Free Music at SXSW

The 15 best official SXSW Music shows you can see for free

Visit the SXSW Outdoor Stage at Lady Bird Lake for free music Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Photo by Tye Truitt

UPDATE: Ray LaMontagne has canceled his performance at SXSW Outdoor Stage at Auditorium Shores. This story has been updated to reflect the change.

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Five days in, five more to go. We’re in the thick of the festival madness as SXSW Music kicks off Tuesday, March 15.

As the saying goes, SXSW is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. To help you rev up for all of the incredible music offerings of the festival, we’ve curated a streamlined guide to the best free official shows happening now through the weekend.

Tuesday, March 15

Second Play Stage at Hotel Van Zandt with Walker Lukens and Jackie Venson
The great thing about SXSW is that if you do it right you don’t have to spend a dime on seeing great music. It's a way to make the festival accessible to locals (and visitors), so show some love to Austin-based alt-pop rocker Walker Lukens and blues crooner Jackie Venson at the Second Play Stage at Hotel Van Zandt. Lukens plays at 6 pm followed by Venson at 7. Hotel Van Zandt will have shows every night starting at 6 pm through Saturday evening.

Second Play Stage at Hyatt Regency with Suzanna Choffel and The Dead South
Also playing Tuesday night at 6 pm is Austin native Suzanna Choffel, whose soulful vocals make for a fun and funky listening experience. The Dead South will follow at the Second Play Stage at Hyatt Regency, a high-energy bluegrass group out of Regina, Saskatchewan.

Wednesday, March 16

Showtime Roadies House at Clive Bar with Børns
Head to Clive Bar Wednesday afternoon for a stacked lineup at the Roadies House. Seratones opens at 2 pm with Whitney, Big Thief, Bronze Radio Return, Grizfolk, Mothers, Hey Marseilles, and Givers also performing. Børns closes the set at midnight. This event is open to all badges, but if you don’t have one, you can RSVP through Do512. It goes without saying, but this does not guarantee entry. May the odds be ever in your favor.

Second Play Stage at Liberty Tavern with Colin Gilmore, Small Houses, and Say Girl Say
Tuesday through Saturday, the Second Play Stage at Liberty Tavern will be buzzing with Texas talent. Our favorite lineup of the week is happening Wednesday at 6 pm with country musicians Colin Gilmore and Bonnie Whitmore. Indie-folk singer Small Houses will perform after followed by the sweet sounds of Houston-based Say Girl Say.

Thursday, March 17

2016 SXSW Outdoor Stage at Lady Bird Lake
Auditorium Shores will pack ‘em in once again for the annual free concert in the park. Running nightly Thursday through Saturday, we are exceptionally excited for Thursday night’s lineup. Gates open at 3 pm with the first act going on at 4. Get ready to dance to the alternative folk rock of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, one of our must-see bands at SXSW this year. Deftones headline at 8 pm.

Wolfmother and Coheed and Cambria headline Friday, and Grupo Fantasma and Intocable headline Saturday. You must sign up for the free SXSW guest pass in order to attend.

Flatstock 53 at Austin Convention Center
Back again this year is Flatstock 53, a gallery of gig and festival posters from world-renowned artists. Guests to the exhibit will have the opportunity to meet with artists, shop for posters, or take a trip down music memory lane. Located at the Austin Convention Center in Exhibit Hall 4, Flatstock 53 is open to the public via the guest pass Thursday from 2 to 6 pm and Friday and Saturday from 11 am to 6 pm.

NXNW Second Play Stage at The Westin with Flor
Relax at The Westin Tuesday through Saturday for its Second Play Stage setup with bands from the Pacific Northwest. We highly recommend checking out indie-pop group Flor on Thursday at 6 pm.

ATX Composers SXSW Showcase at Hideout Theatre with Mother Falcon and Graham Reynolds
To check out what the innovative composers of Austin are up to, stop by Hideout Theatre Thursday evening for the second annual ATX Composers Showcase. The event brings together both traditional classical music and artists that are bending the genre. Mother Falcon and Graham Reynolds are just a few of the night’s performers. Get the guest pass to attend.

Live at the BBQ at Austin Music Hall with Nas
Live at the BBQ is presented by Mass Appeal with the king of rap himself, Nas. DJ Khaled will also perform along with Yo Gotti, Just Blaze, Trae tha Truth, and Mannie Fresh. You can RSVP for this free event here and get ready to line up early. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

Friday, March 18

Free Spotlight Showcase at Palm Door Sabine with The Nightowls, Formation, and Sphynx
SXSW is offering a number of Free Spotlight Showcases around town during the music festival. You must have a guest pass to attend, and one of our favorite shows is happening at Palm Door Friday night. Get ready to dance the night away with a diverse lineup of electronic, pop, rock, and R&B.

Music is Universal at JW Marriott with Vince Staples
Also one of our best music acts of SXSW, hip-hop artist Vince Staples will perform early Friday evening at the Music is Universal showcase in downtown Austin. Other notable events at Music is Universal is the poolside DJ bash with Mayer Hawthorne on Tuesday night.

Saturday, March 19

Cover bands at Emo’s
Tired of seeing anonymous rock and folk bands that you can’t sing along to? For a little nostalgia and a lot of fun, sing along to classic hits by visiting Emo’s Saturday night for an epic cover band showcase. Capsula will pay homage to the late great David Bowie while HeartByrne will perform the timeless rock ‘n’ roll of Talking Heads. A guest pass is required to attend.

Drum and Bass Night at Plush
For some of the best up-and-coming DJ talent, head to dance-inducing Plush Saturday evening for this free electronic music showcase. Berlin Beats plays host, featuring rRoxymore, DJ Paypal, DJ Richard, and Robot Koch.

Free Spotlight Showcase at Esther’s Follies
It’s always fun to see atypical venues transformed into concert spaces. Esther’s Follies is no exception as the comedy theater closes down with three days of Free Spotlight Showcases Wednesday through Saturday. Get a guest pass and watch the bluesy Breanna Barbara, pop acts Victoria+Jean, and Austin’s own rock ‘n’ rollers Young Tongue.

Sunday, March 20

SXSW Closing Party at Palm Door Sixth with Jonathan Toubin
If you’re not completely dead by day 10, please tell us your secrets. The official SXSW Music 2016 Closing Party is free, open to the public, and features Baby Shakes, The Mystery Lights, a special guest DJ, and Jonathan Toubin’s soul clap and dance-off with a $100 cash prize.

Grab your guest pass here, and scope out all of the free official SXSW events.

sxsw music

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Getty Images for Spotify

Jesse y Joy's appearance in Spotify’s parking lot caused quite the kerfuffle.

In musical and experiential terms, SXSW 2016 was an outright success. (Unofficial) Drake appearance aside, the festival continued last year’s pivot from big-name branding to a renewed focus on artist discovery, showcasing over 2,200 acts from around the globe. The sheer scope of the event makes it impossible to catch every lauded "next big thing," but of the 68 showcase acts we watched this year, here are eight destined to become your new favorite artists.

Lapsley
A spiritual descendant of genre-blending artists like Beth Orton and Everything But The Girl, Lapsley (Holly Fletcher) mixes electronics and smart singer-songwriter material to intriguing effect. The young vocalist showed an ease with performance and stage patter that belied her age (she’s 19), and she looked ready to carry a venue like Stubb’s on her own. The outdoor amphitheater isn’t an ideal spot for quiet material, but the audience dialed into Lapsley’s powerful vocals. The crowd reacted fervently to her European hit “Hurt Me,” but the remainder of the rock-solid set had us ordering her debut LP, Long Way Home, the next morning.

Mitski
We’d noted Mitski as "singer-songwriter" without being familiar with her work, but upon venue entry, it seemed proper to revise that to "emotionally pummeling, searing rock." The power onstage was bigger than the sum of the trio playing it, and the strength of feeling in the lyrics found ideal accompaniment in this pared-down format. Mitski’s voice should count as an extra instrument: Where loud rock shows often muddy vocals, her lyrics were clear and her tonal shifts were striking. This is an artist with a confident vision and visceral delivery.

Sunflower Bean
New York’s Sunflower Bean was everything one might want from an afternoon showcase: ramshackle, familiar, upbeat, and damn catchy. The music feels tailor-made for fans of labels like 4AD and vintage indie-pop like Luna and The Darling Buds. There’s never a bad time to deploy a big, loping bass line countered by a jangly guitar progression: This is proof that indie needn’t be obtuse. The melodies and sonic punch are here, though some of the songs feel just a touch underdeveloped. The raw talent the trio showed was formidable, and we’ll be happy to see what comes next. Sunflower Bean could be massive.

Kevin Morby
Despite being slotted at peak day-drinking hour (5:30 pm) in the sweaty, unforgiving indoor space at Cheer Up Charlies, Kevin Morby delivered a set focused on new material with aplomb. Morby’s slightly nasal delivery recalls Blonde On Blonde-era Dylan, and this distinctive tone often achieves the cool feat of feeling like the narrator stands apart from (and transcends) the song. Songs like “I Have Been to the Mountain" and the others he debuted portend great things for new album Singing Saw, which arrives mid-April.

Empress Of
The music of Empress Of is sometimes described as bedroom pop, but Lorely Rodriguez’s set at Hype Hotel was having none of it. The dance and beat elements of the music were turned up in the live format, leading to a 1 am dance party inside the roomy Fair Market. Rodriguez’s vocals pierce through the booming bass and percussion, making the electronic melodies more organic and human. These are songs equally pleasing on your headphones and in the nightclub, and the brief festival set left our group wishing the 2 am curfew wasn’t right around the corner.

Jesse y Joy
An arena band in Mexico, Jesse y Joy's appearance in Spotify’s parking lot caused quite the kerfuffle. Those denied entry perched on nearby sidewalks and higher ground to catch a glimpse of their heroes, whose latest disc features guests ranging from Alejandro Sanz to Juan Luis Guerra. The four-time Latin Grammy winners surprised the audience by opting to perform roughly half of their set in English, even throwing in a cover of Alanis Morrissette’s “Ironic” to win over a crowd they assumed might be unfamiliar with their work. Fervent fans sang every word, and newbies marveled at the group’s massive band and pristine pop.

Anderson .Paak
Like fellow Dr. Dre collaborator Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak seems equally at home in the studio and onstage. The singer, rapper, and drummer fired up an overflowing Coppertank crowd with cuts from his new album, Malibu. The showcases from Dre’s 2015 Compton may have gotten curious fans in the door, but .Paak’s full-band approach with his Free Nationals group kept everyone there until the end. His sound blends hip-hop, funk, and soul in a distinctly Californian manner: The songs breathe and feel alive and evoke good feelings and warm climates. The man can do it all. The crowd ate up the numbers where he sang while playing drums, and the band even threw in a bit of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” to amp up audience reaction. His ascent to the big leagues should be imminent.

Cloves
Watching Cloves at The Sidewinder, we felt a wave of nostalgia for a similar set we saw 10 years ago when a young singer-songwriter named Feist tamed a noisy room by commanding their attention with beautiful vocals and strong melodies. Cloves has all that potential — and perhaps even more. Her bluesy vocals show a bit of her professed Amy Winehouse love, but there’s quality songcraft here too. Tracks like “Frail Love” from her new EP XIII wouldn’t sound out of place on an Adele record. There’s a connection between the two in the sense that Cloves pares things down to the core, and her songs pack an emotional wallop that stands in contrast to a modest stage persona. If you told us that she’d be the biggest breakout star this year, we wouldn’t argue the point.

Honorable mentions: Caveman, Declan McKenna, Still Corners, Horse Thief.

concerts sxsw festivals music

Free Music at SXSW

The 15 best official SXSW Music shows you can see for free

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These are the 8 music acts that killed it at SXSW 2016

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