SXSW 2012

Noted.

Today was highly successful and I only spent $23, $18 of that was for food.
Caught Santigold (best set I've seen from her), Danny brown, Oberhofer, and 2 chainz after fader.
Missed out on the hype badge window for Miike snow then went to Stubbs and listened to the end of Fiona's set outside at Stubbs, then caught the brooklyn vegan showcase with 2:54, the young and screaming females but skipped Andrew wk and Titus to see if I could get in for Andrew bird at stubbs. Decided not to pay the $30 cover and went and caught Kasabian. Every show was free. Great start.

For as much as I hate to say it, Pitchfork is doing a bang up job giving updates.

pitchfork.com/news/45761-sxsw-the-men/

So I ended up seeing Dry the River (really good), Howlin' Rain (bad ass), Gary Clark (amazing), and Wavves at the workaholics house party (fucking insane). The party was bad ass. Got hammered with the cast from workaholics all night! They were all really down to earth, cool guys. Oddly enough their "tv characters" are actually kind of flip flopped from their actual personas (guess whose who). I found that really interesting. It was really strange though to get quacked up with those guys in a house that could be mistaken for their tv house lol. All this while Bethany Cosentino lit up "little cigarettes" to pass around the crowd. It was a really good day. ;D
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Adam moshed quite a bit.

So my late summary of sxsw.

From an initial viewpoint, it is now almost like a living commercial. This has changed many aspects of it to be more mainstream and corporate than indie like it used to be. I am mostly fine with that since so much of it is free, but it has lost a lot of the original meaning of band discovery like it used to be. It was initially an industry event and they are the people with badges.

In my 4 days at sxsw this year I spent less than $200 including $50 worth of gas to drive there and back. I didn't buy a wristband/badge or have to stay at a hotel, just gave my friend one of the beers I brewed to stay at his place.

SXSW can be accomplished for so little money and that's what's awesome about it. I spent $23 on my first day there, and $18 was for food. The rest was $1 tips on free drinks. I only spent $20 for one showcase out of the 4 days at sxsw. The main point being, room and board would be the main expense of sxsw.

To anyone considering going, I highly recommend getting there early on Tuesday or Wednesday before the main crowds kick in. It's during spring break and it gets crazy at times. Saturday was also st. patty's day, but it was hard to tell the difference. There are lots of people.

I am not certain how many bands I saw, but I spent a bunch of time hanging out with friends also. Friday night I lost my drivers license which is pretty much the biggest oops you can make at sxsw. Almost all the venues are mostly 21 and up. I ended up getting into Fader on Saturday from the lady who recognized confiscating my bike wrench and stayed put hanging with friends chilling.

SXSW is massive, venues are everywhere and the fun of sxsw is that you don't really know what will end up happening. Best bet is to have a bunch of shows you want to see and try to make some, but you will be bound to get shut out a few times. I brought my bike and was riding all over the place for three days straight. On the fourth day I ditched my bike since it wears you out like no other festival can. Saturday I spent half the day chilling in fader's grassy relaxation area drinking for free with friends due to this.

For 4 days you can live off of food trucks when out and about at sxsw. Everything from veggie hummus wraps, pizza, philly with cheesewhiz, greek wraps, smoothies, pizza and just about any other food you may need. There are plenty of amazing places to eat in Austin also, but when out all day walking food trucks are hard to beat. That is where most of my money went at sxsw.

Some shows you will never be able to see. Getting inside for Fiona was impossible without a badge, and I also missed out on Miike Snow since I was late getting my hype M wristband for their venue (not impossible, just late).

If any venue is outdoors like Stubb's you can listen to it from outside though. I caught the end of Fiona's set like this. I lost my license right around when Jack White went on, but decided to go check it out and got there and thought it was over. It wasn't and he unded up playing two sets and I had moved on to go see Trust the next block over which was awesome. I did spend a lot of time on my bike riding around and listening to things from outside the venues. Bikes are the best transportation if you have the energy.

I feel like I could ramble on and on, but the main point is: if you like music festivals, you have to go to sxsw at some point. Austin is an incredibly fun town with venues everywhere, SXSW ratchets it up 10 fold and there is music playing on every corner you turn. The fun of sxsw is the spontaneousness of it, you may walk down the street and hear some new band that's killing it or hear bass in the distance and walk up to find Digitalism or Wu-Tang. It's unlike any other festival and you chart your own path. Just turn on red river and you will be fine.