N.E.R.D played a storming SXSW debut this evening (March 13).
Superproducer Pharrell Williams‘ live hip-hop collective previewed tracks from forthcoming third album ‘Seeing Sounds’ at the Fader Fort in Austin, alongside classics like ‘Rock Star’ and ‘Lapdance’ at the super-intimate show.
Billed to appear at 8pm, the crew kept to hip-hop time, arriving onstage shortly before 9pm, but they more than placated the crowd with a euphoric show packed with heavy bass guitar solos and multiple vocals.
Pharrell led an eight-strong onstage crew wearing a red baseball cap and a dark blue Tshirt, euphoric and energetic throughout the hour-long performance.
As time passed, Pharrell told the crowd: “They put us on a time limit, but I’m kinda not giving a fuck right now.”
Instead, they blasted on with the warning: “This will be a little wild, so girls and photographers might wanna move back because this is SXSW where people like to get crazy and jump around, am I right?”
As the show approached its climax, they played forthcoming single ‘Everybody Nose’. “We’re giving this to radio soon,” said Pharrell, “so I thought we should give it to you guys first.” In fact, the song’s refrain of “all the girls standing in the line for the bathroom” was already a familiar anthem for the fans.
N.E.R.D finally finished with the Pharrell solo cut ‘She Wants To Move’, for which they invited a throng of girls onto the stage, and ended by segueing into Queen‘s ‘Another One Bites The Dust’.
The collective play an official SXSW showcase tomorrow night at Stubbs BBQ.
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