SXSW Review: Steve Wynn, March 13, St. David's Historic Sanctuary

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SXSW Review: Steve Wynn, March 13, St. David’s Historic Sanctuary

Posted on

17 Mar 2025

by

Paul

After dealing with some cord issues that were quickly sorted out, Steve Wynn humbly addressed the crowd, announcing, “Yeah, I’m ready to start. Class is in session.” And what followed was indeed a masterclass in storytelling.

Wynn’s current live show is based around his recently released memoir, I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True: A Memoir Of Life, Music, And The Dream Syndicate. And on Thursday night at SXSW, the Dream Syndicate frontman took to the stage at St. David’s Historic Sanctuary to perform what was less a rock concert and more a one-man show. That show saw him telling stories from throughout his life (though mostly focusing on his younger days), from the times before he was famous to tales of notable folks he’s crossed paths with, including a young Michael Jackson and Big Star frontman Alex Chilton. These stories were then punctuated by songs, either his own (“The Days of Wine and Roses” was a standout) or covers of songs from bands like The Rolling Stones and The Velvet Underground that were an important part of his backstory.

Wynn is quite an engaging storyteller, spinning a tale in a way that almost makes you feel like you were there. One of the most memorable moments of the night was when he told a story about tracking down Alex Chilton back in the day and buying him beer and cigarettes at Chilton’s favourite dive bar. He followed that up with a solid performance of Big Star’s “Jesus Christ,” remarking that it was the first time he’d played that one in an actual church. He would later go on to add, “I feel like a preacher up here. This is wonderful.”

Another highlight was a beautiful version of The Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning” which he followed by expounding on how cool and original they sounded when he first heard them back in the day. This, of course, led him down the path that many devoted music fans go down – getting into the most obscure bands possible. As he spoke of his love of bands like The Velvets and Big Star, it was really kind of lovely to hear him talk about music in this way. The bands he was discussing are now, of course, well established legends, but the way he described them made me wish I could discover them all over again and dig deep into their catalogues for the first time.

Steve Wynn’s performance was a definite highlight of the entire week and one of the most memorable shows I’ve seen in all my years going to SXSW. Just one man, his guitar and a bunch of great stories.

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