Pitchfork

Upright Citizens Brigade member Matt Walsh took the stage under the auspices of doing a stand-up act Friday night, but what we got was much more entertaining. Right away, a heckler, who turned out to be UCB partner-in-crime Matt Besser, interrupted his act. It was immediately obvious that Besser was a plant, if only because the pair's chemistry was too good. At least a couple of actual hecklers in the audience refused to get the joke and were for some reason upset that Besser interrupted Walsh's set, but for the rest of us, the derailed act was plenty entertaining.

Human Giant [Esther's Follies; 9:30 p.m.]


Speaking of derailing, Human Giant's set started with a T-Shirt Squad bit which turned into a robbery which turned into a self-sabotaging stick-up which turned into a police sting. And that was just the first half. Rob Huebel and Aziz Ansari were without Paul Scheer for the night, but that didn't keep them from following the T-Shirt Squad segment with an Illusionators appearance, which peaked when a card trick resulted in Huebel delivering an audience member's baby. Explaining these bits in hindsight is hard to do because of just how absurd they are, but it's the willingness to embrace such absurdity that makes Human Giant so much fun.

Be Your Own Pet [Mohawk Patio; 11 p.m.]

Be Your Own Pet played about three songs before their mics went dead and they were forced to leave the stage. It turns out the Mohawk's generator actually ran out of gas during their set, and before the four of them left the stage, Jemina Pearl used the occasion to lecture on the merits of the movie Polyester ("It's like middle period John Waters.") Despite the derailing (sensing a theme here?), the band eventually came back playing twice as fast as before. When they play, every member of the band is totally essential and locked-in, but drummer John Eatherly-- who turns their fury into a pummeling attack-- is their secret weapon. After spending so much of my week at SXSW seeing total pros (R.E.M., Robyn), the sheer balls on display at a Be Your Own Pet show-- as evidenced by a lyric like "we've been to every place everywhere in the world"-- is refreshing. I could go on about how wild, intense, and fun this band is live, but suffice it to say: if you get the chance, please see them yourself.

Fleet Foxes [Bourbon Rocks; 12 a.m.]

The key to Fleet Foxes' live show is their ability to perfectly execute the interlocking harmonies from their records. Balancing vocals from four guys is no mean feat, but Fleet Foxes do it like it's as easy as brushing their teeth. Frontman Robin Pecknold's scattered stage banter revealed his self-consciousness about being a participant in SXSW, but if the purpose of the festival is to reveal emerging talents to a waiting public, the band was in the right place.

Constantines [Antone's; 1 a.m.]

Constantines put on one of the best shows I've ever seen about five years ago, so my hopes were high for their 1 a.m. set at Antone's. Memory has a way of obscuring and romanticizing things, though, so of course I found the show lacking by comparison. Bryan Webb's voice is as affectingly gravelly as it has ever been, it's just that the band themselves move a little less than they used to. Their show used to be feverish and urgent, where now it's tense without being unhinged. What happened is Constantines grew up, just like everyone else. They make grown man records like Tournament of Hearts now. Fortunately, the band still drew from its early days for Friday night's setlist. But even if they hadn't, it's hard not to love a band that introduces a majority of its rough-edged rock tunes as love songs.