The rain really couldn’t have had better timing.

Generally, at SXSW, festival-goers are treated to sunshine and heat for the week-long music event in Austin. But for a brief moment Thursday morning, the skies grew grey and the rain began to fall. This pushed many attendees indoors, including the indoor venue where Your Friend happened to be performing.

The Lawrence native played to a large crowd at Brooklyn Vegan’s day party at Cheer Up Charlie’s. This was one of a handful of showcases they were playing at the festival. With a new record in tow, Your Friend showed off tracks new and old with a host of Lawrence musicians (including CS Luxem and Dean Monkey and the Dropouts’ Nicholas Stahl). With endless pedals at their feet, the musicians filled the room with rich reverb and echoing vocals lush with emotion and harmonies.

From here on out, the band continues a tour that doesn’t bring them back until halfway through April. They’ll then hit up Kansas City’s Middle of the Map Fest in May. If you can’t catch them on tour, you can hear what they sounded like at the festival below:

Words and photos by Fally Afani