“Hi, we’re the Sandinistas,” grinned singer/guitarist Dan Hagerty at the 20 people gathered before the punk-pop trio two songs into their SXSW showcase at Javelina on Friday night. “We’re from South Wales in the UK. If you don’t know where that is,” he added, tongue firmly in cheek, “that’s where Tom Jones is from.”

Most punk bands fall prey to the eventual “inactive” hiatus or flame-out. No Brain’s different. Proving age is but a number, the veteran South Koreans attested to their international longevity to a packed house Friday night at the Belmont.

Even with sometimes-controversial rap legend Talib Kweli still spitting at absolute peak condition, it was D.R.A.M.’s unmitigated cheekiness that commanded Friday night at StubHub’s eclectic SXSW showcase at Banger’s.

If, like most of us, you didn’t make it into Prince’s marathon set at La Zona Rosa during SXSW 2013 – and you weren’t snacking inside IHOP when he popped in for a late-night breakfast – Friday night at Auditorium Shores may be the closest many of us will ever come to seeing the late Minneapolis legend perform live.

“Songwriting’s going downhill, and we as artists need to try and preserve that [art],” exhorted country superstar Garth Brooks backstage at the Austin Convention Center before his SXSW Music keynote address on Friday afternoon. “Everybody’s making something, but nobody’s making enough to survive.”

Alex Chilton died seven years ago on the eve of a Big Star reunion at SXSW 2010. That showcase turned into a tribute, which subsequently spawned the Big Star’s Third orchestra with rediscovery of the original string score for the legendary Memphis band’s cherished 1978 album Third/Sister Lovers.

Musicians have documented their place of origin since minstrelsy was invented. Florida native Richard Barone moved to the Big Apple in time for punk and New Wave, and eventually settled into Greenwich Village in the lower part of New York City. In the Sixties, it became ground zero of the folk explosion.

Meanwhile, back at Eno’s on Thursday night for the finale of Spoon’s three-night album release celebration, the floor looked rather bare as San Marcos garage/grunge outfit the Two Lips unleashed a well-manicured racket saturated in fuzz box hysteria.

Takeover of Hotel Vegas by Austin’s Levitation festival and its sponsoring Reverberation Appreciation Society on Thursday evening meant a variety of what constitutes psychedelia. Dead Meadow represented heavy stoner rock, Crocodiles grinned friendly indie-pop, and Royal Trux rolled out grungy slop. Ultimately, four local acts ruled the roost.