It was great to have Carl Barât back in Austin for SXSW, this time with this three bandmates to make up and The Jackals, shooting a firehose of rock and roll over the Latitude 30 crowd. It had been many years since Barât made another Sx appearance with Dirty Pretty Things. On this night the band came through to deliver on the eagerness of their fans, much in the way they did when I caught The Jackals Coventry gig towards the end of last year.
The band’s album, Let It Reign, has been said to be a study in time by Barât. True, the overall theme captures this moment when everything is changing so quickly and technology is a double-edge sword, while also looking back at past mistakes (war being a big one) and questioning why we as humans, are bent on repeating them.
While the topics can be on the serious side; heart, soul and joy lead the way when it comes to performing those songs like “Victory Gin” and “Glory Days.” Barât and The Jackals are masters at stirring up crowds, and despite not being quite as well-known at SXSW as they are in the U.K., the old and young alike were exuberantly taking in every note.
Unfortunately, the post-SXSW gigs at Brighton Music Hall in Allston, MA and at The Studio at Webster Hall in New York this weekend were cancelled. Their current tour plans are:
April 4 – MBC Festival – Valencia, Spain
April 15 – Scala, London
May 2 – Live at Leads
July 18 – Official Dour Festival – Belgium
Pick up Let It Reign by Carl Barât and The Jackals here:
