This may have been the highlight of the entire festival. Billy Bragg headlined this day of the Paste party with a special guest at the end of his set. Bragg was in rare form, playing and joking super loose throughout his entire set. He started off joking how he couldn’t say shit during most of his SXSW performances because they were all live steamed and mentioned his morning shit several times. He went on to joke about the demise of the hipster goatee. He then went on to play triumphant songs about the need for sexual equality, universal healthcare an even a charming one about being an inadequate man in his relationships. He then did a heart-wrenching rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “I Aint’t Got No Home in This World Anymore.” The special finale was the previously announced finale of bringing out Amanda Palmer. The two sang a fully charged duet, Palmer plucking at her ukulele furiously. Then, Bragg stepped to the side and Palmer took center stage to play her personal battle cry “The Ukulele Song.” The song, an impassioned plea for artistic expression to help right and center people, was incredible and one of the few truly transcendent performances of SXSW 2013. Beautiful and confident without thought of doubt, this was art hammering the nail right on the head.
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