As soon as the artist lineups were released, I started preparing my schedule for my third SXSW. After 20 minutes, I had a list so long there was no way I was going to be able to see all of the performers that I wanted to. As much as I love seeing my favorite artists, the best thing about SXSW, for me, is discovering new artists, so I try to get a good mix of events in my schedule, and luckily, the press pass I had this year allowed me to get access I wouldn't have had otherwise. The list below reflects my top favorites from this year. If you attended SXSW and watched a memorable performance, I would love to hear about it in the comment section below.

All photos by Matt O @BoardinOgilvie

T.I.

• Date: Monday, March 12th
• Sponsors: ChooseATL & The Gathering Spot
• Favorite song performed: “Motivation”
• I used to be a T.I. super-fan when I was in middle school and high school, back when Urban Legend was getting a lot of buzz, so hearing six tracks off that album brought me back and had me singing all the words. T.I. is one of a handful of artists that I can raise my hand when they ask “where are my day-one fans at?” It was a perfect beginning to a great week.

Bishop Briggs

• Date: Wednesday, March 14th
• Sponsors: Aloft Hotels 
• Favorite song performed: “Dreams”
• When I saw that Bishop Briggs was playing at SXSW, I canceled everything I had planned for that afternoon to make sure that I was there to see it. She has been one of my favorite artists ever since I was introduced to her at SXSW 2017. Her high-energy performance captivated me within seconds, and this time around I knew all of her songs and had my camera. I had no idea how big or small the venue was so I showed up early to get a good spot. When I got there, I snagged a seat two feet from the stage (after taking pictures from the back). I sat there in awe and sang along *in my head* to Bishop Briggs’ acoustic set. It was crazy seeing her in such a small space because she has been packing venues with 400+ people across the country. To top it off, she commented on my Instagram photo of her thanking me. :)

Khalid

• Date: Thursday, March 15
• Sponsors: Sony
• Favorite song performed: “Young Dumb and Broke”
• Khalid’s debut album Young Dumb and Broke has been my morning commute playlist for the past six months, so when I saw he was playing at SXSW, I had to be there. He was the only artist other than Bishop Briggs that I did not want to miss. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to take photos since it was such a big venue, but I made my way to the photo pit, flashed my official SXSW photo pass, and walked right in. After getting a few shots I made my way back into the crowd to enjoy the rest of the show. As much as I love doing photography, watching and singing along to my favorite artists is something I enjoy more.  As an added bonus, I got to watch Khalid’s new music video in Virtual Reality which was pretty dope.

Ché Lingo

• Date: Tuesday, March 13
• Sponsors: British Music Embassy
• Favorite song performed: “Same Energy”
• I’m going to be honest, I didn’t know who Ché Lingo was before I arrived in Texas, but I definitely know who he is now; I’m actually listening to him as I write this. Thanks, Nicola :) It’s always refreshing when you see an artist, especially rappers, live for the first time and can understand all of the words. You can miss me with that mumble rap shit. Aside from Ché’s impressive performance, he is an inspiring guy. We had the chance to interview him while we were there and now I’m a fan. Another successful SXSW artist discovery.

A.CHAL

• Date: Thursday, March 15
• Sponsors: Sony
• A.CHAL was another artist that I was exposed to at SXSW for the first time. I’ve heard his name here and there but never did a deep dive into his music. Live performances can make or break an artist for me so seeing a subpar performance is hard to forget. This was NOT the case for A.CHAL. He put on an incredible show. It was pure vibes and put me in such a relaxed state, which I desperately needed after four days of walking around and a lot of late nights. We also had the chance to interview him earlier in the day, so make sure to check that out to learn more about him.

Duckwrth

• Date: Tuesday, March 13
• Sponsors: Pandora
• After we interviewed Demo Taped, we stuck around to catch the beginning of Duckwrth's set, just a few songs--or so we thought. Spoiler: we stayed for the entire set. Duckwrth’s huge smile and energetic performance held my attention until he stepped off the stage. He started his set with a “F*ck Donald Trump” chant which I gladly joined in on. His stage presence was similar to a 10-year veteran making the entire crowd engaged throughout his set.

Demo Taped (honorable mention)

• Date: Tuesday, March 13
• Sponsors: Pandora
• Like I mentioned earlier, I had an official SXSW press pass, and with that comes 100 emails a day from promoters and publicists trying to get me to their artist's events. One of the emails that came in was from Demo Taped’s publicist. I checked out his music while I was still back in NYC and instantly started jamming to it, so I decided to set up an interview and go to his show. Not only did he rap and sing, he played his instrumentals live on stage. I’m excited to see him again in NYC when he's on his spring/summer tour this year.