SXSW Home > South by Southwest Scene Reports > Archives > 2006 > March > 18 > Entry
Well, it’s official
With 10,000 registrants and 1,400-plus bands and who knows how many wristbanded exhibitors and sponsors, South By Southwest has finally jumped the shark. Many of this year’s attendees spent a lot of time grumbling in frustration at just how ridiculous the situation has become in terms of lines and simple logistics. Even “exclusive” parties were nearly impossible to get into at times, invites be damned, and badges were no guarantee of admission to anything, not even the speakers at the convention center.
When they have to have overflow rooms with video screens for conference attendees to hear the main attractions at the conference, that’s out of hand. When you can’t drive from point A to point B — not because of the traffic and the 45 minutes it could take to traverse a 2-mile distance … in the afternoon … but because you can’t risk giving up the parking space you have and not finding another — that’s out of hand. It’s time to put a cap on registrations, folks. Last year was bad enough, and supposedly, the badges-sold figure was only around 8,000 then. We get that SXSW is a cool event everyone wants to attend … that’s why some of us are on our 11th Southby, or 13th or 19th or 20th. But when registrants can’t achieve what they came here for — enlightenment and entertainment — without major hassles all around, something needs to be fixed.
It doesn’t matter what beat goes on at South by Southwest. What does matter is authenticity, the one pervasive aspect of the entire event. Watching the Ponderosa Stomp legends of swamp pop at an Opal Divine’s gathering Saturday, and every other act caught during the past several days, the realization came that one thing we’ll never see at South by Southwest is manufactured pop. No Britney Spears. No American Idols. And that, above all, is what keeps it cool.
There’s room for old vets living on past glories, still respected as long as they can still groove (and most of ’em still can, whether their heyday was in the ’80s or the ’60s or the ’50s). There’s room for 6-year-old drum prodigies, à la Classie Ballou’s great grandson, who played during Ballou’s Stomp set Saturday and signed his first autographs afterward. There’s definitely room for brash future rock gods, either wannabes or the real deal, coming to lap up as much attention as they can while the getting’s good, as well as architects of entire genres, such as Neil Young and Ray Davies, who come to impart their wisdom for generations who knew them when, and those who wish they did. At SXSW, there’s always someone who wants to hear what you have to say or sing or spin, as long as the music you’re offering doesn’t have the scent of product handlers all over it. As long as it comes from — clichéd as it might sound — your heart and soul.
Comments
By Deano
March 19, 2006 10:15 PM | Link to this
Agreed. The situation is totally out of hand. This thing is way too big and scattered and a logistical nightmare. I feel sorry for those who come from afar as fans not realizing the situation - that there is the real possibility of not being able to see or attend most, if not everything they might have planned. Not to mention the fact that a simple wristband now gets you practically nothing.
By wildkingdom
March 22, 2006 12:45 PM | Link to this
I think they should stop selling the single wristbands altogether. Everyone complains about them, they’re really expensive and that’s where fraud seems to happen most often. If you want to get into popular shows buy a badge. Less wristbands = more room for badge holders.