Neon Neon – aka Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys and American solo artist/producer Boom Bip performed a live set tonight (March 15) in the Ceder Street Courtyard at 10pm (CMT) as part of the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.
The band included Kate Le Bon on vocals and guitar, plus MC Shunda K from Yo Majesty, who joined the group for vocal duties on ’Sweatshop’.
The band opened with ’Neon Theme’, the instrumental opener from the band’s album, ’Stainless Style’, out on Monday (March 17) in the UK.
From there Neon Neon performed other songs from the album, with previous single ’Raquel’ in particular drawing dancing moves and claps of approval from the evening crowd.
“We are Neon Neon, this is going out to all the people in the restaurant upstairs,” said Rhys, pointing at the restaurant area which could be viewed by the crowd trough glass panels. He introduced ’I Told Her On Alderaan’ by saying, “This next song is a dream sequence, and maybe it never happened.”
Neon Neon’s album, and such tonight’s songs, are inspired by the life of John DeLorean, the playboy engineer/entrepreneur who made his fortune in the 1980s.
After joking that the band had “gone all out on the light show” while holding a cheap promotional light-up keyring, Rhys introduced last song ’Sweat Shop’, which saw the aforementioned Shunda K from Yo Majesty take rapping duties, before the band left the stage.
“That was our pub gig,” Rhys joked while talking to NME.COM after the gig. “We played the party gig the other night with Har Mar Superstar, and we played the punk rock gig where everything broke. It was good.”
The band packed up their equipment and headed off to a garage party where Boom Bip was set to perform a DJ set.
Neon Neon played:
‘Neon Theme’
‘Dream Cars’
‘I told Her On Alderaan’
‘Raquel’
‘Steel Your Girl’
‘I Lust U’
‘Sweatshop’
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