SXSW 2015: High times with Leon Bridges, Black Rivers; old times with the Zombies, Gang of Four; and meal time, as Bronson serves and is served

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Action Bronson, Leon Bridges, Black Rivers, Gang of Four, the Zombies, Tei Shi, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, the Ting Tings, Zella Day, Yumi Zouma, Chastity Belt, more

Thursday dinnertime: One minute you’re digesting some fine fare from one of Austin’s ubiquitous food trucks [more on that in a moment], and the next you’re swapping South by Southwest stories with a fine young concert photographer, who, upon learning of the next show on your itinerary, asks: “Who is Gang of Four?”

There is work to be done.

There’s no better place to do it than SXSW, an everything-for-every-taste smorgasbord [there I go with the food again], and on Thursday there were young (Tei Shi) and old (the Zombies), highs (Black Rivers, Leon Bridges) and lows (Chastity Belt), great surprises (Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros playing their new album front to back) and gutting disappointments (New Zealand’s Yumi Zouma getting their gear stolen).

But first, a word from my stomach:

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Chef-turned-rapper Action Bronson is a big man with an equally outsized personality, and his promotional appearance for his forthcoming album “Mr. Wonderful” (out next week) was pretty tasty. Or, as advertised in his culinary series, “F*ck, That’s Delicious.” Crashing the party in Austin’s ubiquitous food truck culture, the man born Arian Asllani partnered with this city’s mmmpanadas.com to host a Mr. Wonderful food truck, announcing that he would appear at 4 p.m. Thursday to personally dish out his Texas Style Poutine (smashed fingerling potatoes, smoked brisket, cheddar cheese curds and scallions) to whoever showed up.

Sure enough, at 4:15 he appeared, big blunt in his mouth. He bummed a light, made nice with the crowd, directed one of his people to start playing his new album on a makeshift sound system and then clambered inside the truck as the crowd of maybe 100 or so swarmed the window. Spotting the name on a certain blogger’s badge, he smiled and said, “Enjoy, Mr. Bronson.” And, f*ck, it was delicious.

Moments later he roamed the big tent in the middle of the cluster of food trucks with trays of his goodies. “What, you don’t wanna try my poutine?” he asked of one woman who passed on his offer. “You’ve hurt my feelings.”

The dinnertime incursion split a day complete with ups and downs. In the early afternoon, Will Butler’s set at the Mohawk embodied a typical SXSW frustration — the soundcheck was longer than the actual set. What was it, three songs? Four? Anyway, the material from the Arcade Fire member’s solo album “Policy” (just out on Merge) was quite good, highlighted by the percussive, agile contributions from his band’s three female backup singers. Everyone wore black shirts emblazoned with their names, too, which was nice. What’s the font of the day, Bookman Heavy?

Then, in the spirit of SXSW afternoon randomization, it was off to the Brooklyn Vegan party, where Chastity Belt was playing outdoors. With an uptick in great rock records being made by female artists right now, there’s a narrative in the notion that Girl Power is back; feel free to leave Chastity Belt out of the conversation. Two and a half banal songs later, it was back to the street, where a cascade of synths and whoa-whoa-whoa choruses was coming from the Red Bull party. Time to move on.

At the Radio Day Stage hosted by KCSN, the Ting Tings set off a party in the Convention Center on an afternoon that featured a star-power set from young siren Zella Day.

Now, back to the question at the beginning: Who is Gang of Four? Well, these days they are Gang of One, with stone-faced guitarist Andy Gill carrying on a legacy that began in the late 1970s and shaped them into one of the most legendary and influential post-punk bands of all time. Which is selling them short, actually, but SXSW forces one to capsulize.

In the current lineup, Gill is joined by his bassist of seven years, Thomas McNeice, and a new singer and drummer, John “Gaoler” Sterry and Jonny Finnegan, respectively. The new Gang of Four album, “What Happens Next,” does the name’s legacy no shame whatsoever; it’s confrontational, caustic, political, rhythmic and a little bit pain-inducing. The current lineup also serves the name well — Sterry, especially, carries the requisite air of danger. Even outdoors in the late-afternoon heat, their set at Bar 96 was exhilarating. You wanna see some dudes with gray hair pogo? Put them in front of Gang of Four doing “Damaged Goods.”

Then it was off to indulge in a moment of nostalgia — the Zombies were playing a special sunset set at Stubb’s. So winning and gracious were the 1960s legends that there were tears in some eyes when they played three consecutive songs from 1968’s “Odessey and Oracle” (lovely singalong to “Time of the Season,” everybody) and finished with “She’s Not There,” 69-year-old Colin Blunstone’s vocals still clarion.

Later, it was time to investigate some unknowns. Brooklyn-based Tei Shi is the nom de tune of Argentina-born Valerie Teicher, who spent many of her formative years in Canada. Performing at Stubb’s, her shimmering, R&B-tinged electronic music made use of layers of loops augmented by live drums and guitar. It was compelling but not transcendent — Tei Shi fits somewhere between the sophisticated pop of Banks and the heady experimentation of Deeradorian. Tei Shi was followed at Stubb’s by white-suited Austin crooner-cum-disco-rocker Max Frost, whose admittedly catchy stuff had a strong stench of been-there-done-that.

Deep breath.

The British Embassy lineup offered the opportunity to look in on old favorites doing new things — in this case, Black Rivers, the new venture from Jez and Andy Williams of Doves. Their self-titled debut album is just out (and they visit L.A. next week), and the Williams and their two bandmates put on an audacious display of melodic bombast characterized by coruscating (a word they only seem to use in the U.K.) guitars and pummeling, unpredictable rhythms. Bummer that sound problems truncated Black Rivers’ set, but they will be worth revisiting, earplugs at the ready.

The Hype Hotel was the last stop of the night — and poor Yumi Zouma. The New Zealand disco-poppers were victims of thieves earlier Thursday, all their gear having been stolen from their vehicle. They tried doing an acoustic set with borrowed gear, but they clearly are a band that needs pedals and effects. There were a lot of puzzled faces.

But Fort Worth’s Leon Bridges saved the night — a true soul man doing unashamedly 1950s-vintage love songs in the truest, bluest way you could imagine, with rock band behind him (including members of White Denim) plus two female backup singers and a saxophonist. He’s coming to L.A. next week as well; in the midnight hour Thursday, he proved smooth and stylish without giving off the vibe he was play-acting or miming old videos. A perfect nightcap.