Live Report: Gurriers Take Texas and SXSW 2025 By Storm

Music
13 Mar 25

Gurriers at SXSW 2025

The Irish contingent were among those who successfully boycotted South By Southwest last year – resulting in the event's US military sponsorship being dropped. This year, Gurriers returned to the Lone Star State, delivering a blistering opening set at the influential festival...

The good news: SXSW is positively besotted with Gurriers this year. Cast an eye over any of the top music showcases and you’ll find their name on the line-up. Bookers are more obsessed than Patrick Bateman with seeing their name on the card. It is all a very good sign indeed...

And who can blame them? They’re the Paul Allen subtle off-white business card, the Valentino Couture pinstripe suit, the reservation at Dorsia on a Friday night. And what's more they deserve it all after their principled protest at the SXSW festival in 2024 – a successful boycott that led to the US military sponsorship ending two months after last year’s event in June 2024.

“It's not a principle until it costs you money,” avowed a 1950s advertising legend named Bill Bernbach, who eschewed the tobacco industry.

The decision of Gurriers, along with all the other Irish artists that took a stand for Palestine, resulted in the loss of a lot of opportunities. The cost was inestimable. Yet, they never flinched.

That delay of 365 days might be a blessing in disguise. A year on, the five piece have dropped their raucous debut album, toured non-stop and morphed into an unstoppable live force. This was impressively evident at their first gig on US soil. The BME showcase hosted the Irish group – and they emptied themselves on stage with a powerful, visceral performance. Singer Dan donned a ‘Don’t Mess With Texas’ t-shirt, an unofficial State motto that Gurriers unabashedly ignored with gusto, as band members marauded through the audience drumming up enthusiasm for the song ‘Approachable’.

After a lengthy sound-check, there were still some technical issues affecting guitarist Mark’s feedback in his monitor, but it didn’t dampen their enthusiasm or hinder their performance. A new song ‘Eraser’ was thrown in mid-set, as well as crowd favourite ‘Nausea’.

The band's tight, punchy, punky set came to a close with the track ‘Come and See’. The parting words from the band were: “Free Palestine”.

A packed room for their first show proved that South By Southwest has definitely picked one of the best upcoming live bands for this year’s festival. But this is only the start of something much bigger. Watch this space...