Hangout Fest soft opens with Joey Bada$$, Mayer Hawthorne and The Word

Hangout Fest soft opens with Joey Bada$$, Mayer Hawthorne and The Word
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
May 15, 2015

Last year, Hangout Fest’s Thursday kickoff party featured acts like Iron & Wine, Bombay Bicycle Club, Girl Talk, and Bonobo. While this year’s kickoff party didn’t pack quite that much of a punch, it still gave VIPs and those willing to shell out $40 an idea of what to expect this weekend on the beaches of Gulf Shore.

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SXSW Saturday explodes with hip-hop: J. Cole, Too $hort, G-Eazy & more

SXSW Saturday explodes with hip-hop: J. Cole, Too $hort, G-Eazy & more
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
March 24, 2015

If Friday was the busiest day of SXSW for me, Saturday was the most intense. If you would have told me I’d end up seeing 39 performances and almost half of them would be hip hop or rap, I wouldn’t have believed it. But that’s what SXSW is partly about, broadening your horizons.

My day began with The Church at Waterloo Records. I remember hearing “Under the Milky Way” in Donnie Darko in middle school and loving that song. The rain began coming down again and they played an acoustic set, performing that hit and some newer stuff. Vocalist Steve Kilby sounded fantastic and there was a sizable crowd for it being just 2 PM.

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