SXSW Overflow 2011: Day Two (What Cheer? Brigade, Vockah Redu, & The C-4 Band)

Day #2 of the Super Happy Fun Land SXSW Overflow Fest, and yes, here I am, back again to tell you all about (okay, some about) who the hell’s playing tonight…

It’s another “light” night, with only three bands on the bill, but by no means is it lightweight. I can find jack shit online about The C-4 Band (and the Reverb Nation profile linked to by the SHFL folks appears to be defunct), but here’re the other two:

WHAT CHEER? BRIGADE: Holy fucking ohmigawd, am I loving Rhode Island’s What Cheer? Brigade right now, folks. This gang of nearly 20 utterly intense musicians — drummers & horn players, primarily — play un-electrified, un-amplified, in-your-face, eardrum-rattling street music like you’ve never heard it before. Imagine a Second Line parade snaking through the Big Easy’s streets, only to collide with a traveling carnival of Eastern European gypsies, and then both groups picking themselves up, wiping away the blood and dirt, and continuing on together, merging both their styles into something new and awesome. The Brigade is kind of like that.

Speaking of The Big Easy, by the way, I did a little interview with the band (specifically, I think it was with sousaphonist Dan Schleifer, aka 2Ba-Git 2 Quit) while they were enjoying all the seamy underbelly of New Orleans has to offer, so you can check that out right on over here, including an MP3 courtesy of label Anchor Brain Recs. And hey, if you’re still not convinced these folks are an awesome level of fun, look here:

Green Eyes from wcb on Vimeo.

Oh, and in a brief followup email that I neglected to include in the actual interview, Dan also made the awesome statement that “We are a battleship live.” I’m not sure what that means, but it’s badass.

VOCKAH REDU: And on their way through Louisiana, apparently the WC?B folks picked up Nawlins rapper Vockah Redu, dragging him along to tonight’s SHFL performance (okay, okay, so I think they’re separate; wouldn’t it be cooler if they were all hanging out together, though?). I haven’t heard a lot of this guy, but I’m liking the nicely old-school vibe so far — never thought I’d be glad to hear those tinny electronic beats from the pre-Dre ’80s days, but hell, there it is. High-pitched and heavy on the call-and-response, this is like some weird, swamp-bred Dirty South hip-hop force-fed whatever that drug it is that witch doctors use to turn unsuspecting people in terrifying zombies.

There you go — get on out…