VIDEO: Waterloo Records on the first day of SXSW wristband sales

Sung Park/AMERICAN-STATESMAN People waited in line to purchase SXSW wristbands Thursday morning at Waterloo Records on 6th and Lamar. SXSW kicks off in two weeks. 2,000 wristbands were set aside to be sold for $110.

Dozens lined up on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 24 to buy wristbands for the 2005 South By Southwest Music Festival. The first 2,000 wristbands were available at a discounted $110 price — a volume that Waterloo owner John Kunz said that the store would definitely sell on the first day. After this group is sold, the price increases to $130, with a maximum of four wristbands per person. (On Mar. 9, or when the second 2,000 wristbands have sold out, bands will cost $150, with a maximum of four per person.)

"We've never had something like this where the price changes in the course of the day," Kunz said. "It's gonna be really tough on person number 2,001."

Music Festival wristbands do not provide entry into sold-out shows, but they do guarantee the purchaser will not have to pay a cover charge at SXSW Music venues. The music portion of SXSW runs from from Mar. 16 to Mar. 20, 2005. Notable figures scheduled to take part this year include Elvis Costello, Fatboy Slim, Robyn Hitchcock, Aimee Mann, Robert Plant, Sleater-Kinney and Mavis Staples.