When Jake Orrall, lead singer and guitarist of JEFF the Brotherhood, took the stage at Vice's Friday night SXSW party, he looked out over a sea of older and largely disinterested faces. Taking the challenge to heart, he thumped out a few notes on stage as his brother, drummer Jamie Orrall, pumped out a beat. Then Jake jumped off of the stage and into the audience. Looking straight ahead, he calmly walked into the crowd, as if to say, "If you're going to try to ignore me, I'm going to shove this music right in your face."
It was the opening salvo in a set that was a gob of spit in the face of the man. A few brave souls danced in the pit as Jake and Jamie egged them on -- Jake with nods of recognition, Jamie with arms-out pleas to get closer to the stage. The music was brash and raw, clanging beats behind Jake's signature three-stringed guitar; the attitude was even more confrontational, as the pit grew and the oldsters were forced to the edges. JEFF was visibly emboldened by the gradual -- and delightfully hostile -- takeover of the pit. By the time the band was three songs into their set, they had done the impossible, turning an apathetic crowd into a full on mosh pit dance party. I put down my camera and joined the fray.
