Athlete
UK @ SXSW British Showcase
March 18, 2004
Fox and Hound
Austin , Texas

A lot of things might have kept Athlete from playing at Austin 's SxSW this year. missing keyboards, improper electrical plugs, untied shoelaces. Those who attended the British Showcase at the Fox and Hound should consider themselves lucky to have enjoyed Athlete's set- a set which was pushed to be shortened by event coordinators with time deadlines to meet.

Athlete took the stage shortly after midnight and began their set with " El Salvador ", the first song off of their album Vehicles and Animals . Each person in the audience seemed to have been evenly dispersed and far back from the stage during the time in between bands. Not a soul was standing in that space of fifteen feet in front of the stage. But all at once a crowd formed out of the dispersed peoples, and a chorus of voices sang along with Athlete's first song.

For a UK band, not having released an album in the US, and just now playing their first set of American gigs, Athlete seemed to have a sizeable following supporting them at this show. The band delivered tunes from their album to an expecting audience, instead of unaware dispersed peoples. With the exception of the stage managers with deadlines to meet, every body in the crowd was pleased and eager to hear another song. Tim Wanstall gave an enthusiastic performance on the keyboards (keyboards which were generously provided at the last moment by the BBC). Carey Willets moved the songs fluidly with his bass playing and Steve Roberts did more than just keep the beat on the drums. It didn't take more than a few songs into the set for one to acknowledge that Athlete was well ready for their American debut.

Lead singer Joel Pott graced the guitar and vocals, giving a performance that was every ounce the proper frontman. And who would a proper frontman be if he let something come between the band and the audience? During the instrumental intro to "Westside," the last song of the set, stage hands were already waving their arms to stop the performance in order to get fellow Brit band The Cooper Temple Clause onstage by 1am . With Last Call at 2am , time was of the essence, and the set was to be stopped at once. The band paused after the instrumental intro. There was to be no stopping Athlete from finishing off a top performance. After a few winces of hesitation, Pott shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "We've got to play it." And with that, Athlete broke into their final song of the night with mighty sound coming from both the stage and the audience.