The foursome of Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton, Ann Powers and Stephen Thompson rallied ’round the microphone one last time on Saturday night for the final edition of their late night dispatches from SXSW 2011.
Hilton called Bright Eyes‘ two-hour performance at Auditorium Shores one of the top five shows he’s ever seen, and the man’s seen a lot of shows. (In case you missed it, you can hear and watch the whole show on NPR Music later this week.) Thompson got nostalgic with Hanson, the trio of brothers who are still making music 15 years after “Mmmbop.” Powers also relived the 1990s, but a bit more violently — she took in Deer Tick‘s tribute to Nirvana, which included smashed guitars and fist fights. Boilen capped his festival with the comic book punk of New York’s Peelander-Z.
Powers saw two more shows on Saturday that might have represented both sides of the festival’s extremes: a “tiny bed concert” in a hotel room with singer-songwriter Jenny O and a bratty performance by Los Angeles hip-hop collective Odd Future. And after several attempts, Boilen got to see the electronica duo Mount Kimbie, who pushed Boilen’s ears past their limits. He loved it, but had finally had enough. Time to head home.