SXSW 2025: The Best Live Acts From This Year’s Music Festival
Ireland’s Cardinals, one of the highlights from 2025’s SXSW Music Festival.
While reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated, the SXSW Music Festival has seemingly taken a step back from the bustle of the festival’s Film and Interactive components. While there might no longer be acts performing in a giant Doritos vending machine, that doesn’t mean the music festival has lost its footing. If anything, there is more great music at SXSW than ever before; it’s the over-the-top branding shenanigans that have seemingly gone the way of the dodo.
The 2025 SXSW Music Festival once again offered up hundreds of acts from around the world from March 10-15 in Austin, Texas, from headliners like John Fogerty and Megan Moroney to legacy and breaking acts in every-sized venue imaginable.
Below are our highlights from a great week in Austin, running from Montreal’s own dance-punks PyPy to Ireland’s buzziest new band Cardinals, and much more.
Follow all of our SXSW coverage here.
Montreal’s PyPy delivered one of the best sets at this year’s SXSW Music Festival.
PyPy
Featuring members of Montreal punk and garage rock royalty including Duchess Says, CPC Gangbangs, and Red Mass, PyPy brought a jolt of punk rock energy to their late-night show at Swan Dive as part of the Mothland showcase. With frantic dance punk rhythms and thrashing guitar work, PyPy delivered an explosive set, culminating with singer Annie-Claude Deschênes demanding drinks while performing from the top of the bar in the back in the venue. Easily one of the most memorable sets from this year’s festival.
John Fogerty
Now fully in control of his CCR catalogue after a decades-long legal dispute, John Fogerty brought a triumphant energy to his packed Stubb’s show. Delivering classic hit after hit from the Creedence backlog as well as a handful of solo tunes, the night served as a reminder of Fogerty’s incredible musical history as well as a rousing celebration of his dogged fight to regain the rights to his own songs after so long. Ending the set by bringing out Tom Morello on guitar for a rousing “Travelin’ Band” and “Proud Mary” was the icing on a well-earned slice of celebratory cake.
Band of Horses
Seattle’s Band of Horses returned to SXSW to deliver a standout set of their Americana-inspired indie rock to a packed house at Stubb’s. Taking the stage like a young band out to prove themselves, frontman and guitarist Benjamin Bridwell led the band through tracks from throughout the band’s deep discography, with an emphasis on their 2006 debut, Everything All the Time. The band even debuted a new track off their upcoming seventh album before closing out with fan-favourite “The Funeral,” ending the night on a triumphant sing-along.
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Tami Hart
Tami Hart has had a fascinating trajectory. At just 18-years-old she was opening for the likes of Le Tigre and The Indigo Girls, and released her acclaimed debut, No Light in August, in 2000. Two decades later, she is primed to release a new album on NJ punk label Don Giovanni Records (produced by Ted Leo). Playing the Don Giovanni showcase at The 13th Floor, Hart delivered a rousing set of Americana-tinged punk-country tracks, including a couple of promising tracks off her upcoming LP. Get familiar here.
Cardinals
Ireland’s Cardinals were one of the most buzzed-about bands at SXSW this year and it’s not hard to see why. With a moody post-punk edge that brings to mind fellow Irish acts like Fontaines D.C., Cardinals delivered a thrilling late-night set at the classic Austin venue Antone’s as part of the High Road Touring showcase. With elements that also bring to mind classic Pogues (including breaking out an accordion on a few songs), Cardinals seem poised to chart their own path forward while paying homage to the rich musical history of their homeland.
Ginuwine
SXSW programmers sure love a curveball, and the addition of ’90s R&B icon Ginuwine playing in a converted garage in the wee hours of the morning likely raised some eyebrows. Playing on a showcase sponsored by Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit organization set up to prevent gun violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting, Ginuwine turned what could have been a sober occasion into a full-on dance party. Backed by a full band, Ginuwine brought his pleading sex jams to a packed room, culminating in a 10-minute+ version of his hit track “Pony.”
Lucero
Headlining a day-long showcase of Memphis artists, Lucero brought their emo-tinged brand of Southern Rock to an appreciate and whiskey-soaked late-night crowd at Mohawk. Ahead of their upcoming month-long tour with The Menzingers, the band dusted off a number of songs they haven’t played in a while, including a large chunk from 2005’s Nobody’s Darlings LP, which frontman Ben Nichols mentioned would be getting a vinyl re-issue for its anniversary. Playing for a full two hours (!), the band wrapped up their set in the early hours of the morning with crowd favourites like “Nights Like These” and “Drink ‘Till We’re Gone,” seemingly anticipating the hangovers that were surely to come for most of the crowd.
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