SXSW 2016, Day 4: Weathering a storm, fueled by Methyl Ethel, Bob Moses

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Bob Moses at the Mohawk at SXSW 2016 (Photo by Bronson)
Bob Moses at the Mohawk at SXSW 2016 (Photo by Bronson)

Bob Moses, Methyl Ethyl, Lower Dens, Gooch Palms, Will Joseph Cook, Oscar and the Wolf, Muuy Biien, The High Strung

Thunder and lightning, very very frightening.

A Texas-sized storm wreaked havoc on the South by Southwest Music Festival on Friday evening, forcing cancellations of some performances, delaying others and rendering best-laid plans as worthless as sunscreen. Many outdoor stages, with stages and sound equipment beneath metal-buttressed tents, simply shut down, while others pushed back sets until the threat had passed.

The monstrous Fader Fort was evacuated; park shows such as the Aussie BBQ were scotched; Wolfmother’s set at Auditorium Shores was ended after 10 minutes; and those gathered for a semi-exclusive show at Willie Nelson’s ranch (with Bob Dylan) ended up huddled in a barn.

Not limited to the weather, storms brewed elsewhere too — the 2 Chainz show at the Austin Music Hall was shut down after somebody brought a gun to the party; and an afternoon day party at the Belmont ended in a brawl that spilled out onto the street.

Oh, but there was music. Before the storm blew through and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees, Vancouver-bred Bob Moses — the NYC-based duo of Jimmy Vallance and Tom Howie — played a steamy set of fairly stunning dance music to a big crowd at the Mohawk, site of the Windish booking agency’s showcase. Their full-length debut “Days Gone By” is a rockist’s take on house music, more “24 Hour Party People” than modern EDM, and the crowd loved it.

Inside at the Mohawk, Lower Dens got off to a late start — “Hope you enjoyed our soundcheck,” Jana Hunter told the restless crowd — but ended up beautifully brooding, playing “Your Heart’s Still Beating,” “Sucker’s Shangri-La” and “Electric Current,” among others, from their third album “Escape From Evil.”

Earlier, at the Aussie BBQ, Perth trio Methyl Ethel were playing their eighth SXSW show in 4 1/2 days, and yes, they did look worse for the wear, at least at the start. But once Jack Webb and crew got going, their evocative psych-rock won the chatty crowd milling around Brush Square Park. They followed a set by Gooch Palms, the Aussie duo now based in L.A., who dressed as if for a workout in the Austin humidity and kept the heat on with a series of catchy garage-pop nuggets. They probably would have engaged more people had not the actual barbecue been served just before they went on.

The weather turned just before dusk, and just as the Balcony TV party was winding down on a rooftop balcony (naturally) overlooking 6th Street. NYC’s Spirit Animal gamely did one song under threatening skies before moving under a tent do perform five more funk-rockers as lightning crept closer and closer to downtown. The lubricated crowd seemed not to care, but suffice to say the skies’ light show made some check to see how close they were standing to anything metal.

The Barracuda took no chances with the lightning — the venue shut down their back patio area and taped off an area in the middle of its indoor room as a makeshift “second stage.” This made the set from Athens, Ga., punk rockers Muuy Biien even more punk-rock. They were impossible not to love.

Across the street at the Neon Gold showcase, there was, predictably, a lot of synth-pop. But not all. L.A.’s PARTYBABY scorched some earth (again), and the U.K. quartet fronted by Will Joseph Cook played a winning set of scratchy, girl-obsessed guitar pop.

Inside, after a giddy, strobe-swathed set from L.A.’s MUNA, Belgium’s Oscar and the Wolf took over. Singer Max Colombie whirled and twirled, synching his balletic dance moves to the band’s catchy, bombastic electro-pop. The crowd lapped it up like candy.

At the end of the evening, there were quick stops at Diet Cig’s explosive set and Jamie xx’s strobey DJ set at the YouTube house. But also a visit to the Velveeta room for an old favorite doing a one-off show.

Long-running Detroit quartet the High Strung play crisp, whip-smart indie-rock and have something like nine full-lengths to their credit. Back in their hard-touring, DIY days, they once left their beat-up, broken-down van on the steps of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland with a note saying that the institution would probably need it in 25 years, when the band was eligible. The next year, 2005, they toured the U.S. … playing libraries. Now the band is probably best known for their song “The Luck You Know,” the theme song to the TV show “Shameless.”

Singer-guitarist Josh Malerman is now a published author and an award-winner for Best First Novel for 2014’s “Bird Box.” And on Friday night, he belied his stylish look, sounding every bit like the teenager who just climbed out of spray-painted Chevy as his high, kid-next-door vocals starred in a set of High Strung “hits.” If you wanted to finish a stormy Friday with a smile, this did the trick.