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SXSW 40: It’s a wrap
The final South by Southwest social tally: Number of parties: 41. Miles on foot: 53. Miles by cab: 5. Conversations: More than 350. Movies seen: 0. Bands heard: Maybe 15.
Speakers and panels witnessed: None, unless you count the speed-mentoring round I participated in for film industry bloggers.
Conclusion: My best SXSW ever.
Also, I traveled on foot. If you got into a car, or lived or worked near a cluster of festival venues, your experience was probably more stressful.
It helped that, except for two widely separated days of rain and cold, the weather remained Edenic. Plus, I simply avoided events with really long lines, knowing that, once inside an at-capacity room, I’d be knee-to-throat with unhappy socializers. And there were plenty of those.
Part of the blame for those bash-ups falls to the festival planners. One shouldn’t offer entry to every Interactive badge holder for an event held at the mid-sized Mohawk club, or to any Film fester at Speakeasy’s lovely but limited rooftop terrace. It just doesn’t work.
On the other hand, nobody is entitled to party. And I mean nobody. Including your social columnist.
I would no more insist on entering a prime event, such as Swagg Presents Perez Hilton’s One Night in Austin, than stiff-arm a old lady with a walker. (Luckily, at that party, an alert organizer saw me from a distance, and slipped me into the cavernous warehouse so I could report on it for this publication’s Monday wrap-up story. I didn’t demand entry, mind you, and I left as soon as my social reporting was complete, missing the Snoop Dogg and Hole performances.)
In the past, SXSW leaders tried to suppress side-parties, concerts and mini-fests, especially those employing variations on their trademarked name. Now, unofficial events operate as a kind of social safety valve. People, especially locals, let off steam in East Austin, along South Congress and South Lamar Boulevard, in every available parking lot within the the downtown grid.
And that should be fine, because SXSW, though still a for-profit venture, now belongs to the whole city. And an enormous part of the city wants to celebrate this essential component of Austin culture.
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SXSW 39: Swagg Presents Perez Hilton’s One Night in Austin
A-List photos: Perez Hilton’s One Night in Austin
Hoping to bask in the reflected glow of the returning celebrity gossip blogger, guests braved icy blasts hours before the doors opened on Swagg Presents Perez Hilton’s One Night in Austin.
Emily Grace and Hector Martelle
In what has become a must-do SXSW social event, the party spilled over three cavernous rooms in a former warehouse at Third and Brazos streets. Still, despite the interior space, which included several nested VIP zones, some were left in the cold when the party reached capacity after 10 p.m.
Samantha Davidson and Laura Aiden
Earlier in the evening, guests reported some pushing and shoving in the lines that wrapped around three streets and an alley, hoping to see, for free, such acts as Snoop Dogg and Hole.
“I don’t want to die in line!” mocked Austin model Laura Aiden, who was admitted into the party.
Danny Witte and Hawa Amani
Among the notables noted in the crowd: filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, members of the Canadian rock band Sum 41, electro-pop singer-songwriter Little Boots, Blues Traveler frontman John Popper, and Ryan Ross, who left Panic at the Disco last year.
Kate Tomich and Juan V. Perez
Musical acts played shorts sets on two stages inside the innermost cavern, as specialty drinks and photography stations dotted the other rooms. Guests wore solidly-constructed dark glasses that made projected images pop into 3D.
“This is the party where I see all of Austin,” said Chris Apollo Lynn, editor of the Republic of Austin social media site.
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SXSW 38: South by San Jose
Were I a lazy person. Or just one with less time. Or less curiosity. Or another job. I’d just settle in the parking lot of the Hotel San Jose for South by San Jose. Three blocks from the house. Fine food and drink from Jo’s. San Diego weather.
Karen Lederer and Ali Landorf
And some of the best music associated with SXSW. In the bad old days, the SXSW hierarchy would have trampled on shows like SXSJ. No need to do so when you’ve got people lining up for every official showcase, and huge sideshows going on all over the central city. (And I mean all over.)
Lori, Wayne and Roxy Dodd
Those who were just idly exercising the children or the dogs earned an extra-special treat when Amy Cook too the SXSJ stage (to be followed by the producer of her most recent album, none other than Alejandro Escovedo). Cook’s voice carries one over the horizon, sweet and salty, innocent yet knowing. Her songs are honeyed with recurrent imagery and personal insights. Bliss. Just bliss. It was enough for me that day.
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SXSW 37: Auditorium Shores
Compared to the kinetic energy charging through the streets of downtown at dusk, the atmosphere at Auditorium Shores was relaxed, congenial. Multi-generational tribes streamed from nearby streets to spread out over the tramped-down grass (surely a sea of mud this rainy morning, which is why SXSW organizers delayed performances for today).
Gina Recamier and Pambo
This free event helps sell SXSW to Austinites with no chance to earn a badge, wristband or VIP pass. They could attend some of the day parties — and they do — but here they can bring children and dogs. So the event is indistinguishable from other warm-weather outdoor fairs with craft booths, food stalls and beer galore. (Also, in this case, a very vocal campaign for a Texas lottery game.)
Because of the open meadow and the vast skyline as a backdrop, attention to the music on the shore-side stage ebbed and flowed. While I visited, a small group of music lovers swayed up front, but the vast majority hung back on blankets or chairs, or they roamed the booths. (I left before ’80s rockers Cheap Trick performed. Their fans reportedly have not lost their zeal.)
Kellie Solis and Justin Petition
I talked to Gina Recamier and Pambo from Mexico City. They said Austin was a party all over the city. Also with Kellie Solis and Justin Petition, who used the Auditorium Shores event to catch up on their San Antonio ties.
Remember: Everything is social.
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SXSW 36: Express Rocks at the Phoenix
With 700 SXSW sideparties out there, your social columnist didn’t need a Music badge or a wrist band to follow the buzz from event to event. Word spread quickly that the bigger traditional parties — Spin, Rachel Ray, Paste — were thoroughly subscribed and already covered by other Statesman reporters. So I tended to hit the smaller assemblies, which were sizable enough.
Ericka Jamarillo and Toree Roy
The Express Rocks Lounge Party at the Phoenix offered a line-up of five bands, along with various retail enticements that journalists firmly avoid. (The party was underwritten by the men and women’s clothing store by the same name.) A crowd of more than 100 mingled between sets, some of them super-social Austinites like Allen Beuershausen and Jen Shoemaker.
Natalie Bell and Steve Moakley
The one act I caught was Southern California’s idie rockers the Like. The four young women affected 1960s pop fashion and played in a snappy manner, but I couldn’t help thinking they would sound better in a studio. As their time onstage extended, my admiration grew for the fierce drumming of Tennessee Thomas and the sophisticated vocals of Elizabeth “Z” Berg from this former teen ban.
I left to explore the MTV video hideaway at the Seaholm Power Plant, which was closed to the public. But such a lovely day to trod across downtown once again …
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SXSW 35: Swagg Cafe at Moonshine
The music industry spends a good deal of time building fan bases for their artists. Then the industry types seek ways to escape those fans, if only for a little while. Thus, the proliferation of VIP sections, green rooms and rejuvenation zones during energy-sapping events like SXSW.
Jennifer Williams and Shannell
The Swagg Cafe at Moonshine provided several such opportunities to dine, drink, mingle and relax quietly during the afternoons — very near the Austin Convention Center. The refuge was underwritten by Swagg, a Web service that allows users to purchase, share and exchange gift cards, or receive and redeem personalized offers, etc.
Creigh Lyndon and Ryan Alexander
Here, journalists interviewed artists and bands recorded instant videos. I think the food is the big draw, but I liked catching musicians and their management off guard. “We plan to play as many shows possible,” said Ryan Alexander, young manager of Charleston, S.C.-based All Get Out. “And try not to get too trashed, since everything is free.” Alexander said the attention of SXSW audiences’ comes and goes, but that Austin is “more accepting” than most places on the band’s tour.
Malene Younglao and Yves C. Pierre
I also talked to Universal artist Shannel and her helpful publicist Jennifer Williams, as well as idie rocker Malen Younglao and her manager Yves C. Pierre. All these New Yorkers praised the spring weather (those words came before the Arctic blast that cleared the streets earlier this morning).
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Liz Carpenter dies at age 89
Please leave your thoughts and memories below.
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SXSW 34: Via Downtown
In reporting on the rapid expansion of traffic during SXSW Interactive and Film, I by no means want to suggest that SXSW Music has been superseded. Not with 1,900 official showcases, and those acts playing multiple additional gigs, and all the other bands tacking on their quickie concerts. That could mean 6,000 or so discreet sets of music.
One could feel the magnetic pull in each direction crossing through downtown, first northeast, then southwest on Thursday. People on the margins of the grid shimmered with energy. They strode toward events with a bounce in their steps. Their stage make-up and rocker outfits looked fresh. They gabbled tirelessly.
Cathy Wallace, Brandi Hale, Debbie Barrera and Catherine Daniels
Returning from East Austin, I noticed more hobbled fans taking pedicabs. (Did we import some for the weekend? Seems like they swarmed every street.) By the time I hit the blockaded Sixth Street west of Interstate 35, the masses resembled the disintegrating remains of a summer street fair. Exhausted folks lined the curbs. Faces faded pink-gray. Incompletely consumed street food joined the other detritus.
Lines into official SXSW venues crinkled, crackled with complaints. Meanwhile, other clubs simply blasted out their usual sounds. I even saw some completely new clubs: Just for SX?
Syztem 7 from Seattle
On Congress, visitors and locals spilled off the wide sidewalks. Still, the weather blessed this Thursday with a sort of glorious glow. Boulevardiers staked out their regular spots at sidewalk cafes and just watched the world go by …
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SXSW 33: East Side Story
The entire zone from East Seventh Street to the MetroRail tracks, east of Interstate 35 and west of Comal Street, was honeycombed with improvised outdoor music venues.
Brianna Bardhi, Ella Pala and Jen Shoemaker
The prime destination: Levi’s Fader Fort, a combination of retail outlet, secret fort and mini-Austin City Limits Music Festival, timed each year to South by Southwest.
“It’s warm and real,” said Austin’s Brianna Bardhi of the enclosure around an industrial structure. “Like a clubhouse.”
Although originally conceived partly as an artist’s retreat, the Fader Fort now attracts pods of locals looking for non-SXSW action — and tall Budweisers, consumed in abundance among the smokestacks and corrugated relics of East Austin.
Allen Reed and Carrie Back
Across East Fifth Street, the Texas RockFest occupied almost an entire vacant block. Music seekers circled it to visit open-air stages up and down East Sixth Street.
Although many pilgrims crossed under the freeway at Sixth, others swerved along the bikeway at East Fourth Street, the thoroughfare for pedicabs, who ranged from the Mean-Eyed Cat near MoPac to the Brixton east of the Texas RockFest.
When a MetroRail train barreled down toward the Austin Convention Center at Red River Street, pedicabs and pedestrians scattered, but not very quickly.
Nobody took the huge metal missile seriously. This is a disaster waiting to happen.
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SXSW 32: Official Austin Music Showcase at Ghost Room
One can become so jaded in Austin. Live music? Scores of options every night. Why bother? The acts come and go. Who could keep up with all of it?
Well I was introduced to two that took my reason away at the Ghost Room, an astonishingly sensitive room for various genres of thickly layered music. First was Monarchs, a band Austin shares with Birmingham, Ala. The players run the gamut from rootsy to indie, but it’s frontwoman Celeste’s supple voice that elicits the most awe from an appreciative throng.
I thought, OK, so far three good acts my first night of SXSW (see House of Song Showcase post). How long will my luck hold out? That’s when Charanga Cakewalk squeezed all their instruments onto the small corner stage. Lordy. All manner of Latin dance music ensued.
I danced with friends. I danced with strangers. I danced until the Cakewalk ended their too-short showcase set.
Well, I wanted to end the night on a high point, so I started to leave, then Reyes told me about the other celebrated local talent that night — Zeale, Danny Malone, the Black, Carrie Rodriguez — and I mentally noted their names. If they are anywhere as accomplished as Monarchs and Charanga Cakewalk, then I will ferret out their club dates.
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SXSW 31: House of Song Showcase at the Ginger Man
Blown by the winds of chance, I took refuge at the Ginger Man the first night of SXSW Music. Clearly, many in the crowd were still still indulging their St. Patrick’s Day itch. Yet out on the patio, a goodly number were primed for the House of Songs unofficial showcase.
So one more band, then on to the next showcase. This was an exceedingly charming Danish act called Leaving a Small Town. Their simple melodies proved contagious, especially one written with Austin’s Matt the Electrician. OK, so pop music is the universal language.
I’ve run across the House of Songs on occasion, but I must pay more attention.
[I’d credit the Leaving a Small Town photo, but my Danish is rusty.]
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SXSW 30: A Break in the Dark
We all need a little respite. My SXSW began Wednesday, March 10. By Wednesday, March 17, I was still on pace, not fatigued, but definitely slowing down.
And SXSW Music had only just begun. Five more days to go.
Anyway, after the Mayor’s Welcome, I toddled across the street with colleague Marcus Harper for appetizers at III Forks. Ideal respite. Key ingredient: The room was dark and seemed to grow darker, unlike the shiny, happy brightness outside. The happy-hour prices on the thick, juicy onion rings and blue-cheese steak chips also helped.
By the time we emerged, dusk had fallen and I was ready for music. My advice to you during SXSW: Find respite.
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SXSW 29: The Mayor’s Welcome
Mayor Lee Leffingwell welcomed the SXSW guests to Austin on Wednesday. I didn’t hear him do so. In fact, I’ve come to think of Leffingwell as our stealth mayor. He’s always on the job, always doing the city’s work, mind you. But I always just miss him, unlike his predecessor Will Wynn, who stuck around, soaking up the sunlight of Austin socializing.
Erin and Michael Portman
Just different styles, that’s all. The party — and the exchanges of vital SXSW information — still continued after Leffingwell slipped back into his no-nonsense office off the City Hall extension called the Mayor’s Balcony. Another SXSW Music, another ideal day for the Welcome — bright, dry, slightly breezy. Who could ask for anything more?
Jason Callahan, Melissa Rivers and Nathan Felix
New insights. I got ‘em. I spent the most time with Erin and Michael Portman of Birds Barber Shops. They confirmed an impression I’d heard all over town: Friends were skipping SXSW Music for SXSW Interactive or Film in increasing numbers. Not that anyone would undercut the blunt power of Music, which generated the whole East Austin colony over near the Birds outlet on East East Sixth Street.
It’s just that, perhaps the Mayor’s Welcome should come a week earlier.
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SXSW 28: Green at Fourth and Lavaca
Heading from the amicable Fleadh Austin at the Fourth Street Fort to the more established, roped-off St. Patrick’s Day festival at Fourth and Lavaca streets, I passed SXSW guests bemused by this improvised Green Circuit. While the Fleadh was free, the tented fest outside Fado’s cost $15. Costumes, beads and funny hats proliferated.
Erin Johnson and Caitlin Kuhn
I encountered something unexpected for Austin: The closest we come to Irish toughs. Here were a couple dozen guys, bulked up, wearing the green like a dare, horseplaying early in the afternoon, but looking entirely capable of scuffling as the hours and the beers passed. (I’ve carefully considered this report and I don’t think I’m stereotyping my own people. I was relieved to see a uniformed officer or two on alert in case of hormonal over exuberance.)
Imriel, Carrie and Elliot Ahr
Of course, the vast majority in the crowd proved gentle, laughing, hoisting children up for others to see, carefully sipping their libations. I left fairly early — after checking in with benevolent Saba owner Joe Reynolds — then looped back later during my SXSW evening. The mood was ecstatic.
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SXSW 27: Fleadh Austin
When legendary music manager Frank Murray (the Pogues, Thin Lizzy, etc.) announced he wanted to make Fleadh Austin a revel that would rival St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Boston, New York and other Irish-American metropolises, we smiled. That would be lovely, wouldn’t it, daydreamed the Irish half of my brain.
Frank Murray, Kay Gourley and Dara Murray
Pronounced “flah,” fleadh is Gaelic for festival. Murray lined up some of his Irish acts — Broken Records, the Lost Brothers, Julie Feeney, Villagers, the Minutes, the Mighty Stef and the Coronas for the St. Paddy’s party at the Fourth Street Fort (former Levi’s Fader Fort and, normally, American YouthWorks). Hey, maybe the intersection of SXSW and the “wearing of the green” would produce shamrocks and rainbows. (BTW: I learned the Irish don’t wear green on March 17. Americans do.)
Triona Kelly and Niamh Kelly
In the middle of the afternoon, the first fleadh in Austin felt awfully mellow. The Irish stood in the mild sun, the Texans in the deep shade, each seeking a different precious commodity.
Folks lined up for the Guinness, for sure. (That’s I bet I’ll always take.) But where were the masses? The carousing?
Later that night, the bands and the local banshees loosened up. A quick walk-by revealed a euphoric revelry my Celtic ancestors would have cheered.
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SXSW 26: Celebrity Sightings So Far
Form our various spies this week and compiled in Newsmakers …
On Monday morning, Ashton Kutcher wrote to his 4.6 million Twitter followers that he was “Headed to South by Southwest.” Later, he “checked in” at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on the social networking service Foursquare and tweeted that he was attending a panel at SXSW. Fest-goers reported sightings on Twitter and posted pictures with the actor, who’s increasingly known for his social media savvy. …
Christopher Mintz-Plasse, aka “McLovin” from Superbad, hung out at Star Bar. He was apparently nice but wouldn’t let anyone take pictures. Woody Harrelson was spotted at Barton Springs. Adrien Brody, who appeared at a news conference for the Robert Rodriguez-produced “Predator,” was spied shopping at Whole Foods. …
Rumors are going crazy, but our fave is Snoop Dogg performing with Gorillaz at the former Seaholm Power Plant. The band is the subject of a SXSW listening party. …
Edward Norton, John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill sat together for a long meal at La Condessa; Chloe Sevigny and Patrick Wilson joined a group at that innovative restaurant, then headed upstairs for drinks at Malverde.
Oscar winner Sissy Spacek attended Ray Benson’s birthday party and Fleadh St. Patrick’s Day Party. A.J. Buckley (“CSI: NY”) and Samantha Mathis (“Pump Up the Volume”) were out shopping the boutiques. Actor Robert Duvall dined at III Forks, while Neko Case tarried at the Carillon, UT’s hideaway gem of a restaurant.
Sean Lennon, Ashton Kutcher, Bill Murray and Adrien Brody were later seen all over town.
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SXSW 25: Floating with the Tide
The potential metaphors surge through my consciousness.
Walking the streets of Austin during SXSW, I’m a ship sailing through familiar yet unfamiliar seas. Or I’m flotsam surging with the tide, seeking a beachhead, a momentary haven from the pleasurable swells of sensation.
I’ve begun the SXSW portion of the past 8 days in the same way — sluicing down South Congress Avenue toward the river and the world. Shops, eateries, craft booths, trailers, pet matchmakers, buskers, lounging regulars and tourists, sing, siren-like, for this Odysseus to tarry.
Once downtown, past the cleansing bridge, the sidewalks, many still broken and bent, hoist tens of thousands on their broad shoulders. This is the Austin of my dreams, my visions. A city whose center is a vortex of creative energy without cessation.
What can we do to encourage that? More density in the right places. More affordability in the right doses. More diversity of all kinds. More amenities year-round. I won’t set down the virtual pen until we have them.
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SXSW 24: A List: Best Blogger
I swear I didn’t vote in this category. And I didn’t encourage any of my readers to do so. Still, I’m tickled to be included in the company of the obsessive writers in the Best Blogger category.
Our own little Out & About made it into a race with 22 percent of the tally.
Here’s an odd statistic: The next four bloggers tied exactly at just over 8 percent — In the Pink, Ain’t It Cool, Austin Tidbits and Grits for Breakfast.
MeanRachel.com, who does me the honor of commenting on my tweets periodically, linked to 6 percent. Pink Dome, Community Matters and Austinist’s Allen Y. Chen rounded out the list with 3 percent or less.
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SXSW 23: A List: Best Place to Catch a Sunset
I have sneaking suspicion that preferences in this category will change over the years, as more people move upward into those downtown towers.
Mount Bonnell, a scenic magnet for centuries, came in second with 18 percent. Iguana Grill managed a respectable 11 percent, while Hula Hut relaxed with 10 percent.
Lake Travis, the whole of it, merited 8 percent. The UT Tower, Zilker Park, Downtown skyscrapers, Loop 360 scenic overlook and Pennybacker Bridge all ended with less than three percent. I think the last two locations are the same.
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SXSW 22: A List: Best Latin Singer or Group
Del Castillo, the flamenco-guitar and family-based act, and Grupo Fantasma, the big-band blasters, both received exactly 25 percent of the vote in the A List poll for Best Latin Singer or Group.
Alejandro Escovedo, who continues to mature as an artist as life throws him more material, received 19 percent. David Garza, also evolving after decades in the local eye, won 13 percent.
Brownout led the rest of the pack with 8 percent. The Brew, Frenetica, Los Bad Apples, Maneja Beto and Patricia Vonne settled for 6 percent of less.
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SXSW 21: A List: Best Locally Produced Beer/Wine/Liquor
OK, so why am I organizing this week’s A List winners under the rubric of “SXSW” as well? Because everything is SXSW this week. And visitors to Our Town want to know these local preferences as well.
Real Ale Brewing and Live Oak Brewing came in second and third with 17 percent and 12 percent of the tally.
Dripping Springs Vodka and Paula’s Texas Orange tied at 8 percent.
Taking 5 percent or less were Independence Brewing, Uncle Billy’s, Draught House, Alamosa wines and Caprock wines. Too bad we can’t count the dozens of wineries in the Hill Country in this poll.
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i got in just fine. walked up to the door, they checked the list, i walked right in... ended up leaving though, there was better music elsewhere.
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I loved the show that Porifera put on. They rocked it!!!
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