. —S.V.L.
U.S. Girls Go Back to the Seventies
Meg Remy, the mastermind behind the long-running avant-pop project U.S. Girls, is at SXSW 2025 promoting Dead Lover, the Grace Glowicki horror comedy that bears Remy’s first film score. Despite these cinematic origins, U.S. Girls didn’t indulge in soundscapes at their early evening set at the Mohawk. Supported by a trio who seemed to have stepped out of an airbrushed van, Remy opted for a heavy stroll through the sludgy fringes of ’70s rock. It’s a noted departure from the synth-funk of Bless This Mess, the 2023 album that’s the latest in a long list of records from this Toronto-based act, but Remy avoided the lead-footed cliches of retro-rock. All the whining wah-wah’s and fuzz tones accentuated her arch, knowing tone. Occasionally, the group appeared a touch ragged, but that’s the appeal: The band followed her flow, weaving drama into the songs. Toward the end of the show, Remy announced a tune she wrote specifically for Dead Lover, and the set reached its pinnacle with a song where throwback six-strings, clunky analog synths, and stumbling funk combine into a strangely dreamy trance. —S.T.E.
A Night Full of Música Mexicana
Chamoy-rimmed ranch waters and plenty of cervecitas were sipped on the Mala Fama rooftop Tuesday evening as the Los Angeles Times’ Latinx initiative De Los hosted a showcase of música mexicana acts from across the spectrum. Edgar Alejandro brought his crooning vocals early in the night before Midnight Navy delivered Willy Chavarría-esque fashion and psychedelic Chicano soul. Los Sultanes del Yonke followed suit with flowy, left-of-center cumbias. The packed night of performances reached a high with Arsenal Efectivo, who played their trappy corridos that date back more than a decade. With songs like “Vida Peligrosa,” Arsenal Efectivo has long been locked into the genre, and the crowd sure knew it. Conjunto Rienda Real ended the night with a 2 a.m. set soundtracked by norteño románticas, backed by a jazzy sax and some accordion. All in all, De Los delivered likely the most-paisa music event of the week thus far. —T.M.
Hannah Bahng at Rolling Stone’s Future of Music Showcase.
Samantha Tellez for Rolling Stone
Hannah Bahng Brings the Heartache
Hannah Bahng took the stage at the Moody to dive into her moody, moving songs full of heartache and honest reflection. Fans in Austin greeted her with screams and cheers, as she bounded through songs from her Abysmal EP — including the title track, which features the bon mots “Fuck me dead/Yes, I swear/This is the beginning of familiar ends.” Dressed in red leather pants and a white tank that said “Mother,” Bahng treated the crowd to an unreleased song (“Sweet Satin Boy”) and a Bon Jovi cover (a heartfelt rendition of “Livin’ On a Prayer”). Backstage, post-set, she talked about how happy she was to be at the showcase and gave away adorable plush keychain toys she designed.
Dutch Interior’s Practice Is Paying Off
Dutch Interior bring a lot to the stage: six members, three of whom play guitar, and five of whom sing lead vocals on at least one song. There’s a wall of interesting-looking amps, too, and a keyboard or two. The Southern California band put it all to great use at the 13th Floor after midnight, punching up their left-of-center soft-rock songs with all kinds of unexpected twists — flashes of dissonance here, a harmonica solo there. What they sometimes lack in vocal confidence, they more than make up for with their instrumental inventiveness. Best of all was the song on which two bandmates faced each other for a long harmonic guitar duel that spiraled up, up, and away. Magic was in the air as they played. Afterward, one of them smirked: “All that practice is paying off, huh?” (Also worth a mention are their fellow L.A.-area rock band Joseon, who played two hours earlier in the same room; though their crowd was sparse, Joseon gave it their all, with tight vocal harmonies and insistent garage-psych hooks.) —S.V.L.
Yoo Doo Right perform at Swan Dive Patio.
Griffin Lotz for Rolling Stone
Enter Yoo Doo RIght
The very fact that the Canadian trio Yoo Doo Right lifted their name from an early epic jam from Can can be seen as a mission statement: This trio intends to carry the experimental rock torch into the 21st Century. Yoo Doo Right is steeped in ’60s art-rock allusions — as they played the patio at the Swan Dive, their set was awash with swirling colored lights that made it feel like a psychedelic happening — but they’re more than just a fusion of the Teutonic throb of Can and the nocturnal provocations of the Velvet Underground. They were powered by John Talbot, a drummer who started with the precise funk of krautrock, then got swept up in his own beat, allowing the guitarist Justin Cober and bassist Charles Masson to create noise that ebbed and flowed, making its mark only to wash away again. This isn’t heady music: There’s an odd sense of warmth to their performance that gives it a visceral kick. —S.T.E.
(Full disclosure: In 2021, Rolling Stone’s parent company, P-MRC, acquired a 50 percent stake in the SXSW festival.)