If there’s one thing that’s true about South By Southwest, it’s that much of it is based on access–the combinations of badges, wristbands, hand-stamps, and nods that get people into and behind the scenes of shows can be downright dizzying. To figure out what, exactly, it’s like to experience the festival with not so much as a wristband, we enlisted chief assumer (and former Austinite) Andy Beta to give us the outsider’s perspective. In this installment, he checks out one of the many splinter festivals around town.
– Another show that we wish we’d attended: Lambchop with the Tosca String Quartet. [Stereogum] – Perry Farrell’s WTF-list affair invites a few more people, including Wayne Coyne Kramer. More »
We trekked out to Waterloo Records yesterday in the name of “journalism,” hoping to catch the protest against Scandinavian popsters Peter, Bjorn & John scheduled to coincide with their in-store. But upon arrival, we were greeted with a long line for the next band on the bill and not much else. Turns out the mastermind of the uprising skipped town:
To those of you who are turning up right now to protest: I am sorry. This whole campaign against Peter Bjorn and John has pushed me to what I now realize is a total mental and emotional breakdown. I haven’t eaten in forty-eight hours, and the friends I am staying with have basically asked me to get out. I simply can’t carry this burden any longer. I have packed up my car and am leaving town.
Somehow, we were standing in the Bermuda Triangle of bad concert behavior during last night’s Amy Winehouse show at La Zona Rosa–no matter how we shifted our position, we were in earshot of two people who were duking it out for the title of “who deserves a shove more”:
If there’s one thing that’s true about South By Southwest, it’s that much of it is based on access–the combinations of badges, wristbands, hand-stamps, and nods that get people into and behind the scenes of shows can be downright dizzying. To figure out what, exactly, it’s like to experience the festival with not so much as a wristband, we enlisted chief assumer (and former Austinite) Andy Beta to give us the outsider’s perspective. In this installment, he watches as the Melvins join forces with a car company.
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?)
We’re at the halfway point of the SXSW Music conference, and we’re feeling pretty good, snubs and cancellations notwithstanding. More »
If there’s one thing that’s true about South By Southwest, it’s that much of it is based on access–the combinations of badges, wristbands, hand-stamps, and nods that get people into and behind the scenes of shows can be downright dizzying. To figure out what, exactly, it’s like to experience the festival with not so much as a wristband, we enlisted chief assumer (and former Austinite) Andy Beta to give us the outsider’s perspective. In this installment, he impersonates a wrestling fan and misses out on some free shoe action.
We’ve been sending along regular updates as the South By Southwest music conference drags along, but we also wanted to give you a big-picture view of each day, so we’ll be doing daily wrapups that sum up the best and worst moments. After the jump, we break down the second day, which was marked by gorgeous weather and a lot of time spent waiting for things that would never, ever happen. (Does anybody know what happened to that Dizzee Rascal set that was allegedly taking place this afternoon? And yes, we know that asking that question dates us.)
As longtime fans of snarly guitar hero Mary Timony, we were planning on seeing her as many times as we could this week, but we only knew about her showcase late Saturday night. More »
