Illenium helped close out SXSW 2024 with a performance that was quite certainly one of the week’s heaviest when he played the third and final show of Billboard’s annual THE STAGE at SXSW concert series on Saturday, March 17.
While the evening forecast in Austin had called for thunderstorms, the weather cooperated and no storms, or even sprinkles, materialized during the sold-out show. The performance drew 5,000 people — many of them wearing the jerseys that are Illenium’s signature merch item — to Austin’s Moody Amphitheater within Waterloo Park.
The night opened with a set from Canadian producer Fairlane, who played a litany of remixes of emo and nu-metal classics by artists including Fall Out Boy, Green Day and Linkin Park, adding his own guitar solos over many of them.
Then, Illenium — who also wore an Illenium jersey, along with a backwards baseball hat — came onstage at 9:30 p.m. and immediately launched into a giddily heavy set built from body-pummeling bass music interspersed with his signature pop oriented future bass anthems and a litany of tracks by a strong crew of other bass realm artists. The atmosphere in the park was hyped throughout the set, which was punctuated by bursts of fire emanating from the stage, along with dynamic visuals.
THE STAGE takes place from March 14-16 as part of SXSW, Austin’s annual music, film and tech festival, and features performances from Billboard’s latest cover stars: PartyNextDoor, Christian Nodal, and Illenium.
Last year’s THE STAGE headliners included Lil Yachty, Feid and Kx5.
Read on for the five best moments from Illenium’s show below.