SXSW

The party's over

As music festival winds down, visitors, locals offer mixed reviews of biggest-ever SXSW

By Camille Wheeler
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, March 20, 2006

Gray rain clouds draped a quiet downtown Austin on Sunday as, amp by amp, the 20th annual South by Southwest Music Festival — the largest ever, with estimated registration of 10,000-plus - unplugged.

For the most part Sunday, as festival-goers checked out of motels and hotels to return home and cab drivers counted their tips, regulars again filled Sixth Street's sidewalks and bars.

Earlier Sunday, heavy rains forced the cancellation of the traditional SXSW softball game, which was replaced with an afternoon barbecue. The rains also provided the festival's biggest hiccup: a significantly thinned crowded for Saturday's free Louisiana at Town Lake show at Auditorium Shores, said Roland Swenson, the festival's managing director.

Overall, organizers said, lines were long, some acts were late, and some big names, such as Betty LaVette, canceled because of transportation problems. The biggest surprise acts, such as the Beastie Boys at Stubb's on Thursday, were swarmed by badge-danglers and wristband-wearers.

Bar owners turned in mixed SXSW reviews. John Erwin, who owns B.D. Riley's on Sixth Street, said his receipts rose 11 percent this year. A big reason, Erwin said, was the Irish bands his pub showcased, with St. Patrick's Day once again falling during the music festival.

"I'm a believer of SXSW," Erwin said. "These people have been good to me. They do what they they're going to do, top to bottom, from the people who set it up to the people who plug the amplifiers in."

But elsewhere on Sixth Street, Jackalope bar owner Jason Burton, who with co-workers' help was moving plywood equipment staging boxes back downstairs Sunday, said he's done with the festival.

"To do SXSW, it destroys the character of the bar," Burton said, explaining that he had to move pool tables out of the front downstairs bar to create enough room. "I'd rather take care of my regulars than people who come in once a year."

Boston-based folk singer Mary Lou Lord, who has made her sidewalk sets at Sixth and Brazos streets a festival tradition, announced at 2:45 a.m. Sunday that she was through with the fest. Onlooker Peter Blackstock said Lord complained of repeated interference by Austin police.

But on Sunday afternoon, as rain calmed to an occasional spit, the party still had a little life. Though most of the 1,400 bands that played every SXSW stage, private party and nook and cranny possible had packed up their gear, a few bands and venues were going strong on the festival's last day.

Bands that weren't part of SXSW still took part, including the Fred Thomas band, a Christian rock group jamming for a full house at the Coyote Ugly Saloon on Sunday afternoon.

"I think it's an interesting reality with Coyote Ugly going Christian for one afternoon," said Mark Gil, who listened with his wife, Mercy, and their children, Micah, 16, and Miranda, 12, from the sidewalk.

Austinites the Invincible Czars made new fans when they invited Opposite Day, a local act that did not participate in SXSW, to play a song during the Czars' midnight showcase at Latitude 30.

"The audience and SXSW staff raved," Czars czar Josh Robins said. "The stage manager said it was one of the coolest things he's seen in 10 years of SXSW. We think they're the best band in town."

SXSW organizer Craig Stewart said the payoff for him was seeing a band with small commercial prospects play in front of a packed house, such as New Zealand's the Bats, who packed Habana Calle 6 early Sunday morning.

Sixth Street's longest line Saturday night stretched nearly the entire block between Brazos and San Jacinto outside the Parish, with patrons waiting for Sia, the Aussie whose single "Breathe Me" wrapped up the HBO series "Six Feet Under." The venue, known for its superior acoustics and sparse crowds, packed them in all weekend.

SXSW scheduling is a chess match, and when two showcases appeal to exactly the same audience, it becomes a zero-sum game. The showcase mounted by heavy metal indie label Relapse Records packed Room 710, but only a handful came to see the metal showcase at the Redrum Annex outdoor stage.

By Saturday night, however, fatigue was clearly setting in. It was common to overhear attendees deciding to stay put for the evening rather than head to another venue.

"Everybody has to make choices about what they're going to do," Swenson said. "The people that enjoy it the most are the people that take it where it takes them. It's not for every personality type."

Paul Bodlovich, executive director of the West Australian Music Industry Association, was having breakfast at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at B.D. Riley's. Worn out from the festival, he said the trip from Perth was well worth it.

And SXSW overall?

"It's outrageously big," Bodlovich said, returning to his plate at the bar.