sxsw 2008 overview

The indie wonderland of SXSW has finally ended, and all participants are no doubt chugging a few gallons of water, popping aspirins and trying to ignore the ringing in their ears while trying to catch up on lost sleep.

While we have plenty to say about the various bands encountered, we’d like to take a moment and discuss the actual operations of SXSW. If this year’s demographics are anything like last year’s, that means that SXSW’s conferences (Interactive, Film, & Music) had at least about 24,000 conference registrants across the 3 conferences (at $500-$600 per badge per conference), and 12,000 music festival wristband holders (just under $200 per wristband).

Official SXSW shows run in the evenings, from about 8 pm til 2 a.m., and one cannot enter without either a badge or a wristband, unless the venue is not at capacity (exceedingly rare) in which case one can pay in cash (anywhere between $8-$16 typically).

Either this year showcased too many of this year’s hyped artists in venues too small to hold their crowds, or SXSW ‘oversold’ itself. Most of the badge holder queues were completely static by 9 p.m. for many of the showcases, even for lesser hyped artists. If you were not there from the opening time, the chances of getting in were slim to none, and pretty much hopeless for those with wristbands.

Vampire Weekend’s showcase at Antone’s created an ugly spectacle outside the entrance, with badgeholders and wristband wearers alike shouting expletives at SXSW volunteers who tried to keep the growing mob under control. A throng of people stood on cars parked outside the venue, lingering in packs hoping to glimpse to the back of Antone’s to see and hear a bit of the VW’s whimsical tunes. Desperate times indeed.
Something else to keep in mind about SXSW, is that while it is hosted in the self-proclaimed ‘music capital of the world’ of Austin Texas, absolutely every inch of the city is turned into a ‘live music’ venue. This means you have bands performing on ‘stages’ 2 feet wide, under trees, and next to porta potties. This also means that many of these venues, even at the official showcases and official SXSW day parties, are not as well equipped to handle professional touring musicians and artists, many of whom normally bring their own sound and monitor engineers with them on tour. Depending on the venue, they may or may not be able to utilize the customized expertise of their sound crew, and often have to work with the venue’s weary sound engineer, who may have to accommodate between a half dozen to a dozen bands in a day.

Most of Austin’s venues are fully booked for the duration of SXSW. By fully booked we do not merely mean that every night they have showcases, but they have day shows as well. Day shows typically run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the evening showcases begin at 8 p.m. The venue employees have 2 hours to clean up the mess and waste from open bar parties of the day and prepare for the evening showcases. Sound checks, if they happen at all, are typically a shoddy shouting match between musicians (usually with a finger or thumb in the air: ‘turn up the monitors!’) and the frantic sound men/women working at the venue. Schedules must be adhered to as closely as possible, in order that the venues clear out on time in accordance with the city’s regulations. The band gets stressed, the sound engineer gets stressed, and the schedule gets out of whack at some point, and a band has to perform a shorter set than they’d like.

One evening FUG IT spent attempting to see 3 showcases, none of which were witnessed due to either immobile queues or schedule delays from distressing and prolonged sound checks.

SXSW is almost as much about strategy and picking your battles as it is about the music and people. Luckily, the option to see incredible music in the day time has not only increased in the sheer number of day parties, but in the quality. This year saw major indie heavyweights playing day parties, not just once but twice, thrice, and so on. White Denim and Raveonettes both played close to a dozen shows each between day and night shows.

Day parties have several advantages over the official showcases. We’ll do a few bullet points for you.

1- no badge or wristband required for almost all of them
2- free food
3- free booze
4- free bling/swag/flare
5- good vibes
6- sunshine

Everyone from record labels, to radio stations, to booze and juice companies, cigarette corporations, and bloggers host day parties. Some of this year’s best free party lineups were hosted by the outstanding Gorilla vs. Bear, SF’s Noisepop festival, and Camel cigarettes. FUG IT saw more bands this year via the free day (and sometimes free night) parties than via the official showcases. Our unofficial survey of friends, loved ones and acquaintances had the same result. The vibes at day parties this year were fairly loved up, and the lineups so good that most people remained at the same party for its full duration, building a community of fans over the course of 4-6 hours. You’re all broke, eating, drinking, and listening to your favorite bands for free.

With over 1400 bands performing over the course of 4 days, and a few hundred free parties (again with free food, free booze and free goodies) being thrown left and right, at this point, all you really need to do to enjoy SX is to get your arse down there, and detox before arrival.