Ezra Furman, Valhalla, Fri 14 March, Austin, SXSW 2014

Throughout a buzzing and packed show in a tight little venue, Ezra and his band the Boyfriends played high-energy old-school rock'n'roll, with sax, bass and drums backing Ezra on guitar.

Ezra had to change guitar when he broke a string and later n the set played a harmonica on a neck stand. The edge in his voice and the fast-paced set made the band sound like a ramshackle updating of Sun studio classics, or Jonathan Richman heading up a bar band.

Ezra wore a dress and chatted wittily to he audience between numbers, introducing one number as a "topical song". "Topical as in a cream or ointment," he said. He seemed to be unsettled by the slightly rowdily crowd, which may have fired some of the energy in what was a really entertaining show.

Other SXSW 2014 reviews from Broken Biscuit Records:
Damon Albarn
Gruff Rhys
Woman’s Hour
Wolf Alice
Jeremy Messersmith