Legendary Texas post-hardcore band At the Drive In recently announced their first record in 17 years, along with a string of tour dates to support it (one in San Antonio, heads up), but not before a brief, sort-of surprise stop at this years South By South West festival.
The crowd that had rushed to the Mohawk Wednesday night thickened as smiling, eager faces waited for the quintet to emerge — and then, like an explosion of nostalgia and magic, ATDI burst onto the stage with the song “Arcarsanel,” the opening track for 2000's Relationship Of Command.
The audience lost its collective mind, shouting along with singer Cedric Bixler, who, in typical Bixler fashion, bounced across the stage, into the crowd, and off of the drum set like a maniac, flailing through the air the entire performance.
Stage-diving and crowdsurfing ensued as the band slammed through 9 tracks, 8 of which were off Relationship Of Command (1 from their upcoming record), meaning fans got to hear pretty much everything they love from the band.
Closing the night with “One Armed Scissor," ATDI said goodnight and the crowd overflowed onto the street.
After making sure we had all our shit in our pockets following the wild ride that was the At The Drive In, we floated in and out of a increasingly intoxicated Red River crowd before landing at a nearby spot where New Jersey LGBTQ rapper Cakes Da Killa was gearing up to perform, where the audience looked queer, weird and ready to party.
Cakes, real name Rashard Bradshaw, is probably one of the more interesting up-and-coming rappers out there, with the ferocity of hardcore hip-hop mixed with femininity and queerness, gaining him a following in both the hip-hop and LGBTQ arenas. Delivering rapid-fire verses in a "do not fuck with me hunty" tone, Bradshaw moved across the stage without hesitation, like a queen in her castle reminding her royal subjects that yes, she still is the baddest bitch in all the land.
Cakes unfortunately wont' be coming to SA (crying face emoji), but if you didn’t make it to At The Drive In last night, there is still hope. Sort of. The band is set it to play Friday, June 9 at the Aztec in SA, but from according to a recent post from the band, it looks like tickets are already sold out for the Alamo City.
So basically now might be the time to jump on social media and see if a friend scored you an extra ticket you can buy, because if the band's SA show is anything like what I saw last night, you definitely don't want to let this one slip through the cracks.
At The Drive In, Friday, June 9, With Le Butcherettes, 7pm, Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary's St.
