SXSW 2008

South by Southwest makes its mark on Austin

Shows, parties and craziness fill the week.

By Michael Corcoran
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, March 15, 2008

And on the fifth day we rest. Or we play softball. Or we work getting our town, our lives, back to normal.

Members of more than 500 foreign acts, meanwhile, head home, as Austin-Bergstrom is truly an international airport today.

The numbers don't really tell the story of what South by Southwest does to the city. The figures don't measure the energy, the passion for music that spilled out into the streets during the past four days, when Austin was the center of the musical universe.

Although today is listed as the official last day of SXSW, the daytime parties have all packed up, and the nightclubs will mostly be dark tonight. SXSW ended, really, with a Saturday night after-hours blowout hosted by Hollywood gossip hound Perez Hilton that might still be going on.

Once the province of unknown and unsigned bands, SXSW hosted such established acts as R.E.M., Ice Cube, Van Morrison, X and keynote speaker Lou Reed this year, each with new projects to trumpet to the tastemakers of an ever-changing music industry. The big acts received the same compensation — a choice of $225 or a badge and wristbands — as any other act, but they all play mainly for the exposure. Being aligned with ultra hip SXSW can help restore street level credibility to acts trying to revive sagging careers.

It's also a venue to celebrate the synergy of a career in full soar. Preppy rockers Vampire Weekend arrived on a mountain of hype and leave with even more. The same goes for retro British soul singer Duffy, who has the No. 1 album in the United Kingdom and picked SXSW for her U.S. debut performance.

Like the Native Americans who used every bit of the buffalo they killed, SXSW made full use of downtown Austin. Bands not only played in the clubs of Sixth Street and Red River Street; they also played on the roofs of those clubs and under tents in parking lots and in empty warehouses and garages and reconfigured offices. Besides the official SXSW shows, there were three free fests happening simultaneously: the Texas Rockfest in a tent on Trinity Street, the Red Gorilla Music Fest in clubs on Sixth Street not affiliated with SXSW and the Mess With Texas fest, which drew thousands to Waterloo Park on Saturday. The sounds of musical hopefulness were unavoidable unless you stayed west of MoPac or north of 38th Street.

There were also more than 240 free daytime parties, offering free booze and, in some cases, gift bags. Levi's clothing company, which converted the American Youthworks offices (where at-risk teens learn to use computers and other job skills) into a 1,000-capacity rock club, was one of dozens of corporations that threw free parties for those on the guest list.

SXSW organizers chafe at the proliferation of what they called parasite parties, while the number of paid registrants has been flat in recent years. But though all the free fringe activity waters down the official segment of the conference, the shindigs, both splashy and hastily thrown together, contribute to the enormousness that amazes both first-time SXSWers and attendees who remember the days of $25 wristbands.

"It's just been an awesome experience," said Toby Parker, 20, of British band Mendella. "To see everybody out on the streets and hearing all the live music, it just makes your head buzz."

In a New York Times article, music critic and SXSW regular Jon Pareles likened the freewheeling access to music to "MySpace moved to the physical realm." There was simply too much to devour.

"I've been coming to South by Southwest for 19 years," said Atlanta publicist Michelle Roche, who's watched the once-regional festival grow into one of the biggest, wildest, craziest music conferences in the world. "It's gotten so big you don't need to buy a badge anymore. I hit a few daytime parties, meet up with folks for dinner, and I'm back at the hotel and in bed before midnight." Many more didn't see their beds until 3 or 4 a.m., as after-hours parties sponsored by Playboy, Blender magazine and others kept the booze and tunes flowing.

Why pay for music when there's so much for free? That question not only irks SXSW organizers, who once again provided fire marshals with a list of private parties to check on, but was a major topic at panels and in conversations. The free downloading of music has sent the music industry into a free fall.

"Don't network; organize!" was singer Billy Bragg's message at the Music Managers Forum party Friday at Club 115. Between songs from his new album, Bragg gave a bleak forecast for emerging musicians, considering the current music business climate, in which most music is available free on the Internet. "In my 25 years in the music business, one thing has never changed," Bragg said, in his call for fans to support those who make the music they love. "There are people who want to make music and people who want to hear music."

That was truly evident at SXSW, which wrapped up its 22nd campaign without half a dozen parties getting shut down by the fire marshal like last year; 2007 was a lesson to get all the necessary permits in order.

It's too soon for the fallout, if any, to surface. In the next few days we may hear grumblings from those whose SXSW experience was not good. But for now we bask in the satisfaction of handling the movable beast one more time.

In the end there was one star that rose above all the others at SXSW. The numbers don't say just how satisfying it is to hear out-of-towners exclaim, over and over, "Is Austin the coolest town or what?"