>my boy said they did 3 songs then said fuck Billboard and
>slammed the mics down and left.
>
>y'all like that shit? fuck that, them dudes are dumb as fuck.
> not cuz they are saying "fuck the industry" or whatever their
>message is, but because they are literally dumb as fuck and
>come off as some petulant children. the more they pull dumb
>antics like that they more it just comes of as shit they do
>for the controversy. shit is wack.
>
>that said, they won't be heard from in a year or two.

So, my SXSW went down in a wave of flames (and Tyler the Creator “fucks”) tonight/this early morning, and it’s an appropriate way to end this week of awesomeness/awfulness and long lines. I’m burned out, and looking forward to going back to Madison, Wisconsin. That place might be messed up right now, but at least I know I won’t get throttled in the junk by a photographer’s gear bag while flying home (seriously, can we talk about how out of control the photographers are? I mean, there must be 65,000 photographers here).



For those of you that don’t follow Twitter feeds and the like during the fest, here’s what happened: Odd Future were booked to play Billboard Magazine’s Bungalow at Buffalo Billiards. This is not your typical Odd Future club: It’s basically a pool hall, and they keep the bottom half open to regular pool players during SXSW, I guess because they don’t want to commit completely to this music shit. All night, from Big K.R.I.T.’s triumphant set, Black Milk’s awesome live set up to Curren$y’s less than stellar one, the sound system in there was too quiet, never allowing crowd leveling beats to explode. That is, except for when Big K.R.I.T. played with Grillade, a live band, and when Black Milk played with his band, which suggests that the sound dude there knows how to make a band loud but not a turntable. But, I can’t say for certain in that regard. I am not, after all, trained in working soundboards.


The other thing you should know is that the club was starting to get packed with people who were seemingly there just to see what this Odd Future shit was about, not necessarily people downloading MellowHype singles on the regular. There were more gray hairs here than I saw watching OMD at Spin on Friday.


Up to this point, Odd Future haven’t really had to face a crowd of mostly indifferent people. At SXSW, they’ve played shows at Mess with Texas, Fader Fort (twice, once with Lil B!), the Woodies, and the handful of shows they’ve done in big cities, and never really had to face a crowd like this. Or at least a crowd made up of less than rowdy “regular” and industry people.


And predictably, things went to shit. From the first moment Syd dropped the beat to “Sandwitches,” it was clear something was off. It seemed like it was coming in from an iPod dock, and the energy level was basement low. When I saw them at Fader Fort, people literally lost their shit just at the sight of them: They were off to the side of the stage during Smith Westerns, and people were turning and facing the offstage area. Here, Tyler burst onstage, and only some people in the front lost their shit. They stopped the song. Tyler told the crowd they sucked, and started again. Things never really picked up. MellowHype did a song. Things never picked up. Tyler yelled at the sound guy to make the beats louder. Left Brain said, “Yeah, I want to hear my production,” which made me laugh. Tyler said, “Here’s the song you guys all came out to see anyway.” He did “Yonkers.” He then said “You know what, fuck this. Fuck Billboard. I don’t even read that shit. Come see us at Vice” and then ran off the stage. Hodgy Beats and Domo Genesis followed. Left Brain jacked off his mic towards the audience. Syd argued with the soundman. Their people came out and grabbed their stuff and the group bounced. People at the front shout “Wolf Gang.” It was bonkers. And it was over.


I guess I’m sorta who Tyler was mad at: I was near the back, trying to avoid getting mixed in with the club girls (and fucking photographers!) that were packing the front of the stage. But I got one hell of a case of stink eye from a woman next to me when I shouted the “fuck a mask I want that hoe to know it’s me” part of “Sandwitches.” But maybe I wasn’t shouting enough and shoving people? And that was a problem. And I am to blame? Sorry, Tyler. But at the same time, it’s not like everyone at Fader Fort dug them completely: I remember multiple people basically abandoning ship during their set. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the group gets forced out on a giant U.S. tour and something similar happens. I just know we’re probably never getting them in Madison, so this fest might be my only foreseeable dalliance with the group.


It was probably the most “punk” thing I’ve seen in person, and it was from a teenage rap group. Openly hating the audience and the publication bringing you in to play is so Sex Pistols, so Black Flag. It was also the worst, because they were the only group I cared about seeing today, and I assumed that seeing them in a club would be even better, because the sound could be huge, and I could get closer. Neither was the case, unfortunately. I bailed on seeing Lil B for this, and I blew it, probably. I’m sure Odd Future are going to level the fuck out of the Vice party tonight.

And technically, the group’s trip to SXSW disproves all of those violent miscreants thinkpieces that get written about them. They were consummate professionals: They were on time, they showed up, they played great all week. This was a case of the venue and the audience being less than ideal. I feel like bailing on a magazine’s showcase because you hate the audience and venue is a credibility move that can’t be topped, and one that will get Odd Future more fans than if they had played the full set. At this point, a few hours later, I’m maybe thinking part of it was staged, because it’s going to play so brilliantly into their hands. Even if Tyler did back off saying “fuck Billboard.”