1. It's SOUTH BY - not South By Southwest. You know you are from Austin if you refer to it as "South By"
2. The daytime concerts rock. I will definitely need to take a couple of half days next year so I can enjoy a few more daytime concerts because they are FREE and they are in a more intimate setting than most bigger evening venues.
3. You don't need a wristband or a badge to enjoy the week. Pretty much the only time you do need said wristband or badge is if you want to wait in line for hours to see bands you already know or like that are playing the big headlining showcases. I figured I would save the $160 the wristband costs and just go see said band when they come back to tour again and pay $20-30 for a ticket. I would never have seen enough bands in the week to warrant the wristband cost.
4. The best part about SXSW for me was seeing the up and coming bands - the hard part is just finding out about them and going to their show before they hit it big.
5. Ride your bike. The traffic and parking is ridiculous. I got around just fine on my bike and I wasn't the only one that had that idea as you can see below.
6. The one event worth waiting in line for is Rachael Ray's Feedback that was on Saturday. Free food, free drinks, free bands from 10a-4p. I was lucky to get a guest pass and not wait in line but you will not be disappointed if you do wait in line, just get there REALLY early to make sure you do get in.
7. Don't expect to get a cab between 11p-3a like ever during sxsw. I only spent one night out late and luckily I have access to a free garage and my car downtown but the friend I was with did not want to walk to it in her heels. Needless to say we did not get a cab and I left her at a bench corner while I went and got my car and then picked her up. I also talked to Dan from Bastille and they never got a cab with their gear after one of their shows (which was past 1am) and luckily some guy in a truck gave them a lift.
Here's a quick run down of the bands I saw of note the past week with a few pics. Of course they might not be your taste but they were great live shows and I am definitely more of a fan after seeing them live. The funny thing is they are all from overseas.
Bastille is from England - Kyle has the best t-shirts and Dan - check out the video. I was not sure how they were going to put this sound together live but it was pretty amazing. Of course my phone died at their wed. night show but I did get some good shots of their daytime show for Filter mag on Thursday. I saw them twice because yes they were that good live and also because who knows when the heck they will ever be back over here to tour. I have got to give any band props for covering What would you do? by City High. Here is a short video clip of my fav. song by them below - I cut it off so I could jump up and down at the end of the song haha.
Of course I believe they will be big over here in the US as soon as they get distribution. I also got to meet Dan at the show at Club de Ville Wed. night and he was super cool and nice. Another perk of SXSW, at the smaller shows there is no VIP area and they just roam around at the club and you can totally say hi to them.
Civil Twilight I don't even remember how I heard about them, I think I heard one of their songs on a TV show possibly? Steven's voice is amazing and my biggest judge of a band is how well they sound live. One of my favorite all time live bands is Jimmy Eat World because they sound amazing live and have great energy. Civil Twilight is great live - and Steven's voice is just beautiful. I didn't video this one because the lighting really sucked, but here are a couple of pics. Their album Holy Weather is great, one of the few CD's I can listen to all the way through. They are from South Africa but have moved to Nashville recently. I really hope they do hit it big and get more exposure. Steven's brother Andrew is killer on the guitar and the newly added keyboardist makes for some nice melody (back in the day they were just a trio). I also chatted with Steven after this show and hope they can come back and just play by themselves so I can hear most of their newest album. The biggest negative about SX is that the sets are way short - not even 30 minutes most of the time. Would love to hear It's Over live - beautiful song by them.
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Frightened Rabbit is the other band I saw that was at the top of my list. I hadn't heard of them until I got the list of bands that were going to be at Rachel Ray's Feedback and after listening online my true test was going to be how they sound live. Frightened Rabbit is from Scotland so I apparently have a thing for overseas bands lately. They are in my top three so of course they were awesome. Here is their video for The Woodpile and one of the pics I took at the show. I love their sound and the four guitars live sounded awesome.
South by was definitely an experience and considering it's written in my custody arrangement that my ex gets the kids every spring break, I have a feeling I will be enjoying music during that week as long as I still live in Austin. I was still able to have some fun, get some bike riding in, see some music but also keep up with my training for my triathlon. My training blog is a little more active than this one right now just because training for my first triathlon is what I am focused on the most. I want to keep it separate so I don't bore people over here with my swim and bike adventures. Last week was pretty cool - now it's back to real life.
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