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AUSTIN, TX- Music lovers slowly trickled in from the entrance of Empire Garage and Control Room, the sprawling two-room venue humming with the sound of busy volunteers. This was day two of the Take Action SXSW showcase, co-presented by Sandy Hook Promise and Artist for Action. Empire was filling with tables outfitted with Sandy Hook Promise’s green signage and teddy bears. The organization’s trademark “Hope Bears” were displayed in their plastic cases.
Sandy Hook Promise is a nonprofit focused on gun education and gun violence prevention, honoring its namesake tragedy—the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting. The other co-organizer, Artist for Action, shares the same mission, partnering with famous musicians to speak out against gun violence. The two organizations led a video presentation later that night before the headliners went on. There was a definite vibe shift in the showcase’s intent compared to the previous night. What had been a chaotic flurry of drunk partygoers was replaced with a more heartfelt steadiness. When I was at Mohawk, there were no green ribbons or presentations—nothing reminding the audience of the core message of the event.
I made my way to the front of the barricade for Tribe Friday’s opening set. The charismatic singer, Noah Deutschmann, walked onto the stage with only an acoustic guitar. As it turned out, the rest of the Swedish rock band didn’t make the trip this year. While unfortunate, I think the pared-down set was exactly what we all needed. It set up the more somber energy of the showcase so well to have it just be him and his songs.
Furthermore, his set featured mostly unreleased music and B-side gems. He even asked the crowd to choose between song options, and at times, the setlist felt completely unplanned. Noah’s voice pinged so much nostalgia for me. His vocal performance felt like a softer blend of Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) and Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel), while the songwriting recalled the singalong emo of the early aughts—like The Mountain Goats. I was glad I had never heard Tribe Friday before. Noah was so unassuming that I had no idea what to expect when he opened his mouth, and I welcomed the surprise.
The Swedish performer told many stories between songs throughout the half-hour set. He would speak in Swedish at times, then switch back to English, then Swedish again. This approach to communication felt more like a conversation. There’s something very childlike about his lyricism—the lyrics drifted with images of treehouses, forests, sprawling nature, and nods to Noah’s life in Sweden. The entire performance was casual, like discovering a hidden talent in a local coffee shop.
I spoke at length with him after the set and learned that Tribe Friday wasn’t initially on the bill at all. They were a last-minute addition, hence why Noah was the only one who traveled the long distance from Sweden. As it turns out, Noah was part of the graphic design team for Take Action and wasn’t planning to perform at all.
When I listened to Tribe Friday after I got back from Austin, I missed the intimacy of this special performance. The group’s released music is trashy, poppy rock—similar to, and I’ll say it again, The Arctic Monkeys. The solo set evoked something Alex Turner would be too cool to convey. There was a privacy between us early birds and Noah’s acoustic guitar. For a moment, I forgot that there would be other artists after him—or that if my feet could handle the nonstop standing, I would see Ginuwine at 1 a.m.
It takes a rare talent to make a blogger forget about an R&B superstar, and Noah Deutschmann did just that.
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CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE ACTS WE CAUGHT AT SXSW!
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LIVE CLIPS
