Bill Murray at our neighborhood bar

This is the problem with SXSW: no matter where you are, there's always something else awesome going on. Here's an example. Fucking Bill fucking Murray serving drinks at our local watering hole a block away, the Shangri la.

At least someone made this video. Cheers. And TGIF!

SXSW 2010 leftovers

Here are some pictures from the SXSW Flatstock poster trade show.

Here are some other various pics from SXSW 2010.

M is for Montreal video from SXSW

These guys put on great Saturday day party at Galaxy Room. The idea was to have a bunch of Montreal bands playing on alternating stages for 20 minutes each. You can take in a lot of bands when there's almost no wait time and sets are short.

Ever since I was a kid going to punk shows in BC, I preferred rock sets that were 20-25 minutes long. Concise sets leave a crowd wanting more.

Think About Life were energetic even though it was cold and early in the afternoon.

Later, Canadian funnyman/journalist/musician Nardwuar took the stage to introduce Quebec metal legends Voivod!

Voivod unleashed the metal beast!

Treasure Fingers video from Vice

(Click here for Youtube version)

It's hard to make videos of DJs entertaining unless they're crazy controllerists or turntablists. Treasure Fingers is getting there though, using Traktor and the X1 to create some pretty innovative mixes.

I like Treasure Fingers because he plays a lot of disco influenced dance music, and his production skills are hot!

Treasure Fingers - Cross the Dancefloor


Miami Horror - Don't Be On With Her (Treasure Fingers remix)


Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream (Treasure Fingers remix)

Think About Life plays in a field

iPhone video of Montreal's Think About Life playing to people waiting in line to get their wristbands at Fader Fort. I think it's the best ever.

Duchess Says perform Black Flag at SXSW 2010

From last night's M is for Montreal showcase at Paradise on 6th Street, Duchess Says perform their frequently remixed song Black Flag at SXSW 2010.

Singer Annie-Claude Deschênes was in typical form, going crazy all over the place, crawling up the walls, jumping into the arms of people from the audience, and writhing on the floor. You can see at around 1:57 in this video she tries to grab my camera from me. I wouldn't let go. Others weren't so lucky. Ha!

During their last song (not in this video), she had a bunch of maraschino cherries in some kind of sticky red sugar syrup that wound up being splashed all over the audience. We got hit, but not as badly as some people. It was definitely a WTF moment.

Walking down 6th street during SXSW

I took this video about an hour ago with my iPhone. It's getting pretty crazy already here, and it's only Wednesday night. SXSW Music is a whole different animal than SXSW Interactive or Film.

SXSW Music starts today!

Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!

It's the time of the week during SXSW when crowds of geeks wearing badges are replaced by crowds of hispters wearing badges. I resist the urge to yell, "Hey dudes, you don't need a badge to walk down 6th street!"  I wonder if they shower with those things.

It is amazing how much stuff there is for free.  There are so many free events that promoters compete for your attention by offering free booze and food.

Organizing evenings over the next few days is like a part-time job.  It gets overwhelming very quickly! We've been compiling gradually over time, and here are some of the free events on our radar.

Not to mention:
Fader Fort
Pure Volume House
Beauty Bar events
Hype Machine party
...and too many more to mention.

Some people put on free semi-legal events at their houses, like the South by My House party at Chicon and Cesar Chavez.

When in doubt, search "SXSW free" on Twitter, but look out for swarming.

$1 condoms next to $1 pregnancy tests

Saw this display next to the cash register at the 99 Cent Only store in LA.If you buy 99 cent condoms....  What can I say, I'm a sucker for irony!

Rent an empty lot for SXSW

The dude who owns the autobody shop across the street from us had been clearing out his lot of junky cars over the past couple weekends.  We thought maybe he was planning on selling his business to some condo developer.

Thank goodness not!  He's trying to make a quick buck on SXSW.  I talked to him today and he said he doesn't know if he got it cleared out in time to rent as a venue, but hopes maybe someone will rent it as a parking lot.  The fact that most people fly in for SXSW, stay downtown, and walk everywhere is not stopping him!

It's too bad too because my fantasy was that there would be an awesome show in the empty lot across the street and we would have prime seating from our balcony.  Maybe next year!

UPDATE on Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 11:45 AM: The dude continues to clean up the lot and today the tow truck has been hauling away more cars. Maybe he was able to rent it after all!

SXSW 2010 is around the corner

I love SXSW Music because it's not a "music festival" with 10,000 people in a big, sweaty, dirty massive field camping out to see a million bands on a dozen stages all day long.  We have something like that in Austin, called the Austin City Limits music festival, and it's miserable.

SXSW Music is very much an "industry conference", which has its drawbacks, but you don't have to rough it in the wilderness to see a bunch of bands you like.  All shows are held in actual venues in the city in a much more civilized fashion.  You don't need to buy your food from "approved vendors" like you would at a festival.  You are free to come and go as you please.

The downside: because it's an industry conference more than anything, it's the people whose companies paid anywhere from $595 to $1225 for a music badge that get priority in all the lines at shows.

Second priority goes to the people who buy SXSW Music wristbands for anywhere from $129 to $180.  A lot of people say it's just not worth it to buy a wrist band and have to wait in line behind badge holders.  I tend to agree.

Third priority goes to people who just want to buy tickets.  Sometimes you have to wait in line, but only for the most popular shows.  It's usually not that hard to get into most venues, if you're willing to wait.

But that's not the case at the dozens of unofficial free and corporate sponsored shows that try to piggyback of the massive crowds that fill the streets.  Some of those shows are not only free, but also offer free booze all night (unlike SXSW shows, which usually only have free booze during the day).

The number of bands is staggering.  Look at this official SXSW list.  That link brings up Wednesday shows only.  And those are only the "official" SXSW Music shows.  We are talking 2,000 motherfucking bands.  Try to cram that into a hippie field in the middle of nowhere.  Add to that all the unofficial shows, and you can understand why some people come down with "SXSW overload."  There is just so. much. shit. going. on! Unless you plot your course and plan ahead, it's easy to become overwhelmed.

We're in the process of assembling our list.  The key is to RSVP early to as many events as possible, and then plot your course and bump around all day and night. We have a shared Google Doc file that we are adding all our links and poster images to stay organized.

Saturday, March 20 will be the main day for us because that's the only day that both of us have off work.  And Sunday is not really a full day at SXSW Music.  But partying on Saturday from 2 p.m. until 2 a.m., like we did the past two years, is usually more than enough music and fun.

Oh yeah, did I mention there are also huge poster, guitar and record shows during SXSW?   The poster show in particular, Flatstock, is where we wind up spending money because we both love us some screenprints.

The best part about all this is that for the first time we actually live downtown in the thick of the action!  Almost everything will be within walking distance.  I'm sure we'll be trying to tweet and share stuff online with our pals the whole time, and if AT&T can finally get its act together, we might actually be able to send data from our iPhones!