The A.V. Club - South By Southwest

Music: South By Southwest: Wrapping up SXSW

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:00:00 -0500

Since there were so many of us blogging SXSW Music (not to mention Leonard Pierce’s film coverage), there’s probably a solid chance you missed out on some of it. In the interest of boiling things down, all of the music writers summed up their experience below. If you’d rather get the undiluted version, go here. And as a bonus: a whole bunch of pretty pictures to look at. Oh, and I was interviewed about our party over at wired.com; check it out. JOSH MODELL The best band I saw was: Tough to say, but probably Future ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Marc’s day four

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:32:00 -0500

I suppose it depends on how often you’ve taken advantage of the free booze and the 4 a.m. parties the previous three nights, but Saturday is always a pretty rough day at SXSW. Faces that once glowed with enthusiasm and anticipation now look strung out and beat down (basically, everyone looks like a 30-year-old L.A. female who does too much coke and does too little sleeping), and day parties tend to find a lot of people sitting in parts of clubs they would probably want sterilized under normal circumstances. The we’re-all-hungover vibe is in effect at ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Sean's day four (Queens and jokers)

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:16:00 -0500

I had the realization today that this is my sixth straight “working” SXSW (the first three I spent as a showcasing artist, the last three I’ve spent passing judgment on other showcasing artists), and it’s the first one in a long time that’s actually been fun. In years past I’ve been too caught up with my obligations to enjoy myself, but this week I set the simple goal of seeing one good show a night and letting everything else fall where it may, which has actually worked out great. Sure, I’ve missed a few dozen ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Erik's day four (exhaustion and euphoria)

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:57:00 -0500

By the time Patrick Stickles arrived on stage at Club Deville last night, the Titus Andronicus frontman sounded like he had played far more than five shows over the past four days. His voice was hoarse, he acted a few notches below cranky, and he appeared to have aged five years since I saw Titus open for Los Campesinos! in February. Yet, as he signaled the start of the band's set with the first few notes of "Titus Andronicus," he shrugged that all off, bounding about his area of the stage and screaming himself into further hoarseness. That's ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Josh's day four (bloody but unbowed)

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:48:00 -0500

Saturday is the day at SXSW Music on which people really start dragging: You start seeing people sitting on every available sittable surface (curbs, window sills, etc.) and the energy of Sixth Street is a little less frantic. But it’s a nice sort of fatigue, and it doesn’t stop the parade of concerts happening in every nook and cranny. But it does keep me in bed a little bit later—nothing seems more important than a bit of chill time. But still: Rachael Ray’s Party. I didn’t go last year, but this time out the lineup ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Kyle's day 4 (ASIAN FETISHISTS, MEET YOUR NEW FAVORITE BAND)

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 12:45:00 -0500

The last real day of the festival arrives—time to power through! 3:41 p.m. – The MyOpenBar.com Four Square Punk Party is in a shadeless dirt lot at Cesar Chavez and I-35, but the low-rent setting completely suits the sloppiest of sloppy punk being played on the tiny platforms that could only generously be described as "stages." The setup is pretty great, though: Four stages occupy the corners of a small square area, and the band on each stage plays one song before rotating to the next band. On stage right now are Cerebral Ballzy (who I'm ...

Film: South By Southwest: Film: Day Nine, Or, The Decision To Flee Came Quickly

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 10:45:00 -0500

Saturday is the last-chance day for the film side of the South By Southwest Festival. It's the day you spend lots of time rushing from one screening to another, knowing that this is your last chance to catch some of the movies -- literally your last chance, in some cases, because if they don't get a distribution deal, you'll never be able to see them again. It's the day when you realize that you've spent a lot of time, emotion and intellectual energy on films that may end up never getting an audience, which is too ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Sean's day three (We're all Devo)

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 14:35:00 -0500

Some years this festival crawls by at a Groundhog Day-like pace, where it seems like the parade of day show/showcase/after-party will just go on forever. But this year has passed so quickly I’ve felt kind of like the white rabbit in Alice In Wonderland, forever running late to all my very important dates. (By the way, that’s a last-minute substitution for the metaphor my tired brain coughed up yesterday, which was “a monkey chained to a speedboat.”) It’s probably because, for the first time in my 10-year SXSW history, I’ve been trying to ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Kyle's day 3 (METAL UP YOUR ASS!)

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 13:11:00 -0500

Talk to anyone the mission of SXSW, and you'll get the same answer: new music (with a post-script that "It used to be so much better, man"). Asking what kind of new music will splinter the consensus—unsigned bands? Texas bands? Indie bands?—but, ideally, people come to SXSW not to reinforce what they already know and love, but find some new stuff to know and love. Ideally. Because in recent years, SXSW has become a destination for well-established artists looking for a quick victory lap or to generate buzz for their new material. The Hold Steady needn't ...

Film: South By Southwest: Film: Day Eight, Or, Blame It On The Local Vodka

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 12:45:00 -0500

Austin again, for a light-viewing Friday. Hopefully you'll forgive the brevity of this post, but for one thing, I'm preparing for the big push that is Saturday -- the final day of the South By Southwest Film Festival, for which I have a full roster of viewings planned -- and for another, I ran into some friends last night who had an in with Rwake's people and a case full of Tito's. So, as you can probably guess, I'm in no condition for an insightful analysis of last night's viewings. I'm lucky I'm not ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Marc’s day three

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 12:25:00 -0500

Okay, full disclosure: I’m a Third Eye Blind fan. Some people might even say fanatic. And not in a nostalgic, I-loved-the-band-when-I-was-a-kid-and-have-too-many-great-memories-associated-with-its-songs-to-stop-listening sort of way. In fact, I didn’t even start liking 3EB back when it was on the top of the charts and “Semi-Charmed Life” was used in one out of every three movie trailers—I began with “Never Let You Go” and Blue, and then worked my way back to the first record, which is one of the handful of albums I own that I can genuinely say I like every single song. I understand that I ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Erik's day three (Saddle Creek, etc)

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 10:53:00 -0500

When I woke up this morning, I sat on the edge of the bed for a few seconds, slumped over, and pressed my palms into my eyeballs like a character in an Alka-Seltzer commercial—or, more in line with my band itinerary yesterday, a character in a Cursive song. It's like my body doesn't want all the beer and meat that I've been shoving into for the last three days. It's having a similar reaction to standing for 14 hours a day. Josh was all about eating our party up; my interests lay more in catching ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Josh's day 3 (our party!)

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 01:42:00 -0500

So today was our party, and our party—to use the parlance of the day—fucking owned. I don’t know if I’ve had a better time at any SXSW day party ever, and that includes the ones we’ve thrown in the past. Thanks to everybody who came and enjoyed the bands and comedians with us; sorry to anybody who wasn’t able to get in. Things were a little thin at the beginning of the day, but by early afternoon, it was one-in, one-out for the remainder. I’m too damn tired to go into tons of ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Sean's day two (Go to church)

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:35:00 -0500

Thursday morning I woke up feeling kind of how Robert Downey Jr. looks in Less Than Zero, thanks to the Red Bull Drive Way The Fuck Out Here For Nothing party, so most of my day was already shot. I think maybe in SXSWs past I was able to force myself to get up and go to day shows even if I had stayed up until 5 a.m. the night before, but these are different, thirtysomething times. Besides, we have five voices chattering out here in the SXSWilderness, so what does it matter if I opt to stay home ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Kyle's day two (HIP-HOP CURES ALL!)

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:05:00 -0500

Thanks to the oxygen sensor on our plane yesterday, the warnings from which delayed our flight four hours, Josh & I spent a sad amount of Thursday gathering the various wristbands we would've collected yesterday. To attend SXSW is to endure the eternal quest for access to all the parties, shows, and weird events that happen roughly 20 hours a day. Of course you'll never be able to make them all, and chances are you won't remember which you've RSVP'd for. And even once you arrive to pick up your credentials, there's a good chance ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Erik's day two

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:30:00 -0500

I'm sorry for breaking SXSW. Allow me to explain: Every year, the music end of the festival gets farther from the ideal of a giant stage for new talent and closer to the "well-known acts surrounded by mid-to-lower tier performers" model of stuff like Lollapalooza. SXSW is still a sprawling beast in comparison (Kyle's tweets about last night/this morning's Jane's Addiction show make it sound like Perry Farrel's got it together, but I'd like to see his sparkly ass organize something the size of SXSW.) What is the undiscovered songwriter to do when ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Marc’s day two

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:59:00 -0500

It’s hot right now in Texas, which is obviously nothing new, but it’s hard to remember the last time it was this hot at SXSW. That’s fine with me, but it causes some issues related to time management and showering. Basically, there’s always something happening during SXSW, and if you have a personality like mine where you constantly feel like you’re missing out on something good (I’m still pretty jealous that I didn’t see that Cash Cash show on Wednesday), well, you start giving up some basic daily activities, like eating meals sitting ...

Music: South By Southwest: Music: Josh's day two (Jane's Addiction trips away)

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 03:31:00 -0500

Before I begin, I'd like to point you to Decider Minneapolis, which is running some photos and video from SXSW. Check it! Howdy. (That’s my attempt at being Texan.) The second day at SXSW 2009 began slowly, as my body clock adjusted to the time difference. Not the time-zone difference—there isn’t one—but rather the staying-up-too-late clock. But I shan’t complain, because I am in sunny Austin, where it’s 80 degrees and there are bands playing every ten Goddamn feet. So this morning was mostly about getting some business done that we would’ve ...

Film: South By Southwest: Film: Day Seven, Or, Holy Shit DAY SEVEN Are You Serious

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:30:00 -0500

I'll be honest with you, handful of AV Club readers who are bothering to click on this film blog entry: I'm getting a little burned out. I've driven back and forth up and down the I-35 so many times that I'm beginning to see the Tanger Outlet Mall in my sleep. I've eaten so many K.C. burgers at Casino El Camino that the blood is actually beginning to pump backwards into my heart. The ushers at the Paramount have learned to recognize my hacking cough from several blocks away, and are beginning to give ...

Film: South By Southwest: Film: Day Six, Or, My Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:20:00 -0500

You wouldn't know it from Wednesday, but there's still a full week left of the South By Southwest Film Festival. The music side of the program opens up tonight, which means that by the time I sputter into town, the streets are already filled with ironic t-shirts, outsized specs, and people perplexingly desperate to see the Decemberists. Oh, how well I remember those days, when I myself was known to stay up past 10PM! Of course, I am older now, and wiser too, and I have realized two things: (1) there are precious few bands whose music is ...