SXSW at Crossing Border, The Hague, The Netherlands

The 17th edition of the Crossing Border Festival opened Wednesday night with a concert showcase of six up and coming bands from The Hague, selected to perform at SXSW 2010. Known as the City of Peace and Justice, The Hague is making a concerted effort to expand its profile in the world community. It's a vibrant city that boasts thriving art, music and theater scenes. And they now want to tell you about it.

The City of The Hague and the folks from the Crossing Border Festival will host these six bands, in hopes of bringing a little slice of their city and this genre smashing festival to the international audience at SXSW. The bands played short sets with sounds ranging from the power-blues-rock of The Deaf to the lyrical folk of John Dear Mowing Club to the new school power pop of Woot. A perfect fit for the Crossing Border Festival, the city of The Hague seems to know no boundaries.

Ultra modern architecture butts up against 300 year old buildings, all along the winding streets of the city center.
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag is world-renowned for its collection of paintings and drawings by Piet Mondrian, and also boasts works by Picasso, Kandinsky, Toorop, Willink and Appel. And the city's music scene is booming.

Over the next two nights, Crossing Border Festival will host performances by Grizzly Bear, Steve Earle, Natalie Merchant, Akron/Family, St. Vincent, Gomez, Stephen Malkemus, Sonic Boom, Tegan & Sara, The Airborne Toxic Event and more. With readings by Per Olov Enquist, Mustafa Stitou, Wim de Bie and radical authors from all over the world, throughout the weekend.

Photos of (from top to bottom) John Dear Mowing Club, So What, and NiCad courtesy of Matt Sonzala.