Recap: Bleeding Rainbow’s appearance at SXSW

If you haven’t caught Philly’s Bleeding Rainbow in concert or online over the past few months, here’s a mindblower for you: the minimal noisepop duo formerly known as Reading Rainbow (who last year expanded into a trio, then changed its name) is now a full-blown, epic-sounding indie punk foursome. In its Friday evening South by Southwest showcase at Austin’s The Iron Bear, Bleeding Rainbow delivered a raging half-hour long set of entirely new material that carried tones of Sonic Youth’s Goo and Yo La Tengo’s I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One. New drummer Greg Frantz kept a fierce backbeat while founding members Rob Garcia and Sara Everton alternated between guitar and bass, their trademark vocal harmonies floating nicely above the fray. Over on stage right, guitarist Al Creedon wailed on his guitar so intensely, part of its headstock splintered off by set’s end. I was already amped to hear the new record the band just finished working on, but this has sent it into overdrive – check out a slideshow above, read the setlist below, and experience the noise for yourselves when Bleeding Rainbow opens for Cloud Nothings at Johnny Brendas on March 30.

SETLIST
Get Lost
Pink Ruff
Yr Not Alone
Go Ahead
Drift Away
Inside My Head
Shades