Riot hits SXSW

Some friendly crowd interaction at Iggy's set.

Every March, Austin, Texas becomes the centre of the music industry.

In a few short years, the South by South West festival – or SXSW as the abbreviation has it – has become the biggest festival for new bands, industry people and fans.

It's a chance to hear established acts, discover the next big thing, share opinions with like minded people... and riot like you've never rioted before.

According to the NME, fans of the appropriately named rockers F*cked Up – and we'll be listening out for them on Radio 2 – took over the Lemar Pedestrian Bridge as the band threw an impromptu gig.

With around a 1000 people on the bridge and the band in full swing, a mosh pit developed. A 30-person deep mosh pit. On a bridge.

Which then started to move.

People then started panicking, and jumping into the river – which was probably several fans first bath for some time. The police were on hand but decided they couldn't do anything. Well, not until a few more people had jumped into the river and risked a watery death, of course.

'I could feel the bridge going up and down – it was crazy,' said F*cked Up’s guitarist Mike Haliechuck. 'The police couldn’t do anything, so they just had to wait.'

Or, perhaps, the band could have stopped? Just a thought, chaps.

Strangely, F*cked Up haven't been the big hit of the festival. That honour goes to MGMT, the bizarrely named band best described as Bowie crossed with Pink Floyd. Expect to read a lot more about them shortly.

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