By Confusion & Constant Gardner
Pigeons & Planes was started at the end of 2008 on Blogger. It was terribly sloppy, unprofessional, and inconsistent. Over the years, a lot has changed (and some things haven’t). We’ve been run by a team of people spread across the map, from New York City to London to Canada to California, and for a long time, our presence has been pretty limited to the internet.
This year for the first time ever, we had our own day at SXSW. From Blogger to Real Life. The show went down at the Complex house, and Meg Myers, Lunice, Cerebral Ballzy, DJ Spinn & DJ Rashad, Dam-Funk, Ab-Soul, and ScHoolboy Q all performed. It was fucking amazing.
We’ll have videos coming soon, but here’s everything you need to know:
– Ty Dolla Sign came through to watch. He watched Meg Myers perform and loved it. After her show he asked to be introduced. We’ll be patiently waiting for that Ty Dolla Sign/Meg Myers collaboration.
– Lunice has the most intense performing face I’ve ever seen on a DJ/producer. He also might have more fun performing than any other DJ/producer. Who else jumps down into the fairly chilled early afternoon crowd and starts dancing with them? Lunice ended his set with “Blood On The Leaves” and it was as beautiful a moment as at the very beginning of his set, when birds flew through blossom-filled trees overhead chirping and he looked up, smiled, and shouted over to us, “This is fucking perfect!”
– NYC punk band Cerebral Ballzy scared the shit out of the audience. Lead singer Honor Titus climbed on top of the speakers and the band thrashed so loud that many people who started off by the stage were in the back cleaning out their ears by the end.
– Confirmed: DJ Spinn & DJ Rashad have found the sweet spot between hip-hop and electronic music, without any of that typical awkward blending shit.
– Dam-Funk has the most appropriate name in the music business.
– Ab-Soul may not be the most famous rapper in the TDE crew, but the true Ab-Soul fans know every word to every Ab-Soul song, and seeing that in person is better than most other rappers’ entire show.
– Before his performance, ScHoolboy Q was sitting in our house, heavy lidded and looking pretty tired. The transformation that happened as soon as he hit the stage was something special. He fed off the crowds energy and they fed off his, screaming every word back at him and pushing to get closer to the bucket-hat clad rapper . We ended the day standing on the roof of the Complex house watching ScHoolboy Q perform to a full house, with lines still outside and Tyler The Creator standing side-stage partying.
It was a surreal, wonderful moment.
See pictures from all the performances above.
