Sunday, April 5, 2015

SXSW - Neiman Marcus Make Some Noise Party

My favorite "unofficial" party was the Nieman Marcus Make Some Noise Day 2 music line-up. I really want to be friends with whoever picked the artists on this one. I went to see Marina and the Diamonds so I decided to plant myself there for the day to make sure I got a spot and I enjoyed every single artist in the line-up. The only bummer was how short everyone's sets were because every single artist left me wanting more. Also, because of the rain, I didn't take many pictures so apologies that this is so text-heavy.


I got in toward the end of Meg Mac’s set, and I don’t remember much about it since I only caught the last few songs but I thought she had a great voice and the two songs I heard were very catchy. I added her to my Spotify playlist and have been quite pleased with everything I've heard so far.

Next was Christine and the Queens, the only act I saw at SXSW who had dancers. More artists/bands should really consider having dancers on their tour – it added a whole level of awesome entertainment value to an already high energy and fun set. Most of the dance moves she did herself were relatively simple but it looked totally killer when she and her dancers were in sync. She was super sassy and interacted with the audience a fair amount, which I always enjoy.

Next up was Melanie Martinez, who was delightfully disturbed. I have to say, I much preferred her manic, intense, full voice in-person to the breathy, child-like vocals on her recordings that I listened to after the fact. Her songs are very catchy but dark and quirky enough so as to set herself apart. I hope she moves her recording voice in the direction of her live performance technique – I’m not sure when she recorded the songs but from the looks of her videos she may have been younger (and she’s young in general) so hopefully this is a sign of a maturing artist and I look forward to watch her grow.

Milo Greene is a band, not a person. Or well, I think also a person. To be honest, this was the least memorable of the sets for me but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. There just wasn't really anything to set them apart the way there was for everyone else.

When Marina and the Diamonds came on, I swear to God, grown men in the audience screamed like teenage girls. It was intense. I will say, one thing annoyed me: every person in the audience just about had their cell phones up and recorded pretty much her whole (very short) set. LIVE IN THE MOMENT PEOPLE. Plus, I’m not here to watch her perform through your phone screen, thanks. That being said, she put on a great show. She danced quite a bit (she could’ve taken a note from Christine and the Queens and incorporated some back up dancers!) and seemed like she was having a really good time. Her joy was infectious but she was also seemed really humbled by the adoration of the fans. I will say, I knew a few of Marina’s songs but I was surprised at how bubble-gum-poppy some of them were, although there was still usually a little edge to them (there’s literally a song called “Bubble Gum Bitch”). Her voice is spectacular though. You can really tell she’s classically trained.

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