SXSW 2010: First Aid Kit, Mohawk Patio, Austin

When was the last time you saw a beautiful blonde Swede playing the autoharp? I want to say it was when I went to Scandinavia in the summer of ’69 and spent a breathless season among fjords, falling in love with the milliner’s daughter. But of course that’s ridiculous. I’ve never been to 1969.

Luckily, First Aid Kit was kind enough to buy a plane ticket and come over here, to Austin, Texas of all places, and play to a packed show at Mohawk. The two sisters (sisters fr’chrissakes) stand up on stage like a scene from The Shining, barely moving, except for a few stray wisps of straight hair blowing in the friendly breeze that dominated that first night at SXSW.

Their long, limpid and pure voices carry beautifully in the still desert air, and hold the audience in a lovely sway. It’s a calm set, and a welcome break from the hi-fi crashes that mark most of the other bands. Leaving the show, one cares a bit less about the white water rapids of drunks that need to be navigated on the way out.