Idolator At SXSW, Day Three: Can You Believe The Lines

noah | March 17, 2007 1:00 am

We should have figured: It was the Friday of SXSW, the day before St. Patrick’s Day, and around the time that Spring Break kicks in. Of course the day was going to be filled with long lines and piles of trash in the street; of course we were going to get sidetracked; of course our time out was going to end with us waiting for a cab in 50-degree weather. (Before we got into that cab, though, we stumbled into a party thrown by [name of major American retailer redacted, but let’s just say that all the decorations were tasteful, yet low-priced] that was soundtracked by pumped-up remixes of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Oh Sheila.” Seriously, is all you need to DJ these days a copy of Billboard’s Hot Hits 1986 and a drum machine?)

DEPARTURE FROM HOTEL ROOM: Friday, 11:18 a.m. CT. FINAL RETURN TO HOTEL ROOM: Saturday, 3:08 a.m. CT. WEATHER REPORT: Raw enough that we came back to our hotel room at around 8 p.m. to swap our light summer clothing for jeans and a sweater. BANDS SEEN*: Seven: Pipettes, Thunderbirds Are Now!, Sea Wolf, Oh No! Oh My!, Seth Lakeman, someone who was drafted last-minute to replace the iced-in-NYC James Morrison, Amy Winehouse. Running SXSW total: 25. BLOGGER PARTIES ATTENDED: Two. Running SXSW total: Six. PANELS ATTENDED: Zero. Running SXSW total (music conference only): Zero. BEST AMENITIES, NON-OPEN BAR VARIETY: The Jane party, which had its own mini-boutique full of ugly clothes (seriously, who decided to bring back short-alls?) and cute shoes. BEST SWAG: Free issues of ReadyMade at the Pitchfork event. NERDIEST MOMENT: Complimenting Central Village on his liveblogging, because saying the word “liveblog” in public still carries, to us, a bit of a social stigma. WORST USE OF TECHNOLOGY: The text-message-to-screen gimmickry reared its head again at the Amy Winehouse show, and it was filled with Public Enemy attendees wishing a happy birthday to Flava Flav, Flavor Flave, and Flaver Flay. BEST COVER: N/A. BAND WHO WE WOULD HAVE STUCK AROUND FOR IF WE HADN’T REALIZED THE LINE WAS GOING TO STRETCH ARMSTRONG IT LATER: Any band at the Pitchfork party; when we got there, we zipped right in, but an hour later, the lines at both entrances went all the way across the street.

Idolator’s complete SXSW coverage

* Where “seen” = “caught two or more songs by.”

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