ROLLING STONE’s Future of Music showcase rocked Austin’s ACL Moody Theater with over 12,000 attendees over four consecutive nights last week. Featuring a whopping 24-artist roster, the event presented a diverse slate of musical acts, spanning all genres, from several different countries. Fans gathered around to listen to their favorite musicians and discover rising talent, all hand-picked by Rolling Stone.
The theater, which is a state-of-the-art 2,750-person space for performances, witnessed an astounding turnout over the four nights. Each and every night, the venue was packed to the brim for both the headlining and opening acts, filling all three floors of the space with bobbing heads and wide smiles. DJs Mediopicky, Rosegold, Hella Yella and The Dare held down the fort, in between performances, amping up the crowd for headlining artists JID, Jay Wheeler, Remi Wolf, and Koffee. Fans also saw incredible performances from co-headlining acts Mariah The Scientist, SABA, Chloe Bailey, Coco Jones and Cuco, all leading up to a surprise performance by Macklemore, presented by Dolby Atmos.
Throughout the showcase, fans sipped cocktails and hydrated on Splash Blast Flavored Water and Splash Fizz. Splash, who was a sponsor of the event, held a pop-up photo-op on the balcony of the venue. The pop-up was a dynamic installation inspired by Splash’s T-Pain commercial, where guests could take fun GIFs with friends in front of a colorful backdrop. Guests also received complimentary bandanas, hats and t-shirts, which were airbrushed on-site by an artist. A second Doordash photo-op was also present at the event, for guests to take printed photo strip images with friends during the intermission between acts.
In terms of genre, the acts truly could not have been any more different in sound and style. Given that the theme of the festival was bending genres and breaking boundaries within the music industry, it’s safe to say Rolling Stone achieved this with great success. Japanese punk group, Otoboke Beaver, opened up the mosh pit with the heaviest set on the bill, while the audience calmly enjoyed smooth R&B tracks from Baby Rose. “Shoutout to all the women producers,” Baby Rose said, as she played her self-produced song, “In Your Arms.” The crowd grooved and sang along to the soulful track, making her debut SXSW experience one to remember.
Baby Rose wasn’t the only artist to be performing at SXSW for the very first time. Midwxst, a nineteen-year-old hyperpop rapper from Indiana, and headlining act Remi Wolf also expressed gratitude for their first SXSW experiences. “This is my first show ever at SXSW!” Remi Wolf graciously admitted in between her energetic set, complete with instrument swapping, playful bandmate banter and quite a bit of dancing. Some artists, like Macklemore, are veterans to the SXSW scene. When speaking about his past SXSW experiences, he told the story of once playing seven shows in a day, adorably thanking his wife for her support from the very beginning. “She was like the getaway driver for the seven shows in one day,” Macklemore recalled, “We’d pull up to the venue late, we’d hop out, we’d do like a twelve-minute set, get back in the car, she’d be like, ‘Go, go, go, we’re late!’ ”
Over the four nights, acts fully embraced the fluidity of the showcase, proudly performing their original music for the crowd, along with a peppering of some iconic covers throughout their sets. Coco & Clair Clair covered Dido’s “White Flag,” Remi Wolf covered Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy,” and Blondeshell performed an impromptu drum, bass and vocals cover of “Disappointment,” by the Cranberries, when their guitar player’s string snapped on stage. Needless to say, the showcase was full of fun twists and turns.
On Wednesday night, the theme was Latin music. The Puerto Rican flag was seen waving in the audience for several of the night’s performers, including Villano Antillano, ile, and Jay Wheeler. Columbian brothers Dawer x Damper brought an incredible and experimental energy to the stage, sprinting back and forth on stage and often jumping off and grinding on the sound system, all while never missing a beat. Mexican-American singer Cuco brought one of the most sentimental performances of the night, bringing the indie-pop tunes, which combine Spanish and English lyrics for a gorgeous blend of chords and culture.
These weren’t the only people repping their roots, however. On the last night, Jamaican artist Koffee brought the Carribean vibes with her mesmerizing mix of reggae, pop and rap-inspired tracks. The band grooved and backup dancers swayed behind Koffee, who flawlessly sang each bar with ease and confidence. Koffee speaks about her background and origin story in her installment of the Audible Original Origins. Much like the showcase, the eight-part audio series focuses on boundary-breaking musicians answering the questions, where are you from? Answers come through spoken narrative, musical performance, and immersive sound design that make you feel like you’re dropped into the mind of the artist. Fans can listen to Koffee’s Origins episode on Audible, a sponsor of Future of Music, to learn more about what inspires her creative process.
The four-night event ended with surprise guest from Dolby Atmos, with Macklemore passing a giant Irish flag around the audience on Friday night, while playing his 2009 bagpipe banger “Irish Celebration” in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. The Seattle legend played hits like “Can’t Hold Us,” “Thrift Shop,” “Same Love,” and even some new songs from his latest record, Ben. Macklemore, who has been a familiar face in rap for over 20 years, interacted with the crowd in any way he could, from taking selfies on fan’s phones, to having the audience hold him up in the middle of the sea of people.
Future of Music was thoroughly covered by the Rolling Stone team, who is currently rolling out complementary content, both in the magazine and across social media. Highlighting the artists’ personalities and innovations, the publication aims to recap the spirit and passion of the musicians who performed at the showcase. This event leads up to the Life is Beautiful music and arts festival in Las Vegas, this September! Rolling Stone’s Future of Music event genuinely lived up to its name. Creating an atmosphere of surprising and unpredictable musical acts, the event successfully delivered four nights of fun and great music. Overall, the showcase did an exceptional job of cultivating a space chock-full of diverse voices and fans, all brought together by a common love for music. View the full gallery HERE!
