sxsw - day four.

One last day of South by Southwest to show you, and one last day of crazy running around to catch countless shows.

Started the day with back-to-back photo shoots, first with Freddie Gibbs and followed up with Freeway and Jake One. Zoneil and I met up with Freddie in the Marriott hotel restaurant, where I set him up in a couple of different spots. What I love about photographing rappers and hip-hop artists is they're really used to posing for photographs, so they require very little direction and usually know how to make themselves look good. Freddie was awesome because not only did he pose however I asked him, but when his manager said, "Don't smile, keep tough," he burst out laughing. Gotta say, the man has a lovely smile. After the interview, we bounced over to the Embassy Suites to meet up with Freeway and Jake One. I joked about getting the two of them to pose in the bed, under the sheets, but because of the reputations they have, they politely declined, haha. They were cool enough to let us hang around with them in the hotel room a while, and I got what I'd consider one of my favorite photos from the whole week, with the two of them on the couch and Freeway yawning. It just seemed so relaxed, so unlike how most in the rap world present themselves.

After all that, we met up with Todd Spoth over at Ace's Lounge to catch Hey Champ and Bad Rabbits. I was pretty stoked on both sets, but especially by Bad Rabbits, who I'd never heard of before. Full band, minor choreographed dance moves, and just a lot of energy made for a pretty epic set. If you're interested, hit up their website (link above) to download their EP for free. It's definitely worth a listen.

When that was done, I wandered over to the Fader Fort with Todd to see what was going on. Ran into JFP and photographed a bunch of folks having fun dancing in front of the DJ booth. Around 7, walked around the corner to the Independent to catch iLL-Literacy (remember this shoot?) play their set at the Audible Treats showcase. It was totally rad to see their new set in action, including the lego heads and a giant audio/video presentation projected over the audience. Once that wrapped, we hustled back over to Fader Fort just in time to catch a set by Sleigh Bells, which pumped up the audience, and then the headliner for the evening, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony! All-in-all a pretty epic set with all the old jams.

To round out the night, Todd and I headed over to Emo's to catch a set by what was listed as Cokie the Clown... which ended up being NOFX's Fat Mike dressed as a clown, playing a guitar and telling some of the most traumatizing stories I've ever heard on a stage. There's a great recap here on Pinpoint Music, which includes him pranking the audience into drinking his pee. Absolutely legendary.

Overall, it was a great week and I think I might still be recovering weeks later. Here's a few photos from the last day, and I hope you've enjoyed the slow-coming installments.