Friday, April 1, 2011

SXSW 2011


Another SXSW has come and gone! I don't plan on writing a detailed post of everything I did, but I just wanted to say... I had a great time. I decided against a wristband this year, there was TONS of awesome official showcases, but nothing I was dying to see or, as a bonus of living in Austin TX, would not be able to see in the coming year at some venue here in town. You can have an awesome time with out a wristband, this is something I have known for a while, and something that the rest of the world seems to be catching on to more and more every year. So much so that the free events may be getting out of hand, and organizers and talking about roping it back it in, which makes me sad, because I LOVE free. So many years I have carefully planned my SX, seeing new exciting acts and watching acts I've always wanted to see, but this year I just took it as it came, with only a vague skeleton of a plan to follow. I got to see good friends play good shows and wander aimlessly through down town alone eating free food and drinking free beer as I went. I got to ravage a free bar at an exclusive venue I've long wondered: "what's it like in there" (I later learned the floor collapsed during a fevered dance party... it was an old house indeed). I felt a solid concrete parking garage bounce like a trampoline, and even had a fleeting moment of "wow this seems really dangerous, am I about to be apart of a disaster?!" I got to see acts I'd seen before play the best set I've seen them play (TV on The Radio) and of course - see bands I've always wanted to see (Dead Milkmen - they really were fantastic). I even went to Flatstock and actually managed not to buy a new poster, a personal best! All told I had a great time, ate some great food, drank untold amounts of free drinks, and spent all of it with great company. I couldn't ask for more! I probably missed three times what I saw, but that's the way it goes. Every SXSW is a different experience for me, and this one was great! L85