Photos by Josh Giroux
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Bring Enthusiastic Energy to SXSW
March 14, 2012 – Mike Duffy
When Detroit indie rockers Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. took the stage at midnight Tuesday night at the South by Southwest music festival, the near capacity crowd was already worked into a frenzied buzz by Miniature Tigers’ preceding set.
Tigers had already thrown together a super show that was quite danceable even though there were moments of head-nodding rock action at the Hype Machine’s Hype Hotel.
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| Joshua Epstein pre-stage dive. |
But despite the late hour, the energy certainly did not dip.
Opening with “Not Thinking About It” off their debut album, It’s A Corporate World, Jr. Jr. killed it with their brand of electro-pop infused with rock sensibilities.
Detroit’s Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott did not pull out their near-perfect cover of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows,” nor did they touch on Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” which they played last Saturday night in Austin, Texas.
They did, however, keep the warehouse packed and jumping with their enthusiastic energy.
Four songs in, the large “J” and “R” letters done up as stage props like a Las Vegas strip club flashed bright. Epstein addressed his white tuxedo shirt and black bow tie by addressing the homeless WiFi hotspots that have been so rampant in Austin during SXSW.
Of course, he had to point to Zott’s T-shirt that was hawking for donations.
“We wanted to dress nice and chauffeur you around tonight, but someone paid Dan to wear this T-shirt,” Epstein joked.”
It didn’t matter.
Once Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. strummed the opening lines of “Corporate World,” everything hit the fan. Not only did Epstein stage dive into the crow, but a random hipster chick wearing glasses that were clearly too big for her face began high-fiving people everywhere.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. closed on somewhat of a sentimental song, pulling out “Nothing But Our Love” as their walk-off.
Sure, the sentiment might be trite. What young man doesn’t think that their love is unrequited?
But with the infectious grooves and ear-catching harmonies Dale Jr. Jr. brings to the table, it’s hard to not keep that body shaking.