Thunderbirds Are Now! were actually the first band we had booked for Hot Freaks, and one that I was supremely glad to have on board. Anyone who’s ever seen them knows that they go to great lengths to put on a memorable show.

MP3: Thunderbirds Are Now! - Eat This City

I’ve seen Thunderbirds Are Now! outdoors (Pitchfork), clubs (CMJ) and bar-type venues (Kentucky) and I have to say that they absolutely go crazy in the sun. They’re like some kind of solar powered freewheeling rock machine. One possible reason is that an outdoors stages, like the one at the Mohawk, affords their keyboardist Scott opportunities to climb to new areas (note him coming out from behind the sign in the above photo) and jump into the crowd. How he hasn’t broken an ankle on stage by now, I don’t know, but will chalk it up to his incredible will to perform.

One of my favorite little moments of SXSW came during TAN!’s performance of “Eat This City.” When it got to the chorus chant of the title line, Ryan stopped singing and leaned forward in a sort of “you know my line, so you sing it” pose. It was a little presumptuous to assume the crowd would know the line, but not incorrect. Most people in the crowd did know the line, and we were more than happy to shout it back to him. I loved it.